Antec TP-II 550W with messy cables!! I'm so angry!!

dynamiks · Post by **dynamiks** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:32 pm

Okay today I just recieved my Antec TruePower-II 550W power supply. I am sad to say that right after opening it and losening all the cables, I discovered that they are all tangled and twisted within each other. There is no way of untangling the cables without opening the power supply (which voids the warranty) and removing the connectors and rerouting the cables properly. Also the connector at the end of the SATA cables is not removable like how it is on my Coolermaster and other power supplies. So I won't even be able to sleeve this power supply as I had originally planned. This leaves me very frustrated right now because honestly I thought this power supply was going to be the answer to all my problems. But now I am back to square one.

Every single power supply on the market right now has an issue that is against what I am looking for in one way or another.

If I went with the Seasonic S12 600W, I am dealing with the twisted cables, and short lengths. Twisted cables I do not like, and the short length is definately not good for a P180, or having good cable management.

If I got an a PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI, I have everything I am looking for, except for the loud fan. PC P&C website says this fan is between 34-44dba. That is wayyy too loud, I don't even understand why would they use such a loud fan? Why not either use two quiet fans, or go the 120mm route like everyone else seems to be doing?

If I got the OCZ Powerstream 520 or 600w I am dealing with those ugly green LED fans that I do not want. I will have the lack of an SLI ready power supply, and will have to use an adapater to connect a second video card. And we are back to the twisted cables, and short lengths of the Seasonic.

As you can see there is no way out of buying the perfect power supply for my needs without using some kind of modification and voiding my warranty along with the modification. It really sucks how I am clueless right now on what to do.

The power supply with the lease issues is the PC Power & Cooling, only having a loud fan as the only issue. It has the sleeved cables already. They are long enough for the P180, and good forcable management. The cables are not twisted within each other making a complete mess like how the Antec is. So the only downsides would be price and the loudness of the fan. Price isn't as much of an issue to me, as I am willing to pay the price for this power supply, as we all know it is the best of the best. But I am worried it is going to be too loud for my tastes, and will sound like a damn hair dryer.

If anyone has any experience with the PC P&C 510 in a Antec P180, please let me know. I was wondering if the fan would be quiet in my setup since the power supply is mounted on the bottom, and isn't getting the heat from all the components in the upper compartment going into the power supply, therefore making the fan hardly spin up. While using a 120mm fan mounted below in the P180, blowing air into the PC P&C, I am wondering if the fan would spin at really low RPM, and causing it to be less noisy. If so I think I really might consider it.

Right now I definately need to RMA this Antec, but the only problem is I have to replace it with something. Newegg will not give me a refund without charging a 15% restocking fee, so basically I am being forced to find something else. Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

darthan · Post by **darthan** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:10 pm

I understand how you feel about the tangle of cables coming out of Antec power supplies, but in a P180 does it really matter. If you carefully detangle as close to the power supply as you can go then you will only have a short lump of tangled cables that doesn't matter. I mean, you send the cables you want up through the hole into the case, and tuck the rest under the PSU mount and then, if you are talented enough (I couldn't figure out how to do this) you thread a cable or two into the lower hard drive cage around the outside of the fan mount (or remove the fan, but that's easy). This does leave a lump in front of the PSU that isn't pretty or perfect, but really shouldn't significantly impact performance. Good cable management is nice, but in a closed case like a P180, it's not like you have to show off or anything. Function, not form is what matters.

If it is worth the hassle to you of RMAing the PSU and going through all that then that's your choice, but personally, I just let my cable management be imperfect.

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:18 pm

How about this one -
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-60f.htm

dynamiks · Post by **dynamiks** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:29 pm

Okay well after all that bitching, I managed to get the power supply untangled without ripping the seal on the case to the power supply, so my warranty won't be voided. I got all the cables to come out neatly, and in a straight forward fashion like how it should be. I installed it into my system today and it came out pretty good. Not as good as my old Coolermaster since the cables are shorter, and aren't sleeved either. I decided to ditch the sleeving idea cause its too much work, and I really don't feel like doing it. It was enough work untangling all the wires, so I decided to leave the wires unsleeved.

Anyway here is a picture of how it looks installed in my system.

The 4 pin motherboard connector wasn't long enough to hide behind the motherboard.

That really is the only thing I wish I could change. Everything else is fine with me though. If only that cable was about 2" longer, I coulda got it under the motherboard.

PositiveSpin · Post by **PositiveSpin** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 6:56 pm

I have the PC Power and Cooling 510 in a P180, and I was surprised how quiet it is. I bought it for power and reliability (this is a 7800GTX gaming box - not expected to be too quiet), not silence, but it's only just audible. That may be partly because of the P180, and partly because of the straight-through design (suits the P180), but I like it a lot.

I'm thoroughly annoyed with Antec's tangled wires. The Phantom 500 I bought recently was an utter mess for the first 4 to 6 inches. Seems to be nothing more than laziness / poor production training. I'm reluctant to buy Antec power supplies (Neo is probably safe...) for this reason.

I might be buying another PC Power and Cooling at this rate

Koolpc · Post by **Koolpc** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:13 am

Hey dynamiks

Pc looks really tidy!! Well done mate. How quiet is the PSU?

What heatsink is that?

Thanks

NoNameFace · Post by **NoNameFace** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:53 am

That's a Scythe Ninja.

TMM · Post by **TMM** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:54 pm

Hmm thats odd. i thought Antec fixed that problem after many people complained :s
I agree though, its a major bitch - 3/4 of my Antec PSUs came like that, and the only one that didn't was for obvioius reasons (its a Neopower...)