When considering the purchase of a new power supply, Antec is undoubtedly one of the first names that comes to mind for most consumers. Antec's TruePower series is known for delivering plenty of reliable power at a reasonable price. Antec has rolled out 430, 550, and 650 watt versions of the Trio, replacing the venerable TruePower2 models. The Trio attempts to keep up with todays power hungry systems by offering features such as three 12v rails (hence the name), active PFC, and SLI certification (on the 550 and 650 watt models). Our 650 watt model supports an impressive 19 amps per 12v rail, enough to easily handle an overclocked Dual-Core processor as well as dual graphics cards along with all the juice guzzling accoutrement's one would expect in such a system. One of the most impressive things to note in the specifications is the max output along the 12v rails of 624 watts. This PSU is ready to feed just about anything you might attach to it!

	+3.3V	+5V	+12V 1	+12V 2	+12V 3	+5V SB	-12V
Max Load	24A	30A	19A	19A	19A	3.0A	0.8A
Min Load	0.5A	0.5A	1A	1A	1A	0A	0A
Load Reg	+/- 3%	+/- 3%	+/- 3%	+/- 3%	+/- 3%	+/- 3%	+/- 4%
Ripple V (p-p)	50mV	50mV	120mV	120mV	129mV	50mV	120mV

* +12V 1, 12V 2, 12V 3 Max output 624W

Features

Nvidia SLI certified
Universal Input, automatically adjusts for 100V to 240V power grids
Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) for environmentally friendlier power
Three 12V output circuits provide added system stability
Accurate power rating allows TruePower Trio to deliver its full rated power, 24 hours a day rated at 50�C
Up to 85% efficiency
120mm low noise cooling fan
Fan Only power connectors allow TruePower Trio to control case fan speeds, reducing total system noise
Dedicated outputs for stable output and less ripple noise
Feedback loop circuits for tighter load regulation (±3%) to maintain accurate voltage to all components
Heavy duty protection circuitry prevents damage resulting from short circuits (SCP), power overloads (OPP), over voltages (OVP), and under voltages (UVP)
4 SATA connectors for Serial ATA drives
Two PCI-E connectors for PCI-Express video cards on 550W and 650W models, one connector on 430W model
MTBF: 80,000 hours at 25°C
Safety approvals: UL, CUL, FCC, TÜV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB
Power Factor value up to 99%
Gold plated connectors for superior conductivity
AQ5 - 5 year warranty

Opening the tastefully decorated box reveals sufficient packaging to protect the unit provided it's not mistaken for a football. The contents includes the PSU (obviously), a brief multilingual manual, a power cord, a little baggie with some various screws, and a solitary zip-tie.

The first thing one might notice about the unit is the enormous tangle of wires. While we would have liked to have seen modular cabling on a higher end unit such as this, it is somewhat understandable as the Truepower series has always held to a no-frills ethos, and has been priced accordingly. What we did not appreciate was the lack of any cable sleeving aside from the main ATX connector, and the fact that only a single zip tie was included to aid the consumer in corralling this jungle of cabling.

20+4 pin Main Power	One
4-pin / 8-pin CPU	One each
4-pin FDD	One
4-pin Molex	Six (3 x 2 cables)
SATA	Four (2 x 2 cables)
6-pin PCI-Express	Two

The one upside of all these cables are the numerous connectors crimped on them, enough so that most users will probably not even need extra adapters to connect all of their hardware. Users should take note that the "fan only" connectors only deliver 5V, so 12V fans connected to these headers will run slower than intended.

A further example of the Truepower series' business-only attitude is the plain, unpainted metal housing. While not affecting the function of the unit, users looking for more pizazz will find themselves disappointed with the plain-jane approach Antec has taken.

EXTERIOR AND COOLING

The side panel is adorned by a mildy informative decal featuring basic output info, certifications, serial numbers and warnings.

In designing the backpanel, Antec opted for a grid of small squares as opposed to the popular honeycomb style. This design, however, is more then sufficient to allow warm air to escape. Here again we notice the bland outer shell, as it blends into the cases back panel as so many generic PSUs tend to. But really, how often do you find yourself staring at the back of your chassis? We thought so...

As has become the standard in many PSUs lately, a single 120mm fan is responsible for keeping the Trio cool. Not surprisingly, this setup follows suit with the rest of the Truepower series featuring a black plastic fan behind a simple metal grill.

The Adda brand fan quietly moves plenty of air to keep the Trio cool. Out of all the fans running in our test system, this was by far the most quiet. The unit features a 2 pin fan connector which can be connected to the motherboard for fan control and monitoring.

This photo displays why modular and sleeved cables are so desirable. The tangle of wires manages to crowd even the large Thermaltake Armor full-tower case. Mounted in a smaller case such as a mid-tower or mini-tower, the mess would be positively overwhelming. While this may not be a large concern for those without windowed side panels, unkempt wires can hinder effective cooling. Our HardwareLogic Guide to Cable Sleeving can help you to clean things up a bit.

INTERNAL

We here at HardwareLogic highly recommend against opening up your power supply, as we are about to, for several reasons. First it is extremely dangerous. One could easily be electrocuted by one of the large capacitors inside, and they hold a charge long after you've unplugged your unit. Secondly, it instantly voids your warranty, crushing any spark of hope you might have had in the sad event that smoke and sparks decide to emerge from the heart of your PC.

Removal of the cover provides access to the very clean and well laid out PCB featuring a single 400V capacitor. The clean layout is great for cooling and the construction seems very solid. The UL Certification Directory confirms our suspicion that this Antec PSU is manufactured by SeaSonic, another very reputable PSU manufacturer.

While the heatsinks aren't particularly thick, they take up a good bit of area by fanning themselves out at the top.

Here we can see where the rails connect to the PCB. The rail distribution is as follows:

12V1	CPU-1
12V2	PCI-E2/CPU-2
12V3	M/B Accessory

Testbed

Our testbed for the trio is housed in our Thermaltake Armor VA8000 Full Tower chassis and consists of the following components:

CPU	Intel Pentium4 2.8GHz @ 3.5GHz
Motherboard	Asus P4P800SE Socket 478
Memory	2GB OCZ Platinum PC-3200 (DDR-500 @ 2-3-2-5 2.65V)
Graphics	VisionTek x850XT PE (Core-580 / Memory- 1180)
Hard Drives	Maxtor Diamondmax10 200GB SATA HDD Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 HDD
Cooling	Thermalright XP-120 Zalman Vf700cu Four 120mm Thermaltake Thermalblade fans Two 92mm Thermaltake generic fans
Optical Drives	Samsung CD-RW NEC DVD-ROM

To ensure stable operation, the ATX allows a +-5% tolerance on the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V rails. Using a voltmeter, we test the voltage of each rail while the system is idle and while under full load. In addition to the rails remaining within spec, we also monitor the consistency of the voltage. The "cleaner" or more consistent the power, the more stable a system will be under extreme conditions.

While far from cutting edge, the Pentium 4 Prescott core CPUs are still power hungry processors. We tested at the chip's stock speed of 2.8GHz with a core voltage of 1.33V as well as overclocked to 3.5GHz with a core voltage of 1.5V.

At stock CPU speed, the Trio remained within extremely tight tolerances, even managing a perfect 5.00v during idle. Under full load, the rails refused to budge, remaining extremely consistent.

We observed similar results with our system overclocked. The Trio continued to stay extremely tight with rock solid voltage consistency. Throughout our tests the Trio refused to flinch and proved itself to be quite a performer. What it lacks in aesthetics it more than makes up for in performance.

OUR RECOMMENDATION

Segment	Score	Comments
Feature-set	7/10	We like the triple 12V rails, active PFC, and quiet cooling We don't like the lack of sleeved cables or at least more than one zip-tie.
Cables and Connections	15/20	Plenty of connections for even the most high-end systems. Cables are a mess! 11 separate unsleeved cables present a daunting challenge to tidy builders Gold plated connections are nice if not somewhat ineffectual
Power	19/20	19A each per 12V rail offers plenty of power for all but the most power hungry systems
Performance	20/20	Rock solid operation, Near perfect voltage consistency
Cooling and Noise	10/10	Monster 120mm fan keeps the unit cool, super quiet
Warranty and Support	9/10	5 yr warranty for a power supply? Excellent Antec offers a variety of technical supports methods. Global Online Support is simply a ticket you fill out to start the ball rolling. Antec also offers telephone support to it's North American customers: 1-800-222-6832 (800-22ANTEC) from 8:00am to 5:00pm Pacific Time. Alot of questions can be answered in the Antecs FAQ.
Price / Value	7/10	Good value given performance May not be priced aggressively enough to beat out the feature-rich competition

Our Recommendation

The Antec Trio 650, with it's street price (as of this writing) of about $125 shipped (ZipZoomFly), may find itself in a difficult position. While it offers excellent performance for it's price, it's lack of high end features and styling might cause most enthusiasts to pass over the Trio. This would be a shame, as the Trio 650 definitely delivers. For those looking for uncompromising performance with little concern for aesthetics (and who might not mind a bit of work tidying things up) the TruePower Trio series gets the job done.

Other Reviews of Note

Its always nice to have more than one opinion on a component before you spend your hard earned money. For one, We may see something others missed, or vice versa. As with all reviews published at HardwareLogic, we'll not only give you our recommendation, but also point out some reviews from some other great sites around the web.
Bjorn3D
ProClockers
OverclockersOnline
ExtremeTech