External Features & Specifications



OK, so calling a power supply “fast” is not exactly honest journalism. All power supplies are basically equally fast, in that electricity flows through the wires and traces at effectively the speed of light – unless you measure fast by transistor switching rate, in which case you just got way too complicated for us ;p. There is an urban myth that red and yellow cars are pulled over for speeding more often than any other color. A facet of that myth is that red and yellow cars just look faster than cars that are different colors. If this is true - and we believe whole-heartedly that it is - then surely additional physical features such as spoilers, body kits, and racing stripes enhance this illusion of extra speed. This could all just be complete and utter nonsense, but one absolute truth is that the True Power Quattro 850, when sitting next to pretty much any other power supply on the market, looks faster.


In all seriousness though, the external design of the True Power Quattro 850 (TPQ850) is superb. The matte black finish mixed with the glossy yellow racing stripes provides for aesthetics that would have a very hard time looking bad in any computer. In terms of physical size, the TPQ850 is quite a lot larger than the Thermaltake GXS850 that we reviewed a little while back, but is very similar in size to the more-comparable Cooler Master RPP850. Speaking of the RPP850, the TPQ850 has one very noticeable improvement in the included rocker switch at the back of the unit. Having a switch to cut power to the mainboard when the CMOS needs to be reset or parts need to be swapped out is far more convenient than having to yank the power cable out each time. However, on first inspection the TPQ850 seems to be lacking in the cooling department, which is provided by a single 80mm fan that is mounted in a pull configuration on the back of the unit. This is quite strange considering Antec’s past success with top-mounted 120mm fan designs.


Another peculiar feature of this power supply is that it is modular. Antec’s previous top of the line series, the True Power Trio line, did not utilize this design and are rather acclaimed products. Extruding from the back of the unit are the 24-pin connector (the extra 4-pins on the 20-pin connector are affixed via a plastic hinge rather than separated entirely, which is nice considering how difficult it sometimes is to plug that thing in), the 8-pin EPS12V CPU power connector, a standard 4-pin 12V CPU power connector, and two 8-pin (6-pin with two more on hinges) PCI-e connectors. Usually modular power supplies only have the 24-pin and 12V CPU connectors coming straight off the PSU PCB, and we’re not sure that all of the extras were the best idea on the TPQ850, though a possible reason for this design would become apparent a little down the road.