Conclusion
The Antec Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W is the first power supply we have seen here at TheFPSReview from Antec. However, Antec has been marketing power supplies for a long while and they are one of the older enthusiast DIY names in the business. So, there is certainly a long history there. Now, the key today is, will that long history produce a good mainstream power supply in the form of the Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W? Let’s see.
Build Quality
Today’s Antec Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W starts things off with a build quality that is appropriate for its market position. The exterior gives us a nice enough package that does not over or underwhelm. The unit has fixed cables but the cables are all the flat FlexForce style which is nice. The integration is generally clean on the interior, though the soldering at times could be better. The component selection features Nippon Chemi-con and Teapo standard capacitors along with Teapo solid electrolytics. The documentation with this unit is terrible but the unit has a 5-year warranty. So, there is that.
Load Testing
The Antec Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W started off testing in good shape. We saw voltage regulation of up to 0.1v on the 12v rail, 0.07v on the 5v rail, and 0.07v on the 3.3v rail. In addition to that, we saw efficiency that ranged from 87.31% to 90.50% at 120v AC input and 85.18% to 89.25% at 100v AC input. These numbers are good, but certainly not great. This unit did have in specification voltage regulation, but it was only mixed with the Cougar BXM 700 we also reviewed a short time ago. On the flip side, the efficiency values were good relative to their advertising in our tests (though they did miss the 80 Plus Gold standards by a touch). However, this unit is a more mainstream offering, so these values get a bit of a bump because of the more value nature of this product.
When we look at the Transient Load Tests results for the Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W, we see that the results are passing. When directly loaded, the 12v rail showed a peak change of ~400mV, and the 5v rail had a peak change of ~80mV. During the 12v load, the unloaded 5v rail saw a peak change of ~60mV. In absolute terms, these results are in the specification as mentioned above, but the 12v results are not great. Now, that said, as this is a more mainstream offering and it is “just” a 700W unit these Transient Loads are nothing to sneeze at. However, when we look at the relative performance we again see that this unit was just mixed with the Cougar BXM 700 once more.
DC Output Quality
The DC Output Quality results for the Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W are, again, a bit mixed. During testing, we saw peak ripple/noise values of just ~60mV of ripple/noise on the 12v rail, ~35mV on the 5v rail, and ~30mV on the 3.3v rail during our regular load tests. These values are within specification limits. In relative terms, these results are not looking too good anywhere as all of the rails are hitting 1/2 or more of the ATX12v/EPS specification limits. On top of that, this unit is again mixed with Cougar BXM 700, so it is not doing any better or worse than the competition.
Noise
Today’s Antec Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W is not a tiny capacity unit, but it is also not a huge capacity unit either. On top of that, this unit also features a sleeve bearing fan, good on the noise front but not so good on the longevity front, and supposedly 80 Plus Gold levels of efficiency. So, how did things go? Things went decently well. It was not until the 75%, Torture, and 100% load tests that it was apparent that the unit was adding noise to our load testing environment. Even then, the noise was a low-frequency one, so it was not annoying to my ear. Indeed, the 75% and Torture tests noise took me a bit to pin down so it is not quite as accurate to say it was “loud” then. At all other load level the fan was very mild. So, this unit seems to be decently well behaved all things considered.
Final Points
The Antec Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W is a good unit in the mainstream marketplace. The Neo ECO Gold ZEN 700W gave us good build quality, very good voltage regulation, passing DC Output Quality, and decent Transient Load results while also being quiet. Certainly, there is a bit of caveat on the DC Output Quality and Transient Load Tests there given the unit’s performance but, in the end, the unit was still in the specification. So, what is the unit going to cost us?
Today, we find that, like all units, this guy is hard to come by. Right now, the best in-stock price we can find is $89.99 at Amazon which makes this unit an attractive option. Perhaps more interesting is that this unit is about equal to the Cougar BXM 700 in performance but with a bit better efficiency at about the same price. So at under $100 in-stock, this is a good option for a mainstream build. It isn’t something we’d spend over $100 on and it’s not an award-winner today, but it is definitely good enough and passes our tests.
Discussion
