Antec Earthwatts 500W EA500 PSU Review

Antec’s Earthwatts 500 (SKU EA-500) doesn’t have alot of frills that many hardware enthusiasts look for these days, but it is a solid power supply that is rather efficient and produces little heat. Available for around $50 online, it is a real bargain considering that cheap power supplies cost about the same. Sure, you can buy a no-name PSU for $10 less, but who wouldn’t want a name-brand proven power supply for just a little more. Everyone wants quality, but usually you have to pay a premium to get it.

Other than the motherboard cable, there is no sleeving on this PSU, and no other enhancements. At least the molex plugs are black instead of the standard white. I love the idea of saving the planet, but it would be nice to see a high efficiency PSU dressed up in aluminum, chrome, fancy lights, modular cables, and all of the other goodies available today.

	REPORT CARD : Antec Earthwatts 500W Power Supply category rating comments Quality 3 No frills, rock-solid performance, dual 12v rails, just a good power supply. Innovation 3 Kudos to Antec for being tree-huggers, but there are no extra features to this unit that anyone would drool over. Performance 5 The power supply does as advertised, delivering very high efficiency, with excellent power regulation and quiet operation at all load levels. Installation 3 No modular cables or even twisted cables. You have a mess of wires to deal with during installation. Value 5 You can buy the 500 watt version for $49 online. So for the same price as a no-name cheap-ass blow-me-up brand you can have a quality PSU and rest easy at night. FINAL VERDICT: 4 out of 5 stars