Introduction

We would like to thank Antec for supplying the review sample.



Antec says the High Current Pro series to be the pinnacle of power supplies. All members of the series are fully modular, and the new 850 W, 1000 W, and 1300 W units are Platinum certified and completely different from the competition as they are the only ones manufactured by legendary Delta Electronics, which had for quite some time now abandoned the retail PSU market to mostly deal in server units and power bricks. Antec is currently the only company whose PSUs are produced by Delta, which, although it increases the price, translates into incredibly high build quality and top-notch performance while making their HCP units stand-out of the crowd as they are not based on the competition's usual platforms (Seasonic, CWT, or Super Flower). In today’s market, only Antec and Corsair managed to strike exclusive deals with such high-impact manufacturers as Delta in Antec’s case and Flextronics in Corsair’s, which has given them the ability to offer truly unique products.

We already reviewed the HCP-1300 and HCP-1000. Both performed amazingly and it is now the smaller HCP-850 Platinum's turn to prove its worth. We don't have the slightest doubt it will perform equally well in our tough tests since it is based on a similar platform as its bigger siblings.

The HCP-850 Platinum is obviously 80 Plus Platinum certified. It also features a fully modular cabling design, has a complete set of protection features, a double ball-bearings fan, and stealth cables with darkened wires. It also exploits a PhaseWave design which Antec says to be a feature in server-class PSUs and includes the OC Link feature, which allows two HCP Platinum units to operate in parallel should you need more power for, say, a hungry mining rig.

Specifications

The HCP-850 is not only Platinum certified as it can also operate at up to 50°C ambient, which is in accordance with the ATX spec. Based on a modern platform that utilizes DC-DC converters to generate the minor rails, it is also fully modular and Haswell ready. It even packs a full set of protections. Antec actually mentions some protections other companies/OEMs neglect to mention, although still present (e.g. Surge & Inrush Protection, No Load operation, etc.).

The cooling fan uses ball-bearings and is of high quality because it is a Delta fan, which the company also has a long tradition in manufacturing. Contrary to the current trend, this unit doesn't feature a semi-passive mode. The fan rotates at low speeds at light loads instead. With a length of 19 cm, the HCP-850's dimensions are longer than usual, but every normal ATX case should accommodate it without any problems. At seven years, its warranty is incredibly long, and its price is quite high, which is the norm for a high-end Delta implementation.

Antec doesn't like single-rail PSUs, which has the HCP-850 utilize four strong +12V rails instead. With up to 130 W combined, the minor rails are quite strong, and the 5VSB rail is a little stronger than is the norm for today's PSUs.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The HCP-850 comes with a large number of connectors, including two EPS and six PCIe cables, and all are available at the same time. It also has nine SATA and six Peripheral connectors, which is enough to power a large number of devices. Cables are generally long enough, but we would like the main ATX cable to be close to 60 cm long. The distance amongst connectors is fine and all connectors use 18AWG gauges, which is as the ATX spec recommended.


Like all other HCP units, this unit's power distribution is also highly versatile to cover every possible system configuration. The 12V1 rail feeds all peripheral cables and the main ATX connector, and it can also power one PCIe or one EPS connector. You can even opt to connect its 8-pin ATX connector to 12V2 instead of 12V1 since the ATX cable comes with a 20-/8-pin configuration, but we don't see any practical reason to do so, so you had better stick to the 12V1 rail instead. You had also better avoid mixing PCIe and EPS connectors as those connectors should be fed by dedicated rails.

Packaging

At the face of the package, in the top-right corner, are two icons which describe the platinum efficiency and seven year warranty. The series description is depicted in large white font on a flashy silver backdrop while several icons at the bottom describe the PSU's capacity, its fully modular cabling design, and high efficiency.


Three icons on this side reveal as many features of this PSU: OC Link, which allows two HCP PSUs to work in tandem, the stealth wires, and the 16-pin sockets which Antec says to provide maximum flexibility to power connector upgrades yet to come (e.g. 10 pin PCIe sockets).


This side holds a features description in Polish and Portuguese.


Here are the unit's power specifications.


An example of how much money a Platinum PSU can save you is given on this side, along with a visual list of its available connectors.


On the back of the box is a multilingual description of the unit's main specifications.

Contents

Inside the box, the PSU comes surrounded by cell foam sheets and inside a cloth sleeve.


The bundle includes a bag for the modular cables, some Velcro-straps, a set of fixing bolts, a warranty leaflet, and a folded piece of paper with a product overview in different languages. Antec unfortunately didn't provide a proper user's manual.