Antec EarthWatts EA 380D Green 380W
by Martin Kaffei on October 2, 2010 7:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- Green
- Antec
- Earth Watts
- 380W
Antec EarthWatts EA 380D Green 380W
Antec has been around for nearly a quarter of a century, making them one of the grandfathers of the modern computer industry. Well known for their cases and power supplies, we've looked at the EarthWatts line a couple of times in years past. Antec has updated the EarthWatts line with their new Green models, sporting a dark green exterior and more environmentally friendly packaging—including the removal of the power cord, since most users already have a surplus.
Unlike so many other power supplies, it's nice to see a sensibly rated unit for a change. 380W is still plenty even for a midrange system, and with optimal efficiency generally coming at 50% load this is a power supply that should run closer to its "sweet spot" when idle as well as under load. There's still enough power on top to run a Core i7 or Phenom X6 processor and a discrete GPU, but you'll want to stick with graphics cards that only require a single PCIe power connection to err on the side of caution.
The EA-380D like any decent modern power supply also carries an 80 Plus certification, this time for the Bronze level. That means the PSU should run at 82% efficiency with a load of 20% (76W), reaching 85% efficiency or more at a load of 50% (180W), and still maintain 82% efficiency at the maximum 380W rated load. This is nothing ground-breaking in late 2010, but it does fit perfectly with moderate systems that can idle at under 100W. Just how green is the new EarthWatts? Let's find out as we explore some of the other features.
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8steve8 - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
power consumption of 0.25A.azimex - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
Ok, its current drawn . Txs for pointing it out.gvaley - Wednesday, October 6, 2010 - link
I've seen worst. For example, "The current's power is 220V." :-)fausto412 - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
Ok, everyone who reads Anandtech and can use one of these 380W PSUs in any of your current or future rigs please raise your hand. anyone? hello? (crickets) anybody?Who thought it wise to waste their time reviewing this? I won't even read it.
DanNeely - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
Everyone who builds HTPC's raises hands and applies cluebats.bwj - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
I have a Core i7 CPU, 12GB of memory, six hard drives, three SSDs, and two video cards with a 300W power supply.Samus - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
I enjoyed the review, especially its technical component layout. It's nice to see Antec is making quality affordable, unlike PCP&C which makes quality unaffordable :)najames - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
I think you'd be surprised at the number of people using this size of power supply or even smaller. A lot of people even run dinky Pico power supplies. I have a couple rigs using 330W Seasonics, but I should be using even smaller supplies. I don't play ANY video games onboard video is fine for media server, or computers that crunch data.If I have a media server with a i3 530 that draws 35W idle and 100W load, I'd want a small power supply to make it run in the 80% efficiency range if possible. I'm looking to build a new one and am going to read the article. Even if it is not the power supply I want, I might still learn something.
mindless1 - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
The only system you should need a > 380W PSU in is your gaming rig. Since you can't play games on more than one system at a time, the rest of your systems won't need it unless you're a quite extreme overclocker.Leyawiin - Saturday, October 2, 2010 - link
I appreciate this review. I build a lot of basic PCs for friends and family that don't need what I have.