Antec Truepower Quattro 850W vs Silverstone Decathlon 850W Review

Size Comparison


When it comes to the overall size of these two power supplies, they are completely identical to each other. That being said, it should also be noted the overall length of the TPQ and DA850 is very slightly longer than that of a normal ATX-sized power supply.


Interior Impressions

Silverstone Decathlon 850W


Interestingly, the interior of the Decathlon 850W looks nearly identical to that of the 650W version we reviewed a few months ago. The transformers have the same logos on them and the filtering stages have the same layout as the smaller DA650 but the similarities stop there as you take a closer look.

The modular interface has something we have not seen before: a trio of capacitors soldered onto it. Interestingly, these caps are not soldered onto the high-output 8-pin PCI-E or the 8-pin CPU connectors. Rather, they are attached to the ATX connector interface. Yet, all in all, the modular layout is very clean for optimal power transfer to the modular connectors.


On the lower wattage DA650 we saw that it carried three Hitachi capacitors on the primary which have been switched out here for three larger and higher output Toshin Kogyo caps. While these caps may not be as highly regarded as the Hitachis, they are distributed by OST and seem to have very few problems from what I can tell. Unfortunately, these are not 105°C rated like we see on many other higher-end units but are rated at a much more civil 85°C.

The secondary contains a sea of Teapo caps as well as a vertical PCB which contains a pot to control the +12V voltages. All in all, this design inspires confidence since there are high capacity components used and the manufacturing quality is very good.


Antec Truepower Quattro 850W


The Truepower Quattro is absolutely crammed full of components, heatsinks and baffles making it nearly impossible to see many of the interior components. What we can see from the top-down view is that the heatsinks are placed in such a way that they can take full advantage of the airflow provided by the single 80mm exhaust fan.

The modular interface is quite clean with good solder joints. There is also a bridge of sorts between the PCI-E connectors and the regular connectors.


The single primary capacitor is a gargantuan Nippon Chemicon unit which is rated at 105°C and it is bordered by an equally massive choke. You can see to the right of the picture that the rectifier bridges have their own heatsink in order to dissipate the heat they generate.

On the secondary side there is the usual clan of Teapo caps which are often seen in Enhance builds. You will also notice that all of the +12V cables are attached to a separate inverted PCB. Something else I want to draw your attention to is the area where the wires enter the case of the Quattro; since they are not sleeved and there is no protection around the sharp metal of the opening which may contribute to problems down the road.


Everything about the interior of the Antec Truepower Quattro is done on a massive scale. The picture above shows the comparison in size of the primary capacitor use on the TPQ compared to those on the DA850; the difference is mind numbing. All in all, the interior design and the components used by Antec and their OEM Enhance are top-of-the-line.