Output Specifications


Unlike some power supplies which cater to the enthusiast crowd, Antec has decided that their flagship power supply should forego the single +12V rail design. Instead they have made use of multiple +12V rails, each with its own OCP circuit to limit output to 18A or 216W. While some “purists” may decry the lack of a single massive +12V rail, with good rail layouts people will most likely never tell the difference between single versus multiple rails. Considering each rail can supply more than enough amperage before you bump into the OCP, we feel that Antec has not limited us with their rail layout. However, it would have been nice to have seen a few more +12V rails so each 8-pin PCI-E connector could have its own dedicated rail.

Mention also has to be made about the maximum combined +12V output since we find it is a bit low for a modern 1000W power supply. Since the majority of today’s most power hungry components draw their power from the +12V rail(s), we like to see a combined +12V rail output somewhere north of 90% of the total output for the power supply. While the TruePower Quattro is capable of outputting up to 840W (or 84% of its maximum output) on the +12V rails, this is about 60W to 120W less than some of its competition. In a perfect world, the TPQ 1000W would have had six 18A or four 20A +12V rails and a combined +12V output of 900W to 950W.


Interior Impressions


Without a doubt, the interior of this Enhance-built unit is unique. Its large ribbed heatsinks are laid out in such a way that they can take full advantage of the somewhat limited airflow the single 80mm exhaust fan provides. There are also a number of plastic baffles in order to direct the airflow over certain areas that need better cooling. Unfortunately, this layout does not allow for many detailed pictures to be taken of the interior so please bear with us while we take what shots we can.


Both the primary and secondary sides on this unit are extremely well appointed with industrial-grade components but there is precious little room for good airflow. Other than the absolutely massive size of the components (just look at the size of that choke!) the single cap on the primary filtering side is a Hitachi 105°C unit while the secondary gets a ton of Teapos along with a light sprinkling of Nippon Chemicon capacitors.


One of the plastic baffles hides an inverted PCB onto which the majority of the +12V wiring is soldered onto. This design saves space on the main PCB so the overall length of the Quattro didn’t have to increase too much over the size of a standard ATX-sized power supply. As you can see, the soldering job isn’t the best in the world but we will see a bit later if this has any impact on this unit’s performance.

Other than the gargantuan-sized components, it looks like Enhance has attached a pair of rectifiers to their own aluminum heatsink. This is done to more effectively disperse the heat they generate and they are provided with prized real-estate right in front of the exhaust fan.


The modular interface is very well done which is always good to see since a clean transfer of power between the interface and its connectors ensures that there will be no adverse effects to having modular connectors. Years ago, modular power supplies got a somewhat bad reputation due to the fact that the implementation of the modular interface was horribly done by some manufacturers. As you can see, we don’t have to worry about any excessive voltage drops or ripple where Antec’s modular interface is concerned.