Customer Reviews

Antec 380 Watts Earth Power Supplies (EA380)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have a Dell machine that's on 24 hours as it's used to serve up files. At idle it took 57-58 watts of power. That's a lot of electric when you're paying 20 cents/kwh. I wanted to replace the ps because it was loud and thought that a more efficient ps would be a great bonus that would pay for itself over time. Quite true here. Idle power went down to 47-48 watts (!). I didn't do a full suite of tests but the idle itself was a 17% improvement over the Dell (a modern E521 / X2 processor system). This means I should get similar savings over the entire band of power consumption when the cpu grinds down data where it can surge to 100+ watts on the old ps. These measurements taken with a kill-a-wa-tt power meter. Therefore, with a 10watt saving at idle, I will save approx
$1.44/month in electric at minimum. If you're paying a lot of $ for electric (and it will only get more pricier as oil continues to rise) then an efficient ps is the way to go. Great unit for this purpose.

Our extended family owns 4 different eMachine brand computers and I am the one they turn to for advice, maintanence and repair. Recently I've been reading about the problems that eMachines is having with poor quality power supplies and how, when these cheap power supplies die prematurely, they usually burn up the motherboard too.

That convinced me to act defensively and purchase two ANTEC 380 watt power supplies to replace the factory originals in our oldest eMachines, a T6410 and a T5048.

The installation was simple. The ANTEC supplies bolted right in and had all the right connectors (and lots more that I didn't need).

There was a short-lived moment of panic when I discovered that the old power supply used a large 20 pin connector to power the motherboard but the ANTEC comes with an even larger 24 pin connector. Not to worry - a quick glance at the instructions shows that the ANTEC 24 pin connector can be broken into two parts - a 20 pin and a 4 pin connector. For my computers, the resulting 4 pin connector isn't used.

I made sure to tie wrap the unused wires out of the way where they wouldn't short out nor impede the flow of air inside the case (very important) and that was it. All done.

The eMachines both work fine and I have peace of mind knowing there's a more efficient, name-brand power supply in each of them.




EDIT: 6/28/09

The computers have been in daily use for over a year now and there have been no problems.

I have bought and sold many of this model series of PSU (the SU and EA models are very similar) and have not had a single functional complaint. I use a couple of the EA-380s in my own systems and couldn't be happier. I enjoy the high efficiency rating even though our electricity cost is lower than most. But I enjoy the low noise even more. You get a lot for your money with these Seasonic-made PSUs (I doubt you can find one with the Seasonic name on it for under $50.00).
. These 380 Watt units are adequate for at least 85% of the computers in use today (which rely more heavily on the +12 Volt rail than the +5 Volt rail like the older systems used to) - no need to buy an oversize unit as this one will run most efficiently in the 100 to 250 Watt range, which is the amount that most PCs actually use. I recommend the Antec Earthwatts series highly. The array of connectors provided covers what is needed for all but the really high end systems with fancy video cards, etc. And the cable lengths are adequate for all bit the largest or strangely oriented of cases - it's nice that the ATX bundle comes sheathed from the factory. .bh.

A good inexpensive replacement for our Dell's 308w power supply. Good quality cabling and a handy on-off switch.

Antec is still top notch, and this little power supply shows it. I use it to power a Gigabyte P35 series mobo, E8400 C2D chip cooled by a Zalman 9500Cu fan, 4 gigs of Corsair PC6400 RAM, ATI 4650 video card, two DVD RAM drives, and a few fans, between 140mm and 200mm. IT IS MORE THAN SUFFICIENT, and I'm not burning more electric than I need to. This is an excellent buy, and the efficiency is awesome too. The PSU enclosure stays cool to the touch, which tells me the PSU doesn't convert a lot of power into heat. This power supply replaced another excellent Antec 650 watt supply. My only reason for the swap is my electric bill, since I'm a moderate gamer and a computer will suck up all the power you give it.

The shipment was delayed a week which was not expected, but the power supply was a perfect replacement for my Antec system. It's quiet and very reliable.

I installed this supply in a 4G AMD 2.9GHz X2 machine. I measured the power factor at .97 - that's great! It's my second EA380. The supply runs cool and the fan is quiet too.

My Mom bought a new computer from GW and I hooked it up for her. She wanted to know how much the newfangled thing was going to cost to run, so I tested the psu and it was idling at 122 watts and had a power factor of .56(Eek). It worked for 3 days. I wasn't going to be party to replacing it with the same pos psu. Luckily it hadn't damaged anything.

I replaced it with this Earth Power and it's running extremely quiet. 109 watts at idle and a pf of .99 Mom's happy again, and you know: If Momma ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy ;-)

Well, it was fine while it lasted. Bought on 2/18/09, the supply is broken as of mid May. Antec was unable / unwilling to answer simple questions. They are more than happy to supply an RMA but I must pick up shipping to them. I suppose any product can fail but their customer service is poor so I would suggest avoiding Antec.

I received my Antec EA380 power supply in a timely fashion. After examining the motherboard connection I thought it defective. I was not aware of a change in the ATX form for the 20/4 pin setup. My computer requires a true 20 pin connection and the EA380 would not work. I returned it and was given a full refund. I am totally satisfied with the performance of this vendor.