We decided to disassemble this power supply to see if it internally is really different from generic power supplies. Please read our Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies tutorial to understand how a power supply works and to compare this power supply to a generic one.

In this page we will have an overal look, while in the next page we will discuss in details the quality and rating of the components used.

We can point out several differences between this power supply and a low-end (a.k.a. “generic”) one: the construction quality of the printed circuit board (PCB); the use of more components on the transient filtering stage; the active PFC circuitry; the use of a thermal sensor on the power diodes heatsink for controlling the fan speed and for shutting down the power supply in case of overheating; the power rating of all components; the design; etcetera.

In Figure 7 you can have an overall look this power supply from inside.

click to enlarge
Figure 7: Inside Antec NeoPower 550.

In the next page we will have a more detailed discussion of the components used in the NeoPower 550.