Instead of releasing a longer 850 W power supply, Antec decided to build a taller unit. Because of it is bigger, CP-850 only fits a few cases from Antec (Twelve Hundred, P183 and P193). Is it a better solution that regular-sized units? Let’s see.

Antec CP-850 is 4 23/32” (12 cm) tall, while regular power supplies are 3 11/12 (8.5 cm) tall. It is 6 ½” (16.5 cm) deep, but because its 120-mm fan is located outside the power supply housing, it is actually 7 43/64” (19.5 cm) deep. It is also wider than regular units, measuring 6 57/64” (17.5 cm) against 5 29/32” (15 cm).

Like Antec Signature series, CP-850 is manufactured by Delta Electronics.

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Figure 1: Antec CP-850 power supply.

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Figure 2: Antec CP-850 power supply.

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Figure 3: Antec CP-850 installed inside an Antec P183 case.

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Figure 4: Half modular cabling system.

All cables that come from inside the power supply use a nylon protection, but this protection does not come from inside the power supply housing.

This unit uses a half modular cabling system. The main motherboard cable (20/24-pin), the EPS12V cable, the ATX12V cable, two cables with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards each, one cable containing three SATA power connectors and one cable with three standard peripheral power plugs and one floppy disk drive power plug come straight from the power supply.

The modular cabling system provides four connectors, two for auxiliary video card power connectors (the unit comes with two cables with one six-pin video card auxiliary power connector each) and two for peripheral power connectors, and the unit comes with four cables (two cables with three standard peripheral power plugs each and two cables with three SATA power plugs each), so you can choose two from these four cables.

The number of power connectors available is more than enough for most users, however very high-end enthusiasts may face some challenges, as you won’t be able to install more than two very high-end video cards at the same time with this power supply, since very high-end cards use two auxiliary power connectors each and this unit comes with “only” four connectors. The solution in this case is to convert standard peripheral power plugs into video card auxiliary power connectors using adaptors.

All wires are 18 AWG, which is the correct gauge to be used.

The distance between the power supply housing and the first connector on each cable is of 25 19/32” (65 cm) and the distance between each connector on cables that have more than one plug is of 6 29/32” (15 cm). The cables are very long, compatible with the full-tower cases this power supply is targeted to.

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Figure 5: Cables.

Let’s now take an in-depth look inside this power supply.