Antec Titan 550 Case Review

     Many case manufacturers include a token PSU with their cases.  While I appreciate the gesture, my pile of generic 450 W power supplies is getting out of control.   It is refreshing to see Antec provide a quality PSU from their current lineup.  The TruePower 2.0 TP-550EPS12V power supply is from Antec's award winning power supply family and probably deserving of its own review not just a pack along!

Features:

• Removable front bezel for easy installation
• Double hinge door design: open the door up to 270º
• Ultra-quiet cooling system:
  - 1 rear 120mm standard fan with TriCool 3-speed switch
  - 2 front (optional) 92mm case fan mounts
• 10 Drive Bays
  - External 4 x 5.25" (one with 5.25" to 3.5" adapter)
  - Internal 6 x 3.5"
• • Front ports: 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire®, i.Link®), Audio In and Out.
• Power Supply included: TruePower 2.0 550W ATX12V v2.0 and EPS12V compatible
• 7 Expansion Slots
• 1.0mm cold rolled steel for durability
• Motherboard: Extended ATX including CEB specification motherboard (30,5 x 33 cm)
• Size: 17.6" (H) x 8.1" (W) x 23" (D)
  44.6cm (H) x 20.5cm (W) x 58.4cm (D)
• Net Weight : 30 lbs
  14 kg

TruePower TP-550EPS12V Features:

• SLI Ready
• 2 low noise fans
• Dual 12V outputs, for stability and safety
• True Spec noise level of 21.3 dBA measured at an independent lab using ISO 7779 standard
• EPS12V 2.2 compliant/ATX12V 2.01 compatible. 24-pin main power connector with detachable 4-pin section
• 8-pin +12V connector with detachable 4-pin section for universal motherboard compatibility
• 4 Serial ATA connectors
• PCI Express graphic card power connectors
• Dedicated output for more stability and less ripple noise
• Feedback circuits for tighter load regulation (±3%) to maintain accurate voltage to all components
• Industrial-grade protection circuitry prevents damage resulting from short circuits, power overloads, excessive current, excessive voltage , excessive temperatures
• Fan Only power connectors allow True Power to control case fan speeds, reducing total system noise
• MTBF: 80,000 hours
• Dimensions: 5.9" (W) x 3.4" (H) x 5.5"(D)
• Safety approval: CB, DEMKO, FCC Class B, FIMKO, EMKO, UL, VDE, TUV
• Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) (Europe only)
• Power Factor value greater than 90% (Europe only)
• Gold plated connectors for superior conductivity
• Important Note: The TruePower 2.0 Fan Only connectors are designed to power standard fans only. Attaching thermally-controlled fans to these connectors will likely result in unpredictable and undesired behavior. Thermally-controlled fans should only be connected to the standard 4-pin Peripheral Power Connectors. Please do not connect more than three fans to the Fan Only connectors.

The Install:

     With the spring LAN Party season in full swing, I decided to see how the Titan 550 would fare as a traveling gaming PC.  I migrated my ClubOC AMD box over from the dependable XION II Gamer case.  The build includes an Athlon 64 3000+, 2x 1gig OCZ Gold Edition XTC DDR, and a Gigabyte X1800 XL mounted on an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard.  A NEC DVD Burner and two 30 Gig hard drives completed the install.

Moving from this case over to the Titan 550 brings to mind a beauty and the beast comparison.

     First I installed the motherboard taking advantage of the changeover to switch out the CPU cooler.  It is immediately apparent the Titan 550 is more than ready for the Extended ATX motherboards.  There is a ton of room in here for a dual proc server setup or some advanced water cooling setups.  Notice also the extra length on every cable run to support every style of motherboard installation.  Antec has even included support brackets for some of the longer cards found in many server installs.