Antec Phantom Power Supply

Antec's newest power supply is called the Phantom. That's because "Fanless" didn't sound as sexy. I kid you not (well, about the name, yes), the thing has no fan! It's a power supply wrapped in a huge heatsink. How huge? It's no bigger overall than a standard power supply so it will fit in almost any case you can find, especially one of those really nice Antec cases. What makes it huge? Well, I am endowed with 2x the strength of the average 130 pound weakling and the Phantom is an uncomfortable palm --because of its weight.

If you look at Antec's website, you'll see that it rates the Phantom at roughly 5lbs. That's wrong. In fact, all of Antec's power supplies carry the same weight listing. It's the foibles of cut and paste page composition. According to the amazingly accurate planar scale at the Lab of Doom and Pepsi Cola (yes, the LofD&PC is back!) the Phantom loads down the springs at a chunky 7.5lbs. Is that an issue? Maybe. Antec itself recommends that if you're shipping a Phantom-equipped PC somewhere it's advisable that you remove the Phantom and ship it separately. The more your computer case resembles one of those light-weight, stressed aluminum designs, the more important that advice is. So why bother? Antec tells it best: Plenty of companies claim that their power supplies are "quiet." Or "ultra-quiet." Or "virtually silent." And they may well be. But the simple truth is, our revolutionary Phantom is utterly, absolutely, undeniably silent.

What's to make noise if there's no fan? (And no, you back there in the fifth row with the tape on the bridge of your glasses, I can't hear an electrical hum either.)

The question, however, is whether or not the Phantom has legs. Apple's original power supplies were also fanless but they didn't max out at 350 watts. Antec warns that some PC cases depend on the power supply's fan to cool the case and therefore you shouldn't install a Phantom in one of those. (Duh!) However, I have three PCs with 120MM fans (plural) installed that I run 24/7 and the Phantom will find a home in one of them. Antec rates the Phantom at 80,000 hours mean time between failure. MTBF numbers, in general, mean absolutely nothing practical to consumers. It's not cheap. Making something do the impossible never is.