Antec ATX12V Power Supply Tester

     Until recently, testing power supplies has been an art form best left to the professionals. Strange behavior can be observed when using a computer with a PSU on the fritz. But unless one was willing to contort himself ten ways from Tuesday, testing the PSU was not something for the average Joe to do. Antec has made this process so easy, that even this average Joe can adequately test an ATX power supply using their new ATX12V tester.

     Blister-pack packaging allows for us to clearly see what's included in the package. No cutting is required to open this product, which is definitely a plus. The labeling is clear about what the product does.

Of course what piece of electronics today can exist without explaining the features in 5 different languages?

     Like the packaging, the instructions come in 5 different languages, all on one sheet. (front and back) The instructions needed to use the tester are so short however, that this is not an inconvenience.

     This is basically it! A marking at the top of the tester indicates where the 20-pin ATX connector should line up. An LED is clearly labeled for each power-rail of the PSU. And towards the bottom of this view, we can see the two LEDs labeled 'FAULT' and 'GOOD' for the general overall health readout for the PSU.

     A single screw keeps this thing enclosed. Antec has done a great job on following the KISS (Keep It Surprisingly Simple) principle in the design of this tester. Some of this I'm sure they intended as part of the product design, and part of it to keep the costs down.

Ladies and gentlemen, the business end of this unit designed to fit 20 and 24 pin ATX connectors.

The 20 pin is designed to fill all but the 4 left-most pins.

Antec was considerate enough to not only provide decent gripping areas, but they rubberized them as well for added traction.

     Antec being who they are, did not leave the die-hard enthusiasts out of the loop. Besides providing an incredibly easy to use tester, they have also provided pinouts for multimeters to easily read actual voltages.

     These pinouts are sized to fit multimeter leads snug enough for hands free operation. (note: multimeter and leads are not included with the PSU tester)

     Once the tester is connected to the PSU and power is supplied to the PSU, the tester automatically turns the PSU on for testing. The LEDs for each rail are tri-colored so that each color can indicate whether the voltages are in spec. Orange indicates a low voltage, red is high, and green is within spec. Looks like my spare PSU is still good.

Conclusion

     The downsides to this tester are few. It only tests ATX power supplies, and it won't test for damaged molex or other connectors. However, since the power supplied to the drives is also present in in the ATX connector pretty much all other bases are covered. The upsides for this product are definitely worth the investment. It's simple, faster than testing by hand, inexpensive, and allows additional readings via the multimeter ports.