There was a time when a bright lightbulb consumed more electricity than a powerful computer. Those days are long past, as even a modest computer today will eat up an average of 300 watts or more. The ultra-powerful hardware that tempts the PC enthusiast hungers for more electricity to fuel it, thus creating the need for the high capacity PSUs that deliver 600 watts or more.
Today’s PC or gaming buff will likely have two powerful video cards, a multi-core processor, and other bells and whistles that require alot of amps, and the trend is only getting worse. Quad-core CPUs are already here, and Quad-GPUs are on the horizon, so they need a beefy power supply with multiple rails to ensure clean and stable power to run it all.
Given the current lineup of power supply products, users are forced to make some compromises. Right now, units either feature a modular design or have rock-solid performance, but the hardcore modder or gamer wants (nay, NEEDS) both. Some of the most rock-solid power supplies right now are the OCZ ProXstream 1000W (reviewed here), or PC Power & Cooling, but both of these units are not modular, meaning that your case will be clogged with alot of unused cables.
Thermaltake answers the call with their new and improved Toughpower 850W power supply, which now features a highly modular cable design in addition to re-engineered and highly efficient innards. Can it be true? Is there really a power supply that lets us have our cake and eat it, too?
Product Description
Thermaltake Technologies delivers most solid line of power supplies built to specifically towards high-end systems for utmost PC system performance. The leader in thermal solutions defines Tough as being “able to withstand great strain and stress without tearing or breaking” same with their newest and latest line of Toughpower power supplies.
ThermalTake Toughpower 850W PSU Features
- Stable 850W continuous output (at 50 degree operating environment)
- Four independent & dedicated +12V rails provides superior performance for PC system (combined load of 62A)
- Built-in two 6-pin and next generation 8-pin PCI-E connectors for multi-GPU graphic cards
- Supports Dual Core CPU / Quad Core CPU / nVidia SLI & Quad SLI and all multi-core GPU technologies
- Independent Voltage Circuit: offers unflappable current delivery under heavy load
- Strict voltage regulation (+/-3%): provides steady voltage for system
- Active Power Factor Correction (PF>0.99) and high efficiency (up to 87%)
- Industrial grade components (capacitor, transformer, etc)
- High reliability: MTBF>120,000 hours
- Quiet and reliable 14cm ball-bearing fan
- Protections: Over Current, Over voltage, and Short-Circuit protection
- Safety / EMI Approvals: CE, CB, TUV, FCC, UL, CUL, and BSMI certified
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ThermalTake Toughpower 850W Specifications
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The previous Toughpower products had a shiny mirror-like finish, which was very good at picking up fingerprints. This new Toughpower has been updated with a sleek matte gunmetal finish, which has a tougher more industrial look. The Toughpower brand has been imprinted on an aluminum plate and adhered to the left side of the case. On the reverse side is a polycarbonite sticker with the unit’s specifications. Instead of a traditional fan grill, the underside of the cage has been stamped to form a grill out of the metal, and an aluminum ThermalTake badge has been affixed to the center hub. Behind this stamped grill is the absolutely huge 140mm fan, which should cool the internal components as air is pushed through the back grill.
A honeycomb pattern (similar to Modder’s Mesh) has been stamped out of the backside, which allows warm exhaust to escape. Also on the backside is a single on/off switch and a 3-prong AC plug. Most modern power supplies can now detect the voltage, so there is no need for a 120/230V switch.
The power cables and modular cable panel appear on the front side of the Toughpower’s case. There are three permanently-attached cables emerging from the case’s interior: a 24-pin motherboard cable, and two 8-pin PCI-e cables with red connectors. Two 8-pin to 6-pin PCIe converters are included in the box, ensuring compatibility with your “outdated” 3-month-old video card.
All of these cables are sleeved in black mesh and professionally sealed with black heatshrink. It is a bit presumptuous of Thermaltake to assume that everyone who buys this unit will have two video cards, leaving a PCI-e cable unused. Having unused cables in your case defeats the entire purpose of a modular design, and it would have been better if both PCI-e cables were modular.
A polycarbonite sticker is attatched to the front modular panel to identify each socket. The front of the modular panel houses 7 female plugs for these included modular cables:
- 1x 8-pin +12V power connector (8-pin socket)
- 2x 6-pin PCI-e Connectors (8-pin socket)
- 2x 4-pin Peripheral and Floppy power connectors (6-pin socket)
- 2x SATA cable power connectors (6-pin socket)
The additional PCI-e sockets are identified by their red plastic, and the other plugs are black. Each socket has a notch to catch a clip on the included cables, ensuring a secure and snug connection. One must merely put pressure on the clip to release the cable from its corresponding socket.
The large 140mm fan is rated for 16 decibels at 1300 RPM, which means that the power supply will most likely be quieter than the room it occupies, even at 90% load. Of its rated 850 watts, 744 of these are reserved for the unit’s four 12-volt rails (two with 18 amps, and the other two using 30 amps). Nearly 100 watts are reserved for the 3.3V rail, which is severe overkill in my opinion. The +5V rail also has a hefty 150W. Even a powerful computer will probably only use 5 to 10% of the lower-powered rails at best. The unit can also adapt to extreme conditions, and the unit can deliver a peak of 950 Watts for 60 seconds.
A general guide to a power supply’s quality lies in its weight. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but generally higher quality components are heavier because more metal is used in the transformers and capacitors, which generally translates into cleaner power. Heavier power supplies also tend to use larger heatsinks to disipate the heat generated in the power conversion. Taking a look inside, we can see that the Toughpower uses some high-quality components, so the weight isn’t all heatsink to compensate for cheap electronics.
Power supplies that use high quality components tend to last much longer, which counts for ThermalTake’s MTBF of 120,000 hours (over 13 years of constant operation).
Looking inside the unit reveals that the electronics have been carefully placed, and the wires routed and soldered cleanly. There are three finned heatsinks, made from standard aluminum, and the beefy electronics are more expensive Japanese parts. All rails are professionally terminated at a very clean distribution board, and the general build quality is very impressive.
The embedded 140mm fan was extremely quiet during initial testing, but became noticable at around 50% load (450 Watts). The fan is automatically voltage regulated, depending on the PSU’s load, and it runs at a quiet 5v up to 60% load. The fan’s voltage is increased to 9 volts at 80% load, and a full 12 volts at full load. At full load the fan could be heard, but wasn’t any louder than our relatively quiet test rig (which uses the quiet Zalman 9700 NT).
ThermalTake Toughpower 850W PSU Performance
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The fluctuations of all rails were extremely tight, barely exceeding 1% variance at all load levels. The 12 volt rails were spot-on until full load, where the rails dipped down to 11.8V, but was still within a very tight variance. The 5 volt rail was slightly over-volted at all load levels, but again was within 1 percent tolerance.
The efficiency of a power supply is determined by the output power divided by the power input. Some power is always lost when converting Alternating Current (AC) to Direct Current (DC), and the loss is emitted as heat. Therefore a more efficient power supply runs at a lower temperature delta than a less effient one. The Toughpower ran over 80% effieciency at all loads, and was 85% efficient at full load.
The overall efficiency of the ThermalTake Toughpower 850W is excellent and easily exceeds the new ATX design specifications of 80% efficiency.
The ThermalTake ToughPower 850 is certainly a beast worthy of powering a hefty system. The high quality components used deliver very clean power at every load level, and the high capacity of this unit can certainly power even a quad-GPU computer.
The four 12-volt rails makes the system more stable, but only two of the rails deliver 30 amps (the other 2 have a “measly” 18A). This won’t be a big deal for most users, however.
This power supply is extremely stable. All rails are tightly controlled within a 1% tolerance at all load levels, and is at a minimum 83% efficient (beyond 80-plus certification).
It cannot be assumed that every user that buys this power supply will have two video cards, so the hardwired PCI-e cables should have been made modular at the very least. The modular design is a great step forward, but it would be nice if all PCIe and motherboard cables were completely modular, as seen in Ultra’s X-Connect line (reviewed here).
The large 140mm fan makes the unit run cooler and quieter than most power supplies, and doesn’t compromise the size of the PSU cage. Kudos to ThermalTake for keeping the PSU a standard size, as I was able to easily fit this in the cramped quarters of the bottom compartment of my Lian Li V1000 case.
Other well-respected PSUs, like the OCZ ProXstream 1000W (reviewed here) are not modular, which can clog up your PC’s case with unused cables. The ThermalTake ToughPower 850 delivers the same level of quality, but gives you modular flexibility. It may be expensive, but you get what you pay for, and the ThermalTake ToughPower 850 is one of the most solid modular PSUs currently available.
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