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 Two 8-pin to 6-pin PCIe converters are included in the box, ensuring compatibility with your “outdated” 3-month-old video card.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.
