Introduction and Features

The Toughpower 1,500W PSU features one of the highest output capacities of any PC power supply on the market today. However this is a 230V edition with limited availability in North America.
Thermaltake currently has sixteen power supplies in their Toughpower Series, which range in output capacity from 600W all the way up to 1,500 watts!  These new models all feature a large 140mm cooling fan, high efficiency, active PFC, quiet operation, and ATX12V 2.2 compliance.  In addition, the power supplies come with sleeved, modular cables and include a silicone rubber mounting pad to help reduce vibration noise.  We will be taking a detailed look at the Thermaltake Toughpower 1,500W PSU (W0171) in this review. 

Thermaltake Toughpower 1,500W Power Supply Review - Cases and Cooling 33
Thermaltake Toughpower 1,500W PSU

Note: This is a 230V Edition power supply, which is available to European customers but not typically sold in North America.  Thanks to universal AC input the Toughpower 1,500W PSU will actually operate on 115 VAC but can only deliver the maximum rated output of 1,500W when operating on 230 VAC.

Thermaltake Toughpower 1,500W Power Supply Review - Cases and Cooling 34

Establishing an accurate load is critical to testing and evaluating a PC power supply.  PCPerspective’s power supply test bench can place a precise 2,000 watt DC load on the PSU under test.  Each power supply is tested under controlled, real-world conditions up to its maximum rated load, using both 115 VAC and 240 VAC line voltage.  Our current suite of tests includes:

•    DC Load Regulation
•    DC Line Regulation
•    DC Cross-load (unbalanced load)
•    AC Ripple and Noise
•    Power Factor
•    Efficiency
•    Differential Temperature
•    Noise

Thermaltake Toughpower 1,500W Power Supply Review - Cases and Cooling 35

The Thermaltake Toughpower 1,500W power supply was evaluated on both features and performance.  A full range of equipment was used to test the power supply under controlled load conditions. 

•    (2) CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs)
•    (4) CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4)
•    FLUKE 87-III True RMS digital multimeter (Accuracy ±0.05%)
•    Extech 380803 Power Analyzer (Accuracy ±0.5% of full scale)
•    Hitachi V-650F 60 MHz dual trace oscilloscope (Accuracy ±3%)
•    Powerstat Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA, 0-140 VAC
•    FLUKE  52-II digital thermometer (Accuracy ±0.3ºC/0.5ºF)
•    Extech Model 407738 digital sound level meter (Accuracy ±1.5 dB)
•    AccuLab V1-10kg digital balance (Accuracy ±1g)
•    Custom Lian Li PC60 enclosure to simulate real-world operating conditions




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