Thermaltake Toughpower 1500w (W0171) ATX PSU
Internals & Cables
Published: 13th December 2007 | Source: Thermaltake | Price: ~£180 |
Internal Components
In the past, many people have judged the quality of a PSU on its weight and size of internal components. However, with many manufacturers moving on to newer and more efficient ways of designing their PSU's, it has become increasingly obvious that this is no longer a reliable method for gauging a power supply's quality. By looking inside the Toughpower we should be able to identify some of the components used and get a good feel for the overall build quality of the unit.
Without doubt, the Toughpower has one of the most unique internal layouts of any PSU we've ever tested here at Overclock3D. As you can see from the images above, components such as the capacitors, ferrite coils and transformers are almost mirrored on both sides of the PCB. This leads me to believe that my initial thoughts on the Toughpower 1500w actually being two 750w units sandwiched together, may well be true.
Regardless of this, the general layout inside the unit is actually very tidy with minimal cable clutter around the components. We can also see that Thermaltake have gone to the trouble of using an AC filter on the mains power socket as a first line of defence against voltage spikes and line noise.
As previously mentioned, the Toughpower makes use of a 140mm fan that covers the entire width of the PSU casing. Using a 140mm fan should offer a better noise-to-airflow ratio than traditional 120mm fans and also has the added advantage of cooling any components at the edge of the PSU. At a glance you'd be forgiven for thinking that the fan is manufactured by Thermaltake, but closer inspection reveals that it is actually the work of a highly respected Taiwanese manufacturer named Yate Loon. The specifications of this fan can be seen below:
• Model: Yate Loon D14BH-12
• Size (mm): 140x140x25
• Bearing: BALL
• Speed (RPM): 2800
• Airflow (CFM): 140.0
• Noise (dBA): 48.5
• Size (mm): 140x140x25
• Bearing: BALL
• Speed (RPM): 2800
• Airflow (CFM): 140.0
• Noise (dBA): 48.5
Bearing in mind that the average PSU needs nowhere near 140CFM of airflow to keep the components cool, I think we can safely assume that Thermaltake will be running the Yate Loon fan at roughly 1/2 this speed, thus dramatically reducing the noise levels.
Cables & Connectors
With the Toughpower being a modular unit, the last thing you want to do is lose any extra cables that you might need at a later date. For this reason Thermaltake have included a canvas pouch suitable for stowing away any modular cables not used in your PC build.
All cables on the Toughpower are sleeved in black mesh right up to the very last connector, and the job is completed professionally with the use of zip-ties and heatshrink to keep everything in place.
In addition to this, all connectors on the Toughpower are finished in black, with the molex connectors adopting the 'easy grip' design. This should make removal of the connectors from devices easier.
Thermaltake have gone a bit "OTT" with the number of PCI-E cables included with the unit. I counted a total of 8 cables and adapters - not including the additional cable (pictured right) that is hard-wired into the unit. I'm guessing this may be to provide full support for "Tripple SLI" when/if it becomes a little more mainstream.
The ATX connector on the Toughpower is native 24-pin. However, as you can see above, a small block of 4 connectors can be broken off to switch the connector to 20-pin, thus make it compatible with older motherboards. The same can also be said for the 8-Pin "EPS-12v" connector which can be snapped in half to convert it to the older 4-Pin "P4-12v" standard.
Most Recent Comments
Very well i should think, i look forward to reading it later...
Great review. 93% overall is pretty impressive, some nice efficiency going on there.
1. Don`t like black mesh wraps anymore.
2. Don`t like `easy grip` molex connectors.
1. Don`t like black mesh wraps anymore.
2. Don`t like `easy grip` molex connectors.
Both of those are industry standard and features most people look for in a PSU tbh
Good job TT, a very decent product. I'm impressed
Good job TT, a very decent product. I'm impressed
sounded like you were giving thermaltake compliments through gritted teeth at first 
but good review all in all
and actually, a good unit, my god....somthing to come out of thermaltake (other than the armour) that didnt suck...wow...
but good review all in all
and actually, a good unit, my god....somthing to come out of thermaltake (other than the armour) that didnt suck...wow...
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Originally Posted by name='ionicle'
sounded like you were giving thermaltake compliments through gritted teeth at first
but good review all in all and actually, a good unit, my god....somthing to come out of thermaltake (other than the armour) that didnt suck...wow... |
lol
The bad: Not a sausage
good review, still surprised to see 1500W psu's
The bad: Not a sausage
good review, still surprised to see 1500W psu's
Tt PSUs are definitely looking good now 
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Originally Posted by name='SBB'
Tt PSUs are definitely looking good now
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Originally Posted by name='ionicle'
only thing they do that might actually sell to anyone other than the unsuspecting n00b
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Then again, they make a lot of trash too like those horrible Xaser cases
its the trash i was refering to
i had a thermaltake tsunami dream...it...wasnt ....bad.... (shoot me) ....and the armor looks quite good...
but ye...the general production coming out of thermaltake is trash..
i had a thermaltake tsunami dream...it...wasnt ....bad.... (shoot me) ....and the armor looks quite good...
but ye...the general production coming out of thermaltake is trash..
Quit an impressive PSU from Thermaltrash, I was waiting the entire review for it to explode, but I was never greeted with pix of a house fire.
Good work TT, nice to see you're stepping up with some products that don't actually suck.
Good work TT, nice to see you're stepping up with some products that don't actually suck.
ThermalTake Toughpower units (at least the ones from 1000 W up), are based on Channel Well Technologies OEM units. There are several reviews going back close to a year that have clearly demonstrated that these are consistently some of the best 1KW+ units. Nice review though, and one more piece of evidence that Thermaltake's turned the corner with their PSU's (the up-market ones anyway).
Track down JonnyGuru's review for one of the most exhaustive looks at the Toughpower 1200 (which I have). The 1500 appears to just be an up-sized later rev of this unit. My system, which draws 650+ W under load, has behaved flawlessly over the last six months with this unit.
The one thing I would mention, which may have been fixed with the 1500, is that the 12V connector can be a stretch, in large mid-tower to full-tower cases that bottom-mount the PSU (oy, that sounds a little dirty). An extender cable may be in order.
The Toughpower 850 may also be built off a CWT, in which case I'd recommend that for someone with saner (and greener!) power requirements. I prefer to run my PS's at 50-70% of their rated capacity, for greater longevity, hence the 1200.
And in common with everyone else - I recommend you stay the hell away from all of Thermaltake's non-CWT PSU's.
Track down JonnyGuru's review for one of the most exhaustive looks at the Toughpower 1200 (which I have). The 1500 appears to just be an up-sized later rev of this unit. My system, which draws 650+ W under load, has behaved flawlessly over the last six months with this unit.
The one thing I would mention, which may have been fixed with the 1500, is that the 12V connector can be a stretch, in large mid-tower to full-tower cases that bottom-mount the PSU (oy, that sounds a little dirty). An extender cable may be in order.
The Toughpower 850 may also be built off a CWT, in which case I'd recommend that for someone with saner (and greener!) power requirements. I prefer to run my PS's at 50-70% of their rated capacity, for greater longevity, hence the 1200.
And in common with everyone else - I recommend you stay the hell away from all of Thermaltake's non-CWT PSU's.
Not sure what you mean by "behind the curve". ThermalTake may have taken to start making decent PSU's, but they still have a lot of products not up to scratch. I would like to see an improvement in quality throughout their range. This is a good start though
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Originally Posted by name='Kempez'
Not sure what you mean by "behind the curve". ThermalTake may have taken to start making decent PSU's, but they still have a lot of products not up to scratch. I would like to see an improvement in quality throughout their range. This is a good start though
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Cheers for the info kuraegomon (<- i had to paste that). You are indeed correct that the 1500 is manufactured by CWT. I would have mentioned it in the review, but tend to try and distance myself from the politics that come around from products that have one persons name on it, but are made by another
What we need from TT now is some elegant, thick alu, top-end w/c ready cases
What we need from TT now is some elegant, thick alu, top-end w/c ready cases
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Thermaltake Toughpower 1500w (W0171) ATX PSU