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Thermaltake Toughpower 1000W Power Supply Review

Jason Landals
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When it comes to performance computing, power is everything. Not only do you want the most powerful components, you want to make sure those components are provided with enough power to meet performance expectations. This is where power supplies that produce 1000W or more come into play. We have one such beast on the test bench today: The Toughpower 1000W power supply from Thermaltake.

The Toughpower line of power supplies is the top offering from Thermaltake. They are geared towards providing the most power to high performance systems. According to Thermaltake, they are built to be compatible with next generation NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards, as well as the top offerings from Intel and AMD. This means that these power supplies are outfitted with the latest connectors and sockets, which ensures that you aren’t left wondering whether or not you’ll have the right connections for your system.

The 1000W W0132RU model we are looking today is second only to the top dog 1200W model. This quadruple digit monster sports the same features found across the whole Toughpower line which include modular cables, multiple power rails, and a huge cooling fan. The unit is touted to support quad core processors from both Intel and AMD, as well as up to four video cards, with separate rails for each card. Here’s a rundown of the most interesting features.

  • Stable 1000W continuous output (at 50°C operating environment)
  • Four independent & dedicated +12V rails (12V1, 12V2, 12V3, 12V4) provides superior performance for PC system.
  • NEW! Three 8-pin and three 6-pin PCIe connectors design supports Multi-GPU Graphic card.
  • Supports Dual Core CPU / Quad Core CPU / Nvidia SLI & Quad SLI and all Multi-Core GPU technologies.
  • Modularized Cable Management to eliminate clutter and improve airflow inside the case.
  • 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, Under Voltage, Over Temperature, Over Power, and Short-Circuit protection.
  • Safety / EMI Approvals: CE, CB, TUV, FCC, UL, CUL, and BSMI certified.

The short list of features has some interesting points. The voltage regulation specs combined with the the mention of multiple rails begs for some torture testing. Also I’m looking forward to seeing if there’s any variances in voltage while running my SLI rig under load. As for noise, this power supply will be tested in the previously reviewed Antec P182, so seeing if the Toughpower adds noise to that already quiet case will be something in need of testing. Full specifications can of course be found on the Toughpower 1000W product page.

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What’s In The Box?

Before we start torture testing the Toughpower 1000W power supply, we should probably check out what else is included in the package.

Not only does Thermaltake include what one would expect with a modular power supply, they also include a couple nice extras. For connectors, Thermaltake does live up to their claims of including every connector you could need with the Toughpower 1000W. Here’s the full list of connections available:

  • 20+4-pin Main Connector X 1
  • 4+4 pin power connector X 1
  • 8-pin power connector X 1
  • 4-pin Peripheral Connector X 8
  • Floppy Connector X 2
  • 5-pin S-ATA Connector X 8
  • 8-pin PCI-E Connector X 3
  • 6-pin PCI-E Connector X 3

I don’t think I need to state the obvious, but that is a lot of stuff in the box. As for the aforementioned extras, Thermaltake includes a silicone gasket that goes between the power supply and the case, and is meant to dampen any vibration noise that may be transmitted from the power supply to the case. Anyhow, let’s get a better look at this power supply and then see how it performs.

Visual Inspection

Like many 1000W power supplies, the Thermaltake Toughpower 1000W unit is very large. Front to back it measures a whopping 20 cm, which is something you’ll want to take into consideration when building a system. The reason for this length is the large amount of internal electronics required to generate 1000W of power, as well as the circuitry to drive it to separate rails and manage the output.

From the front you are able to get a glance of some of the large components used to construct the Toughpower 1000W. We had to settle for this, as the Toughpower 1000W is very difficult to take apart. Thermaltake did send us some pictures of the interior, which really demonstrates how all that extra stuff inside lends to both the depth and weight of the unit. The Toughpower 1000W actually consists of two smaller 500W supplies combined together, and cooled by many huge heatsinks. You’ll notice that a fan is absent from the front of the power supply.

The reason for this missing fan is because the large 140mm fan on the bottom of the Toughpower 1000W is plenty of cooling. This fan covers and cools pretty much every component within the Toughpower. Since it’s the only fan and is an intake, it creates an overpressure environment which then exhausts out the front. The use of a 140mm fan is also beneficial to one’s ears, and the larger fans tend to be quieter while still pushing a significant amount of air.

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Rather than posting them on the side, Thermaltake posts the power specifications for the Toughpower 1000W on the top. Here is where you can see the full breakdown of this power supply’s output specs, and how it breaks down to equal 1000W. Once we get the Toughpower installed, and everything connected, we’ll really get to stress these specs and see how well the unit stays within specs.

Connectors

The bottom of the Thermaltake Toughpower 1000W power supply may have a large 140mm fan, and the front may be a fancy display of electronic wonder, but the back is where the action is. On the rear of the power supply is the bank of component power connectors; nicely organized and colour coded. Each rail is also labelled, so you can ensure that your video cards are all on separate rails. Now the only cables in this whole arrangement that aren’t modular are the cables for the 24-pin, the 8-pin, and the 4+4 pin connectors. These connectors are generally used for motherboard bound sockets, and it’s very uncommon to see them as modular options on a power supply as every modern motherboard seems to use them anyway. Everything else is modular, and is very configurable due to what is included by Thermaltake.

With all these cables, you can hook up one motherboard, three video cards, eight standard molex devices (hard drives, optical), two floppy disks, and five SATA devices. That’s all at the same time. I don’t know if the power supply would run all that gear, but I’m not quite to that point yet. That being said, the amount of cables and adapters included with the Toughpower 1000W will give you these kinds of connection options. From left to right in the above picture, we have three 8-pin PCIe cables, three 8-pin to 6-pin PCIe convertors, three 6-pin PCIe cables, two standard molex cables sporting four 4-pin molex connectors each, and two SATA power cables with four SATA power connectors each. These cables should be able to power any system configuration, given enough thought to their setup.

Installation

Installing the Toughpower 1000W into our Antec P182 test case was extremely easy. To some that may be a given, seeing as this is a power supply. However in my past experience, power supplies can have installation issues like any other component. Most of these issues are due to shoddy workmanship, and run the gamut from offset screw holes to low quality materials used in construction. The Toughpower 1000W has no such problems, as Thermaltake pays close attention to the quality of their products. The only gripe I can think of is that the rubber gasket that is meant to act as a sound dampening device, doesn’t fit all that snug to the power supply. The only outcome I can see from this is a little extra collected dust. All in all, installing the Toughpower 1000W was as trouble free as I could hope for.

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The only consideration with this power supply is the one that I also mentioned in the Antec P182 review; you have to plan ahead and know what components you are using. As I noted at the beginning on this review, the Thermaltake Toughpower 1000W is 20cm long. This may create some fitment issues in smaller cases, or with cases with special design considerations. This makes the modular design of most of the power cables on the Toughpower 1000W a great advantage, as you can reduce clutter by choosing to install only those cables you need. This will help with most tight fitting spaces. Add to that some proper planning, and any problems can be ironed out easily.

Test System and Setup

As noted earlier, the Thermaltake Toughpower 1000W power supply is a no frills product in the accessories department. The only extra included was the silicone gasket used for sound dampening. This made installation very easy, and fairly painless. To try to push the Toughpower 1000W to it’s breaking point, we had it power the following test system.

As for the tests themselves, we had to basically drive the computer to it’s red line; making sure that all the components were working at their maximum. To do this, we first spun up a CD and played back some music to get the optical drive spinning. Next a scandisk was run to make the hard drives start working hard. Then we added OCCT to the mix, and used it to drill the processors to 100% usage. Finally we spun up 3DMark06 and performed a full benchmark run.

To test noise levels of the power supply itself, we positioned a dB Meter 6 inches for the exhaust fan of the power supply. We then took readings at both idle and load conditions. The idle readings are simply to see how loud the power supply is, and the load tests are run with the intent of checking to see if the power supply had to spin up it’s fan to cool itself off when providing extra power to the system.

The Results

I might as well admit it right now; my intended test system was no match for the power of the Toughpower 1000W power supply. Power supply testing isn’t very exciting to begin with, and thanks to the consistent and unwavering performance of the Toughpower 1000W unit I was reduced to a drooling pile of boredom incarnate. That isn’t a bad thing, as not being bored means that this power supply has issues and there is most likely some pretty blue smoke billowing off of some component somewhere in the system.

Exercises in hyperbole aside, this power supply does post some very consistent numbers. Leading off the benchmarks is our results from testing the voltage output of each rail in the Toughpower 1000W

The 3.3V rail is the most boring of them all. Not only does it perform within spec under both idle and load conditions, but the output voltage doesn’t change between idle and load. The 5V and 12V rails had a little more action on them, with a slight drop on both when heavy load was put on the system. Overall this power supply should be rock solid in all but the most power hungry (or component loaded) system configurations. I’m not sure if I have enough gear to hook up to get there.

Noise levels were all quite sleep inducing, in more ways than one. With our dB meter in position, we only registered 50.3 dBA under both idle and load conditions. This noise level was only noticable to my ears if I put them in the same position as the dB meter. Otherwise the power supply wasn’t inaudible, subjectively speaking. To my ears, the power supply didn’t add any noise to the overall system when it was on. I decided to live dangerously, and stopped the fan in the power supply for a half minute. There was no change in the subjective loudness of the computer overall.

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Final Thoughts and Conclusion

The Thermaltake Toughpower 1000W is an example of everything done right in a high wattage power supply. It’s quiet, stable, and well constructed. That’s the thing with power supplies. These components are like the best Hollywood editors; if they’ve done they job right, you should never know that they have plied their craft.  To be honest there’s actually very little to gripe about with the Toughpower 1000W, and I usually try to find things to gripe about because griping is so much fun.

The fit an finish on this power supply may not have bling, but it has practicality. The unit is solid, and easily installed. As for the feature set of the Toughpower 1000W, the modular cable system is well built and a welcome addition. Due to this power supply’s long length, good cable management is a must. With modular cables, good cable management becomes a given as the girth of the cables often can create issues in tight confines.

Another given is the simple preference that power supplies be seen and not heard. The noise levels put out by the Toughpower 1000W may seem high in numbers, but subjectively they are non-existent and don’t add any more noise then is already present is any computer system.

Another area where Thermaltake has done it’s job is in voltage regulation. I’m willing to bet it would take a very powerful system to make the Toughpower 1000W flinch. As it stands with the test rig I used in this review, the Toughpower 1000W’s workout was equivalent to a brisk walk around the block. I may have to update this review once our new Phenom test rig is up, running, and fully overclocked. Maybe then this athlete of a power supply will actually break a sweat.

The lowest street price I’ve seen this power supply at so far is $300 USD. This is slightly higher than most 1000W power supplies on the market, save for big players like Antec and PC Power and Cooling. Given the points highlighted in this review, I could highly recommend this power supply should you need 1000W of power for your uber system.

The Good

  • Quiet
  • Stable
  • Well constructed

The Bad

  • Heavy and long

Overall Rating: 9.5/10.0

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