Thermaltake Toughpower Modular 750W PSU

Rob Williams · 10-03-2006, 10:36 PM

Power, we all need it, we all crave it and it's a part of life. Today I'm looking at an item that'll have you sounding like He-Man: "I have the power!" And you won't be wrong.

Read Matts review here and discuss it here.

day0 · 10-04-2006, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Continuous wattage of 750W.

I'm not terribly familiar with what that means in the review. Is that like having a 750W light bulb on when my computer is on?

PS. I just signed up. Great site!

madmat · 10-04-2006, 03:49 PM

It means that the PSU is capable of pushing up to 750W non-stop and be within spec. It's only going to use (and put out) as much wattage as your PC needs at any given time. If it needs 200W it'll put out that much and use about 240W given 80% efficiency.

Thanks for joining up BTW. nice to meetcha.

jonnyGURU · 10-07-2006, 05:37 PM

Awesome review Matt!

That's a beautiful PSU!

Greg King · 10-08-2006, 01:48 AM

Assuming you are who your name suggests, thats means a lot! While I am not Matt, thank you for the compliment.

madmat · 10-08-2006, 03:18 AM

Thanks Jonny! It is a wonderful piece of equipment for sure

jonnyGURU · 10-09-2006, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkSynergy

Assuming you are who your name suggests...

I imitate those I idolize???

01-21-2007, 12:41 AM

I noticed something strange in your review, why is half of the fan covered with a transparent plastic? That thing there sure is getting in the way of our nice airflow. why did they put it there? I am wondering whether I have to remove it or not.

madmat · 01-21-2007, 01:22 AM

That's there to force the air flow to act more like a fan laid out in a linear fashion from front to back. It deflects the air causing it to flow from the front of the PSU to the back. If you had a cut-away of the PSU looking at it from the side you'd see that the opening in the fan is in the front, the air flows from the fan down to the front of the PSU, down and then back thereby making for better air flow over and through the components in the unit. If taken out the air will dump straight out the rear of the PSU and actually cause it to run hotter.

It's like ducting for directed air flow so you want to leave it in place.

01-21-2007, 05:03 PM

thanks very much for your answer indeed!

03-09-2007, 07:09 AM

Excellent easy to understand review, has helped me to finally make up my mind

madmat · 03-09-2007, 10:21 AM

I'm glad to be of service

04-11-2007, 10:46 AM

Does anyone know exactly how many modular ide power cables this comes with? I suspect it comes with 4 IDE power cables with two molex connectors per cable. Is this correct?

How safe would it be to expand this to 16 connectors by use of a y splitter on each of the default connectors?

madmat · 04-11-2007, 10:59 AM

For 16 drives? Not very since that's a grand total of 3A X 16 upon drive spin up and the IDE's all ride the same rail rated at 18A. If you're wanting to power relatively low draw items such as CCFL's and such it would be OK as long as you don't go overboard.

Also, if you have your drives set to stagger spin up (via the drive controller cards) it would likewise be OK as the drives only consume a minimal amount of power once they're all spinning.

ctrlshift · 04-11-2007, 11:16 AM

Ahh right, I guess that explains why my PSUs keep dying. Is there anything out there that can do what I want? If not what is the maximum?

I doubt my controller cards have stagger spin, but I will definitely look into that

10-03-2006, 10:36 PM	#1
Rob Williams Editor in Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 8,921	Thermaltake Toughpower Modular 750W PSU Power, we all need it, we all crave it and it's a part of life. Today I'm looking at an item that'll have you sounding like He-Man: "I have the power!" And you won't be wrong. Read Matts review here and discuss it here. __________________ Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.20GHz, ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, OCZ 8GB PC2-6400, EVGA GTX 285 1024MB Seagate 500GB, 750GB & 1TB, Pioneer 22x ODD, Corsair 1000HX, Thermalright Ultra-120, CM Storm Sniper Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Ultrasone PRO 750, Gentoo Linux (KDE 4.3.2, 2.6.31 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter Profiles: Last.fm \| Xbox Live \| Steam

10-04-2006, 03:49 PM	#3
madmat Former Editor Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Kennesaw GA Posts: 1,639	It means that the PSU is capable of pushing up to 750W non-stop and be within spec. It's only going to use (and put out) as much wattage as your PC needs at any given time. If it needs 200W it'll put out that much and use about 240W given 80% efficiency. Thanks for joining up BTW. nice to meetcha. __________________ M2N32-SLI Deluxe, Brisbane X-2 4000+ @ 2986Mhz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum EVGA 7950GT SLI Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

10-08-2006, 03:18 AM	#6
madmat Former Editor Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Kennesaw GA Posts: 1,639	Thanks Jonny! It is a wonderful piece of equipment for sure __________________ M2N32-SLI Deluxe, Brisbane X-2 4000+ @ 2986Mhz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum EVGA 7950GT SLI Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

01-21-2007, 01:22 AM	#9
madmat Former Editor Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Kennesaw GA Posts: 1,639	That's there to force the air flow to act more like a fan laid out in a linear fashion from front to back. It deflects the air causing it to flow from the front of the PSU to the back. If you had a cut-away of the PSU looking at it from the side you'd see that the opening in the fan is in the front, the air flows from the fan down to the front of the PSU, down and then back thereby making for better air flow over and through the components in the unit. If taken out the air will dump straight out the rear of the PSU and actually cause it to run hotter. It's like ducting for directed air flow so you want to leave it in place. __________________ M2N32-SLI Deluxe, Brisbane X-2 4000+ @ 2986Mhz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum EVGA 7950GT SLI Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

03-09-2007, 07:09 AM	#11
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	dublin sean Excellent easy to understand review, has helped me to finally make up my mind

10-07-2006, 05:37 PM	#4
jonnyGURU Obliviot Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 8	Awesome review Matt! That's a beautiful PSU!

10-08-2006, 01:48 AM	#5
Greg King Tech Junkie Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,976	Assuming you are who your name suggests, thats means a lot! While I am not Matt, thank you for the compliment.

01-21-2007, 12:41 AM	#8
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	I noticed something strange in your review, why is half of the fan covered with a transparent plastic? That thing there sure is getting in the way of our nice airflow. why did they put it there? I am wondering whether I have to remove it or not.

01-21-2007, 05:03 PM	#10
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	thanks very much for your answer indeed!

03-09-2007, 10:21 AM	#12
madmat Former Editor Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Kennesaw GA Posts: 1,639	I'm glad to be of service __________________ M2N32-SLI Deluxe, Brisbane X-2 4000+ @ 2986Mhz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum EVGA 7950GT SLI Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

04-11-2007, 10:46 AM	#13
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	how many ide molex connectors? Does anyone know exactly how many modular ide power cables this comes with? I suspect it comes with 4 IDE power cables with two molex connectors per cable. Is this correct? How safe would it be to expand this to 16 connectors by use of a y splitter on each of the default connectors?

04-11-2007, 10:59 AM	#14
madmat Former Editor Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Kennesaw GA Posts: 1,639	For 16 drives? Not very since that's a grand total of 3A X 16 upon drive spin up and the IDE's all ride the same rail rated at 18A. If you're wanting to power relatively low draw items such as CCFL's and such it would be OK as long as you don't go overboard. Also, if you have your drives set to stagger spin up (via the drive controller cards) it would likewise be OK as the drives only consume a minimal amount of power once they're all spinning. __________________ M2N32-SLI Deluxe, Brisbane X-2 4000+ @ 2986Mhz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum EVGA 7950GT SLI Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

04-11-2007, 11:16 AM	#15
ctrlshift Obliviot Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 2	Ahh right, I guess that explains why my PSUs keep dying. Is there anything out there that can do what I want? If not what is the maximum? I doubt my controller cards have stagger spin, but I will definitely look into that

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