Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W Power Supply Review

Testing (Continued):

Efficiency and Power Factor:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Output & Efficiency @ 110VAC
DC Load (W)	AC Load (W)	PF	Efficiency (%)	Pass/Fail
31	63	0.45	N/A	N/A
215	259	0.97	83	Pass
425	501	0.99	85	Pass
851	1026	0.99	83	Pass

 

Output & Efficiency @ 230VAC
DC Load (W)	AC Load (W)	PF	Efficiency (%)	Pass/Fail
31	69	0.40	N/A	N/A
215	251	0.90	86	Pass
423	488	0.94	87	Pass
855	1012	0.97	84	Pass

 

I have to say I was more than a little sceptical of the 80 Plus Bronze certification claimed by the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W power supply. The Bronze standard requires a power factor of 0.9 at 50% load and efficiencies of 82%, 85% and 82% at 20%, 50% and 100% loading respectively. Due to unforseen circumstances (a few of my wirewound resistors have given up the ghost and need replacing) the nearest I was able to get to 20% loading was 25%. It's not too far off the mark and I don't feel it will have too large an impact on the overall result of the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W meeting the 80 Plus Bronze standard.

 

AC Ripple On DC Outputs:

 

I have consistently found the AC ripple levels on the DC rails to be more or less equal with a 110VAC or 230VAC mains supply. The results given below are for 230VAC only but I will continue to check the levels at 110VAC during testing and publish them below if they differ in any way.

 

AC Ripple On 3V3 Rail at 230VAC

Oscilloscope settings: Amplitude = 10mv/div, Timebase = 5uS/div

 

AC Ripple On 5V0 Rail at 230VAC

Oscilloscope settings: Amplitude = 10mv/div, Timebase = 5uS/div

 

AC Ripple On 12V1 Rail at 230VAC

Oscilloscope settings: Amplitude = 20mv/div, Timebase = 5uS/div

 

AC Ripple/Noise 230VAC@850W DC Load
DC Rail	+3V3	+5V0	+12V	-12V0	+5VSB
Ripple (mV p-p)	40	40	80	40	30

 

The DC quality of the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W is not exceptional but it did meet all the requirements set down in ATX12V V2.2 standard. Acceptable levels of 50/50/120/120/50 millivolts peak to peak against measured levels of 40/40/80/40/30 millivolts peak to peak show that it falls under the requirements and is on par with other power supplies in its class. The measured levels and waveforms at 110VAC supply are virtually identical.

An excellent set of results in this section makes the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W one of the most efficient power supplies I have tested.