TechSpot - PC Technology News and Analysis

While basic office type computers can get away with crummy generic 350w power supplies, more powerful gaming systems certainly cannot. Doing so would result in serious system instability issues that can even place components such as the motherboard at great risk. High performance power supplies maintain a constant flow of power, and at the same time continue to deliver enough power.

Thermaltake offers a huge range of quality power supplies, designed for a wide range of different purposes. For example the Toughpower series consists of seven high powered units, all designed to deliver maximum performance. There is also the PurePower 350w power supply which features a completely passive design, meaning it is totally silent. The bulk of their power supplies form the PurePower series, in all there are ten power supplies ranging from 430w through to 680w. Today we will be reviewing a product coming from the Toughpower range, and is one of the bigger wattage items, outputting an impressive 750w.

Thermaltake claims that the working efficiency of the Toughpower 750w can reach up to 85%, thanks to a new design that makes use of top grade components. As was to be expected the 750w does carry a price premium simply because such highly rated units are hard to come by. At roughly $175, we still consider the Toughpower 750w is priced reasonably for an unit of its output and quality. There is also available a similarly designed unit rated for 600w output, also part of the ToughPower family, this unit is considerably more affordable at $130.

Despite being rated for such an extreme output, Thermaltake claims a very quiet operating volume for the 750w unit thanks to the use of a single 140mm fan. The unit features a single 20/24-pin power connector, one 4/8-pin power connector, dual PCI Express connectors, six 4-pin connectors, two 4-pin floppy connectors and six Serial ATA connectors. Furthermore, the unit features independent voltage circuit, over current, over voltage, short-circuit protection and Active PFC.