Review Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 750 WFrom Johny Guru

Posted On: Mon, Sep-20-2010
Reviewer: OklahomaWolf
Product: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 750W
Product Link: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Category.aspx?S=1349
Supplied By: Thermaltake
Price: $160.47 @ Universal Mania

Introduction

For as long as I can remember, power supplies have been coming to my load tester in the same old rectangular boxes. Once in a while the size of the box will change, but never the form factor itself. Thermaltake has dropped their latest and greatest into my lap today, and to my surprise they've actually tried to do something different. The Toughpower Grand series doesn't just come in a regular metal box, it comes in a box with fancy rounded corners.

Let's find out right now if those rounded corners compromise performance or bring with them a refreshing change in the world of power supplies.

Page 1 - First Look

Howdy again, dear readers. As you can plainly see by the above picture, we're about to have a look at Thermaltake's latest foray into the power supply universe with the Toughpower Grand 750W. This is not only certified as 80 Plus Gold, but it is the first power supply offering from Thermaltake that I can remember seeing with a seven year warranty.

You know, a lot of things can be grand. Pianos can be grand. Parents can be grand. Standing can be grand. Seizures can be grand. You see, not everything is made better just by putting the word "grand" in front of it. I'm going to find out whether or not Thermaltake's latest offering is deserving of that word on the following pages. But first, you guessed it, we're going to look at some box pictures.

As was the case with several other entries from Thermaltake, the box once again flips open in the front to display a vast array of marketing. Let me see if I can make it through all this:

• 12Vin1
  • Toughpower Grand Series is equipped with a pure and powerful single +12V rail to provide the best compatibility for your PC.
    -Nothing new or radical here... a lot of companies are doing this.
• Auto FanDelayCool
  • Auto FanDelayCool allows fan to continue to operate (around 15sec) after system shuts-down to ensure all components are properly cooled. Compared with other power supply (the red line), Toughpower Grand (the blue line) cools down quickly.
    -Again, nothing new or unusual. As I recall, Enermax was one of the first to bring in such a feature. Wait, blue lines? Red lines? Ah, they must be referring to that little graph on the box next to the bullet point.
• High quality & reliability
  • High reliable 105°C Japanese made capacitors inside.
  • Solid state capacitors in +3.3V & +5V output.
• Newly designed Double Forward circuitry
  • DC to DC Converter Design for +3.3V & +5V & synchronous rectification for +12V
  • Double Forward & new Active PFC Circuit design
    -New? We'll have to pull this puppy apart and see what's so new about it on a later page.
• Official 80PLUS® GOLD Certified
  • Official 80 Plus Gold Certified
  • Ultra-High Efficiency (over 90% @ 230VAC Input)
    -While I'd love to test this claim, the fact of the matter is that like all in North America, I run on 120VAC. I'll have to load test based on that number only.
• Ultra silent dual ball bearing flower-shape fan with honeycomb ventilation
  • Proprietary ultra silent dual ball bearing 140mm fan always operates at optimal speed (according to temperature inside the unit) for the quietest performance. Besides, the innovative honeycomb grill provides the best ventilation.
    -Honeycombs also make great hideouts.
• AC Push Button with Illuminated effect
  • The cutting edge mechanical AC Push Button with illuminated effect protects the power supply unit from accidental contact.
    -Wait one second, back the marketing bus up a little here. There's nothing cutting edge about illuminated pushbuttons, unless you just came out of a time machine from the 1820's or something. I haven't seen them used often on computer power supplies, but that still doesn't make them any more cutting edge than the old Pentium 133 you work with that the boss won't upgrade because it ain't dead yet.
• Vibration Absorbent Gaskets
  • Through the use of special materials, the vibration absorbent gaskets can be the optimal buffer against vibrating noises and are easy to install.

Whew, that's a lot of marketing. I'm glad that's over with, and I can move on to the bottom part of the box which contains... aw, maaaaaaaan!

High Quality
As a new generation of ultra enthusiast system, Toughpower Grand Series has been built to the world's highest standard of quality, providing users with Thermaltake quality 7-year warranty for parts and labor. Besides, all the high quality capacitors in Toughpower Grand power supply units are 105°C Japanese-made and even using some of solid state capacitors. Engineers at Thermaltake lab have made every effort to ensure each Toughpower Grand Series power supply unit satisfies our severe requirements for quality, durability, and performance.

High Efficiency
In order to meet 80 Plus Gold requirement and deliver a whole new user experience to users, Thermaltake's designers adopt the latest technologies to design the circuit of Toughpower Grand series. The Double-forward switching circuitry offers low power loss and high reliability. In addition, equipped with the PFC+PWM control IC and related patent technology, Toughpower Grand is able to reach high energy efficiency rate at all different loading. All newly design is able to increase power efficiency and decrease the loss of power transfer.

Performance
Toughpower Grand Series features a number of cutting-edge innovations that set it above the competition. New features such as FanDelayCool for thorough cooling, Synchronous rectification of +12V & DC-DC Converter & 12Vin1 & ultra silent dual ball bearing flower-shape 140mm fan will all bring users the best performance. Besides, using exceptional quality materials and components has even made Toughpower Grand Series qualifies for most high-end system and strict environment.

Ah, there we go. Now, I can finally rest, and... oh, come on now!

Key Features

• Official 80 Plus Gold certified: up to 90% efficiency.
• FanDelayCool to dissipate the remaining system heat and prolonging system lifetime.
• High quality Japanese brand capacitors.
• Solid state capacitors provide enhanced reliability and stability.
• DC-DC converter & synchronous rectification circuitry design offers superior dynamic response and great system stability.
• Double-forward switch circuitry offers low power loss and high reliability.
• 12Vin1: robust and dedicated +12V rail (up to 52A/624W & 60A/720W)
• Proprietary 140mm dual ball bearing flower-shape cooling fan for ultra silent operation.

Ok, now I'm done. What was I saying about standing? Ah, yes. Standing is grand. I haven't seen this much marketing in one place since I last went to an Amway meeting. Standing was grand there, too.

Ummmm... no, I'm not typing all this out. This is the back of the box, where we get to see more lovely marketing. There is also a series of bullet points in several languages that state firmly that this is a computer power supply. I'm glad they told me, because I really had no idea whatsoever. I thought I was going to be reviewing a grand piano today.

The rest of the box, as you can see by this shot, is mercifully devoid of marketing.

Time to open up the box at last. Let me just dig all the goodies out so you can see.

This bad boy comes with enough extras to make even the Enermax Revolution 1020W jealous. You get a power supply in a velvet bag, power cord, a velcro bag of modular cables, a user manual, a warranty guide, a Toughpower Grand marketing flyer, some velcro cable ties, a bag of extra long screws, another velvet bag for accessories, a set of hard plastic cable clamps, a case badge, and two silicone vibration dampers to stick onto the unit.

Here's the smaller bag and the stuff that came in it. The vibration dampers are a bit funny shaped due to the rounded corners on the power supply itself.

Here's the manual, flyer, and warranty paper. The manual is pretty good, as manuals go. Not the best ever in the history of things, but it gets the job done. Especially if the job at hand is to shove more marketing down your throat. No, I'm not going to reprint that big list of product features. I've probably already done that five bajillion times just covering the marketing on the box.

Page 2 - First Look, Continued

Ok, I have to admit this right now - I really like the way this unit looks. Matte black with a minimal red stripe, a red button, and a red Thermaltake logo on the exhaust grille that lights up when the unit turns on.

From here, it looks like the modular connectors are clearly color coded so you can tell what does what.

There's that oddball flower shaped fan they spoke of on the box. I must admit I find the placement of the Thermaltake logo sticker a bit curious. It almost looks like it was stuck on as an afterthought, and they didn't quite get it centered over the fan hub.

Here's the exhaust grille. That mirrored panel in the middle is where the word "Thermaltake" lights up in red when the unit is powered. I certainly hope this doesn't negatively impact the cooling of this unit. Let me power this up real quick so you can see what it looks like with the power on.

And here you go. The lighting is a bit uneven on that little panel, leading me to think that only a single LED is being used to illuminate the word "Thermaltake."

I can't believe how cutting edge that power button is. You push it... and the unit gets power! And it lights up at the same time! Wow! That's never ever been done before! Oops... sorry sir, I'll send you a new sarcasm detector. Didn't realize I was laying it on that thick.

This would be the label on the unit. For a unit with DC-DC conversion, the 12V output seems a little bit on the light side. Usually, such units get a wee bit closer yet to the maximum rating on the unit. This is because the two minor rails get all their power directly from the 12V output.

Thermaltake TPG-750M	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	-12V	+5VSB
	25A	25A	60A	0.8A	3A
Max Power	150W		720W	9.6W	15W
	750W

Up close and personal with the modular connectors and the fancy plastic grommet on the hardwired cables. Not only are the connectors color coded, they're labeled as well.

This here shot marks the first time I think Thermaltake made a real misstep. We have the ATX cable, we have one 8 pin EPS cable, and we have one 4+4 pin ATX/EPS cable. Personally, I would have nixed the hardwired EPS12V cable and put a hardwired PCI-E cable there instead. The EPS could have been done modular instead. This is only a 750 watt unit - many people who need a unit at this power level will need at least one PCI-E, but won't need two EPS/ATX 12V connectors. They'll have to go hide the one they don't use. This'll take something off the functionality score, methinks.

Here are the modular cables. Not only do you get a pile of them, but Thermaltake also throws in a pair of PCI-E 8 pin to 6 pin adapters as well as a 4 pin ATX12V extension cable.

Before we get to the cable table, I thought I would show one of the plastic cable clamps in use. Mark my words, people, these are hard to get apart and put back together. They will not unsnap themselves if left unattended. I barely got this one open, and I was trying.

Type of connector:	Thermaltake TPG-750M
ATX connector (535mm)	20+4 pin
8 pin EPS12V (550mm)	1
4+4 pin EPS12V/ATX12V connector (570mm)	1
Modular Cables
4 pin ATX12V extension (150mm)	1
6 pin PCIe (500mm)	2
8 pin PCIe (500mm)	2
8 pin PCIe to 6 pin PCIe adapter (150mm)	2
5.25" Drive (490mm+150mm+150mm+150mm)	8
3.5" Drive (+150mm)	1
SATA (500mm+150mm+150mm+150mm)	8
Unit Dimensions (L x W x H)
170mm x 150mm x 86mm

As I look at the above table, I find myself with a comment on the cable lengths of the two hardwired EPS/ATX 12V cables. Some of your cases may not be supported by this unit. Yours truly has an Antec Twelve Hundred with a Jetway HA07 Ultra installed in it. This combination means that I had trouble getting the cables on my Enermax 1020W review sample to reach the EPS12V connector from the bottom of the case, and that power supply has longer cables than these. If I were you, dear reader, I'd break out the tape measure and be sure these cable lengths will work for you before pushing the "order me" button over at your favorite online retailer.

Page 3 - Cold Testing

Now we get to the fun stuff - load testing. As usual, my test bed is anchored by a SunMoon SM-268 automated electronic load. Helping it out will be a Brand 4-1850 power meter, a Tektronix TDS-2012B oscilloscope, a dual probe thermometer, and a multimeter.

Results from Thermaltake TPG-750M COLD load tests
Test #	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	DC Watts/ AC Watts	Eff.	Intake/ Exhaust
Simulated system load tests
Test 1	1.5A	1.5A	11A	150W/ 170W	88.2%	22°C/ 25°C
	3.30V	5.05V	12.09V
Test 2	3A	3A	22A	298W/ 329W	90.6%	23°C/ 29°C
	3.28V	5.02V	12.06V
Test 3	4A	4A	34A	452W/ 502W	90.0%	24°C/ 34°C
	3.25V	4.99V	12.03V
Test 4	5.5A	5.5A	45A	597W/ 666W	89.6%	24°C/ 41°C
	3.22V	4.96V	11.99V
Test 5	7A	7A	56A	743W/ 843W	88.1%	24°C/ 48°C
	3.18V	4.93V	11.95V
Test CL1	18A	18A	1A	163W/ 199W	81.9%	24°C/ 37°C
	3.18V	4.91V	12.06V
Test CL2	1A	1A	60A	731W/ 822W	88.9%	24°C/ 46°C
	3.25V	4.98V	11.96V

First we have a look at the cold test results, all done at room temperature. One thing stands out at me immediately about the above table - voltage regulation. The 3.3V rail doesn't do well at it, coming in at around 4%. This despite the fact that the 5V rail is behaving considerably better. Upon further investigation, I know why this is - the ATX connector pins were a bit on the loose fitting side. This is something Thermaltake may want to investigate further.

Other than that, take a look at the 12V rail and its 0.14 volt drop between tests one and five. This is an excellent result, not quite in with the best units I've ever looked at, but really close to the magic 1% or better number I often see on the best units. Not bad at all, Thermaltake.

Over in the efficiency column, we see that this unit has no trouble pulling Gold out of its hat. Indeed, these results are so nice, I now expect the unit to hand in Gold in the hot box. That's not always easy to pull off, people, so I'm throwing down the gauntlet to this unit right now to do Gold in the hot box.

Let's move on to the low load test. I'll just pick up this gauntlet here first... nobody likes a messy floor. And these NES cartridges don't like being thrown down either, I'm finding out.

Results from Thermaltake TPG-750M low load test
Load Level	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	5VSB	-12V	DC Watts/ AC Watts	Eff.
9.8%	1A	1A	5A	0.5A	0.2A	73.7W/ 88.4W	83.4%
	3.32V	5.05V	12.09V	5.04V	-11.63V

Most of the time, a Gold rated unit comes in at around 85% on this test, just because it's much harder to keep a unit efficient the lighter it's loaded. This one manages to come in somewhere between Bronze and Silver on these tests. Not bad, but not really that great either. It's just kind of middle of the road, here.

Overshoot Transient Testing - TPG-750M
VSB On	VSB to Full, 12V	Off to Full, 12V

Moving on to the power on spike suppression test, we find that this unit is very well controlled. The 5VSB spike is very well suppressed, maxing out at a mere 5.2V and settling down for the long haul at just over 5V. This is nice to see. The 12V isn't quite as well controlled with a little up/down thing going on around the 5V mark before it gracefully rises up to operating voltage, but this is also pretty well controlled. The ATX spec demands that these spikes stay under 13.2V on this rail, so there's nothing to worry about here.

Now, if you'll meet me on the next page, we'll get into the hot box tests. Right after Wolf Warrior takes his invisibility potion, that is, also known as Coca-Cola. This stuff... does make you invisible, right?

Page 4 - Hot Testing

Guys, before I get into the hot box results, I have a few words of warning for you. Yelling the words, "Wolf Warrior NOW has... reflective shot" and then winging a screwdriver at one's wall... is not a good idea. Have a look at my hot box results while I go find the drywall repair kit.

Results from Thermaltake TPG-750M HOT load tests
Test #	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	DC Watts/ AC Watts	Eff.	Intake/ Exhaust
Simulated system load tests
Test 1	1.5A	1.5A	11A	150W/ 169W	88.8%	28°C/ 31°C
	3.32V	5.05V	12.08V
Test 2	3A	3A	22A	297W/ 328W	90.5%	33°C/ 39°C
	3.30V	5.04V	12.05V
Test 3	4A	4A	34A	452W/ 502W	90.0%	38°C/ 48°C
	3.28V	5.02V	12.02V
Test 4	5.5A	5.5A	45A	597W/ 670W	89.1%	42°C/ 53°C
	3.26V	5.01V	11.98V
Test 5	7A	7A	56A	743W/ 846W	87.8%	47°C/ 60°C
	3.22V	4.97V	11.94V
Test CL1	18A	18A	1A	164W/ 199W	82.4%	33°C/ 43°C
	3.22V	4.97V	12.08V
Test CL2	1A	1A	60A	730W/ 828W	88.2%	44°C/ 55°C
	3.27V	5.01V	11.95V

As you can see by the voltage readings, I did manage to find an equilibrium with the ATX connector that improved the 3.3V readings a bit. It's still not that great, but the voltage drop is a lot lower than it was in the cold tests. It's up to around 3% here. The 5V is also a bit improved, for much the same reason.

The 12V rail is pretty much doing the same as it did before. It starts out a bit lower, and ends at exactly the same amount of voltage drop as we saw in the cold tests. Overall, I would have to say that the regulation on this unit is above average, but stopping just short of excellent.

What isn't stopping short of excellent, however, is the efficiency. Yes sir, the hot box testing still gets us Gold performance. Outstanding. And I can confirm that yes, the FanDelayCool stuff does work, but only in the hot box. It seems that the operation of that feature depends on the internal temperature of the unit.

Did I hear the fan? Nope. Did I hear the six other fans in the room that could wake the dead? Yep. Did I save keys to open doors? Nope - guess I'll have to wander around whipping screwdrivers at walls and objects until the doors open themselves.

Oscilloscope Measurements - TPG-750M
Test #	+3.3V	+5V	+12V
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Test 4
Test 5
Test CL1
Test CL2

Ok, I have to admit I was a little bit underwhelmed until now. The Grand's voltage regulation is very good but nothing really exceptional, and the efficiency is nice, but these scope shots are... well, better looking than the valkyrie on the Gauntlet II title screen. Admittedly that's not saying much... she looks rather manly in the face. But these scope shots really are something Thermaltake can be proud of.

The 12V rail hit a high of 28mV. That's all. That's probably inside the top 5% of all units I test, right there. The 3.3V and 5V rails are less exceptional, at 32mV and 18mV respectively, but again these are fantastic results. I'm impressed now.

Let's pull the screwdriver out of the wall and open this bad boy up. I want to see what's inside.

Page 5 - Disassembly

Before I show you what the unit looks like on the inside, here is a fan shot for you.

Remember the Glacialtech AX950? How about the Corsair TX950? Well, this right here is the very same CWT platform, only downscaled to 750W.

The underside of the unit. Good, but not great, soldering is on display here.

As always, we start our AC transient filter right here. Two Y caps, and one X.

In the bottom left of this picture, we see the rest of the AC transient filter. A MOV, one X cap, three coils, and four Y caps. On the bottom right, we find the protection IC, a PS229.

These are the minor rail VRMs right here. Each has one APW7873 controller, two IPD040N03L's, and two IPD060N03L's.

The PWM/PFC controller is the venerable CM6800G.

Here be the modular connector PCB, which bears a few polymer capacitors on it. These appear to be sourced from Enesol.

Zooming in on the 12V secondary heatsink, we see one of the five IPP034NE7N3's used to supply the 12V rail and the two VRMs. A couple of polymer capacitors for the minor rails were discovered hiding behind the sink, as you can see.

The 12V output, as can be seen here, is filtered with Nippon Chemi-Con electrolytic capacitors. The primary capacitor is from the same source.

The primary heatsink. There's a F3NK80Z on here, as well as the PFC diode, sharing the sink with the primary switchers; both 35N60C3's.

The PFC heatsink holds two GBU806 bridge rectifiers as well as the two 35N60C3 PFC MOSFETs.

Finally, a close up shot of the little dealie that lights up the Thermaltake logo on the back grille of the power supply. One LED in a clear plastic lens.

Page 6 - Scoring

Performance (40% of the final score) - time to do some scoring. Like many power supplies I've tested, this unit does have its good and bad points. It's fortunate that there is more good to talk about than bad. For instance, the scope shots. They were flat out awesome. As was the efficiency and 12V voltage regulation. But that's where I have to stop praising and start nitpicking a little bit. Due to the looseness of the ATX connector pins, I just couldn't get the 3.3V rail to remain very stable. That said, I can't really be that hard on the unit for that one little flaw, especially in light of those beautiful scope shots. So, I'm going with a 9 here.

Functionality (20% of the final score) - a good power supply strikes a good balance between form and function. Sadly, I'm not sure this one finds the right balance. In coming up with a form that has those sexy rounded corners to it, Thermaltake created the necessity of having to use longer than normal screws to mount the power supply. Yours truly had a hard time bolting the unit into his hot box because of this - the screws kept slipping and falling on the floor. I would replace those with thumbscrews, if I were Thermaltake. But that's not all I have to whine about... there's also the somewhat nonsensical decision to toss two hardwired CPU connectors onto the unit, when a hardwired PCI-E cable would have made more sense at this power level. Even so, this unit comes with enough extra goodies to almost make up for these issues. You have that automatic FanDelayCool, those hard plastic cable clamps, and velcro cable ties to name a few. So, I'm thinking I'll do an 8 here.

Value (30% of the final score) - I'm looking at Universal Mania, and finding this unit for sale there for $160.47. Let me just take a look here and see what's competing there. Ah, here we go. Looks like the Corsair HX-750, also made by CWT, is also going for $160.47. Interesting. Let's see what else is there... uh oh. The XFX Black Edition 850W is also there for $131.27. That's some pretty strong competition, and to be honest I'm not sure this price point does Thermaltake any favors. I'm going to have to pull out an 8 again.

Aesthetics (10% of the final score) - as functionally challenged as it makes this unit, those rounded corners really do work for me. Not only that, I really like the black and red color scheme, right down to the lighted "Thermaltake" on the exhaust grille. Since said feature did not turn out to seriously impede cooling, I'm going to be nice and give this unit a 10.

Performance	9
Functionality	8
Value	8
Aesthetics	10
Total Score	8.5

Summary

As Thermaltake units go, the Toughpower Grand 750W is one of the better units I've had my hands on. It's very clean on the outputs, quite stable, and looks downright fabulous. It does have a few things holding it back from being the best it can be, but it's all minor stuff. There is quite a bit of potential here. I'm hoping that Thermaltake is able to take advantage of it in future units.

The Good:

• really low ripple
• very efficient
• looks real purty
• very stable regulation at 12V output
• comes with lots of extra goodies

The Bad:

• the long mounting screws in the box are a necessity for mounting the unit - don't lose them

The Mediocre:

• ATX connector issues kept the 3.3V and 5V rails from being as stable as they could be

Source
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&file=print&reid=201