Thermaltake Releases Software-controlled PSUs
Thermaltake has announced two new PSUs: the Toughpower DPS 850 W and the Toughpower DPS 750 W. These power supplies feature digital control and can be monitored through software.
The software allows users to do multiple tasks, including measuring total system energy consumption; and monitoring voltages, efficiency, and wattage. Through this, users can calculate the total electric cost for their PC. The software suite can also be used to share the statistics and upload them to various social networking sites to show off how thirsty your PC is.
The power supplies themselves can put out either 750 W or 850 W. They feature digital fan control, which can be adjusted through the software package, and modular cabling. They are also 80 Plus Gold certified and ready for Intel's Haswell CPUs.
There was no information regarding availability or pricing.
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And secondly, the calibration in those is usually hopeless, so efficiency and power measurements are massively wrong.
They're only as good as the calibration, and in most cases I would expect they don't bother.
Well, just being able to monitor and report PSU temp and fan speed directly from the PSU can be really useful in homebrew server builds.
Other than that, not so much.
Server that needs a 750W PSU? Not many of those around (excluding GPU Compute, which I doubt many homebrew ones do).
You probably don't need to see/monitor that though. In general, if it works now it will continue working. Most have decent fan control and will trip if it fails, either directly or from overtemp.
Well, I'd like to have that kind of information. It certainly isn't a necessity, but it is good to know how much power your system is actually drawing. For instance it would help me determine how much power headroom I have on my UPS before it becomes unreliable. It could also lead to smarter cooling systems that counter heat increase based on heat generation instead of temperature.
As for being wrong, they don't have to be wrong. On a PSU, that would essentially mean a PT and a CT connected to a microcontroller with analog inputs. Calibration can be done electronically in production line. Power and other electrical readings are actually much easier to calibrate and achieve decent precision than thermal readings.
Agreed. By memory JG found that when reviewing the AX1200i.
I wouldn't trust anything that hopeless measurement wise though. And many UPSs now have a front panel read out of power consumption.