Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G RGB 1500W PSU Review
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Pros, Cons And Final Verdict
Although the TPG-1500D-T is the flagship model of Thermaltake's entire PSU portfolio on paper, we strongly believe that this title actually belongs to its smaller brother, the TPG-1250D-T. You see, the larger model is made by Enhance Electronics and uses a normal analog platform equipped with a single MCU that doesn't do much outside of monitoring and fan control.
When it comes to the PSU's operation, the TPG-1250D-T utilizes a more sophisticated design armed with a couple of MCUs. The first one handles the digital link with the system, while the other one handles some of the PSU's functions. Its CWT platform is clearly superior to the Enhance one, featuring much tighter load regulation on the minor rails, way higher hold-up time, a proper power-good signal, higher efficiency, and better transient response performance. On top of that, the smaller Toughpower Titanium-rated model has better ripple suppression and also features quieter operation. The only advantages the TPG-1500D-T holds are its 250 W-higher capacity and increased number of PCIe/peripheral cables. We don't think that's enough to justify the price difference between those two products.
Compared to the competition (especially Corsair's top-notch AX1500i, which also costs less), the TPG-1500D-T's only edge appears to be the RGB fan, and that's not enough to cover its performance deficit. With a price tag that exceeds $400, you'd expect Thermaltake to use a fully digital, high-performance platform. In the end, though, it doesn't, opting instead for an analog design that only uses an MCU for communication. Enhance might be a solid manufacturer with good-quality products, but its high-end platforms cannot match what we've seen from Super Flower, Flextronics, and Seasonic. Moreover, it is sad to see a flagship PSU fail in our hold-up tests and report a power-good signal to the system when its rails are already out of spec.
The 80 PLUS Titanium Toughpower unit with 1.5 kW capacity provides lots of cables and connectors, although some GPU miners would probably prefer even more auxiliary connectors for graphics cards. The TPG-1500D-T is built well and covered by a very long warranty, too. Those high-quality capacitors and HDB fan should facilitate a long useful life.
Its performance isn't up to the expected levels though, and the fan's noise gets annoying once you really start pushing the PSU. With a major price cut, the TPG-1500D-T could compete more aggressively against tough competitors like the EVGA 1600 T2/P2 and Corsair AX1500i. But at its current $430 price tag, it doesn't stand a chance. Finally, the SPM platform looks very promising. However, we believe that the DPSApp interface needs a complete redesign and the application should get rid of Adobe's outdated Flash foundation.
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Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
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spat55 So basically a poor performing PSU at this price point and the only good thing is a RGB fan I won't see because my PSU is always face down and preferably under a PSU cover, okay got it.Reply -
g-unit1111 What's the point of having an RGB ring on a bottom mounted PSU where nobody will see the fan anyways? :??:Reply
Also those cables - the word "eyesore" comes to mind! I would be replacing those with some custom ones ASAP! :ouch: -
spat55 18628558 said:What's the point of having an RGB ring on a bottom mounted PSU where nobody will see the fan anyways? :??:
Also those cables - the word "eyesore" comes to mind! I would be replacing those with some custom ones ASAP! :ouch:
Yeah it's just a crap unit which is hoping the kids orgasm over those RGB lighting, it's doing my head in but I'm sure it'll soon become mainstream then die. -
powernod Extremely dissapointed by Thermaltake.Reply
Only at the TPG-1250D-T they used the new & excellent CST platform by CWT.
For all the other wattage models so far, ( 850 & 1500watt ) they used mediocre platforms by Enhance.
I had high expectations for Tt's new line of PSUs, but they were proven futile. -
Virtual_Singularity Thanks for another thorough, excellent, psu review, great job Aris. Disappointed by TT, as well. That is one flawed, less than mediocre (esp for the price) unit, OEM'd to Enhance by another predictable 3rd party company. Some pretty lights on the fan and it's 1600 watt helm of their "flagship" series moniker is supposed to justify that $430 pricetag? Fails to meet minimum atx specs in several areas, hold up time for such an expensive unit is also unacceptable. Similar to the MasterWatt Maker, it can't hope to compete with similar units from their competitors, which are lower in price, better in efficiency and overall specs.Reply -
Nuckles_56 The 12V CL1 was certainly one of the more interesting waveforms I've seen in a while. But overall I'm pretty disappointed in Thermaltake for producing such a over priced under performing PSUReply -
Br1414 Typo? 16 amps is the max legal load on a 20 amp 120v plug, thus option A apparently. Option B appears to be the old wall A/C style 20 amp 240 volt plug. Both a t slot styles. So maybe you rig something, but more or less you need an electrician just to use this thing safely! I guess you got the money...Reply -
Valantar Individually sleeved cables in the traditional "ketchup and mustard" colours? Wow, that made me laugh. Out loud. Might be suitable to some kind of early 2000s retro theme build?Reply
Also, I love the pixelated 8-bit-ish thing you've got going on with the ripple graphs on page 9. Perhaps
Otherwise, this was pretty much as expected. A useless product (the world does not need more 1000W+ PSUs), with useless features (RGB in a place where it'll be invisible in 90+% of modern cases), at a useless price point. That it performs badly as well just adds icing to the turd.