Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB 850W Gold PSU Review: Going Full RGB

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Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time & Inrush Current

To learn more about our PSU tests and methodology, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units. 

Primary Rails And 5VSB Load Regulation

Load Regulation testing is detailed here.

Hold-Up Time

Our hold-up time tests are described in detail here.

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We measured a hold-up time of less than 17ms, and the power-good signal doesn't satisfy the ATX specification's required 16ms. At least it's accurate. 

Inrush Current

For details on our inrush current testing, please click here.

Inrush current is especially high since this platform isn't equipped with an NTC thermistor to suppress it.

Load Regulation And Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the TPG-850AH3FSGR’s efficiency. The applied load equals (approximately) 10 to 110 percent of the PSU's maximum load in increments of 10 percentage points.

We conducted two additional tests. During the first, we stressed the two minor rails (5V and 3.3V) with a high load, while the load at +12V was only 0.1A. This test reveals whether a PSU is compatible with Intel's C6/C7 sleep states or not. In the second test, we determined the maximum load the +12V rail could handle with minimal load on the minor rails.

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Test # 12V 5V 3.3V 5VSB DC/AC (Watts) Efficiency Fan Speed PSU Noise Temps (In/Out) PF/AC Volts
1 5.230A 1.982A 1.960A 1.000A 84.927 87.123% 415 RPM 6.9 dB(A) 40.31°C 0.934
12.108V 5.048V 3.367V 4.999V 97.479 47.67°C 115.05V
2 11.464A 2.980A 2.953A 1.205A 169.458 90.859% 542 RPM 8.9 dB(A) 40.71°C 0.982
12.086V 5.035V 3.353V 4.979V 186.507 48.67°C 115.05V
3 18.099A 3.485A 3.441A 1.412A 254.535 91.901% 565 RPM 9.4 dB(A) 41.37°C 0.995
12.074V 5.024V 3.341V 4.959V 276.967 49.72°C 115.04V
4 24.756A 3.992A 3.965A 1.620A 339.719 91.622% 565 RPM 9.4 dB(A) 41.72°C 0.994
12.058V 5.013V 3.329V 4.938V 370.785 50.74°C 115.04V
5 31.096A 5.002A 4.977A 1.830A 425.035 91.130% 562 RPM 9.3 dB(A) 42.48°C 0.996
12.044V 5.001V 3.315V 4.918V 466.405 52.39°C 115.04V
6 37.388A 6.017A 5.999A 2.043A 509.561 90.449% 805 RPM 19.0 dB(A) 43.06°C 0.996
12.029V 4.988V 3.301V 4.897V 563.367 53.39°C 115.04V
7 43.758A 7.038A 7.029A 2.257A 594.877 89.659% 990 RPM 26.0 dB(A) 43.66°C 0.997
12.015V 4.975V 3.287V 4.876V 663.488 54.34°C 115.03V
8 50.150A 8.063A 8.069A 2.473A 680.214 88.776% 1105 RPM 29.8 dB(A) 44.23°C 0.997
12.000V 4.962V 3.272V 4.854V 766.212 55.73°C 115.03V
9 56.956A 8.588A 8.590A 2.478A 765.134 87.901% 1380 RPM 35.8 dB(A) 44.94°C 0.998
11.985V 4.950V 3.260V 4.844V 870.453 57.10°C 115.03V
10 63.512A 9.114A 9.149A 3.130A 849.960 86.850% 1385 RPM 35.9 dB(A) 45.81°C 0.998
11.970V 4.939V 3.246V 4.795V 978.652 58.65°C 115.03V
11 70.676A 9.131A 9.181A 3.138A 934.721 85.710% 1390 RPM 35.9 dB(A) 46.88°C 0.984
11.956V 4.929V 3.236V 4.781V 1090.561 60.10°C 115.09V
CL1 0.146A 14.005A 14.001A 0.000A 118.289 81.716% 678 RPM 13.2 dB(A) 42.46°C 0.964
12.101V 5.007V 3.314V 5.067V 144.757 52.27°C 115.05V
CL2 70.842A 1.001A 1.001A 1.000A 861.155 87.409% 1388 RPM 35.9 dB(A) 45.68°C 0.998
11.970V 4.970V 3.284V 4.915V 985.197 58.33°C 115.03V

Load regulation is loose, especially on the minor rails. Sirfa/High Power's platform needs some work in this discipline if it wants to match the competition. The 80 PLUS Gold standard's requirements are met in our 20% and 50% load tests. But efficiency isn't high enough under full load. With that said, we test at much higher operating temperatures than the 80 PLUS organization, so the efficiency readings we generate are lower.

Up to mid load, the cooling fan spins at very low speeds, keeping output noise to a minimum. Thermaltake's fan profile is fairly relaxed across the board. Enthusiasts looking to build a quiet PC should be happy with our measurements.

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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.