Thermaltake Toughpower SFX 600W PSU Review

The highest-end member of Thermaltake's Toughpower SFX Gold line is on our test bench today. It offers Gold efficiency, modular cabling, and a semi-passive fan mode. Thanks to its 600 W capacity, you can easily build a powerful system with it.

By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

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Packaging, Contents, Exterior, And Cabling

Packaging

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On the front of the box, Thermaltake highlights the STP-0600F-G's most notable features including the seven-year warranty, its semi-passive mode, the modular cabling, and the 80 PLUS Gold efficiency. On one of the sides is a diagram depicting the PSU's dimensions, while the back hosts a power specifications table, a list of available connectors, and two graphs depicting the fan's noise and efficiency curves.

Contents

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Unfortunately, no packing foam is used inside the box to protect the PSU. Only bubble-wrap is used, though that doesn't offer the same protection as packing foam.

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The bundle includes modular cables, an AC power cord, a set of fixing bolts, and several zip ties. In addition, Thermaltake includes an SFX to ATX adapter for anyone looking to use the STP-0600F-G in a normal ATX case. That'll save you from having to find an adapter of your own, should it become necessary.

Exterior

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There is no power switch, which we don't care for. You never know when an on/off switch might come in handy. The AC receptacle is covered by a sticker explaining the PSU's semi-passive mode. Although it'd be great to see a fan test button, these eat up space and increase production cost. An alternative would be to activate the fan briefly after powering-up; that'd allow you to confirm the fan operates properly.

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On the sides of the box, two large stickers depict the unit's model number. Another sticker, installed on the bottom, shows the power specifications table.

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The modular panel is tiny and includes a limited number of sockets. Although it's dealing with compact dimensions, we think that Enhance could offer a larger modular board with more sockets, enabling the connectors needed to take advantage of a 600 W PSU.

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The finish is of acceptable quality, though this unit's looks aren't its strong point. The punched fan grille doesn't look good, and we don't like that the fan isn't centered in the chassis.

Cabling

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The modular cables are both stealth and flat, allowing increased airflow inside of compact PCs. Although we prefer flat cables to normal ones, we think that, in this PSU, Enhance should use round cables with extra filtering capacitors on them. Those caps would offer better ripple suppression.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Dark Lord of Tech
    Hard to compete with the SF Corsairs.
    Reply
  • Pixdawg
    Based on this review, I wouldn't buy the thing for half its listed price. How the devil did it get a Gold rating, anyway?
    Reply
  • Clamyboy74
    You would only need 2 pcie cables since these psu are designed for sff builds, with only 1 gpu since you also use a m-itx board.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    This power supply is a disaster. It does not have working protection circuitry and should be a 450W unit, not a 600W unit.

    This thing sucks.

    This unit is a 450W power supply IMO. Basically, Thermaltake probably took their 450W power supply, slapped 600W on it, kept the same amount of PCIe cables, and called it a 600W power supply. This power supply is stupid, I don't know who would buy it. That's just my opinion of course, but safety should be the most important thing of a power supply, and even thought it didn't blow up, if it had 510mv of ripple at 110% load, imagine what it had at 140% load before it shut off? Probably 2000mv of ripple. There goes the GPU. There goes the CPU. There goes everything!

    But Thermaltake knows that not a single person who purchases this thing will have done their PSU research, and therefore not a single person buying this thing will probably have a system that demands more than 250-300W. Thermaltake preys on the vulnerabilities of the uneducated, it's a disgrace, it's disgusting.

    18596603 said:
    You would only need 2 pcie cables since these psu are designed for sff builds, with only 1 gpu since you also use a m-itx board.

    You wouldn't need a 600W power supply with an SFF build period. It razzes my berries that the mere fruit of the existence of this thing is an example of an unethically engineered product that nobody needs but is designed for those who don't know what they don't need.
    Reply
  • jonnyguru
    18596603 said:
    You would only need 2 pcie cables since these psu are designed for sff builds, with only 1 gpu since you also use a m-itx board.

    Not until the Corsair SF Series was released while I was sitting behind a desk at Corsair did I realize just how many people use SFX power supplies in full size cases. Absolutely AMAZES me. So.. yeah...
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    Dont know if a 300mm 24-pin cable could reach the board in a full sized case.
    Reply
  • cats_Paw
    As much as I give Tomshardware a lot of pain for many of their articles This one is a very solid test.
    The PSU is one of the most important parts of the PC (Id say its THE most important), so a good review of a PSU is always welcome.

    Well done toms.
    Reply
  • Dark Lord of Tech
    I commend Thermaltake for releasing into the SFX market , more competition is good for the industry. With very little to choose from , it's still a huge plus to have more SFX units out there on the retail market.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    18599544 said:
    I commend Thermaltake for releasing into the SFX market , more competition is good for the industry. With very little to choose from , it's still a huge plus to have more SFX units out there on the retail market.

    Yeah but this is not what I'd call competition... Nobody needs to compete against Thermaltake's product since it stinks.
    Reply
  • nem3s1s
    GOOD QUALITY as usual on Enhance but seems they need smart enginiers to up level to the designs. wireless etc
    Reply