Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G 1200W PSU Review
Thermaltake introduced the Toughpower DPS G Platinum line that consists of three new, semi-digital and fully modular PSUs made by Enhance Electronics. The highest-capacity 1200W model is our test subject in today's review.
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Packaging, Contents, Exterior And Cabling
Packaging
The box is quite large, and on its front is a picture of the power supply with the sharp-looking fan grille in the foreground. On the front-left side, Thermaltake lists the unit's most notable features, including bundled software (DPSApp, cloud and mobile apps), a seven-year warranty and the modular design with flat cables. A small 80 PLUS Platinum badge is in the bottom-right corner. On one of the two sides, a diagram shows how this PSU's supporting apps interact with each other (the cloud app serves as a central link). Lastly, on the back, two graphs depict the fan and efficiency curves, along with the connector and power specifications.
Contents
The PSU is heavily protected by packing foam, which completely surrounds it. On top of that, it is wrapped in a nice piece of cloth bearing Thermaltake's logo.
The bundle includes several zip ties, a set of fixing bolts, the AC power cord, a USB header cable for connecting the PSU to your motherboard and two rubber edges that come in handy if your chassis' PSU compartment isn't lined with vibration damping material. The modular cables come in a separate pouch.
Exterior
A sticker covers the AC receptacle telling you that the PSU's fan won't spin under 30 percent load. Although that's good to know, if you install the DPSApp, you'll notice the fan mode is set to Performance by default, meaning it spins at all times.
Aesthetically, Thermaltake's design is definitely interesting, helping the TPG-1200D-P stand out from its competition. Up front, the on/off switch is installed below the AC receptacle. Large holes in the exhaust grille reveal a large primary heat sink, and educated readers should be able to guess this model's OEM by that clue alone.
On the sides, large decals depict the model number and 80 PLUS Platinum efficiency, while a power specifications label is affixed to the bottom.
The modular panel includes a dozen sockets. The red ones are reserved for PCIe cables, while a couple of eight-pin connectors correspond to EPS cables. And if you're looking at the TPG-1200D-P with its fan facing up, the USB header connector is on the bottom.
The dimensions are normal for a PSU of this capacity, although Thermaltake could probably shrink them given the under-populated PCB and small main transformer. We think this is a nice-looking power supply, though. It'd definitely complement a windowed case.
Cabling
The flat and darkened (stealth) cables are a necessary addition to high-end PSUs. Their quality is decent, though we don't like the small pieces of heat-shrink tubing awkwardly installed on the main ATX cable. Thermaltake should have done a better job there.
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Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
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Myrmidonas I do not see anywhere the limitation regarding the need of Flash Active X 15 and only that, in order the PSU's software DPSapp to operate. Is there anything changed? I own one of its little brothers the Toughpower 550W and on my system the DPSApp refuses to run on an Active X version higher than 15.In fact on the download page there is a note sayingReply
"※Note: The Adobe Flash Player ActiveX 20.0.0 version or above might NOT be compatible DPS G PC App."
http://www.thermaltake.com/dpsappdownload.aspx?type=dpsapp
or
"※Note: The DPS G PC App requires Adobe Flash Player Version 2.0.0.270 or above and Microsoft .NET Version 4.5 or above."
http://www.thermaltake.com/DPSGApp2download.aspx?type=dpsgapp2 -
TechyInAZ This is a wimpy power supply. Bring on 5 KW units!
:lol: It would be great for litecoining machines. :) -
Aris_Mp hm I am not aware of this flash/directX issue. In my system I just installed the DPSApp and it ran fine. I have all updates installed. However this App still needs work and they should abandon the flash platform IMO.Reply -
Myrmidonas 18063833 said:hm I am not aware of this flash/directX issue. In my system I just installed the DPSApp and it ran fine. I have all updates installed. However this App still needs work and they should abandon the flash platform IMO.
In my case, I had no Flash on my system at all. I consider it dangerous and useless. But in order to operate DPSApp I first installed the latest version of Flash and the DPSApp crashes every time i try to open the GUI. Only on the v15 I manage to make it work. :sarcastic: -
TheUnhandledException PSUs in the >1kW range should deliver at least 3.5A-4A on 5VSB.
Why? It is the standby power? What modern system needs more than 15W standby? -
Aris_Mp it isn't the system that needs it, but the devices that you might try to charge through 5VSB when the PSU is in standby.Reply -
terroralpha so, there is absolutely no reason to buy this over the aging AX1200i or even the not-as-fancy HX1200i... in fact, if you buy this unit you either live in a country where corsair PSUs are hard to get or you are a moron.Reply
it failed the hold up requirement, regulation and ripple is mediocre at best, it's hideous and single rail designs really need to go from PSUs this powerful. 100 amperes is enough to arc weld! if the DSP malfunctions and send 100 amps down your motherboard or GPU, it'll set your house on fire. this isn't really a problem with old school analog designs. but with anything digitally controlled, bugs are always a concern.
AX1200i is a way better performer in pretty much every metric, has a 10 year warranty these days, and individually sleeved cables are relatively cheap and readily available.