Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G 1200W PSU Review

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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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Ripple Measurements

To learn how we measure ripple, please click here.

The following table includes the ripple levels we measured on the TPG-1200D-P's rails. The limits, according to the ATX specification, are 120mV (+12V) and 50mV (5V, 3.3V and 5VSB).

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Test12V5V3.3V5VSBPass/Fail
10% Load29.3mV7.4mV15.8mV5.5mVPass
20% Load17.6mV6.8mV14.8mV5.2mVPass
30% Load18.9mV7.4mV15.7mV5.8mVPass
40% Load22.4mV8.6mV17.6mV6.1mVPass
50% Load27.4mV8.5mV18.0mV7.0mVPass
60% Load30.6mV10.2mV21.0mV7.5mVPass
70% Load34.4mV10.9mV21.4mV8.3mVPass
80% Load37.9mV10.8mV23.3mV8.5mVPass
90% Load42.2mV12.1mV28.7mV9.0mVPass
100% Load46.7mV13.2mV29.8mV10.1mVPass
110% Load52.2mV13.8mV32.2mV11.1mVPass
Cross-Load 133.7mV9.2mV19.3mV5.8mVPass
Cross-Load 247.3mV15.1mV32.3mV9.6mVPass
Image 1 of 4

The 5V and 5VSB rails feature the best ripple suppression. The +12V rail also fares well, although it cannot compete with Super Flower's offerings at similar capacity points. Lastly, the 3.3V rail demonstrates the worst performance with close to 30mV ripple during the full load test. Enhance should lower the 3.3V rail's ripple and take +12V below 30mV since the competition (see EVGA SuperNOVA 1200 P2) is ripple-proof.

Ripple Oscilloscope Screenshots

The following oscilloscope screenshots illustrate the AC ripple and noise registered on the main rails (+12V, 5V, 3.3V and 5VSB). The bigger the fluctuations on the screen, the bigger the ripple/noise. We set 0.01V/Div (each vertical division/box equals 0.01V) as the standard for all measurements.

Ripple At Full Load

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Ripple At 110-Percent Load

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Ripple At Cross-Load 1

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Ripple At Cross-Load 2

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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • 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 saying

    "※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
    Reply
  • Shot__
    This is a wimpy power supply. Bring on 5 KW units!
    Reply
  • TechyInAZ
    This is a wimpy power supply. Bring on 5 KW units!

    :lol: It would be great for litecoining machines. :)
    Reply
  • 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:
    Reply
  • 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?
    Reply
  • 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.

    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.
    Reply