Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB 1200W Platinum PSU Review

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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 & 5VSB Load Regulation

Load Regulation testing is detailed here.

Hold-Up Time

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

The hold-up time we measure is long enough. However, the power-good signal is inaccurate. We consider this completely unacceptable for a high-end PSU.

Inrush Current

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

Inrush current readings are normal, given this PSU's bulk caps.

Load Regulation & Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the TPG-1200F1FAP'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 #12V5V3.3V5VSBDC/AC (Watts)EfficiencyFan SpeedPSU NoiseTemps (In/Out)PF/AC Volts
18.167A1.975A1.990A0.991A119.83288.535%0 RPM<6.0 dB(A)46.70°C0.983
12.028V5.064V3.315V5.047V135.35038.25°C115.13V
217.360A2.960A2.985A1.188A239.63591.810%0 RPM<6.0 dB(A)47.44°C0.994
12.026V5.062V3.313V5.042V261.01338.47°C115.12V
326.924A3.459A3.500A1.386A359.80392.617%0 RPM<6.0 dB(A)48.80°C0.996
12.024V5.060V3.310V5.036V388.48338.89°C115.12V
436.477A3.954A3.987A1.588A479.66992.547%0 RPM<6.0 dB(A)49.86°C0.995
12.021V5.058V3.308V5.032V518.30039.31°C115.12V
545.702A4.949A4.990A1.790A599.56592.111%1015 RPM27.7 dB(A)40.00°C0.996
12.014V5.055V3.304V5.026V650.91550.91°C115.12V
654.962A5.936A5.998A1.990A719.49591.347%1033 RPM28.3 dB(A)41.10°C0.998
12.003V5.053V3.301V5.021V787.65253.74°C115.13V
764.237A6.935A6.999A2.191A839.36990.547%1158 RPM31.3 dB(A)42.68°C0.998
11.991V5.050V3.299V5.017V926.99656.43°C115.13V
873.511A7.924A8.008A2.393A959.27389.689%1288 RPM34.0 dB(A)44.20°C0.998
11.983V5.049V3.296V5.010V1069.55259.01°C115.13V
983.210A8.431A8.529A2.395A1079.33388.701%1442 RPM37.3 dB(A)45.26°C0.997
11.978V5.047V3.294V5.009V1216.81960.94°C115.12V
1092.670A8.929A9.022A3.001A1199.24887.573%1572 RPM41.4 dB(A)45.97°C0.993
11.973V5.043V3.291V4.995V1369.43461.92°C115.10V
11102.733A8.933A9.032A3.003A1319.22886.225%1820 RPM43.3 dB(A)47.93°C0.987
11.968V5.040V3.289V4.992V1529.98765.70°C115.07V
CL10.100A16.027A16.002A0.005A135.51682.663%0 RPM<6.0 dB(A)49.88°C0.983
12.030V5.065V3.319V5.088V163.93744.24°C115.13V
CL299.939A1.002A1.000A1.002A1210.76287.547%1820 RPM43.3 dB(A)48.42°C0.991
11.981V5.047V3.296V5.029V1382.98264.65°C115.10V

The load regulation on every rail is tight, with +12V, 5V, and 3.3V all within 1%. Even the 5VSB rail achieves super-tight load regulation compared to what we're used to.

Thermaltake's fan profile isn't particularly aggressive; the fan operates passively at up to 40% load and its noise only exceeds 30 dB(A) during our 70% load test. The fan profile does seem to be tied to load level, based on our CL1 benchmark where the PSU heats up quite a bit but doesn't receive any cooling. This applies huge stress to the components inside. In our our opinion, the fan profile should take temperature into account more than anything.

With 20% and 50% load, the PSU satisfies 80 PLUS' requirements for a Platinum rating. It comes close to 89% with full load, too. Subjected to lower temperatures like the ones 80 PLUS uses for testing, it'd be easy for Thermaltake's TPG-1200F1FAP to earn its Platinum badge. Obviously, digital control on the primary side does wonders for efficiency.


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Contributing Editor

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

  • mapesdhs
    More RGB? *yawn* And is this usefully better in any way in terms of performance, etc. than the old 1275W XT Gold?
    Reply