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.

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 #12V5V3.3V5VSBDC/AC (Watts)EfficiencyFan SpeedPSU NoiseTemps (In/Out)PF/AC Volts
15.230A1.982A1.960A1.000A84.92787.123%415 RPM6.9 dB(A)40.31°C0.934
12.108V5.048V3.367V4.999V97.47947.67°C115.05V
211.464A2.980A2.953A1.205A169.45890.859%542 RPM8.9 dB(A)40.71°C0.982
12.086V5.035V3.353V4.979V186.50748.67°C115.05V
318.099A3.485A3.441A1.412A254.53591.901%565 RPM9.4 dB(A)41.37°C0.995
12.074V5.024V3.341V4.959V276.96749.72°C115.04V
424.756A3.992A3.965A1.620A339.71991.622%565 RPM9.4 dB(A)41.72°C0.994
12.058V5.013V3.329V4.938V370.78550.74°C115.04V
531.096A5.002A4.977A1.830A425.03591.130%562 RPM9.3 dB(A)42.48°C0.996
12.044V5.001V3.315V4.918V466.40552.39°C115.04V
637.388A6.017A5.999A2.043A509.56190.449%805 RPM19.0 dB(A)43.06°C0.996
12.029V4.988V3.301V4.897V563.36753.39°C115.04V
743.758A7.038A7.029A2.257A594.87789.659%990 RPM26.0 dB(A)43.66°C0.997
12.015V4.975V3.287V4.876V663.48854.34°C115.03V
850.150A8.063A8.069A2.473A680.21488.776%1105 RPM29.8 dB(A)44.23°C0.997
12.000V4.962V3.272V4.854V766.21255.73°C115.03V
956.956A8.588A8.590A2.478A765.13487.901%1380 RPM35.8 dB(A)44.94°C0.998
11.985V4.950V3.260V4.844V870.45357.10°C115.03V
1063.512A9.114A9.149A3.130A849.96086.850%1385 RPM35.9 dB(A)45.81°C0.998
11.970V4.939V3.246V4.795V978.65258.65°C115.03V
1170.676A9.131A9.181A3.138A934.72185.710%1390 RPM35.9 dB(A)46.88°C0.984
11.956V4.929V3.236V4.781V1090.56160.10°C115.09V
CL10.146A14.005A14.001A0.000A118.28981.716%678 RPM13.2 dB(A)42.46°C0.964
12.101V5.007V3.314V5.067V144.75752.27°C115.05V
CL270.842A1.001A1.001A1.000A861.15587.409%1388 RPM35.9 dB(A)45.68°C0.998
11.970V4.970V3.284V4.915V985.19758.33°C115.03V

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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Contributing Editor

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