Introduction

We would like to thank Thermaltake for supplying the review sample.

Thermaltake advertises the Toughpower series PSUs as very reliable and states they are built with the latest technology available today and use industrial-grade components. We have no reason to not believe them although you should take the "latest technology" phrase with a grain of salt. When the Toughpower Series was introduced this was true, but since then new technologies have emerged that are now considered state of the art.

Recently three new models were added to the Toughpower series. Three units with 1000W, 1200W and 1500W capacities cover users with huge power needs. Today we have the chance to test the strongest Toughpower (TP-1500M) which features a monstrous capacity of 1500W (with 1600W peak if someone needs even more power!) This unit can easily bring many PSU review setups to its knees, but not our testers, which can pull up to 2100W from +12V alone and 2550W in total! Briefly, the TP-1500M has four +12V rails, is equipped with eight PCIe connectors, cooled by a 135mm fan and uses a heavy duty C19 AC power plug. Also, contrary to the older Toughpower 1500W this model is available in the U.S. market too, although with 115VAC power input it will draw over 15A from the socket, at full load of course.

Specifications

The 1500W capacity classifies this unit among the strongest currently available on the market and the fact that it can deliver its max output power even with 115VAC power input automatically puts it in the "awesome" category. Equivalent to the high capacity are its weight and unfortunately its price. Also with 220 mm length you must first check before you buy it, if your chassis supports such a large PSU. Only 40°C continuous power rating is something we didn't like, since a high end PSU should be able to deliver full power even at 50°C. Finally the warranty is long enough at five years although some of the competitors provide seven years.


The unit outputs only (!) 1320W at +12V, a clear indication that conventional mag-amp post-regulators are used for the minor rails' generation instead of DC-DC converters. Speaking of the minor rails, their max combined power is ridiculously high for current needs. A contemporary system will never draw 280W from the minors, so it would be highly preferable to have an increased output at +12V and only 150-180W max combined power at 5/3.3V. Finally, with six whole Amps at 5VSB this beast won't have a problem charging two or more Ipads at the same time!

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

There are lots of connectors and with eight PCIe you can power up to four high-end VGAs without any hassle. All cables are long enough with a minor exception: the modular PCIe cables where we would like to see an additional 50 mm length on each. The distance among the hardwired PCIe connectors and the modular peripheral/SATA ones is the recommended (by ATX spec). Finally the main ATX connector, along with all EPS and PCIe ones, uses thicker 16AWG wires while all others use 18AWG. We are very pleased to see thicker wires used in connectors that provide lots of current, especially in units of such high power levels, since the thicker gauges have less resistance resulting in smaller voltage drops with increased power outputs.


Power distribution is optimal since the two EPS connectors are fed through a dedicated rail while the PCIe connectors are equally distributed among the two strongest rails. However we think that 12V2, the rail which powers the two EPS connectors, should have at least 40A max power and not only 30A, in order to avoid unwanted OCP interventions if you use two EPS connectors and draw over 180W from each (rare scenario).