INTRODUCTION

   Whenever my road brings me close to an electronics store i almost always go inside not only because i want to see if there's something new in the market that I’ve missed but also because i enjoy listening (curiosity i guess) to what consumers ask from the sales people. That of course has led me to realize that not all sales people have the necessary knowledge needed in order to guide consumers to the right choice (not their fault really, not in the times we live in). For example just two weeks ago i overheard a sales person recommend a 600W PSU to someone who had just bought a brand new MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 for his Core i7 system. True an 600W can easily handle that card (since it has a max power consumption of less than 300W) but the total power draw of the system obviously depends on the rest of the components so when the only thing you know is that the consumer owns an Intel Core i7 4790 then you shouldn't take any chances. In the end it seems that the consumer knew his way a lot better than the sales person so he left with an 750W power supply unit instead a model by Thermaltake which coincidentally i had yet to get my hands on. Today we'll be taking a look at the new ToughPower Grand TPG-0750M (or ToughPower Grand Gold Fully Modular as some call it) by Thermaltake which finally found its way over.

     The beginning of every myth and legend is about dreams and desire: the challenging, creative and combative features of Thermaltake Group create an exciting and fascinating user experience to share with everyone, while allowing users to enter a selfless state in terms of function and potential. Thermaltake Group's 3 main brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS and LUXA2 have been merchandising throughout the world, and have successfully established 6 business footholds in areas such as Europe, America, Oceania, Japan and China, with 95 regional distributors and over 4000 premium retailers. All product planning is orientated by observation of global PC peripheral market and understanding of consumer demands. Thermaltake creates direct contact opportunities with resellers and consumers by participating major global ICT exhibitions and trade shows every year, and develop innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of new products. Meanwhile, Thermaltake incorporates the composite marketing system by making branch offices and regional distributors both the distribution channel and technical support or service center to provide instant support; by maintaining close contact with end users, we manage to strengthen corporate competitiveness and create the momentum for the growth of accomplishments. With its outstanding wisdom and strength Thermaltake Group is recruiting creative talents to build a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle!

   With the new ToughPower Grand 750W TPG-0750M 80 Plus Gold Certified power supply unit Thermaltake pairs an 100% modular cabling design with a single +12V rail (capable of outputting 62A of continuous power to feed even the most power hungry systems) and backs it up with a full set of electrical protections and a 7-year extended warranty. Also from its looks not only did Thermaltake place much weight on the design of the unit but they have also made use of flat low-profile modular cables in order to increase airflow inside the case and reduce space needed for cable management something which should appeal to many users out there (although we've seen it quite a few times in the past). Since however it's been a while from the last time we've had a PSU by Thermaltake on our test bench let's not spend any more time in the introduction page.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Thermaltake seems to have spent quite a bit of time on the design of the box since at the front we see a product picture, the main product features, their logo and lots of gold obviously pointing to the 80 Plus Gold certification of the product.

The main product features are also listed on both sides of the box in 12 languages.

Moving at the rear of the box we see six pictures used to showcase the main features of the unit, the electrical specifications table, output connectors list, power connector type (EU/US) and several certification logos.

As you all see Thermaltake has placed the unit inside two pieces of black foam while the modular cables sit inside a storage pouch.

The bundle is quite rich and includes the ToughPower Grand TPG-0750M 750W PSU (wrapped inside a protective piece of cloth), modular cables, modular cable storage pouch, AC power cord, 4 mounting screws, 4 cable ties, two rubber mounts (used to absorb vibration), warranty information paper and the users guide.

THE TOUGHPOWER GRAND TPG-0750M 750W EXTERIOR

As mentioned before the flat low-profile cables are not something new but it's certainly a nice touch by Thermaltake.

Design-wise the ToughPower Grand TPG-0750M is one of the best looking power supply units we've ever used (gold is a strange color but it fits great with black and red). Size-wise the TPG-0750M measures 180mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height.

Beneath the gold grille at the top Thermaltake has placed a 140mm intake fan.

We're used to seeing the model name and output on the sides of a PSU but this time we only see a red plastic stripe and two screws (also used to secure the top cover of the chassis).

The electrical specifications table is placed at the bottom of the unit.

All of the 10 modular cable connectors are both color coded and tagged to avoid any possible mistakes.

At the rear we see the on/off power switch, AC power connector and the usual perforation (although it's not the usual honeycomb one).

THE TOUGHPOWER GRAND TPG-0750M 750W INTERIOR

The 140mm intake fan by Yate Loon Electronics is capable of reaching speeds up to 1400RPM to produce up to 62CFM of airflow with 29dBA of noise.

From the design/layout of the interior it's a safe bet that Channel Well Technologies (CWT) is behind it (and yes that's a good thing).

High quality capacitors made by the well-respected Japanese Nippon Chemi-Con are used throughout the unit.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a computer. Certainly limitations do apply and so you can't really test a 1000W power supply if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why during the past 5 years i have saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact closer to real world usage. So as always we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

       Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say in order to get 100% accurate readings you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

TEST RESULTS

RAIL STABILITY

I have to say that i didn't expect such solid rails from the TPG-0750M both due to its fully modular design and the fact that our test rig took 53W over its rated continuous output.

POWER CONSUMPTION

803W from a 750W PSU is not something to laugh about even if that PSU is certified for a peak output of up to 900W.

NOISE LEVELS (SPL)

To my surprise the Yate Loon 140mm fan never went over 43.3dBA so yes it's quite inaudible even at extreme load.

CONCLUSION

   With most manufacturers focused in releasing 80 Plus Platinum and Titanium certified PSUs i was quite pleased to see that Thermaltake is still catering to the needs of most consumers by releasing lower-cost yet high-performance Gold certified models like the TPG-0750M. Performance is really not the only thing that reveals just how special the TPG-0750M is since it really takes just a second to notice the 100% modular design a feature which is very rare even amongst the highest-end models in the market currently. True 100% modular models have shown slightly inferior numbers on the 3.3v/5v rails compared to the same models but with the main power cables hardwired into the chassis but the TPG-0750M produced solid results even while our test rig managed to draw 803W from it. If you also care about the design of your PSU then the TPG-0750M probably has you covered with its black/gold/red color combination that makes it stand out from the crowd. The 140mm fan is also one of the good features of the TPG-0750M since even at extreme load it remained inaudible so kudos to Yate Look for that.

   The ToughPower Grand TPG-0750M by Thermaltake currently retails for USD129.99 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and for around 140Euros inside the EU a price tag which i think is just right for such a product. Of course much like everything else in this industry if you decide to go higher on your budget there are quite a few 80 Plus Platinum power supply units for you to choose from including some very special ones by other manufacturers like Seasonic. However getting an fully modular 80 Plus Gold Certified model featuring quality components, a single powerful +12V rail and inaudible running at such a price is a very good deal and that's why the ToughPower Grand TPG-0750M 750W power supply unit by Thermaltake gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design (For Some)
- Solid Performance
- Fully Modular
- Inaudible
- 900W Peak Output
- 80 Plus Gold Certified
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Current EU Availability