INTRODUCTION

   Unlike casual users and gamers most enthusiasts, overclockers and hardcore gamers who are well aware about the benefits of owning a high quality and performance power supply unit put much effort into finding the right one to cover their needs. Now although I've seen and tested pretty much every 80Plus Gold Certified PSU out there the same does not apply for Platinum ones and since quite a few have asked today we will be taking a closer look at one of the top rated power supply units in the market today which is no other than the latest ToughPower XT 1275W Platinum PSU by Thermaltake.

   Since the beginning of Thermaltake in 1999, they have been at the forefront of creating new and exciting products at a time where most computer users were provided little to no choices for components that may seem irrelevant, but in reality crucial to the performance of a PC. Thermaltake Server Series solutions, with years of thermal experience and industry leadership, sets its goal on reforming total thermal management in server segment by formulating the perfect mixture of versatility, efficiency and thermal management with each respective server product category: Rackmount Chassis, Server Fixed & Redundant Power Supply and Server CPU Cooling Management Solutions. With its comprehensive line of products available, it enables Thermaltake's core customers to enjoy a one-stop-shop experience, reduce product design-in evaluation period and most important of all, flawless integration process. Each of Thermaltake's strengths enables its customer to focus on their core business while taking advantage of the skills and efficiency of a single thermal management solution partner.

   Aside its maximum output capacity of 1275W (1375W at peak) the latest ToughPower XT Platinum power supply unit also features two +12V rails (12V1:45A-12V2:65A), packs a total of 8 PCIex and 16 SATA power connectors, comes with the same convenient S.P.T status indicator we've seen in the past and of course is 80Plus Platinum certified. To be honest with you i thought that Thermaltake would abandon their XT line of power supply units since they introduced the Grand line just over a year ago (so why keep both for high end units?) but it seems that i was wrong and so the ToughPower XT Platinum 1275w is currently their flagship (since it's the only 80Plus Platinum Certified PSU). So let's see just how good the current Thermaltake flagship PSU really is.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Just like with most of their power supply units Thermaltake ships the ToughPower XT Platinum 1275w inside a long box at the front of which we see a large product image right next to its main features.

A list with the main features of the unit is placed on both sides in 13 different languages.

Moving at the rear we see the features of the unit explained in depth, its electrical table, noise levels and region version.

The ToughPower XT Platinum 1275W is placed between two rather thick Styrofoam spacers while the modular cables are placed inside a plastic bag.

The box contains the PSU covered in a piece of cloth, 4 cable ties, user's manual, warranty information paper, 4 mounting screws, the modular cables, plastic bag and the AC power cable.

THE TOUGHPOWER XT PLATINUM 1275W

As with most high-wattage power supply units the TP-1275M measures 200mm in length and is almost entirely modular.

A 140mm intake fan is responsible for cooling the interior of the unit.

The Thermaltake logo is also present at the top of the chassis.

A quite huge sticker indicating the model and maximum output capacity is present on both sides.

The S.P.T status indicator is a good addition since it informs you about the units temperature and PG signal.

Once again the electrical table is present on a large sticker located at the bottom (top, depending how you see it) of the chassis.

All of the modular connectors are both color coded and labeled.

As expected from a high-end PSU the sleeving of the cables is excellent.

At the rear we see the AC power port, a large on/off switch and the usual honeycomb perforation.

At first glance the 140mm fan (TT-1425B) seems to be the same as the one used in previous ToughPower models, however this time over it's a rebranded Yate Loon Electronics model (D14BM-12) capable of reaching speeds up to 1400RPM with 62CFM of airflow at 29dBA.

The interior of the unit is quite crowded with state of the art components and if you take a closer look you can easily see that the OEM manufacturer is CWT (Channel Well Technologies).

The primary capacitors are made by Matsushita Corporation (Panasonic) and are rated for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are made by Nippon Chemi-Con and also have a rated certification of up to 105 degrees Celsius.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon for power supply testing is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention 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 just by using his own computer. Certainly limitations do apply and so you can't really test a 1000W power supply if your system only uses 500W at extreme loads and that's why during the past 5 years i have saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a 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. 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 4.0 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after even just 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 (Idle) 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 5cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch all graphics cards from full speed to idle, 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. 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 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 far less.

TEST RESULTS

We recorded near-excellent stability from all 3 rails which is not something that happens a lot, not with a load exceeding 80% (84% to be exact) of their maximum output capacity.

Unfortunately our test bed can't max units over 1KW (at least not since we switched to an open test bench), still 1064W is nothing to laugh about.

Although Yate Loon Electronics gives a rather low dBA number for their fan at full load it reached 42.5dBA (since the fan is controlled according to the units interior temperature our 3 GTX295's and the lower PSU section helped a lot – had to turn both AC’s off for this test).

CONCLUSION

   Thermaltake has done it again by introducing a high-end power supply unit in the market with huge maximum output capacity capable of powering even the most power hungry Tri/Quad graphics cards systems while at the same time delivering 80 Plus Platinum efficiency with near excellent rail stability. The Yate Loon Electronics 140mm fan was a nice surprise since its speed gets adjusted according to the heat of the interior and is independent to the current load level. Perhaps the most innovative feature of the TP-1275M is the S.P.T status indicator which although it may not be something impressive still it could come in handy. Of course just like most similar power supply units the ToughPower XT Platinum 1275W is quite large (200mm in length) which automatically means it's not suitable for small midi towers (although i doubt anyone would purchase such a PSU for a midi tower).

   As with most high wattage power supply units in the market the price tag of the ToughPower XT Platinum 1275W is set somewhat high and so it currently retails for around USD300 inside the USA and 240Euros inside the EU. Still even though it's indeed quite high other similar units like the Platimax 1200W by Enermax cost even more so i guess that's yet another victory for Thermaltake. Bottom line if you really need this kind of maximum output capacity and you can afford the extra premium for state of the art components and an 80 Plus Platinum certification then you can't really go wrong with the ToughPower XT PLATINUM 1275W by Thermaltake and that's why we are also throwing our Platinum award at it.

PROS

- Superb Build Quality And Components
- Near- Excellent Rail Stability
- 80 Plus Platinum Certified
- 8 PCIex Power Connectors
- 16 SATA Power Connectors
- S.P.T Status Indicator
- Smart-Fan System
- Price (Compared To Similar Units)

CONS

- Price (Overall)