INTRODUCTION

   Up until just a decade ago people what but two things to look for when getting a brand new power supply unit for their new system build quality and power output. Since then however things have changed quite a bit since aside build quality and power output now consumers need to look for various extra things when out to get a new power supply unit including electrical efficiency, number of +12V rails, cable design (modular/semi-modular) and size (ATX/SFX/EPS). For good or bad although all three sizes can be mounted inside most medium and full towers SFX models are the only ones that are tiny enough to actually fit inside some of the smaller micro-ATX and mini-ITX cases. Unfortunately there aren't that many available SFX models in the market today but shortly after SilverStone and Corsair one more manufacturer has added such models in their product line. We are of course talking about Thermaltake and their latest Toughpower SFX 600W (STP-0600F-G) Power Supply Unit which is here with us today.

   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!

   Compact SFX sized/type power supply units were never designed with gamers in mind so there are always some things/features missing compared to their full sized ATX/EPS brothers and in this case that includes filtering caps on the modular connectors and even some electrical protections (the over temperature protection is also missing). Still Thermaltake covers the 80 Plus Gold certified Toughpower SFX 600W power supply unit with a 7 year warranty and has equipped it with a powerful single +12V 50A rail which can deliver the units full power output (minor rails can deliver up to 90W), fully modular cabling, 100% Japanese manufactured capacitors, 80mm smart fan and the basic OPP (over power), OVP (over voltage), OCP (over current) and SCP (short-circuit) electrical protections. Unfortunately the two available PCIe power connectors don't excuse the units total power output but leaving out the fact that you should still be able use Molex to PCIe adapters as mentioned earlier SFX models are not recommended for serious gaming (besides one graphics card should cover the majority of users out there). So let's see just how the latest and smallest addition in the Toughpower line of power supply units by Thermaltake performs.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 The main product features are placed at the front of the small black box right next to a product picture.

Both the unit size and bundled SFX to ATX adapter bracket are showcased on the right side.

At the rear of the box Thermaltake has printed the unit’s features, electrical table, bundled cord (EU/US), available modular connectors, several certification logos and two graphs for the 80 Plus Gold Efficiency and fan noise.

No pieces of foam inside the box, just bubble wrap which for such a tiny PSU should be sufficient.

Contained inside the box are the unit’s modular cables, AC power cord, 4 mounting screws, three cable ties, warranty information paper, user manual and the SFX to ATX adapter bracket with 3 mounting screws.

THE TOUGHPOWER SFX 600W EXTERIOR

Measuring just 125mm in length, 100mm in depth and 63.5mm in height the Toughpower SFX 600W PSU is certainly tiny.

To showcase exactly just how tiny we placed it right next to the ATX sized Toughpower Grand Platinum 850W model.

Although using a 92mm fan instead of an 80mm would mean less noise with more airflow still Thermaltake decided to go with that.

The efficiency certification and output are both printed on both sides of the unit.

As always the electrical table is placed at the belly of the enclosure.

All modular connectors are different in shape, tagged and color coded.

The rear of the enclosure is perforated and at the front of the power port there's a sticker notifying consumers of the smart fan feature.

THE TOUGHPOWER SFX 600W INTERIOR

 
The 80mm fan is manufactured by Everflow and can spin up to 3000RPM to produce 30.06CFM of airflow with 30.8dBA of noise.

Just like several other SFX models in the market currently Enhance Electronics is behind the Toughpower SFX 600W.

The Japanese Nippon Chemi-Con is behind the primary capacitor (KMR series) which is rated for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are manufactured by the Japanese United Chemi-Con (LZX series) and are also rated for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

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

RAILS

Rail stability may not be the best we’ve ever seen but for an SFX type model I’d say it’s very good. 

CONSUMPTION

Our test rig used up to 582W at load so that’s pretty much 95% of the units total continuous output. 

NOISE LEVELS

Since our noise level tests are performed from just 5-10cm away from the power supply unit it was expected that the Toughpower SFX would be quite loud.

CONCLUSION

   SFX type power supply units are primarily used in small HTPC systems so they are not required to have numerous features, high power outputs and multiple PCIe cables. They are also not required to perform on par with their ATX siblings since they are not really ment for gaming or for serious professional applications such as heavy 3D rendering. What they are required to feature is a very compact size with good rail stability and a good efficiency number and after wrapping up all our tests we think the Toughpower SFX 600W delivers exactly that. Now we’re aware that this particular platform by Enhance Electronics has some ripple issues when its power output is maxed out but chances are that people who require over 600W of juice wouldn’t build a system with enough room for just SFX models to begin with (that would be wrong in many ways).

   As I’m getting ready to start testing the Seagate Barracuda Pro 10TB the Toughpower SFX 600W power supply unit by Thermaltake currently retails for USD117.12 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 154Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which we feel is a bit too high when the somewhat better equivalent model by Corsair retails for the same amount in the USA and is even cheaper in the EU. That being said the Toughpower SFX 600W is a good choice for people looking to get a SFX type PSU with plenty of juice and although it’s just not as good as its immediate competition by Corsair still thanks to its Japanese capacitors, ball-bearing fan, solid rail stability and 7 year warranty it’s good enough for our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Tiny SFX Form Factor Model
- Very Good Rail Stability
- 600W Continuous Output
- 80 Plus Gold Certified
- 100% Japanese Capacitors
- Fully Modular
- Smart Fan
- 7 Year Warranty

CONS

- Noise Levels At Full Load (For Some)
- Price (For Some)