2003 Power Supply Roundup Part II: Better Faster Cheaper
by Kristopher Kubicki on July 31, 2003 1:58 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
ThermalTake sent us their PurePower 420W APFC for our last power supply roundup<link>, but it could not keep up with Enermax and Antec. The 480W PurePower supply is a little more powerful than the previous one we looked at, so we have slightly higher expectations.
Like Antec’s TrueControl, the ThermalTake PurePower looks like a very different power supply than the original 420W power supply from several months ago. Also like the TrueControl, this power supply comes with a forward fan control. There is no ability to control the fan speed of the fans connected to the unit, but the control does allow manipulation of the onboard fans. Interestingly enough, the PurePower 480W comes with 2 different control panels, (one gold, and one silver). If you happen to prefer one color over another, ThermalTake allows you to choose one instead of another.
The ThermalTake PurePower 480W includes on SATA connection. Most serial ATA hard drives come with SATA adaptors anyway, but it is good to see some manufacturers anticipating the mainstream adoption of the technology. We continue to expect more power supplies to come with these connectors.
Wattages
|
|
3.3V |
5V |
12V |
-12 |
-5 |
+5vsb |
combined theoretical |
actual combined |
advertised total |
|
ThermalTake PurePower 480W |
99.00 |
200.00 |
216.00 |
9.60 |
1.50 |
10.00 |
299.00 |
240.00 |
480.00 |
The PurePower 480W wattages are well rounded for either an Intel or AMD system. One thing to note is that the combined +3.3V/+5.0V wattages are very high at 240W. There is plenty of muscle in this power supply for an AMD or Intel system.
The ThermalTake PurePower 480W is a moderately priced power supply, about $74. However, considering the 420W PurePower cost $110 last year, we can tell that ThermalTake is making progress in producing a better product for lesser cost.
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Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
1. No amp measurements were listed, a serious deficiency because without them there is no way to know how well each PS met its amp specs, and many brands are known to fall short.2. No overload testing results for shorts, excessive power draw, excessive temperature.
3. Ripple is not just slow voltage variation also short term variation, such as for each AC cycle (60 Hz for the incoming AC, about 60,000 Hz for the output DC). I would have liked to see how the latter correlated with the memory noise test results.
4. I hope you were careful when you tested the PS heatsink temperatures because some heatsinks are live with high voltage.
Anonymous User - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
Well for the observent people who can differentiate between orange and blue, its not an issue. Also waiting a full second before clicking it reveals the location on both the bottom left and the mouse cursor. but i can see how it does get annoying.Anonymous User - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
yeah those in page advertisements are REALLY annoying...those have got to go. i never know when i'm going to link to another anandtech article or to an ad...i guess that's the point but it's still unacceptableAnonymous User - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
I would like to see the review include a Heroichi Electronic power supply, I hear they are very good but I haven't used one.Anonymous User - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
Some of your "In Page Advertising" links seem to be missing closing links tags or something so that it results in having a <link> in the middle or end of a sentence. Ex. "We had a lot of troubles with Vantec’s last power supply, the Stealth. We found an error in the production label<link>, which quickly led to a change in all the labeling on all Stealth power supplies."KristopherKubicki - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
#3 and #4, thank you for spotting these errors. I have updated and fixed them.Cheers,
Kristopher
Anonymous User - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
I hope the ripple for the PC Power & Cooling 3V wasn't 2.295.. Possibly 3.296??? 1 volt drop is unacceptable.Anonymous User - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
The REAL price of the pc power&coolinghttp://www.directron.com/pcpower.htmlAnonymous User - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
a little more content per page in some cases would be nice too......but good to see content on the site at all...and seemingly more regularly too...
Anonymous User - Thursday, July 31, 2003 - link
woah guys, the tables need some work...