Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 800w Power Supply

Benchmark Testing and Analysis:

Testing was done on

Installation went very smoothly with the slight exception I noted above, and that was that the cables are a little stiffer than a number of the competing products. This stiffness comes as both a blessing and a curse, cables are less flexible which means a little more thought has to be put into cable management, this negative also comes as a positive in that you are far less likely to damage these cables than those of a power supply with thinner cables. That being said the cables included are of adequate size to fit every where needed in both a mid sized case like the Antec Nine hundred and a full sized case like the Xclio 1000. I briefly put the power supply in the Xclio 1000 to test cable management with this power supply. Testing was done in the old fashion way with multimeter probes as well as the iPower meter. I installed the iPower meter in an empty 5.25 inch bay.

The iPower display works very well with one minor exception, the wattage displayed is only the power drawn from the +12 V, +5 V and +3.3 V rails which are also shown individually on the panel. Beyond the display with the +12 V, +5 V and +3.3 V rail voltages you also have the current fan speed (changeable)  and PSU temperature in either Celsius or Fahrenheit. You can also change the display of the top left between wattage/efficiency. While the iPower display is useful it would have been better to show a total draw from all rails ( -12 V and +5VSB rails ) if your using those rails which not everyone does.

While testing with the multimeter I watched the system at boot up and let windows sit at idle for 10 minutes prior to any serious testing. After idle I powered up Prime 95 and FurMark and ran them simultaneously for 60 minutes power on the 12V, 5V, and 3.3V rails all stayed within 0.1v of optimal and only fluctuated slightly +/- .02v.

During these tests the fans kept the temp of the PSU to around 70-75^o F ( 21-24^o C) also the fan noise itself was whisper quiet even with my ear directly next to the fan grill.

Summary and Conclusion:

Overall I am very happy with the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus power supply, it delivers with fit and finish providing a solid choice for any enthusiast looking to build their own rig. My comment about the cables being more rigid than other power supplies stands though I will hold out that its actually a boon in disguise because the cables are solid and hold up well to the rigors of cable management, I would much rather have strong cables than flimsy cables.  The Thortech Thunderbolt plus with its accompanying iPower power meter definitely have a place in a gaming rig. During the build I was also really happy with the length of the cables and overall redundancy of the connectors allowing my much greater flexibility when wiring my system than I expected from an 800w power supply. Thortech has future plans for a 1000w, 1200w and a 1400w power supply which will cater to all your power needs and if they keep the gold certification could make many of the current leading manufacturers of power supplies to sweat.

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