Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W Power Supply

Introduction, Specifications, Availability and Pricing

Introduction

Thermaltake is well known for their quality power supplies and the examples we have seen here at TweakTown are certainly no exception. The last time we took a look at Thermaltake PSU, it performed almost flawlessly. This time around we are taking a look at something that appeals to more than just the hardcore enthusiast crowd.

The Toughpower XT 875W power supply is beefy enough to support dual GPU's and still offers plenty of connectors for other peripherals inside the computer. Keep reading on to find out all about it and how well it fairs against our gauntlet of tests.


Specifications, Availability and Pricing



The Thermaltake Toughpower XT comes in swinging with 875W of power, almost all of which is available on the single, massive 72A 12V rail. The 3.3V and 5V rails are no slouches either, as they put out 25A each for a total combined output of 150W. This should be plenty of power to support dual GPU systems with a high end processor and even some overclocking.



Thermaltake includes all of the features that we look for in the Toughpower XT 875W power supply. There are all the protections that you can shake a stick at including over temperature protection. Thermaltake even rates the Toughpower XT 875W at 50C so you know that it can withstand the heat and won't let you down when you need it the most.

The Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W retails for $169.99. This is a price drop since it was originally released and a few places still haven't dropped the price on it yet, so make sure that you do your shopping before you place an order for one to ensure that you get the best deal.

It is readily available at both retail stores and online. Thermaltake backs the power supply with a 5 year warranty for further good measure.

The Packaging

Thermaltake does a good job of not overwhelming the potential buyer with excess marking on the front of the box.



Taking a look at the back, we see that Thermaltake has continued the trend from the front and keeps it simple. There are a handful of key features covered, connector availability, output specifications, and a graph showing how the power supply could affect the temperature of your system.

Thermaltake left the sides, top and bottom of the box plain. They simply show the Thermaltake and Toughpower XT logos on them.

Inside the Box

Taking a look inside the box, we can see that the Toughpower XT 875W power supply is packaged in a layer of bubble wrap. There is also a piece of foam not shown on the top and bottom of the power supply to help protect it even further. To secure it in place so that it doesn't move around in shipping, the native and modular cables are used to fill the space surrounding the power supply.



One side of the Toughpower XT 875W has a label and three LED's that show the status and if there are any faults with the power supply.



The other side of the power supply has several vents that allow the PSU to vent even more hot exhaust out of the power supply. The only bad thing about their location is that it vents them back inside the case.



On the back we see that Thermaltake uses a honeycomb grill to allow hot exhaust out of the power supply.



Taking a look at the front of the power supply, we can see the modular cabling for the Toughpower XT 875W. The only two native cables are the 24-pin Main connector and the ATX 4+4/EPS12V connector.



The Toughpower XT 875W power supply houses the I/O specification label on the top so that it is out of sight once installed in the chassis.



On the bottom we see that the fan grill is actually part of the case and molded from the punch outs during manufacturing.

Cabling Arrangement & A Look Inside

Cabling Arrangement



Everything that you need to use up the full 875W of power offered by the Toughpower XT 875W is here. As I mentioned before, the only native cables on the PSU are the main and ATX4+4/EPS12V cables. The rest are modular and include two 6+2 pin PCI-E cables, two 6 pin PCI-E cables, six Molex connectors, eight SATA connectors, and a single floppy connector.



As has been the trend with many power supplies lately, the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W uses a single 12V rail for power delivery. There isn't much to mention here other than that it negates the need for even power distribution amongst the rails.


A Look Inside



Opening things up, we can see a trio of heatsinks cooling the power supply. There is a lot going on inside the Toughpower XT 875W, but it is organized well so that air can permeate and cool throughout the entire unit.



Interestingly enough, Thermaltake only uses a single capacitor on the primary side. It is a Japanese made Nippon Chemi-con cap.



Despite the build quality throughout the entire power supply, we see that Thermaltake is still using Taiwanese manufactured Teapo capacitors on the secondary.

Test Results & Final Thoughts

Test Results

Our load tests utilize a couple of FAST ATE active load testers and a variety of other equipment such as an oscilloscope, power conditioner, temperature probe and a power consumption meter. You can read more about our standard testing approach here.

The tests performed are based around six conceivable setups that are out there and progressively load down the PSU up to the power supply's limits or 1000W, whichever comes first. Since our test equipment's limits are greater than the Toughpower XT 875W, we can test it to the maximum.





The Thermaltake Toughpower XT 875W performed excellent throughout all of our tests. Depending on how you look at things, you might even say that it performed better than the Toughpower Grand.

The Toughpower XT 875W boasts better line regulation and keeps the voltage tolerances even smaller than that of the Toughpower Grand, but it sacrifices some efficiency and has more ripple on the 12V rail. None of this ever comes close to going out of specification and it is one of the best power supplies that I have tested to date.


Final Thoughts

Thermaltake has produced another rock solid power supply that is well deserving of your money. If you are looking for a power supply that is capable of delivering rock solid power to a high end system with up to two GPU's, it will be hard to beat the quality and price of the Toughpower XT 875W.

Almost everything is perfect with the Toughpower XT and the only negative things to fault the Toughpower XT for are trivial. These would be that all of the PCI-E cables are of the same length and that it vents some of the hot air from the power supply into case.

It would be hard to find a better power supply in the 800W-900W range.