I remember many of the older power supplies having only a few Molex connectors, maybe a FDD connector and the main power coupler. Come to think of it, that was only a few years back. With the increased power needs and the plethora of peripherals commonly in use nowadays, there is a need to have a lot more flexibility in the department.
Well, the folks at Thermaltake have heard these pleas and answered them. Besides the main power coupling and the auxiliary ports, you have eight 4-pin Molex, two FDD connectors, four native SATA power connectors, two PCI-Express connectors and two additional Molex for use with case cooling only.
This goes a long way in terms of that flexibility I was talking about. Add this to the amazing power levels along the rails and you have the making of an excellent power supply.
For those with nearly any motherboard that isn’t totally obsolete, you will be set with regards to the main power coupling. This unit uses the now-common 20+4 configuration that allows you to give proper power to either a 20-pin or 24-pin mainboard.
Taking a closer look at the auxiliary power connector shows us the newer 4+4 configuration. This is one of the things that makes this model ATX 2.2 compliant. I’ve been seeing some newer motherboards that require this new 8-pin connection for the supplementary power requirements, so if yours needs this, you’re set.
I still have a lot of mixed feelings about this particular feature. Antec came out with it a few years back and now Thermaltake has come up with their version as well. I’m talking about the “Case Fan Only Molex connectors. The concept behind this type of power connection is to allow the power supply to determine how fast a case fan needs to spin by using a thermal probe. The hotter the temperature it reads, the faster the fans spin. While this may be fine for some, I always want to be in firm control of cooling within the case. This is why I generally have very good results no matter the type cooling I use, because I know how to make a good cooling setup work properly.
It all comes down to what you’re comfortable with, but I make it a habit to secure these little devils out of the way with a zip tie. To each their own.
