Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
I don't know about you, but the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W was -- for a lack of a better term -- "Russian". I am not referring to the people, but rather, their products. The power supply is physically enormous, packed with unreal specifications (Come on, 1275W, 80 Plus Platinum, and up to 500W fanless? Anyone who says anything else can't be serious), and by the look of the metal frame based grille over the 140mm fan, ugly and unrefined. You know, sort of like the Antonov An-225, the largest civilian aircraft in the world. It has impressive specifications on paper, but I would much rather spend my time in a Boeing 747-8 or Airbus A380. That said, everything else is still the same old, same old. The Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W features a matte black panel finish, as you can see in our photo above. To make sure you will see the branding sticker the right side up at all times, the orientation of it is different on both sides, so whatever side facing the user after installation will always be correct. Residing behind the metal frame fan grille -- designed for relatively low air resistance while providing adequate protection -- is the primary and only cooling fan installed. As with many modern power supplies, a large 140mm fan sits behind, which is the largest diameter unit one can fit in. The fan generates airflow by drawing air from the bottom of the power supply over its internal components to keep the temperatures in check. Exhaust heat is allowed to leave at the back of the power supply through the large secondary mesh opening.
Measuring in at 20.0cm in length, the Toughpower XT Platinum is really the longest power supply I have ever seen. I would like to get back to the Antonov Av-225 story, but I won't. The extra length is needed to accommodate its modular connector board at the back, as well as the internal components to obtain good performance. We will take a look inside the PSU on the next page. For most ATX or eATX chassis, the roughly 50% in size over a 'short' 14cm power supply like the FSP AURUM CM Gold 650W should not be much of a problem. However, if you have a mATX case that takes standard power supplies, be sure to measure out everything accordingly, so there will be no surprises during installation. Meanwhile, nine screws at the bottom and sides of the Toughpower XT Platinum secure the power supply case together; where one screw has a warranty seal over it -- so you can't open the power supply without voiding the warranty. Since the fan grille is a part of the PSU's frame, you cannot remove it separately to clean the fan.
Starting from the back part of the power supply, we have the same familiar honeycomb mesh design like most PSUs with bottom mounted fans; and the standard on/off switch located below the male connector for power input on the western edge. In other words, the Russian look is out, and now we are back to the Euro-American design. The low resistance honeycomb mesh design is implemented to maximize airflow and minimize air resistance. This is done as heat needs to leave the power supply as easily and efficiently as possible, because the Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W incorporates only one 140mm fan at the bottom, with no auxiliary fans. This is not to mention it will need to deliver up to 500W without any active cooling. I think this design is generally efficient for the most part, but the extra space around the AC power input and switch is probably not necessary; also, no one really needs a power switch of that size anyway. That aside, as with most new power supplies, the Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W has an automatic full range (100V-240V) AC line voltage selection, so the user does not have to worry about manually selecting input voltage.
Like the Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W, the Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W is not a fully modular power supply. This means most cables are detachable from the main unit, but cables such as the ATX 24-pin, ATX 4+4-pin, and EPS 8-pin are permanently fixed. Of course, having an EPS 8-pin and ATX 4+4-pin is largely redundant for 99% of the users out there (Having both present concurrently is mainly a specification thing), so I think having at least one of them modular as a modular cable is probably a much better choice. The advantage is you will suffer from lower electrical loss at the contacts for permanently fixed cables, but the disadvantage is you will need to deal with a little inconvenience during your initial build. Since the ATX 24-pin and 4+4-pin connectors will always be required, the remaining two permanently fixed cables should not be too much of a concern.
The rear cable connection panel is done nicely. Like the Toughpower Grand, the Toughpower XT Platinum sticks closely to the "keep it simple, stupid" principle. From the left in our photo above, as the label suggests, we have six 8-pin sockets for PCI Express cables, followed by five 6-pin sockets for SATA and/or Molex connectors (Dependent on the attached cable). Incompatible outputs will not physically fit into each other, so I think Thermaltake has done a great job in this regard. This simple array of available connectors should be more than sufficient for casual users and power enthusiasts alike.
The external build quality of Thermaltake's Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W power supply is also decent -- a good indication the company is serious about the product they are selling. We will take it apart in just a moment. One unique feature about this PSU is an array of three LEDs on the side to indicate its status. All of them will light green when if "Standby", "Power Good", and "Temperature" status is okay. Fit is done well with minimal panel gaps, and edges are generally nicely finished off. The level of refinement with regards to the external build quality is better than average compared to other PSUs I have used in the past. We will crack open this power supply to see what's inside in the following section.
The voltage specification label at the top of the Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W. There are three main virtual rails. Up to 25A can be delivered via the +3.3V rail for a total of 82.5W; while 25A on the +5V rail brings the output to 125W in this area. The total combined output for the +3.3V and +5V rail is 150W. In other words, your power allocation combination must fall within the limits of the listed specifications. Meanwhile, two +12V rails delivers up to 45A (540W) and 65A (780W), respectively. If you do a quick calculation, this makes it 1320W. Obviously, the combined power output for the whole Toughpower XT Platinum is 1275W, so this configuration negates a little bit of overhead associated with multi-rail designs. Again, your power distribution in your system must fall within the limits provided -- it must not exceed 82.5W on the +3.3V rail, 125W on the +5V rail and 150W combined for both, 540W and 780W on the two respective +12V rails, and 1275W combined between the +12V and +3.3/+5V rails. It does sound a bit confusing to understand how this works at first, but generally speaking, this configuration allows fairly flexible power demands and should be sufficient to accommodate most users. On the other hand, I have seen lower wattage PSUs with more power on the +5V rail, so I would actually expect a little more in this area for a 1275W power supply unit.
The Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W is 80 Plus Platinum certified, as its name suggests. This means that it is certified to be at least 90%, 92%, 89% efficient at 20%, 50%, and 100% load, respectively. There is no higher certification for 115V internal non-redundant power supplies at press time.
A total of eleven modular cables are included out of the box. All modular cables are sleeved and easy to bend, making them extremely easy to work with. As I was digging through the wire labels on the ATX 24-pin cable, I noticed something very weird: It says "22 AWG". I don't think I have seen anything this thin on a power supply before; a closer inspection indicates it is just the signal wire -- the rest are all 16 AWG. 16 AWG wires are found in the PCI Express, ATX 4+4pin, and EPS 8-pin cables as well. Everything else is 18 AWG, which is standard, and to be expected.
The following non-modular cables are permanently attached to the power supply:
- 1x ATX 24-pin, ~50cm
- 1x ATX 4+4-pin, ~55cm
- 1x EPS 8-pin, ~55cm
The following modular cables are included out of the box:
- 2x PCIe 6+2 pin, 2 connectors each, ~55cm, ~15cm spacing thereafter
- 4x PCIe 6+2 pin, 1 connector each, ~55cm
- 2x SATA/Molex, 4 SATA and 1 Molex each, ~55cm to first connector, ~15cm spacing thereafter
- 2x SATA, 4 connector each, ~55cm to first connector, ~15cm spacing thereafter
- 1x Molex, 4 connectors, ~55cm to first connector, ~15cm spacing thereafter
These are just quick rough measurements, but should be reasonably accurate measured from end to end. A Molex to Floppy 4-pin adapter cable is also included. Most users should have no problems with Thermaltake's Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W, even if your case has a bottom power supply mount. 50cm is the general standard, but if you have a larger case, the ATX 4+4-pin or EPS 8-pin cable may require an extension to reach the upper left corner of your motherboard.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
