9-Way 850W Power Supply Roundup

Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W

Honestly, we haven’t reviewed many Thermaltake power supplies here at Hardware Canucks due to a variety of reasons one of which being past availability issues with their higher-end products here in Canada. This situation has since changed and the Toughpower XT we received is widely available but at a steep price of around $250 making it $100 more expensive than the likes of the Strider Plus 850W and $25 more than the Antec Signature. This may not seem like an auspicious beginning for Thermaltake’s XT series but if its performance matches its price, it could be worth the investment. Not to mention that this unit is one of the few with a 5-year warranty.


To us, the exterior design of a box doesn’t really impact on what we think of the product itself but it can definitely help influence a customer’s buying decision. What matters is how much protection is afforded the item within the box and as you can see, Thermaltake has done a good job protecting the precious cargo. Other than sitting in a high density foam cocoon, the Toughpower XT is additionally protected by the cable bag on one side and by a bubble wrap bag.

Accessories have always been a strong point of Thermaltake and we once again see things being done right. Along with the usual instruction manuals there is a bag for your unused modular cables, a vibration dampener, mounting screws, a case badge, Velcro tie wraps, adaptor / extension cables that convert the 8-pin PCI-E connectors into 6-pin connectors and a 4-pin CPU extension cable. The one thing that concerned us was the inclusion of a horribly thin power cord that felt more like a shoe-string than a device that could transport 850W of power.


All of Thermaltake’s Toughpower power supplies have a rugged, utilitarian look about them and while this may appeal to some, we prefer the standard black finish to an odd off-brown color. Where the XT 850W differs from nearly every other product is with the inclusion of a manual fan control on its back as well as LED indicators on the side. Basically, the switch controls how long the 140mm fan spins after the power supply turns off (up to 30 seconds) while the LEDs can issue warnings about the power signal and temperatures. We find both of these features to be a bit pointless considering they won’t affect performance in any way but to each their own.


The lone cable attached directly to this power supply is the ATX 24-pin which surprisingly isn’t sleeved all the way into the housing. This leaves a multicolored mess of wires exposed which is definitely not something we want to see on product that costs as much as the XT 850W does. Meanwhile, when it comes to the modular interface, things are very well labeled so users won’t be trying to plug cables into spaces they shouldn’t be.


The modular cables are just about what you would expect: fully sleeved, quite long and the addition of quick-release Molex connectors is always welcome.


After opening the Toughpower XT we are greeted with a typical Channel Well PSH design with a single main transformer, a small daughter board for fan control which is placed at a right angle to the main PCB and wrapped coils. The heatsinks are laid out in such a way that they offer expanded surface area for heat dissipation by the main fan.


All in all, the build quality of Thermaltake’s Toughpower XT is top-notch which is evidenced by the pinpoint accuracy of the modular interface’s welds. Capacitors are also well chosen with a single Matsushita 85ׄ°C unit on the primary filtering section and Nippon Chemi-Cons on the secondary.