| Thermaltake Toughpower QFan 650W Power Supply
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Internal Inspection:
The images below show the internal features of the Thermaltake Toughpower QFan 650W power supply. There is nothing particularly neat or impressive about the arrangement, but the components seem to be adequately sized for a unit with this power rating. The below right image takes a closer look at one section of the internals where the PCB for the modular connections can be seen. This image also shows an empty 2-pin socket where the cooling fan connects to a small PCB off to the right (removed only while the housing was opened).
 
Many of this power supply's features are focused on low noise operation, and the fan is a big part of that. The 140mm unit is large, and is able to move a good amount of air while spinning slower than a smaller unit. The images below show that the fan's frame is unique since it is pretty much one sided. This design is intended to "increase air flow and reduce the sound of wind shear". Combined with a wide open fan grill, slotted side panels for extra air intake, and an open honeycomb exhaust surface, air should flow through the housing freely, and with minimal noise.
 
The back side of the fan had a clear plastic plate installed, most likely to keep wires out of the fan blades. After testing was completed, I went back in and removed this plate in order to let the fan operate unrestricted, and to allow cool air to flow past all the internal components.
Testing:
A system with the components listed below was used to test the Thermaltake Toughpower QFan 650W power supply:
» ASUS P5E64 WS Evolution X48 ATX motherboard
» Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 dual core processor
» G.Skill 4GB DDR3-1600 Pi Series dual channel memory kit (at 1600MHz and 7-7-7-18)
» OCZ Technology Vendetta CPU cooler
» Maxtor MaxLine III 250GB SATA 3Gbps hard drive (Qty. 4)
» Sapphire Toxic 512MB HD3870 graphics card (Qty. 2)
» Sapphire Toxic 512MB HD4850 graphics card
» TSST Super WriteMaster SATA optical drive
For comparison purposes, it was tested against three other units with similar power ratings; the BFG Tech LS-680 680W power supply, the Rosewill RX630-S-B 630 Watt power supply, and the Nesteq EECS 700 Watt power supply. The Rosewill and the BFG units use standard cabling, while the Thermaltake and Nesteq units are both modular.
All of the components listed above were used during idle testing, while load testing saw a Seasonic brand "Loader" connected, too. This device can generate up to 148W on the 5V and 12V rails, bringing the system's demand a bit closer to the limit of the power supply. The other equipment used during testing included a Radio Shack digital multimeter (Cat. No. 22-810) and a Seasonic Power Angel power monitor.
For idle condition testing, the system was powered up with the hardware listed previously except for the Seasonic Loader. It was allowed to sit at the Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) desktop with nothing else running. For the load conditions, the Seasonic Loader was connected, Folding@Home was run on each of the processor's cores, and 3DMark Vantage's first two tests were run at a resolution of 1680x1050. During load testing the two tests from 3DMark Vantage were executed over and over again, and the Seasonic loader was unplugged while 3DMark Vantage switched from one test to the other in order to keep it from getting too hot.
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