Thermaltake Purepower 500 W Power Supply Review
Load Tests
Contents
We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.
Since we knew this unit wasn’t a 500 W unit, we tested it a little bit differently. Starting with an 85 W load pattern, we increased the loads little by little until we reached the maximum the unit could deliver.
If you add all the power listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can vary slightly (e.g., the +5 V output working at +5.10 V), the actual total amount of power being delivered is slightly different than the calculated value. On the “Total” row we are using the real amount of power being delivered, as measured by our load tester.
The +12VA and +12VB inputs listed below are the two +12 V independent inputs from our load tester. During this test both inputs were connected to the power supply single rail, with the +12VB input connected to the power supply EPS12V connector.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 3 A (36 W) | 3.5 A (42 W) | 4.5 A (54 W) | 5.5 A (66 W) | 6.25 A (75 W) |
| +12VB | 2.5 A (30 W) | 3.25 A (39 W) | 4 A (48 W) | 5 A (60 W) | 6 A (72 W) |
| +5V | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 A) | 1.5 A (7.5 A) | 2 A (10 W) |
| +3.3 V | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (4.95 W) | 1.5 A (4.95 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) |
1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) |
| -12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) |
| Total | 83.5 W | 97.5 W | 122.4 W | 145.2 W | 169.6 W |
| % Max Load | 16.7% | 19.5% | 24.5% | 29.0% | 33.9% |
| Room Temp. | 43.4° C | 42.1° C | 41.9° C | 42.1° C | 42.8° C |
| PSU Temp. | 42.8° C | 42.8° C | 42.8° C | 43.0° C | 43.3° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 101.2 W | 117.6 W | 147.2 W | 173.8 W | 204.2 W |
| Efficiency | 82.5% | 82.9% | 83.2% | 83.5% | 83.1% |
| AC Voltage | 113.0 V | 117.7 V | 113.3 V | 113.2 V | 112.7 V |
| Power Factor | 0.596 | 0.608 | 0.639 | 0.653 | 0.670 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Input | Test 6 | Test 7 | Test 8 | Test 9 | Test 10 |
| +12VA | 7.5 A (90 W) | 8.25 A (99 W) | 9.25 A (111 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 11 A (132 W) |
| +12VB | 7 A (84 W) | 8 A (96 W) | 9 A (108 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 11 A (132 W) |
| +5V | 2 A (10 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 W) | 3 A (15 W) | 3 A (15 W) |
| +3.3 V | 2 A (6.6 W) | 2.5 A (8.25 W) | 2.5 A (8.25 W) | 3 A (9.9 W) | 3 A (9.9 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) |
| -12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) |
| Total | 194.8 W | 218.9 W | 241.1 W | 264.9 W | 286.5 W |
| % Max Load | 39.0% | 43.8% | 48.2% | 53.0% | 57.3% |
| Room Temp. | 44.3° C | 45.5° C | 46.6° C | 48.0° C | 49.8° C |
| PSU Temp. | 44.5° C | 45.4° C | 46.3° C | 47.6° C | 49.3° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 235.8 W | 266.5 W | 295.1 W | 327.2 W | 357.1 W |
| Efficiency | 82.6% | 82.1% | 81.7% | 81.0% | 80.2% |
| AC Voltage | 111.1 V | 110.2 V | 110.5 V | 110.6 V | 116.8 V |
| Power Factor | 0.678 | 0.684 | 0.687 | 0.69 | 0.660 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Input | Test 11 | Test 12 | Test 13 | Test 14 | Test 15 |
| +12VA | 12 A (144 W) | 13 A (156 W) | 14 A (168 W) | 15 A (180 W) | 16 A (192 W) |
| +12VB | 11.75 A (141 W) | 12.75 A (153 W) | 13.5 A (162 W) | 14.5 A (174 W) | 15.5 A (186 W) |
| +5V | 3.5 A (17.5 W) | 3.5 A (17.5 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 4.5 A (22.5 W) |
| +3.3 V | 3.5 A (11.55 W) | 3.5 A (11.55 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 4.5 A (14.85 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) |
| -12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) |
| Total | 310.2 W | 331.4 W | 354.8 W | 375.4 W | Fail |
| % Max Load | 62.0% | 66.3% | 71.0% | 75.1% | Fail |
| Room Temp. | 43.8° C | 44.4° C | 44.6° C | 45.6° C | Fail |
| PSU Temp. | 43.8° C | 44.4° C | 46.4° C | 49.9° C | Fail |
| Voltage Regulation | Fail on +12 V | Fail on +12 V | Fail on +12 V | Fail on +12 V | Fail |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| AC Power | 391.9 W | 422.0 W | 459.0 W | 496.0 W | Fail |
| Efficiency | 79.2% | 78.5% | 77.3% | 75.7% | Fail |
| AC Voltage | 116.5 V | 116.6 V | 116.1 V | 115.3 V | Fail |
| Power Factor | 0.665 | 0.669 | 0.676 | 0.678 | Fail |
| Final Result | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail |
As we suspected, Thermaltake Purepower 500 W can’t deliver its labeled power. Officially this is a 405 W power supply, however when we tried to pull 400 W from it the unit shut down after a few seconds, showing that the manufacturer labeled this unit at 25° C. At least the protections kicked in, preventing the unit from burning.
Efficiency was above 80% when we pulled up to around 285 W from this unit (test number 10), reaching a peak efficiency of 83.5% at 145 W. Curiously when efficiency dropped below 80% (starting on test 11, with the unit delivering 310 W) voltage at +12 V was below the minimum allowed, showing that the unit has already reached its limit, presenting a risk to the components from your system.
On the other hand, ripple and noise levels were always low. During test 14 with the unit delivering 375 W we saw only 22.8 mV at +12VA, 27.4 mV at +12VB, 15.6 mV at 5 V and 15.2 mV at +3.3 V. The limits are 120 mV for +12 V and 50 mV for +5 V and +3.3 V. All values are peak-to-peak.