Thortech Thunderbolt 850 W Power Supply Review

Power Distribution

In Figure 17, you can see the power supply label containing all the power specs.

Figure 17: Power supply label

This power supply is sold as having four +12 V rails, and we could clearly see four current sensors (“shunts”) on the solder side of the printed circuit board. For the untrained eye, this would be the proof that this unit has four +12 V rails. However, taking a closer look at these current sensors, we can clearly see that they are connected in parallel, resulting in this unit having a single +12 V rail design. They would need to be connected exclusively to a unique group of wires to be monitoring that specific group of wires and, therefore, creating a “rail.” Another proof that this power supply doesn’t have four +12 V rails is that there are no wires connected to the hole labeled +12V2 on the printed circuit board. Click here to learn more about this subject.

Figure 18: Current sensors (“shunts”) are connected in parallel

How much power can this unit really deliver? Let’s find out.