Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 800 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.
First we tested this power supply with five different load patterns, trying to pull around 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of its labeled maximum capacity (actual percentage used listed under “% Max Load”), watching the behavior of the reviewed unit under each load. In the table below, we list the load patterns we used and the results for each load.
If you add all the powers listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can have a slight variation (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. In 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 our tests, both were connected to the power supply’s single +12 V rail.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 5.5 A (66 W) | 12 A (144 W) | 17.5 A (210 W) | 23 A (276 W) | 29 A (348 W) |
| +12VB | 5.5 A (66 W) | 11 A (132 W) | 17 A (204 W) | 23 A (276 W) | 29 A (348 W) |
| +5V | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 6 A (30 W) | 8 A (40 W) | 12 A (60 W) |
| +3.3 V | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) | 8 A (26.4 W) | 12 A (39.6 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 W) | 3 A (15 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 | 159.6 W | 318.8 W | 473.2 W | 625.8 W | 798.5 W |
| % Max Load | 20.0% | 39.9% | 59.2% | 78.2% | 99.8% |
| Room Temp. | 44.8° C | 44.4° C | 45.3° C | 46.9° C | 48.5° C |
| PSU Temp. | 48.6° C | 50.0° C | 50.8° C | 52.8° C | 56.3° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 179.4 W | 355.4 W | 533.1 W | 719.0 W | 949.0 W |
| Efficiency | 89.0% | 89.7% | 88.8% | 87.0% | 84.1% |
| AC Voltage | 114.1 V | 111.7 V | 110.3 V | 107.5 V | 105.9 V |
| Power Factor | 0.988 | 0.994 | 0.997 | 0.998 | 0.999 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 800 W can really deliver its labeled wattage at high temperatures.
Efficiency was extremely high when we pulled up to 80% of the unit’s labeled wattage (i.e., up to 640 W), between 87% and 89.7%. At full load, however, efficiency dropped to 84.1%. Being an 80 Plus Gold unit, it should present at least 87% efficiency at full load. However, this is very common to happen in our reviews, since during the 80 Plus certification power supplies are tested at only 23° C, while we tested this particular unit at 48.5° C, and efficiency drops with temperature.
Voltage regulation was very good, with all voltages within 3% of their nominal values, except -12 V during tests one, two, and three, and +3.3 V during test five (at +3.20 V, it was still inside specs). The ATX12V specification allows voltages to be up to 5% from their nominal values (10% for the -12 V output). Therefore this power supply presents voltages closer to their nominal values than necessary most of the time.
Noise and ripple levels were always extremely low, except for the -12 V output during test five, with 95.4 mV noise level (the limit is 120 mV, so still acceptable), and the noise level at the +12VB input of our load tester (95.4 mV, high but still inside the allowed range), which was connected to the power supply EPS12V connector. Below you can see the results for the power supply outputs during test number five. The maximum allowed is 120 mV for the +12 V and -12 V outputs, and 50 mV for the +5 V, +3.3 V, and +5VSB outputs. All values are peak-to-peak figures.
Figure 21: +12VA input from load tester during test five at 798.5 W (53.8 mV)
Figure 22: +12VB input from load tester during test five at 798.5 W (95.4 mV)
Figure 23: +5V rail during test five at 798.5 W (23.0 mV)
Figure 24: +3.3 V rail during test five at 798.5 W (29.2 mV)
Let’s see if we can pull even more from the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 800 W.