Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W PSU Review

1. Introduction2. Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W (Bundle & Cables)3. Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W PSU (External)4. Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W (Internal)5. Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W (Super High Res Gallery)6. Testing Methodology & Results7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

If you are shopping for a new power supply there are certainly no shortage of options this year. For those who have just built a very high end gaming system with three or more graphics cards then today's review product will be of interest. The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W is a hefty design sporting a single +12V rail which can deliver 100A. It is a semi modular design with 80 Plus Gold Certification.

The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200 also ships with the ‘iPower Meter', a device which mounts in a 5.25 inch bay to display options such as wattage, efficiency and voltage readings.

The power supply uses high grade Japanese electrolytic and polymer capacitors inside. The company also offer a substantial five year warranty with the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W.

Features:

Efficiency performace of up to > 90% with 80Plus Gold certification

• Thortech Thunderbolt Plus Series provides High Efficiency performance with up to 90% at 115Vac and 92% at 230Vac

Single +12V rail design providing up to 100A(1200w)

• Single +12V rail design can provide most compatibility to all high wattage requirement system.

iPower Meter: Industry’s 1st interactive PSU control panel chassis panel mounting 5.25”

• The world’s first interactive PSU control panel with fan speed control which also provides critical PSU data such as efficiency, wattage, Voltage, current, fan RPM and PSU internal temperature

Modulized Cable Management

• Providing a neat and efficient cable environment inside you chassis

Comply with all the latest Intel and AMD CPU

• Ready for most high end Intel and AMD CPU generation

Designed to sustain at 50℃ ambient with full wattage output

• All of Thortech PSUs have been burned-in in 50℃ chamber to ensure the best product reliability.

Active PFC circuit helps to provide perfect PF value >0.99

• Providing an extremely high PF value, resulting an extremely high PSU efficiency.

Supports Intel ATX 12V V2.3 and EPS 12V V2.91 standards

• All of Thortech PSUs comply with the latest Intel power supply design guide.

135mm Dual Ball Bearing Fan with smart fan control circuit to provide better system airflow

Support NVIDIA SLI & ATI Crossfire multiple graphic cards platform

Low ESR 105℃ solid state capacitors

• Solid state capacitors can provide longer PSU life and better output quality.

Dimension: 160 x 150 x 86mm
Multi-Protection as OCP/ OVP/ OPP/ UVP/ SCP/ OTP
MTBF: 120,000 hours
Safety Approvals: cUL, TUV, CB, CE, FCC, C’tick, Gost-R, PSE CCC, BSMI
5 Year Warranty

The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W box is large and heavy. The top of the package has two carry handles which are made from a felt material.

The top of the box opens up to reveal the power supply underneath thick foam padding.

The contents are extensive. The modular cables are stored inside a felt bag. There is also a regional specific power connector, the iPower Meter, mounting screws and a bag of cable ties to help with the installation phase of the system build. The company also supply a ‘quick installation guide', which is a basic user manual.

The iPower meter can be installed inside a 5.25 inch drive bay and offers read out values for power consumption, voltages and efficiency. It can also list temperature and the speed of the fan in RPM.

iPower Meter also can adjust the fan to one of two speeds, ‘quiet' and ‘full'. Quiet mode is based on PWM, and related to internal temperatures. Full mode spins the fan at 100% all the time, regardless of internal temperature.

We would advise to leave this on the standard quiet mode. We think this is a cool addition to the bundle.

Thortech supply a felt bag which opens up to reveal the modular cables.

Above left are the modular cables, and above right – the hardwired cables which emerge directly from the power supply chassis. We would have liked to see less hardwired and more modular cables however.

All of the cables are sleeved to high quality (18AWG).

Cable	Amount
MB 20+4 pin	x1 (530mm)
EPS12V 4+4 pin	x1 (580mm)
EPS12V 8 pin	x1 (580mm)
PCI E 8 pin (6 pin +2)	x4 (hardwired – 580mm) & x4 (modular – 580mm)
Sata power connectors	x4 (hardwired – 580mm + 150mm) x8 (modular – 480mm + 150mm)
Peripheral 4 pin (molex)	x6 (530mm + 180mm)
Floppy connector	x1 (180mm)
iPower Meter 6 Pin	x1

There are no shortage of cables with the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W, much as we would expect in this price range. This supply can cater to the most demanding of systems with up to 4 high end video cards. The 20+4 pin cable is a little short for such a high end 1200W power supply however, as are the EPS connectors. 650mm would be an ideal length for super tower cases.

The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W may have a cheesy name, but we have no concerns with the appearance of the unit itself. It is finished in a slightly off black/dark grey paint which doesn't attract fingerprints and can withstand rough handling without leaving an array of scratches.

The large fan is hidden behind a black honeycomb grill, with the company logo in the center position. We will look at the fan in more detail when we open the supply up shortly.

One side of the power supply is honeycomb vented to help with airflow. At the side is a power button and connector.

The other side of the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W PSU has eight modular headers which are colour coded. Four are coloured yellow, and the rest are black. These are constructed to high standards.

As I mentioned earlier in the review, a reduction in the amount of hard wired cables would have been beneficial. There is plenty of space here for another 4 to 8 cable connectors.

Above, a hefty +12V output of 100A. This actually matches the total output of the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W. The +3.3V and +5V rails can deliver a total of 150W, which is very high and outside the parameters for even a very high demand enthusiast system.

The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W uses a Global Fan (model RL4Z B1352512HH-3M). This is a 135mm x 135mm x 25 mm unit with eleven blades. It is a ball bearing design rated at 12v, 0.45A. The image above shows a partial plastic covering which is designed to force air in a specific direction over the components.

This is a modified High Power/Sirfa design. There are many black heatsinks inside which separate the components – it is crammed inside the limited space. The overall design is very clean and soldering quality is good.

The AC receptacle houses the transient filtering stage – there are two Y caps and a X cap here. The main PCB is home to a single X and two Y Caps, two chokes and an MOV. The primary capacitors are supplied by Nippon Chemi Con and are rated at 470µF each, 400V @ 105c.

The secondary side synchronous design is used with two DC-DC converters for the production of the minor rails. Nippon Chemi Con and Rubycon are also responsible for most of the polymer and electrolytic capacitors in the secondary stage.

The daughter card pictured above controls the iPower Meter thanks to a micro controller which can be seen on the right side of the PCB.

On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the 24.5MP Nikon D3X camera and 24-70mm ED lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source.

Additional technical assistance: Peter McFarland and Jeremy Price.

Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. Due to public requests we have changed our temperature settings recently – previously we rated with ambient temperatures at 25C, we have increased ambient temperatures by 10c (to 35c) in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions.

We use combinations of the following hardware:
• SunMoon SM-268
• CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs)
• CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4)
• Extech Power Analyzer
• Extech MultiMaster MM570 digital multimeter
• SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa)
• Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC)
• Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA

We combine all +12V output for results.

For those interested, the supplied iPower Meter readings were highly inaccurate throughout testing.

DC Output Load Regulation
Combined DC Load	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		+5VSB		-12V
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
330W	5.58	3.36	5.54	5.11	21.23	12.23	0.85	5.04	0.20	-12.00
620W	11.06	3.32	11.02	5.07	42.57	12.17	1.74	5.03	0.40	-12.03
918W	16.54	3.27	16.44	5.03	63.75	12.04	2.64	5.01	0.60	-12.08
1204W	22.03	3.23	22.04	5.00	85.12	11.92	3.6	5.00	0.80	-12.12

Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W PSU	Maximum Load
	1315W

Load regulation is not the best we have seen this year, however it falls within safe parameters. We managed to get 1315W from the unit before it would switch off. The over circuit protection system worked well and it shut off safely.

Next we want to try Cross Loading. This basically means loads which are not balanced. If a PC for instance needs 500W on the +12V outputs but something like 30W via the combined 3.3V and +5V outputs then the voltage regulation can fluctuate badly.

Cross Load Testing	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		-12V		+5VSB
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
1190W	4.0	3.35	3.0	5.09	88.0	11.87	0.20	-12.02	0.50	5.04
195W	19.0	3.22	22.0	5.00	2.5	12.20	0.20	-11.99	0.50	5.02

Cross load results are fine, although there is quite a drop on the +12V output and +3.3V output.

We then used an oscilloscope to measure AC ripple and noise present on the DC outputs. We set the oscilloscope time base to check for AC ripple at both high and low ends of the spectrum.

ATX12V V2.2 specification for DC output ripple and noise is defined in the ATX 12V power supply design guide.

ATX12V Ver 2.2 Noise/Ripple Tolerance
Output	Ripple (mV p-p)
+3.3V	50
+5V	50
+12V1	120
+12V2	120
-12V	120
+5VSB	50

Obviously when measuring AC noise and ripple on the DC outputs the cleaner (less recorded) means we have a better end result. We measured this AC signal amplitude to see how closely the unit complied with the ATX standard.

AC Ripple (mV p-p)
DC Load	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	5VSB
330W	20	15	25	10
620W	25	15	50	10
918W	30	20	60	15
1204W	30	25	75	20

The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W PSU passed our noise suppression test however the results are far from class leading. The +12V output peaks at 75mV, still within rated tolerance parameters but higher than many 1000W+ units we have reviewed lately.

Efficiency (%)
330W	88.21
620W	90.97
918W	89.75
1204W	88.02

Efficiency is reasonably good, peaking at just under 91 percent at 50 percent load.

We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

Today to test the Power Supply we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa) one meter away from the unit. We have no other fans running so we can effectively measure just the noise from the unit itself.

As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 Player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

Noise (dBA)
330W	29.7
620W	32.8
918W	35.4
1204W	38.2

The power supply is quiet below 600W, but the fan quickly spins up to compensate. At full load it is clearly audible and likely to be heard, even above several quality case fans.

Temperature (c)
	Intake	Exhaust
330W	35	39
620W	38	45
918W	42	50
1204W	46	57

The fan spins fast at higher loads which maintains a good thermal curve across all the output range. At full load it only rises to an 11c above ambient threshold.

Maximum load	Efficiency
1315W	86.3

Pushing the PSU above its rated limits generates an efficiency level of around 86.3%. This is not a viable ‘real world’ situation, but its interesting nonetheless.

The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W has been named to instill imagery of a hammer wielding Norse God showering down lightning on his enemies. However in the real world it is a decent, well built power supply. We also like the small physical size, which means it will fit into a variety of systems without problem.

The inclusion of the iPower meter device is a talking point, and if you are the kind of person who likes to play with gadgets then it is certainly worth installing into a drive bay at the front of a case. Just don't be expecting to read close to real results, as it proved highly inaccurate during our testing.

On a positive note the supply managed to deliver over 1,300 watts and did so without a problem, but there are some issues under the hood.

The Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W technically is a fairly good unit, although there are areas of weakness which mean it won't be winning one of our top awards today. Voltage regulation is decent for a 1,200w power supply although there is quite a drop on the +12V and +3.3V output, especially when tasked with an intensive cross loading test.

Noise/ripple suppression is below average, and we recorded 75mV on the +12V output at full load which while within rated tolerance parameters, is higher than we would like from such a high end unit.

Noise emissions are also higher than I would have expected. At full load, the large fan spins very fast which subsequently produces a significant level of noise. Granted, there will be few instances when you are pulling 1,200watts from the socket, but even at 800Watts, the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W is clearly heard.

The balance of hard wired to modular cables also disappoints me. There are too many hardwired cables and moving some of these to the modular panel would have helped improve cable routing in a wider cross section of system builds.

Overall, we think this is definitely worthy of a shortlist, however with the Seasonic Platinum 1000W Modular, BeQuiet! Dark Pro 10 1200W and Corsair Professional Series AX1200i currently available it is difficult to wholeheartedly recommend.

Pricing in the UK is around the £230 inc vat mark. With the Corsair Professional Series AX1200i available for only £10 extra, we see no reason to buy the Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1200W. If it dropped to under £200 then it would make for a more viable purchasing decision.

Pros:

• Small physical size is practical.
• good build quality.
• delivered over 1,300watts
• iPower meter is a cool addition.

Cons:

• better units available for close to same price from Seasonic, Corsair and BeQuiet!
• can get noisy
• ripple suppression isn't the greatest.
• iPower readings are inaccurate.

Kitguru says: A decent power supply, but it is currently overpriced.

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