Thermaltake TR2 QFan Series
by Christoph Katzer on November 19, 2008 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Introduction
It has been sometime since we've seen a major brand like Thermaltake launch a new series of power supplies designed to address the needs of moderate users. We first saw Thermaltake TR2 QFan series at CES or CeBIT earlier this year, but the products haven't appeared in the retail market yet. We received test samples a few months ago, still with no sign of retail product, but Thermaltake assures us availability will occur during the next month.
The TR2 QFan series' claim to fame is limited to one area, and it's not even really a feature. What's so special? The series starts with a modest 300W unit, and ranges up to 500W in 50W increments. We will be looking at four of the units today -- everything except the top 500W model.
The QFan part of the name comes from the use of Thermaltake's patented fan design, which is supposed to decrease noise levels at higher fan speeds. Unfortunately, last time we looked the fan was just as noisy as any other fan design, but at least we can look forward to testing some decent power supplies that cater to users that don't need hundreds of watts of power. Finding good quality PSUs for this market has become increasingly difficult, and Thermaltake could step in to fill the void.
As you might expect, the differences between the various models are generally small. The 3.3V and 5V rails in the 300 and 350W unit are rated at 15A and 21A, respectively, while the 400W and 450W units are 15A and 24A. The 300W version comes with two 12V rails at 11A and 8A compared to the 350W version's 11A and 14A. The 400W and 450W also have different 12V ratings, with 17A on 12V1 and 14A (400W) and 16A (450W) on 12V2. All of this is in line with the higher output ratings, though there will also be some differences on internal components in order to support the higher wattages.
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Slomo4shO - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link
Would it be possible to include CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX, PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS420X, OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ400MXSP, and OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP in your upcoming write-up?Christoph Katzer - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link
Yep, have them already here.Havor - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link
Hi Christoph nice reviewBut if you really be cool if you would put all the tested PSU's in a database.
ware you can select a power rating (like say 400~450W) and see on a graf how all the PSUs performs in that W-rating
http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/3/11/20/f_PSUg...">http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/3/11/20/f_PSUg...
A other thing that would be nice would be if you would give all PSU a grade from 0~100 ware 100 would be a PSU perfect PSU <15db/100% eff./DC output perfect flat/temp <30c/PFC = 1/build quality perfect
And then turn it in a graf. and cross it whit personal most important part for HTPC builders that would be db, for people building a server it would be high % efficacy
Mr Perfect - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link
It would be interesting to know what Seasonic is up to these days. Their old S12 line was quite impressive in it's day.Oh, and anything that has more then just one 6pin PEG connector. Someone with a reasonably powered system might still want to hook in a 4870 or GTX260, seeing how games are generally GPU limited today.
Netcraazzy - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link
I'd love to see a head-to-head comparison between these PSUs and similar units from Antec, OCZ, Seasonic, Sparkle and others. I'm especially interested in the 400w-500w range.Amart - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link
Opinion seconded, well done with the review. I especially appreciate the attention to quality and ripple graphs, as these are of prime concern when recommending a PSU.