Testing
I do not have the specialized equipment for PSU testing (which costs thousands of dollars). So the best way I could do test the PSU is by using what we’ve got. My testing method involves comparing the voltage and power consumption reading during idle and at full load. I know it’s not the most accurate method technically, but I think this simple method should provide some ideas of the performance of the power supply in terms of stability and power consumption.
The main thing to watch out for, is the fluctuation on the +12V line. If the +12V line drops to below 11.5V during full load … then you’ve got trouble. The system may unstable and you might also get random reboots.
We used AIDA64 and simultaneously ran both CPU and GPU stress test which produces 100% load. We then checked the voltage readings on AIDA64 and HWinfo64. A kill-a-watt meter was used to record the peak power consumption of the system.
List of components is in the table below:
IDLE
Voltage readings taken from ADIA64 at idle
- +12V : 12.168V
- +5V : 4.950V
- +3V : 3.305V
STOCK LOAD
Voltage readings taken from ADIA64 under load
- +12V : 12.024V (-0.144V)
- +5V : 4.920V (-0.030V)
- +3V : 3.285V (-0.02V)
OVERCLOCK LOAD
Voltage readings taken from ADIA64 under load
- +12V : 12.024V (-0.144V)
- +5V : 4.920V (-0.030V)
- +3V : 3.285V (-0.02V)
At full load for both CPU and GPU, the system is drawing a decent amount of power, and you can see that the voltages have dropped slightly. This is expected. What you’re looking for is to make sure that the +12V reading don’t drop to below 11.5V. If it does, then the system may become unstable.
In this case, the Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB 850W is holding up well at 12.024V
Power consumption at full load peaked to 232W. We have an overclocked Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.2GHz, and a GeForce GTX 1070 … both at full load.
Extremely Strict Voltage Regulation < ±2%
ATX specification allows +/- 5% fluctuations in voltage outputs. Limits for the rails supposed to be within these values:
The voltage regulation of the PSU is set to no more than ±2% for major rails to meet the highest performance. The strict voltage regulation of the Toughpower Grand RGB Gold is better than Intel’s standard ±5% for major rails and ±10% for -12V.
< 30 mV Low Ripple Noise
All ripples are lower than 30mV for high stability on +12V, +5V, or +3.3V from 0% to 100% load to ensure a high quality power supply. Low ripple noise will keep your performance-critical components, such as high-end graphics cards, to operate reliably for longer.
Smart Zero Fan ensures zero noise when the fan operates below 20% working load to minimize audible noise.
The fan will operate when the power supply working load over 20%. A switch is provided for those who prefer the fan to spin constantly.
Now lets move on to the Conclusion and Verdict
