As we have mentioned in other articles and reviews, the first place we look when opening a power supply for a hint about its quality is its filtering stage. The recommended components for this stage are two ferrite coils, two ceramic capacitors (Y capacitors, usually blue), one metalized polyester capacitor (X capacitor), and one MOV (Metal-Oxide Varistor). Very low-end power supplies use fewer components, usually removing the MOV and the first coil.

This power supply has all required components plus one extra X capacitor, four extra Y capacitors and one extra coil. The MOV can be seen between the fuse and the first coil in Figure 10, using a black rubber protection. This stage is identical from Toughpower 750 W. Notice how the X capacitor in Figure 10 brings the “PSH-750” marking on it, indicating CWT’s original model.

click to enlarge
Figure 9: Transient filtering stage (part 1).

click to enlarge
Figure 10: Transient filtering stage (part 2).

In the next page we will have a more detailed discussion of the components used in the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 750 W.