Thermaltake is adding four new models to their Toughpower XT series, 575 W, 675 W, 775 W and 875 W. The first question that came into our minds was “do they use a different internal design”? This question is important since we tested the 750 W version of Toughpower XT and it presented a very high noise level at +12 V output when delivering its labeled wattage. Let’s see if things improved with the 775 W model.

The answer was “yes.” While the other members of Toughpower XT series use the traditional PC power supply design, these new members are based on a DC-DC design (where basically the power supply is a +12 V unit with the +5 V and +3.3 V outputs being produced from the +12 V rail), which usually provides higher efficiency and lower noise levels. So although they use the same name, the design is completely different.

Like the original Toughpower series, Toughpower XT is manufactured by CWT. Since some power supplies from Corsair like HX750W and HX850W are also manufactured by CWT and also use a DC-DC design, the first thing we did was to compare these power supplies to see if they were based on the same project. The answer is negative: this product from Thermaltake is different from these products from Corsair.

Like the other members from Toughpower XT series, these new models have a set of three LEDs that gives you basic status about the power supply working conditions. The "old" versions from Toughpower XT have a switch where you can configure the power supply fan to keep spinning for 15 or 30 seconds after you turn off your PC (which in theory can increase the product life-span). On the new models the fan will keep spinning for 30 seconds after you turn them off, but the 15/30-second configuration switch was removed. All Toughpower XT units use of a single-rail design, while the original Toughpower series uses a four-rail design.

Officially Toughpower XT 775 W is 80 Plus Silver certified, but Thermaltake decided to downgrade it to Bronze. This is not the first time we’ve seen a manufacturer doing this when they feel that at higher temperatures efficiency would drop to the point that the unit wouldn’t be able to achieve the same efficiency as announced by 80 Plus – especially because 80 Plus certification is done at 23º C and Thermaltake guarantees that Toughpower XT 775 W can deliver its labeled power at 50º C 24/7.

The previous version of Toughpower XT is available in two options: standard and cable management, which features a modular cabling system. The new models have all a modular cabling system, with no option for not having this feature.

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Figure 1: Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W power supply.

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Figure 2: Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W power supply.

Toughpower XT 775 W is relatively short for a product on this power range, being 6 1/4” (160 mm) deep. It has a 140 mm fan on its bottom, active PFC, single-rail design and modular cabling system.

Two cables are permanently attached to the power supply (the main motherboard cable and the ATX12V/EPS12V cable) and they feature a nylon protection, but the sleevings don’t come from inside the power supply, as you can see in Figure 2. The modular cabling system has eight connectors, four blacks for SATA/peripherals power cables and four dark red for video card power cables.

The cables included on Toughpower XT 775 W are:

• Main motherboard cable with a 24-pin connector (no 20-pin option), permanently attached to the power supply (19 ¼” or 49 cm long).
• One cable with one EPS12V connector and two ATX12V connectors that together form another EPS12V connector, permanently attached to the power supply (19 ¼” or 49 cm to the first connector, 5 7/8” or 15 cm between connectors).
• Two power cables for video cards with one six-pin connector each (19 ¾” or 50 cm long).
• Two power cables for video cards with one six/eight-pin connector each (19 ¾” or 50 cm long).
• Two cables with four SATA power connectors each (19 ¾” or 50 cm to the first connector, 5 7/8” or 15 cm between connectors).
• Two cables with three standard peripheral power connectors each (19 ¾” or 50 cm to the first connector, 5 7/8” or 15 cm between connectors).

This is a satisfactory number of connectors for a power supply on this range. In fact a flaw from the 750 W version was corrected on this version: on the 750 W version two of the video card power cables use an eight-pin connector without the option to convert them to six-pin models, preventing you from installing two high-end video cards that require two six-pin connectors each, like the GeForce GTX 260 and similar cards.

All cables use 18 AWG wires, which is the correct gauge to be used.

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Figure 3: Cables.

Now let’s take an in-depth look inside this power supply.