How Much Does it Cost?
The Thermaltake Dr.Power III Power Supply Tester is available now from Scan.co.uk for a very reasonable £39.98. This is a pretty unique piece of equipment and I have to admit, I think the market for it is tiny, but it could be a vital tool for PC hardware repairs and maintenance when it comes to problem-solving. Of course, the enthusiast market will likely get a kick out of being able to check the voltage stability of their power supply too, as stable and accurate voltages can be vital to overclocking and optimal system performance.
Overview
I think Thermaltake has a great product here, and again, it is a niche product, but it promises to do one thing, and I think it does it pretty well. It’s really quite a simple device, you just plug in all the connectors that you want to test and hit the go button. Do that and it’ll either give you the thumbs up, or the beeping and red screen of death telling you there’s something wrong. Beyond that, there’s not a right lot a consumer can do with a dead PSU, short of replacing a cable or an RMA. However, if you’re having system problems, this is either going to tell you it’s not the PSU, or that it’s time to get a new PSU, and could save you a lot of time.
In terms of build quality, it’s relatively simple, with some durable connectors on the top, left side and bottom, and even supports the latest 12VHPWR 600W connector, meaning modern PSUs are easily supported. The housing is plastic, but it feels durable enough and is comfortable to handle.
I like the display too, it’s only LCD, but it’s nice and large and easy to read. The dual colour backlight makes it very easy to see if things are going well, or if your hardware is busted, and failing that, the obnoxious beep gets your attention.
I’d love to see a more advanced version of this in the future that allows for pass-through, so you can run your PC and monitor the voltages under real-world loads. Of course, I’d expect that to cost more, but I can see there would be interest in this from the enthusiast market and it would give some way for consumers to really review their power supply with real-world testing.
Should I Buy One?
This is a tricky one, as I don’t think your typical consumer or PC gamer has much need for this. I guess it’s like having a code reader for your car, it’s a tool, and it can be useful for finding problems, but otherwise, I don’t think it serves a purpose for a lot of people. However, it promises to do a specific job, and it does it easily and for a very reasonable price, so adding one more tool to your PC repair setup could be a pretty handy investment.
