Thermaltake GF1 SNOW 650W Power Supply Review

A Closer Look

With its bright white (SNOW) aesthetic, the first thing that grabs your attention is just how slick and clean this power supply looks. Admittedly, this is just a white version of their existing GF1 ‘black’ range, but between the two, the ‘SNOW’ aesthetic really does stand out and contrasts excellently with the Thermaltake branding.

The branding itself is generally low key, and, as above, works well with the white aesthetic. – With this mostly being applied to the sides via stickers though, this is a little jarring to the overall look as the edges of the vinyl wraps are clearly visible and just slightly mismatch the white of the metal. – It’s hard to put into words, but the only way I can describe it is that it looks a lot better from a distance than up close. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but in a more perfect world, where budget constraints would not be an issue, I’d have preferred to have seen this directly printed/embossed onto the metal case.

The top of the PSU looks nothing short of excellent. With plenty of open ventilation areas (including sections to the side) the Thermaltake logo in the centre of the ‘fan’ area really works well with the overall design and aesthetic. – This is definitely one of the most attractive angles the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW has.

To the rear of the PSU, we again see a lot of ventilation. Coming with a ‘Smart Zero Fan’ functionality, this is good to see as better ‘passive’ airflow will clearly result in lower temperatures which, by proxy, will see the fan run as minimally as possible when this mode is enabled. Well, in theory at least!

The cable input bank is surprisingly sparce. Even I’ll concede that I’d usually expect to see a few more ports available than what we have here. In terms of generic gaming PC designs though, this is probably an ideal number to easily hook up all of your components without any unnecessary clutter.

A closer examination, however, does reveal something interesting. Below that sticker covering, you can clearly see what appears to be two unused ports. While not a major issue, it is a pity that the sticker here isn’t slightly more substantial to cover these (and the screw ports to the left and right side) a little better as, on the whole, it does detract from the aesthetic. Don’t forget though that this is not an overly visible area of a PSU when installed within a system.

So, skipping ahead a little to one quick glance at the internal aspect of the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW, we can clearly see below that while gaps for the two additional PCI-E ports are there in the metal casing, there is nothing going on inside. They’re empty, and we can, therefore, safely presume that these are only utilised in the 850W variant. Again though, it’s just disappointing that their existence is so clearly evident from the outside.

Cabling

The cabling for the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW is, by and large, excellent. In terms of length, it should be more than suitable for good management within the vast majority of cases and with its white braided covering, it carries the ‘SNOW’ aesthetic of the design exceptionally well. – I can’t highlight enough that while ‘white’ PSUs might not be an overly uncommon thing these days, seeing a manufacturer provide actual white cables with them is!

The only moderate complaint I have is that with its ‘upgraded’ design, the cabling is rather terse and thick. It is flexible, but not much and this could make the management aspect, particularly around the back of the chassis in the (my words) ‘rats nest’ area, a little tricky.

Internals – A Look Inside!

At a quick glance, the insides of the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW are very well presented with a nice clean layout with very little cable clutter. There is a little ‘ketchup and mustard’ visible around the main power input, but on the whole, so far so good!

The fan itself is a Thermaltake own 140mm TT-1425 design. We’ve seen this fan utilised in many TT PSU products in the past and, overall, have never failed to be impressed with its performance. A mild curiosity, however, is that white ring on the outside that suggests that, at least in theory, this fan could be ARGB compatible. With the lack of any such functionality with this particular GF1 model, however, we should note that if this is present, it is currently disabled. – In other words, they’ve likely utilised this fan for its reliance and convenience rather than designing one specifically for this PSU.

The main PCB is well presented with all of the major components being well spaced allowing for good passive airflow. A key factor as part of its ‘Smart’ fan functionality. It contains one large (technically two) heatsink that is well situated immediately below the fan to allow for good coverage.

There are, however, some aspects of the internals that do warrant attention. A key aspect of this is the white anti-vibration paste which, although well hidden, has been applied in a fairly large quantity. While it’s always a little disappointing to see this much utilised, it is better there than not if it definitely required. Why would this be necessary though? Well, there’s a good chance that without it there might be a few humming capacitors (due to harmonic frequencies). So, not great, but it’s probably there to keep the noise levels to an absolute minimum.

On the plus side though, at least it is white so that if any should peak through one of the vented sections, it will be a lot harder to spot!

Finally, we can confirm that the two main capacitors utilised within the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW are, as advertised as part of its key features, 100% Japanese. Coming from Nichicon (a well known and reputable brand) these are rated to 105C which is exactly what you want to see within a quality PSU design.

Overall Thoughts!

Overall, both inside and outside, the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW looks excellent. Yes, admittedly, there are a few minor snagging points we’ve found. This does, however, largely come down to aesthetics, and, even then, generally entails things that could likely only be fixed at the cost of a significantly higher retail price tag.

I love the white aesthetic of this design and, within the right system, this power supply would look excellent with its quality white cables. – Looks, however, are only one aspect of this review. It’s time to get it hooked up and see how the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW actually performs!