Thermaltake Smart BM3 850W Semi-Modular Power Supply Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Thermaltake Smart BM3 850W Semi-Modular Power Supply is available now for £104.99 at Scan.co.uk, which is a fair price given the overall power output and efficiency. If the efficiency or wattage were higher, the cost would go up. However, at little over £100, this is more than enough for many mid-to-high-end gaming PC builds. An RTX 4070 Ti Super needs around a 700W CPU, so paired with a good CPU from AMD or Intel, 850W is plenty.

Overview

Thermaltake has been making some fantastic PSUs over the years, but admittedly, their top units are pretty expensive if you want something with high-end efficiency, a fully digital design, fully modular cables, and massive power outputs. However, not everyone needs such a beast of a PSU, and while efficiency is important, it’s fair to say it’s not important to everyone. If we could all afford to invest in the most efficient power supplies, I’m sure we would, but with 80 Plus Bronze efficiency, the BM3 850W holds up well, and as I saw in my testing, it’s largely Gold or Silver efficiency and mid-loads and only Bronze at around 100% load.

The power output, the good PFC results, and the excellent amount of ventilation in the PSU chassis allow this PSU to run surprisingly quietly. It comes with two fan modes, a hybrid mode where the fan stops at lower loads and temperatures, meaning for your daily work it’s silent and only spins up while you’re doing something like gaming. However, even in active fan mode, I found it to run very quietly anyway.

While the unit is rated for 850W, the PSU deploys a good quality main bulk capacitor, and we actually exceeded the rated power by a staggering 75% before the OPP kicked in. I wouldn’t be surprised if the PSU was happy to pull around 1000W consistently, but honestly, I don’t recommend it as it would stress other components too. However, if you have any sudden power spikes that pull anywhere from 850W-1400W for just a few moments, it’ll handle it without shutting your PC down.

I’m a big fan of fully modular PSUs, but honestly, semi-modular just makes so much sense, as not only is it cheaper, but you’re going to need the 24-pin and CPU 4+4 pin cables in virtually any PC you build, so having those hard-wired isn’t that big of a deal.

Should I Buy One?

Thermaltake has hit a nice sweet spot with the Smart BM3 850W Semi-Modular Power Supply, as it delivers a good amount of power for a decent gaming PC, reasonable efficiency, and a decent form factor that will be suitable for more compact ATX-compatible cases, and still runs cool and quiet. However, best of all is the price, at around £105 it’s on par with similar products from the big name rivals, and while some budget-branded units are promising similar specifications they’re typically made with cheaper components too, so you get what you pay for.