Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W Power Supply Review

A Closer Look

Out of the box, the Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W presents itself well with a nice clean aesthetic that feels pleasantly solid in the hand. As noted earlier, the Thermaltake has nearly always presented its ‘Toughpower’ branding as an all-business/performance approach to system components and that’s certainly evident here.

While there is some branding to the various aspects of this PSU, it is well sized and, generally speaking, quite understated. This makes it fit in really well with the overall aesthetic expected from a ‘Toughpower’ product.

The top of the Toughpower GF1 1000W is very well presented with a nice large area of ventilation for the fan as well as a well-sized and placed Thermaltake logo to the center.

The power input bank is excellent with each section being clearly denoted for its specific usage. Admittedly, this is an aspect that’s fairly hard to get wrong, but for a first-time installer, this, in combination with the piggy-back port design (allowing for easy removal/insertion of the cables) should make things much more accessible and, overall, less stressful.

Pretty much all available areas of the exhaust section of this power supply are vented. This should really help promote the ‘Smart Zero Fan’ functionality mode, which, for those of you unaware, configures the PSU to only operate the fan when deemed absolutely necessary (a feature primarily designed to minimise noise output). – This is controlled by a simple switch which you can see in the image below.

Cabling

The cabling for the Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W is excellent. Not just in terms of the amount and variety you are provided with, but with its sleek flat black design, and highly generous length, you shouldn’t only have more than enough here to hook up your components, but you also have absolutely no excuses for poor levels of management which could impact your system’s airflow. – Each cable is clearly itemised as well to denote its usage.

Internals – A Look Inside!

Getting inside the Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W is quite straightforward. Albeit, we clearly wouldn’t recommend this to you as doing so will almost certainly invalidate your 10-year warranty. – On initial inspection, however, all of the components look excellent with a clean and tidy presentation.

A closer look at the fan reveals this to be a Thermaltake own ‘TT-1425’. Coming as a 140mm hydraulic bearing fan, we have seen this utilised in many other Thermaltake PSU products and have never failed to be impressed with its performance. However, getting one elephant out of the room, and particularly for those eagle-eyed among you, this is a fan that technically features ARGB lighting effects. For this particular model, however, this has been disabled and the PCB does not appear to give you the option to enable it. – This is probably an efficiency/cost-effective choice as Thermaltake does often launch separate ARGB lighting-enabled products. Albeit, these are not entirely common under their ‘Toughpower’ branding.

The PCB for the Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W is exceptionally well presented, with all components being well spaced and cabling either being well hidden or, at the very least, well organised. A particular highlight is the good central location of the heatsinks. In this position, they should benefit well from the placement of the fan and exhaust section of this PSU.

With Thermaltake citing that this power supply contains 100% Japanese capacitors, this is a feature we can happily confirm. As you can see in the image below, the two main utilised in this design come from ‘Nippon Chemi-Con’, an exceptionally reputable manufacturer. Being rated to 105C as well, this is exactly what you want to see within any quality PSU model!

Overall Thoughts!

Both inside and out, the Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W seems to represent a high-quality power supply design. It appears to be absolutely faultless in its no-nonsense approach to giving consumers a top-spec all-business PSU that is by no means displeasing on the eye.

With quality components utilised, we expect this, as often we do with Thermaltake power supplies, to absolutely storm through our tests. – Will it though? Well, getting a little of our methodology out of the way first, let’s find out!