Thermaltake Toughpower GX1 Gold 700w Power Supply Review

A Closer Look

The Thermaltake Toughpower GX1 is a bit different to what we usually see from the brand. Instead of the distinctive orange on black packaging, this time we have grey on black. It is a certainly a little less eye-catching than their usual design. Then again, it might just speak of a no-nonsense/all-business power supply.

In regards to what’s on the box, Thermaltake gets it right again. The front contains all of the key features you could want to know at a glance including a nice clear image of the power supply itself.

The packaging to the rear again ticks all the right boxes. We see the key features, the output specification of the power, the cables that are included (with a picture diagram) as well as the efficiency charts. As in the part, we again commend Thermaltake for providing the efficiency ratings as this is something most other brands shrink away from.

Whats In The Box?

As this is a non-modular power supply, the extras in the box are a bit thin. Then again, you don’t really need much else. You are provided with a product manual which provides a lot of good and easy to read technical specifications and also the warranty information. A 5-year warranty is pretty impressive for a power supply.

The Power Supply

Unlike most Thermaltake power supplies these days, not a single RGB light is in sight. This power supply is no thrills, no spills, just all professionalism. The unit itself is exceptionally solid and looks very well designed. The branding to the top and side of the power supply is nice and understated while also making it perfectly clear that this is definitely a Thermaltake product.

Despite this power supply not having a passive cooling mode, there are plenty of vents on it. Practically every part that could be used has a vent to allow for good air flow. This should hopefully translate to some nice quiet fan speeds and cool operating temperatures.

The back of the power supply is again fairly standard. That being said though, the picture does highlight the nice ventilation gaps which should promote the exhaust flow.

As this is a non-modular power supply, the Thermaltake Toughpower GX1 has the cables directly attached. While this does put some people off, the cables they have supplied are a good selection that should be able to easily accommodate the vast majority of gaming systems. The cables themselves are well protected in their sleeve coverings. They are, however, a little bit stiff and not particularly long. As such, they would perhaps not entirely suit a larger than usual chassis if cable management was an important factor.

Interior

Where possible, we always endeavour to de-lid a power supply to take a look inside. Unfortunately, in this instance, the Thermaltake Toughpower GX1 proved to be a little resistant to our attempts. While we could potentially have got inside it, it would have been at the risk of breaking it which would clearly invalidate any test results.

We do, therefore, have to be subject to what we could see and Thermaltake’s own photographs.

Now that little disclaimer is out of the way, the interior of the power supply is very well designed. As we have seen from many of their products in the past, all of the components are well spaced which should promote good airflow and cooling. It’s a particular highlight for a non-modular power supply to have the cables so well managed to the interior. This is especially pleasing given that this is quite a compact power supply for 700 watts of power.

Through a bit of peeking inside, we can confirm that a Japanese capacitor has been used for the main electrical regulation. We should note that only the main capacitor is advertised as Japanese, but given that this is the single most important component inside the power supply (or more accurately, the one that works the hardest), having this as Japanese made is a very good thing!

Important – Please Read

To understand the results on the new few pages, please take the time to read our detailed testing methodology page. The next page of this review will help you understand what the results of our testing mean, and educate you on the various qualities we look for in a good PSU.