Thermaltake ToughPower SFX 450W Power Supply Review

A Closer Look

Despite its relatively small stature, the Thermaltake Toughpower SFX still looks like a solidly built power supply. Fitting in the palm of just one hand though, I think you’d be forgiven for being amazed at just how potent the specifications and features are for a package this (relatively speaking) tiny.

The power supply is predominantly black, with a few silver highlights, most notably on the branded sections. The branding itself is well sized and spaced, which adds to the aesthetics of the design rather than detracts.

The top of the power supply has the Thermaltake logo right to the centre with the exposed areas surrounding it for the air intake. It looks excellent and certainly something completely within the standard ‘ToughPower’ remit.

The main power input bank is well organized, with each section being clearly denoted for its component usage. Coming with a back-to-back port design as well, this makes cable insertion and removal about as easy as it could possibly be. Exceptionally handy given that this is quite small and, when installed in a small form factor system, space will be at a premium.

Although the exhaust section is not vented across the entire area, there is still plenty of honeycomb-style openings to ensure a good solid airflow. You will also note that this power supply does not come with a hybrid mode fan function switch. Albeit, we suspect that such a feature may be incorporated integrally into the design. To know for sure though, we’ll have to test it.

Just go give you an idea as to how small this power supply is, we have provided a comparative image below. When sat next to the bottle of TIM Cleaner, it truly highlights just how tiny the Thermaltake ToughPower SFX really is.

Cabling

For the vast majority of the cabling, you’ll find more than enough length to easily hook up all your system components while still keeping cable management reasonably decent. The only minor snag is the main motherboard cable which, at least in my view, is a couple of inches shorter than it should ideally be. For SFX systems, though, this should be absolutely perfect. For mITX though, some cable management compromises might be necessary.

The cabling itself is well presented, with it being held within a surprisingly strong low-profile black sheaving. This is nicely flexible enough to accommodate a little weaving through a case while being more than durable enough to not potentially cause it any damage. With each one itemised to denote its usage as well, the design is pretty much foolproof.

Internals – A Look Inside!

Getting inside the Thermaltake ToughPower SFX is surprisingly easy, with only 4 screws holding the top of the case in place. As you might expect though, we clearly don’t recommend you do this as it will invalidate your 7-year warranty. Once inside though, initial impressions are excellent with all of the components well spaces and tidily presented.

A closer look at the fan reveals this to be a Thermaltake own design. A factor that is certainly encouraging as it gives us the presumption that this has been specifically configurated to work as best as possible with this power supply. Given that it’s only 92mm big, it will be interesting to see how well this performs.

A closer look at the PCB really highlights just how well this power supply has not only been designed but put together. All of the key components are well spaced, allowing for good airflow, while the main heat sink has a nice central location which should benefit it best from the fan.

Citing that this power supply has 100% all Japanese capacitors, a closer look does indeed prove this cl2aim to be entirely correct. The main capacitor itself is a ‘Rubycon’ make and, with it being rated to 105C, these are widely considered to be some of the best available.

Overall Thoughts!

The Thermaltake ToughPower SFX 450W power supply certainly looks very impressive on an aesthetic and design level, both internally and externally. There is literally nothing we can see to fault here. That is certainly indicative of this relatively little power supply being capable of providing us with some amazingly impressive results in our tests. – There is, however, only one way to find out. So let’s get this hooked up and see what happens!