Thermaltake Toughpower SFX 550W Power Supply Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Thermaltake ToughPower SFX 550W is available to purchase now for a price in the region of €109.99.

With this in mind, we can get one elephant out of the room by saying that this is not an inexpensive power supply. You do have to consider that such comparisons will, by the vast majority of consumers, be made to more standard ‘fully sized’ PSU models. However, given how many truly excellent features Thermaltake has packed into this exceptionally small design, we can assure you this is worth every single penny! – And if not for the features and its 80-Plus Gold efficiency rating, what about that huge 7-year warranty?…

Performance

Ok, so in something of a full disclosure, although we expected the Thermaltake ToughPower SFX 550W to perform well in our testing, we did expect to see the small form factor design provide some limitations. Not for the first time, though, Thermaltake has managed to pleasantly surprise us by designing this PSU to be just as good as anything else in their entire range.

The efficiency performance seen in our testing was well in excess of the stated ’80-Plus Gold’ rating on the box, and throwing this in with all of the other truly excellent scores/results seen above, this is, without a doubt, one of the best small form factor power supplies currently available on the market.

Practicality & Functionality

Although primarily designed for small form factor PC builds, Thermaltake does provide you with some excellent functionality with the SFX to ATX adaptor bracket. More so, with the fully modular cable design, hooking up your components with excellent cable management shouldn’t be a problem for the vast majority of cases.

Admittedly, while the SATA, Molex, and PCI cables are decently decent enough in length, the main motherboard power cable could’ve perhaps afforded to have been a couple inches longer. Overall, I can’t see why this power supply shouldn’t be perfectly suitable for all SFX builds and most ATX designs.

Should I Buy One?

As we noted at the start of the review, small form factor system builders are not exactly spoiled for choice regarding suitable components. With the Thermaltake ToughPower SFX 550W, however, we can say for certain that this power supply should be the absolutely perfect place to start in the vast majority of instances. Its performance is exceptionally good, and dare I say, a lot better than what the packaging might suggest. And while the price tag might make some baulk, for those of you in the know for what quality components for SFX systems cost, it’s actually, at least in our view, excellent value for money with what you’re getting here.

Throw all the above in with that huge 7-year warranty and, overall, I’m struggling to think of a better small form factor power supply you could buy at the moment for this kind of cash!