Thortech Thunderbolt 1000W Modular Power Supply Unit Review

So, Thortech are a new player on the market, despite being a subsidiary of GeIL, and have thrown us a bit of a curveball. The unit is styled reasonably subtly, the performance is good for gamers, but does not match up for enthusiasts, and is not very cheap. I can’t help but feel that Thortech’s approach to this unit was “let’s build a PSU!” without taking into consideration a target user or USP which is a not a very good move in a saturated market.

This unit is clearly a gamer-orientated unit as indicated by the aesthetics and performance of the unit. As I have mentioned, it doesn’t try to bulldoze the competition in terms of performance, but instead provide the right amount for a gamer, clearly distinguishing it from the enthusiast models on the market. This could be considered a very good move, considering the majority of 1kW+ units are manufactured by top-end manufacturers such as Antec and Corsair who generally cater for the enthusiasts rather than someone who simply wants a unit that will produce 1000W of power and simply power the system where low ripple and tight voltage regulation are not required.

It seems that Thortech have targeted their audience really well, the only issue is the price. The only current place the unit can be bought is Newegg in America where it is priced at $240 which is around £145. If these did come to the UK, you can bet that they would be at a slightly higher price thanks to exchange rates and the smaller market, so we would be looking at closer to £150. For less than that, you could buy the Silverstone Strider 1kW PSU which is also 80+ Gold Certified, has better performance and comes from a more respected manufacturer, the same goes for the OCZ 1kW 80+ Gold PSU. You could also get similar units from Cooler Master or Antec at lower prices. So although this unit technically succeeds in distinguishing itself from enthusiast units and targeting a large market by providing ‘just enough’, the price point does not reflect that. A drop in price by around £30 would make it very competitive and really boost sales as a low-price well performing unit. Don’t get me wrong, the unit is very good on it’s own, but it just doesn’t really find a unique place to slot into the market to make it stand out, instead it will very easily creep into the background.