Introduction

We would like to thank GEiL/Thortech for supplying the review sample.

Geil is another traditional memory manufacturer that decided to enter the power supply market. To do so they chose to establish a new brand, Thortech, in order to make a clear distinction between their memory and PSU products. Contrary to other companies that rely exclusively on some OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) platforms for their PSU products, Thortech has significant experience in this field since they have been designing industrial PSUs for over 15 years now, so the design of consumer level PSUs will be a relatively easy task for them. The two series that Thortech released so far are Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt Plus. The members of the first series are made by Sirtec while the only member (so far) of the second series uses a special design and as it seems Thortech is responsible for it since we didn't encounter it in any other PSU. All Thunderbolt PSUs have Gold efficiency and carry a five year warranty.

In today's review we will take a look at the Thunderbolt Plus 800 W (or TTB800G). The special characteristic of this unit, which makes it unique to the best of our knowledge, is the iPower Meter. The letter “ i” in front of the “Power” means interactive since through this device you can also control the unit's cooling fan. Besides the iPower Meter the TTB800G features a semi modular cabling system and all capacitors used for its construction are Japan made, something that has tremendous effect on reliability and longevity.

Specifications

All available protections for consumer grade PSUs are utilized in this unit and the max operational temperature is 50°C. Unfortunately its price is on the high side, for an 800W PSU, but do not forget that the iPower Meter's cost isn't negligible.


There is only one +12V rail which can deliver almost the full power of the PSU, common for units that use DC-DC converters for the minor rails generation. The max combined power of 5V & 3.3V looks rather low at 120W, but you won't need more nowadays from these two rails.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

Except the unjustified lack of a second EPS connector the unit has a sufficient number of connectors and all cables are long, so even in large cases you won't face the slightest problem. Also the distance among connectors is 150mm, the recommended length by ATX spec. All connectors use 18 AWG wires, which is the recommended wire gauge by ATX. Nevertheless we would like to see thicker 16 AWG wires on the 24 pin ATX, EPS and the PCIe connectors for less energy losses.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail we do not have anything to comment about its power distribution.