Thermaltake TWV480 Total Watts Powersupply Review - PAGE 3

Performance

Test Setup

Athlon 64 3400+
Soltek K8AN2E-GR NForce 3 250Gb
eVga 6800 Ultra
Gigabyte Gigabyte 3DCooler-ULTRA PCU31-VH
Seagate 120 GB Barracuda SATA V
2 x 256MB OCZ PC3200 Dual Channel Kit

We want both the CPU and videocard to draw a lot of power so we set 3DMark05 to loop through each of the the video and CPU tests at 640x480 for three times. Readings from Motherboard Monitor 5 were taken after immediately after the benchmarks completed.

Thermaltake TWV480

Enermax EG465P-VE

The usual accepted variation on the different rails on powersupplies is 5% and the TWV480 is well within that.

Noise

We took a look at a SilenX PSU back in January with a claimed noise rating of <14DBa. While our DB meter was not sensitive enough to pick up the SilenX and validate it as being under 14DBa, it was near silent if not outright silent. The other PSUs that we took a look at at that same time were also quiet but none to the extent of the SilenX.

The TWV480 is on the louder side. We note that the ambient noise level is a bit higher than it was back in January. The TWV480 has a fan bus on the LED display that controls the PSU fan. Measurements were taken from an OMEGA HHSL1 DB meter at roughly 2 feet away with the DB meter on a level plane with the exhaust fan that normally faces the CPU.

Even at the minimal setting, the TWV480 is not particularly quiet. It is definitely louder than the Enermax by a significant margin. Remember that each 10 DB rise is a perceived doubling of volume intensity. I would not characterize the fan bus as linear. There was little change between the minimum setting and the 1/2 mark denoted on the fan bus. Moving slightly past the 1/2 mark resulted in a marked change in fan noise. The notch was raised again at roughly the 2/3s mark to another level. There was not a distinct difference from the 2/3 to 100% mark. At full speed, the TWV480 is definitely loud. Gamers with louder CPU fans may not mind this added noise but for the crowd that buys panaflos or have moved to water cooling to decrease the noise, the TWV480 will feel out of place.

Conclusions

The Thermaltake TWV480 puts an unique spin on powersupplies with the inclusion of the TWV Led and fan control unit that is a hallmark of nearly all Thermaltake products. Thermaltake claims that the TWV is accurate to within roughly 5W. Casual observations of the power draw seem to be consistent - when a benchmark is run, power draw goes up considerably. It is interesting to note that casual observations on power draw with a Prescott 3.2, 6600GT, IDE HD, 1024MB of memory and a DVD-ROM did not exceed 220W at any time. As a daily tool, I am not sure how useful the LED powerdraw output is but for someone who builds a lot of systems this might be a good indicator of what kind of powersupply is needed for a given system. SFF users might also want to check this out; no this will not fit into a SFF but it could give a good indication of how much power all the components are drawing as SFFs tend to have weaker peak powersupplies and it would be a shame to blow out a group of components.

Motherboard Monitor seems to indicate that the TWV480 is pretty consistent with its power output and is not all too different from the Enermax we regularly use here. The TWV480 is definitely worth consideration for those in the market for a powersupply with a little more.

The TWV480 is louder than the average PSU even at its quietest settings. At full speed, it is loud enough to be aggravating over a long period of time. Power users and gamers may not mind this as the higher fan speed will move a lot more air compared to the low setting. We have seen products that are very quiet from Thermaltake, notably the Silentboost series. It might be an idea to forego the fan bus and just use quieter fans in the future.

Thermaltake has put together a solid package with the TWV480 Total Watts PSU. The PSU unit feels girthy and from our testing seems to rival some of the other leading powersupplies on the market. The cable sleeving is a nice touch aesthetically as well as functionally. One of the features that sets the TWV480 apart is the LED readout of powerdraw which should be of interest with a lot of the DIY guys. The only real outstanding issue is the fan noise which needs to be more inline with other powersupplies. For anyone looking for a solid powersupply the TWV480 is a good pick but just a touch loud.