4-Way Power Supply Shootout: Vantec, Enermax, ThermalTake, Antec

ThermalTake Silent Purepower Active PFC

The newest player on the block is ThermalTake.  There are several myths about this power supply, especially concerning PFC (power correction factor).  As taken a quote from ThermalTake’s website:

Many loads are highly inductive, such a lightly loaded motors and illumination transformers and ballasts. You may want to correct the power factor by adding parallel capacitors. You can also add series capacitors to “remove” the effect of leakage inductance that limits the output current.(Jim Lux -2002).

After doing a little bit of research, we found this quote to be fairly misleading.  The unusual thing is, PFC really has very little to do with power.  Like we mentioned earlier, a modern PSU is actually a “switching power supply”, meaning rather than a continuous current being passed through the unit to the motherboard, it rapidly charging and discharging (over 50,000 times per second) to deliver power to the computer.  Obviously, this harmonic oscillation generates EMI and RFI, which is particularly annoying because it does so on an AC line feed.  In older city wiring, a poor power supply can generate a lot of interference the general vicinity of the device.  Over time, this EMI can actually damage other electrical equipment. 

Several years ago, certain countries in Europe began to pass legislation to crackdown on electrical interference.  One solution to the EMI/RFI being generated was the implementation of PFC into all computer power supplies.  In a nutshell, PFC reduces the peak current and lowers the harmonic current from a PSU.  The advantages of this include less stress on the power company’s infrastructure, and less interference on nearby electrical devices.  In the US, no legislation has been passed that requires any sort of PFC technology.  However, if you are an audiophile, and have sensitive equipment not shielded by a line purifier, the reduction in EMI/RFI might be beneficial to you.  Europeans may wish to check if your area requires a PFC power supply or not before rushing to buy a PFC power supply.

While the myth about PFC may have been slightly debunked, the ThermalTake 420W PSU does have some other neat advantages to it.  The first thing we noticed about the power supply was the flush fan grills.  For our roundup, this is the only unit to incorporate such a feature.  Although it seems not particularly important, the advantage of flush fan grills pays off with an older case.  Sometimes, cases are designed poorly and might just be slightly offset enough to prevent an easy installation with a fan grill in the way.  Anyone who has gone out of their way to get a new PSU and found they had to use an excessive amount of force to get it in the case knows exactly what we are talking about.

ThermalTake, of late, has spurred a fairly large marketing campaign.  Purepower units are becoming ever increasingly popular, especially among online retailers.  ThermalTake has done a good job in branching out their name and while expanding into other markets such as case and power supplies. Only a benchmark will tell of the Purepower is truly a worthy power supply among the others.