Thermaltake GF1 SNOW 650W Power Supply Review

Efficiency

Despite being officially rated as an 80-Plus Gold efficiency power supply, our testing provided results that were significantly in excess of that already pretty high remit. – Put simply, at 40-60% load, this PSU was hitting around 95% efficiency. A level of performance that actually sees this PSU at almost a Titanium level. – And for those of you unfamiliar with PSU efficiency ratings, this isn’t just 2 whole tiers higher than Gold, but it is currently the highest standard available on the market.

Put simply, although this says ‘Gold’ on the box, we found that its efficiency performance was way better! And, if you can’t tell by this point, this is a very good thing!

PFC (Power Factor Correction)

The PFC for the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW does perhaps take us back down to Earth when compared to these amazing high-efficiency results. – Overall, these are bang average and about what we’d expect to see from the vast majority of PSU designs. In truth though, these are a little lower than what we usually see from a Thermaltake PSU.

Don’t get us wrong, the results here are not bad by any stretch. By Thermaltake’s usual PFC standards though, it’s looking like we might be set to see a little ‘give and take’ here.

Voltage Regulation

The voltage regulation results for the Thermaltake GF1 SNOW were, on the whole, excellent. As can be seen in the results below, the deviancy offered on the 3.3V and especially so on the 5V rail was minimal and/or non-existent. – While the main +12V rails were a little higher, taking both of the simulated rails as a whole, this again balances out to very little difference.

Yes, the -12V was a little more excitable, given the lack of importance this has on modern systems, however, this shouldn’t be taken as any kind of concern.