Thermaltake PurePower PST520W

Review Pages

1. Introduction
2. A Closer Look
3. Installation
4. Performance
5. Conclusion

Thermaltake is a well known cooling systems manufacturer. Back in 2003, Thermaltake introduced their first PurePower PSU, its power capacity ranging from 360W to 560W. Nowadays, the demand for a stable PSU device is even greater, especially if one intends to build an SLI system, with two high-end VGA cards with hellish need for power. nVidia claims that cheaper PSUs cannot provide stable as well as continuous power when the amount of it required reaches the nominal wattage rating of the PSU. However, the minimum requirements for SLI systems are slightly increased in wattage, in order to eliminate any chances of VGA cards being damaged by fluctuating power.

Their latest PSU is the PurePower PST520W. There are two versions of the aforesaid PSU, the first, [W00073] being equipped with Active PFC, while the second, [W0074], is not provided with it. This new PSU promises a steady flow of power at 520W, and uses a P.S.T. so that its cords are arrayed in a manner allowing thus a more effective air flow in the PC case.

Features

The PSU main features are exposed below:

- Ingenious Modularized Cable Management and Power Station that allows you to arrange cables easier and smarter.
- 5 .25” P.S.T fits any 5.25” driver bay and offers various connectors for all peripheral devices
- Mini P.S.T offers convenient output for devices and accessories at various locations
- Blue LED around 5.25” P.S.T socket to illuminate your system
- Rubber Sleeved Cable increase air flow and decrease clutter inside the chassis
- Active PFC, improve energy efficiency and reduce current load on AC delivery systems
- Protection against Over Power, Short-Circuit, Over-current, Overload, and Over-temperature
- Safety / EMI Approvals: CE, CB, TUV, FCC, UL, CSA, and CUL certification (For Active PFC). FCC, UL, CUL, CSA certification (For Non PFC)
- Dual 6-pin PCI-Express connectors for High-end VGA card

Specifications

Below, you can see the specifications of the PurePower PST520W PSU.

Maximum Power	520 Watts
Switches	ATX Logic on-off additional power rocker switch(115/230 V selector switch)
Color	Black
PFC (Power Factor Correction)	Active PFC
Cooling System	Blue LED 12cm Fan: Speed 2000 RPM(+/-10%) Dimensions 120 x 120 x 25 mm Temperature Auto Control
P. G. Signal	100-500ms
Over Voltage Protection recycle AC to reset	+5V trip point < +7.0V +3.3V trip point < +4.5V +12V trip point <+15.6V
Dimensions
Unit Size	15cm(L)x14cm(W)x8.6cm(H)
Net Weight	1.8 kg
Noise	17dBA at 1300RPM
Input
Input Voltage	100 VAC / 240 VAC
Input Frequency Range	50 ~ 60 Hz
Input Current	8.0A/4.0A
Hold-up Time	16ms
Efficiency	> 70%

OUTPUT
	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	+12V	-12V	+5VSB
Max. Load	30A	30A	15A	15A	0.3A	2A
Min. Load	0.5A	1.0A	1.0A	1.0A	0A	0A
Load Reg.	+5% ~ -5%	+5% ~ -5%	+5% ~ -5%	+5% ~ -5%	+10% ~ -10%	+5% ~ -5%
Ripple V(p-p)	50mV	50mV	120mV	200mV	120mV	50mV

Retail Package

Like the PurePower 500W PSU, everything is arranged in small boxes that are included in the retail package of the 520W power unit. You will also find a user’s guide that in most cases is not needed, since everything is straight forward. Even if someone gets confused with all these cables, there is no way to make a faulty connection, since the appropriate cables can only be fitted in certain sockets.

Here you can see the 5 .25” P.S.T. that can be fitted in any drive bay, and the mini P.S.T. that can be used to power up low consumption devices, like fans and coolers. We will comment on the use of these units later in this review.

You will also get a variety of cables, allowing you to connect up to 7 4-pin peripherals (like DVD burners and hard disks), 4 SATA devices, 2 PCI-Express VGA cards and 2 floppy drives. In case you want to use the mini P.S.T., the maximum 4-pin peripherals that can be powered are 6, since there is a 1 to 1 power connector that is used to power up the mini P.S.T.