First Look
The TR2 is Thermaltake’s mainstream line of power supplies. The latest products from this line are the TR2 Bronze series, which are 80 Plus Bronze certified. There are four models available here in the Australian market, a 500W, 600W, 700W and 800W, although 380W and 450W models are available elsewhere. Today, I will be reviewing the 600W model.
The Box
The front (or top) of the box tells us what product we have and gives us a list of features which goes:
- Supports the latest ATX12V v2.3 standard.
- Stable continuous 600W output (peak 720W).
- Robust and dedicated single +12V output.
- 80 PLUS® Bronze certified for up to 85% efficiency. (It will probably be higher here due to the 230V input voltage.)
- High quality 105°C Japanese main capacitor. (What about the secondary side? That’s where it matters the most.)
- Universal AC input 100V~240V & Active PFC.
The unit also carries a 3 year warranty, although this one won’t once I’m done with it.
The back of the box tells us a few more features, such as the protections, efficiency curve, how quiet it’s supposed to be, the cable configuration and the power distribution. It also re-states that it has a 105°C Japanese primary capacitor to ensure long term reliability. The secondary capacitors are at least as important for the long-term reliability as the primary capacitor. We’ll see what’s used on the secondary side later.
The sides contain the same list of features as the top, but in other languages.
OK, with the marketing out of the way, let’s open it up.
The Power Supply
The box contains the power supply, a warranty policy sheet, a manual, a sheet of packaging foam, and a zip-lock bag, which in turn contains a power cable and four screws. Not bad, although I won’t need the warranty sheet. This power supply won’t even have a warranty once I’m done with it.
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The unit itself is a matte black colour, which looks stylish but doesn’t attract finger prints and dirt. It uses a single rail design, with 50A on the 12V rail. Two smaller rails are generally preferable, since all modern computers can work with them. Additionally, if your motherboard or graphics card fails due to a shorted VRM, it may not trigger the OCP on a single rail power supply. However, this is an inherent weakness with all powerful single rail power supplies, so it shouldn’t be seen as a flaw with this product.
In the way of cables, the TR2 Bronze 600 has a 20+4 pin ATX connector, a 4+4 pin ATX/EPS12V CPU connector, two PCIe connectors (a 6 pin and a 6+2 pin), six SATA connectors, six molex/peripheral connectors and an FDD connector, all of which are sleeved. It’s a good cable configuration for a 600W product, allowing for either two mid-range graphics cards or a single high end card. All of the wires are 18AWG, which is the correct gauge, since it is thick enough to carry enough current, but not so thick that the cables are stiff and hard to bend.
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There’s nothing to complain about as far as ventilation is concerned. The fan has a wire grille with the Thermaltake logo covering only the hub. The back contains an IEC power inlet, an on/off switch and a honeycomb-style vent. Since this unit has Active PFC, there is no input voltage selector switch.
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