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  • Thermaltake SMART 630W Power Supply Review

    Thermatake Smart Series
    In November of this year, Thermaltake announced the release of a new lineup of affordable power supplies with the idea of delivering clean power coupled with features that make the unit run very cool and quiet. The SMART series by Thermaltake is newest addition to its PSU family, and designed to provide "just the right power", which in other words means, cost-effective PSUs with proper connectivity. In this review we will be taking a look at the SMART 630 Watt PSU (SP-630P) which is designed for entry-level single or dual-GPU systems.

    SMART Series Power Supplies are for those who are upgrading, repairing or building a system and want a power supply that just works. Many power supplies can be offered with unnecessary or inflated features that do not benefit the everyday web surfer or gaming system. SMART Series power supplies are tested on live fully functioning systems to ensure the best compatibility with actual system components. This translates into a better user experience and a power supply offering that is designed to work and work well.
    intro

    The SMART lineup comes in modular and non modular flavors depending on your needs. The non-modular SAMRT PSUs are equipped with a single 12V rail, active PFC and are according to Thermaltake, 80 PLUS certified, offering up to 86% efficiency at 20-100% load. Now I know what you are thinking: If the PSU is rated at 86% efficiency, why is it not 80 PLUS Silver? Honestly, we can't find the answer. Our best guess is that 86% efficiency is probably the very best case scenario and is not common. These units also come with a 120mm cooling fan with intelligent speed control.

    Comments 1 Comment
    1. massdeth's Avatar
      massdeth -
      Pretty good review. I know PSU's are tough to test accurately without the proper, expensive, equipment but you managed pretty well here. I really want to like thermaltakes newer lines of psu's but i always have that voice in my head making me think twice, thanx to the older toughpower lines. Also, im thinking they get away with the double pci-e connector on one line like that because its a single rail psu, which means no matter how many wires you have its gonna draw from the same place, the same amount. Although, what does scare me about that type of setup is that your basically asking for double the electric through the same 22/20 AWG wire...which is like asking for twice as much water through the same size water pipe!! not good. i may be wrong about all this, but thats how it seems to me. also, the whole packageing thing i find pretty disconcerting too because if you order this thing and the compant sending it to you is in a hurry and doesnt properly pack it out, then ups does a field goal with it, like their known to do, it may get to you with things rattling around in it or other more suttle damage that may not be apparent right away. This sounds like theyve set themselves up for a boat load of rma's in the future, imo. Anyway, still a very good review on your end for exposing some of thses things and i appreciate the time you took to do it!!