Thermalright TR-TGFX 550 ATX v3.1 PSU Review

Epilogue

Thermaright is well known for its budget products, and the TR-TGFX 550 follows this brand’s tradition. In China, it costs 500 RMB, which is about 69 dollars. You won’t find this PSU in any other market, and I am unsure if and when Thermalright will decide to sell it in other regions, too. This unit meets the ATX v3.1 requirements for units without the 12V-2×6 connector, with the peak transient load restricted to 150% instead of the 200% that applies to units with the connector mentioned above.

The build quality matches the unit’s price, and my main concern is the low-quality Yate Loon fan, which will probably start screaming after a while because of its double ball bearing. Usually, you don’t replace a DBB fan because it stopped spinning but because it makes a terrible bearing noise, and this is why you should avoid low-quality DBB fans. I am not a big fan of YL products. It would be better if Thermalright increased the production cost and used a higher-quality fan.

In terms of performance, the unit has a tight load regulation and a longer than 17ms hold-up time. Moreover, its efficiency is high, especially at light loads, and it easily meets the ATX v3.1 transient response requirements. On the other hand, ripple suppression is mediocre, the 12V rail’s deviation at the normal transient loads that I apply is high, vampire power is sky-high, and the power factor is low. In the protection features section, the over current and over power protection triggering points need adjustments. You cannot have the same OCP and OPP triggering point under cold and hot conditions! The unit gets stressed way more at high temperatures, so you should not allow for the same load levels as in cold temperatures.

In general, there are no shortcuts in PSUs. Thermalright enjoys increased popularity in the cooling solutions market because of its products’ high performance per price ratios. Still, many factors are equally important to performance in PSUs. I am not saying that this is not a decent unit, especially for its price, but it uses lower-quality parts, some crucial protection features need tuning, and ripple suppression is not good. Thermalright has to try way more to make the same impact in the PSU market as it achieved in the cooling market.

Before investing in a new power supply, read my Best ATX v3.x PSUs article to check all alternative PSU offerings. You help me a lot by using my affiliate links, which don’t increase the product’s price. I get a commission from Amazon every time you do it, which can make a difference for me, especially now that I am on my own, working exclusively for my media and not for someone else.