Epilogue
The Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 ARGB 850W is strangely less noisy than its 750W sibling, which is weird. This shows that the lower-capacity model doesn’t have a properly tuned fan speed profile. Indeed it is not easy to adjust the fan’s speed, but having the lower capacity model making more noise is unacceptable. Regarding the (A)RGB lighting, the overall performance difference between the CWT, non-ARGB GF3 850 unit, and the High Power one with the RGB-lit fan is slight, 1.14%. Still, there is a performance difference, and given the lower price of the CWT-made unit, $140 vs. $180 of the ARGB GF3 unit, the latter has a tough time prevailing.
Besides less noise, the Toughpower GF3 ARGB 850W also comes with a 450W 12VHPWR connector, so it is ideal for high-power GPUs, where the GF3 ARGB 750W cannot meet the requirements. The $20 difference between these two models is not that high, so I strongly suggest the higher capacity model should you need RGB lighting. Currently, there are not many ATX v3.0 PSUs available, and even fewer feature RGB fans, so the choices are limited. If you don’t require RGB, look at the Toughpower GF3 850W, the Corsair RM850x Shift, the Montech Titan Gold 850, and the Cooler Master V850i, which currently is the performance king in this category.
- Full power at 47°C
- ATX v3.0 and PCie 5.0 ready
- Efficient
- Highly efficient 5VSB rail
- 12VHPWR connector (450W)
- Good build quality
- High PF readings
- Good ripple suppression
- Long enough hold-up time
- Low vampire power at 115V
- ALPM support
- Fully modular
- Adequate distance (150mm) between peripheral connectors
- FDB fan
- Ten-year warranty
- Expensive MSRP
- Over power protection is set high
- The non-RGB GF3 unit achieves higher overall performance
- Not good transient response (non-ATX v3.0 scenarios)
- Two EPS connectors on the same cable
