Thermaltake Toughpower Q-Fan W0163RU, Nickname 'Stability'

Cooling and casing specialist Thermaltake has always been one of my favorites. It's not only its design that impressed me, but rather the long-term relationship that establishes between a computer addict and an excellent product.

The Toughpower Q-Fan power source unit is yet another goodie from Thermaltake that fights power starvation inside dual- or quad-core computer environments. Although power starvation may not seem to be a problem, it can lead to system restarts or even erratic behavior and finally, some fried components. Piling up more peripherals than a regular power source is extremely undesirable: underpowered video cards and hard-disk drives may stop working, or even fail.

The technical specifications for the W0163RU are quite impressive. The power source can provide the user with four independent +12V rails with a total output power of 52 Amperes. The unit is cabled modularly and is ventilated by a 140-millimeter "Q-fan" that uses the silent and efficient ball-bearing technology. It spins at 1900 RPM and the patented blade design increases the volume of air "pumped" inside the unit's case.

Since it is highly ventilated, the power source's back side features ventilation holes for the hot air to leave the unit. Moreover, the top and bottom lids feature ventilation slots for the air intake, so the air can be pulled from any side (comes in handy when installing it into a small-form factor case) .

The power source unit comes with a power cord, 8-pin to 6-pin PCI-Express adapter, screws and rubber sound dampener to absorb the cooler's vibrations. The separated +12V rails are extremely important for overclocking, because constant power output maintains the higher-clocked system afloat.

The W0163RU unit's power specifications are identical with common power supplies: +3.3V, +5V and +12V, except for the fact that it really manages to deliver them. In system idle mode, the current values read +3.30V, +5.00V and +11.90, while under full load, the PSU managed to offer +3.25V, +4.97V and +11.90V.