Performance Tests
So far, the ThermalTake TWV500 has my attention and functionally, it appears to be of sound condition, but how well does it perform in an idle state and more interestingly, under stressful conditions? Let?s see how this PSU reacts to my tests.

For all voltage measurements, I used a digital multimeter rather than the motherboard voltage readouts. I have found this to be a more accurate method.

Test System Specifications
To test this power supply, I found a system that draws as much power as possible to be my assistant.

Motherboard Intel 945GTP Processor Intel Pentium 4 670 Memory 2x 512MB OCZ PC2-5400 CL4 HDD 300GB Maxtor DiamondMax 10 Sound Card On-board Graphics Card nVidia GeForce 6800GT Power Supply ThermalTake TWV500W ATX 12V 2.0 Operating System Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Software Latest Motherboard Drivers Adobe Premiere Seti@Home

Idle Tests
For the idle test, I booted Windows in Safe-mode to ensure that non-essential processes were not running and using system resources unnecessarily.

Idle Test Results

Rated Voltage Actual Voltage +12V 12.33V +5V 5.21V +3.3V 3.44V

The actual voltages are not close to their rated voltages at all. The +12V rail was a whole 0.33V higher than rated, but it was still well within the +/-5% limit. The +5V rail on the other hand was much closer to its limit of 5.25V. The 3.3V rail was by far the closest to its +/-5% limit which is 3.465V.

Stress Test
For the stress test, I booted Windows normally, which was running Seti@Home at boot, and then exported a video from Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 while I tested the voltages.

Stress Test Results

Rated Voltage Actual Voltage +12V 12.33V +5V 5.19V +3.3V 3.45V

The stress test results didn?t vary too much from the idle results. The +5V rail was the only rail to drop in voltage and come a little closer to its rated voltage. On the other side of the tracks though, the +3.3V rail got dangerously close to its +/-5% limit. Overall though, the PSU handled everything effectively.

Concluding Remarks
So where does the TWV500 PSU stand? I would have to say that this is one powerful, well organized modular power supply that has enough juice to power any system of today and tomorrow. The Total Watts Viewer also makes this power supply more attractive because it adds a level of interaction with the PSU that many people didn?t realize was possible. The minor flaw with the 24-pin ATX power cable connector does pose a bit of an annoyance, but it will not affect the ability to use the unit in any way. The sleeved cables also add the overall organization of this power supply and increase the airflow throughout the system. ThermalTake has definitely outdone the modular PSU market competition with their TWV500W power supply. This versatile unit costs a cool $120 USD (approximately $150 CAD), but will definitely pay for itself in terms of performance for a number of years to come.