PSU Tech Look: Thermaltake Dr. Power II

[Paul_Johnson]

Introduction



When building a “new” PC one of the components that enthusiasts often pay less attention to, or often reuse, is their power supply. And, why not? For the most part, the ATX12v/EPS standards over the years have not changed nearly as much as other facets of the market and, barring some issues with efficiency and low power sleep states, most of the changes that have impacted power supplies are not noticeable to the end-user so long as they push the “on” button and their system powers up.



Therein we find one of the problems. What happens when you get everything installed in your brand new shiny case and you hit the power button………………..and nothing happens?



After you stop swearing, you start the, sometimes, long and arduous task of troubleshooting. Did you add the magical extra motherboard standoff? Did you not seat a connector right? Were you the guy who got the PCI version of the Voodoo 3 crammed into an ISA slot? What now?



Well, most of the time you swear...

Continue reading...

 

[Burticus]

I got one of these a couple years ago for like $20. It works but there isn't a lot to it. It did identify a problem with one of my PSU (but I was already 90% sure that one was screwed anyway).

So for $20 it's not a bad tool to have to check out PSUs before hooking them up to expensive motherboards. But at $35 I dunno.

 

[Brian_B]

Neat little tool, and awesome writeup.

Yeah, it isn't much better than a paperclip jumper to see if your PSU is at least turning on - but it does tell you that much in splendid fashion. And for most people at home, that's really about all you need - does the PSU turn on, and is it close to nominal output? For $35, for a person who puts together machines as a hobby, this is a nice price point and does pretty much what it should. And it's (presumably) easier to use than a paperclip and gives you a bit more data in the readout (even if it is of questionable accuracy).

I wouldn't sell your other test equipment used for reviews though.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Thanks for the article Paul! This is the kind of stuff I see when browsing Amazon, or other places, and wonder if it does anything useful for the money. It may not be able to fully compete on a professional level but at least, for the money, it's not a total rip-off either.

 

[magoo]

I really liked this article.
It's neat to see somewhat obscure gadgets tested against the real deal.
This little meter is actually kind of compelling, in a 35 dollar sort of way.
I always thought the SunMoon almost sounded cult like and mystical, somewhat like power supplies........

 

[twzTechman]

I have an ancient Antec power supply tester and it has been very useful over the years. It just has pass/fail LEDs and an overall Fault/Good reading. I always use it to test a power supply (new or repurposed) before installing, and it has saved me a few times.