ASUS ROG THOR 850W Power Supply Review

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DC Output Quality

For those of you that are curious as to some of the reasoning and equipment behind our PSU testing program here at TheFPSReview, we have put together an introduction for you that shares a lot of the behind the scenes of the program. This program is based on what the author developed at [H]ardOCP and utilizes the equipment bequeathed to the author by Kyle Bennett. The testing we are conducting today is exactly as described in that document and will continue with our examination of the DC Output Quality.

Control Test Graphing

This image is the blank background control test on an unused connector from our SM-8800 during the testing of the ASUS ROG THOR 850W. This lets us determine what the background noise looks like during testing.

120v Input

100v Input

Test #1 is equal to approximately 25% of the rated capacity of the ASUS ROG THOR 850W at 45c. This makes Test #1 equal to 222W by loading the 12v rail to 16a, the 5v rail to 2a, the 3.3v rail to 1a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.3a. The ASUS ROG THOR 850W is starting off in decent shape. The 12v rail is peaking at ~15mV of ripple/noise while the minor rails are peaking at less than ~10mV of ripple/noise.

120v Input

100v Input

Test #2 is equal to approximately 50% of the rated capacity of the ASUS ROG THOR 850W at 45c. This makes Test #2 equal to 433W by loading the 12v rail to 32a, the 5v rail to 4a, the 3.3v rail to 3a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.3a. Test #2 sees only minor changes as the 3.3v rail is coming in at ~10mV of ripple/noise, the 5v rail is coming in at less than ~10mV of ripple/noise, and the 12v rail is coming in at ~20mV of ripple/noise.

120v Input

100v Input

Test #3 is equal to approximately 75% of the rated capacity of ASUS ROG THOR 850W at 45c. This makes Test #3 equal to 642W by loading the 12v rail to 48a, the 5v rail to 6a, the 3.3v rail to 4a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.3a. Test #3 sees the 12v rail coming in at ~20mV of ripple/noise while the minor rails are coming in at less than ~10mV (5v) or ~15mV (3.3v) of ripple/noise.

120v Input

100v Input

Test #4 is equal to approximately 100% of the rated capacity of the ASUS ROG THOR 850W at 45c. This makes Test #4 equal to 860W by loading the 12v rail to 68a, the 5v rail to 2a, the 3.3v rail to 2a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.3a. In the final regular test, we see the 12v rail peaking at ~20mV of ripple/noise while the minor rails are peaking at ~15mV of ripple/noise.

Torture Test

The Torture Test is equal to approximately 80% of the rated capacity of the ASUS ROG THOR 850W at 45C. This makes the Torture Test equal 671W by loading the 12v rail to 50a, the 5v rail to 7a, the 3.3v rail to 5a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.3a. At the end of the Torture Test, we see the 12v and 3.3v rail peaking at ~15mV of ripple/noise while the 5v rail is peaking at ~10mV of ripple/noise.

DC Output Quality Summary

The overall DC Output Quality of the ASUS ROG THOR 850W is excellent. The ROG THOR 850W ended up posting a peak trace amplitude on the 12v rail of ~20mV followed by ~15mV on the minor rails and that is interesting as those values are almost identical throughout testing. The worst relative value among these only hit ~30% of the ATX12v specification limit and this unit was better than the Enermax REVOLUTION DF 850W. While that may not make it the absolute best 850W unit on the market in this regard, it is definitely up there among those units. Let’s move on now and see how all of this wraps up!

Paul Johnson
Paul is a long time PC hobbyist and tech enthusiast having gotten his start when he broke his first C64 quickly followed by breaking his first IBM XT. Most notably however, for 12 years, he served as the Power Supply Editor for one of the truly early, groundbreaking, and INDPENDENT PC enthusiast sites ([H]ardOCP) until its mothballing in April of 2019. Paul now brings the same flair and style of his power supply reviews to The FPS Review.

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