Verdict:

The gimmicky cooling doesn't prevent this PSU from being louder than it should be.

It's been a while since we've seen a Thermaltake PSU, and in that time, the company has completely updated its range.

This model earns its QFan name from the temperature-controlled, frameless 140mm fan and small holes cut into the side of the PSU to let in hot air. The QFan is equipped with four 12V rails, each rated at 18A, with a maximum combined output of 52A. The rails are configured so that 12V1 powers the 4-pin ATX12V connector and half of the 8-pin EPS12V connector, while 12V2 powers the other half and the two modular 6-pin PCI-E sockets. The motherboard and hard-wired 8-pin PCI-E cable are powered by 12V3, while 12V4 powers the disk drives. An 8-pin to 6-pin adaptor is provided if your graphics card(s) require two 6-pin PCI-E connections.

The QFan also benefits from post-shutdown cooling, which keeps the fan spinning for several minutes after the PC switches off.

The QFan was able to output a stable voltage from all of its rails in our tests, and proved to be reasonably efficient, averaging 83 per cent at full load. This means that it needs to draw 779W from the mains to produce 650W. However, although the fan is quiet at light loads, the noise is noticeable at higher load levels.

Ultimately, in a market flooded with cut-price sub-700W PSUs, all retailing for a good deal less than £100, you can do better than the QFan.

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