Thermaltake Smart Series 730W Power Supply Review



Thermaltake is a name that should be engraved in the minds of everyone involved in gaming or computer system building. The advantageous company is always on the cutting edge in terms of designing and providing clever and useful lines of computer hardware for a whole range of different needs. Power supplies are among the list of critical computer components designed and manufactured by Thermaltake. Thermaltake now offers a new line of power supplies called the Smart Series.





All devices have one thing in common; they have to work. Most people including myself will sacrifice a few bells and whistles or other non-essential features for a product that we know will always get the job done, and does it reliably and well. The Thermaltake Smart Series of power supplies are made to do just that. Thermaltake defines the Smart Series as “…for those who are upgrading, repairing or building a system and want a power supply that just works.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. We have in our possession the highest level power supply in the Smart Series, the Smart 730. Now let’s unleash this machine and see what kind of power it is capable of.

Thermaltake Smart 730W Manufacturer Specifications





Packaging





The Thermaltake Smart 730W power supply came packaged in a nice sturdy box along with 2 other power supplies that were reviewed previously.



An abundance of shipping peanuts kept all three of the packages in good condition during shipping.





The retail packaging comes shrink-wrapped. The packaging also has an appropriate number of graphics, awards, features, and specifications listed to inform potential buyers in a retail setting of the product inside of the box.



The wrap easily tears off from the retail packaging. The box has a matte finish to it and also has the signature Thermaltake black backing with the red stripe on the top and through the side.



The front of the retail packaging is quick to inform consumers the Smart Series is not here to mess around, it’s here to do its job. The orange and red graphic behind the perspective shot of the Thermaltake Smart 730W reminds me of a Windows screensaver.



The back of the box for the Thermaltake Smart 730W PSU has a number of features and specifications detailed and neatly displayed in both text and graphical form.





The sides of the retail packaging list some key features in multiple different languages and have a perspective image of the Smart Series 730W unit.





The top and bottom of the packing have a black background with the Thermaltake logo cleanly present in the center.







The retail box securely opens by lifting up on the bottom.







Once we open the box the first two objects are the owner’s manual and the warranty information documentation.



The Thermaltake Smart 730W power supply is neatly tucked into the retail box inside of a bubble wrap bag for protection. Another bag with the power cable and mounting hardware is behind it.





A resealable bag contains the power cord and a smaller resealable bag inside of the larger bag contains four hex head/Philips head mounting screws.









Now that we have the Smart Series 730W out of the box it’s time to unwrap it. Christmas certainly came early with the Thermaltake Smart 730W power supply!

Initial Thoughts & Features



The Thermaltake Smart Series 730W has a textured semi-gloss finish and is all black aside from the decals. The appearance reminds me of a blacked out vehicle, especially because of the lack of the Tt Thermaltake badge on the fan grille. Often those who “black out” a vehicle de-badge their ride which increases the serious and down to business aspect of the device.



The Thermaltake logo is neatly stamped into the side of the Smart Series 730W. This shot shows the nice semi-gloss textured black finish.



You can tell by looking at the front of the Thermaltake Smart 730W that it is a wired non-modular power supply. With some decent cable management this is not a problem. The Smart Series is too cool to have modular cables anyway.



The side decal on the Thermaltake Smart 730W PSU is similar to the retail packaging art and even has the same wavy graphic. Most power supplies have specification information on the side. The Smart Series 730W power supply has this information on the top, which you will see in the next image.





The top of the unit has a large decal that details model and PSU specifications. The Thermaltake Smart 730W power supply definitely has a nice flowing graphical appeal for a power supply that’s down to do business.



The rear of the Thermaltake Smart 730W is mostly punched out in a honeycomb vent and has a power cutoff switch.



Only the main motherboard 20+4 pin connector has a sleeve, the rest of the cables are kept together with plastic zip ties. The Thermaltake Smart Series 730W is hardcore and prefers not to be fully clothed as it only slows it down.



The main motherboard 20+4 pin connector is clearly marked with big print.



This PSU is equipped with a 4+4 pin CPU power connector.



The Smart Series 730W has two PCI Express 6+2 power connectors which are used to power some video cards.



This PSU has 8 SATA power connectors.



These 4 peripheral or Molex power connectors are used to power some hard drives and case fans. The Thermaltake Smart 730W also has a floppy disk drive or FDD power connector because sometimes it likes to kick it old school.





The Smart Series 730W is rocking a 120mm exhaust fan. Check out the dark polished grille. This PSU lacks the distracting bells and whistles because it’s not about looking the part, it’s about playing the part.











Believe me when I say it was hard to get a power supply as serious as this one to pause for glamor shots. I had to bribe him with a promise of powering two video cards in CrossFire so he could show off his potential to the masses. Let’s see if he can do it.

System Installation







We have a nice empty power supply bay in a system housed by the Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 chassis.



I think it’s time to merge these two machines and find out how the Thermaltake Smart Series 730W power supply handles this gaming machine.



Once we set the power supply in the bay and set the mounting bracket supplied with the case we need to secure it with the two thumbscrews that work with the bracket.









After we have these two thumbscrews in place the Thermaltake Smart 730W PSU won’t be sliding off anywhere. Now we are going to mount the rear of the PSU into the case.







Using a Philips screwdriver with the supplied mounting screws the Thermaltake Smart 730W power supply nicely lines up with the chassis to be mounted into the tower.



We are going to hook up all of the necessary cables to the appropriate devices and tuck away all of the excess. First we will route all of the cables through the cable management holes in the motherboard tray.



This works but looks messy because the cables have not been managed.



With a little time and a few Velcro ties this is no problem to turn into a tidy situation.



We can reinstall this side panel now that the cables have been properly managed.





Look at how nice these cables look. A few Velcro ties can go a long ways. This system doesn’t require a modular power supply and the Smart Series 730W is the perfect power supply to satisfy this system.







There is no question as to if the Thermaltake Smart 730W looks good next to these two XFX 4850 1GB video cards in CrossFire to deliver 2GB in video memory. But can it handle them? We’ll find out in a bit.



Now that we have the Thermaltake Smart Series 730W power supply installed, it’s time to close up the tower and plug this bad boy in.

Testing







This chart details the operating system and hardware components that make up the evaluation system.









Testing of the Thermaltake Smart 730W power supply will involve using a Sperry DM-6400 digital multimeter to read the output voltages on from the 24 pin main connector to the motherboard. Readings will be taken from the Smart Series 730W PSU during four activities. The first testing activity is the system in an idle state on the Windows 7 desktop; the second is a more taxing 3DMark Vantage benchmark test that stresses out both the graphics and CPU capabilities of the testing system. The final two activities are Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare and Battlefield 3 gameplay. Remember that we have two graphics cards in CrossFire so that will push this power supply.







The Thermaltake Smart 730W power supply performed exceptionally well. The 3.3V readings were almost dead spot on and the 5V reading came in at a solid and consistent 4.95V reading through all four activities! The 12V reading went down slightly during the gameplay and benchmark test. The Thermaltake Smart Series 730W PSU totally dominated this evaluation.

Final Thoughts & Conclusion



The Thermaltake Smart 730W power supply does exactly what it was designed and created for. It works, and it works well. No flashy badges or gold grills, it doesn’t need any distracting bling because it does what it’s told to do and doesn’t require unnecessary touches or stunning aesthetics to win over consumers like some other products might.



The Thermaltake Smart Series 730W aced the performance test, and was a breeze to install. It is more than suitable for business computers, and some workstations and gaming systems. The non-modular and lax amount of cable sleeves does nothing to put a dent into this slick rock of a power supply. It gets down and dirty to do what it was made for, and that results in a job well done. Myself, and THO Gaming approve the use of the Thermaltake Smart Series 730W power supply!


Writer, Photographer: Alex Sweers
Editor: Andy Sitzmann