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I-Star TC-750PD2 750 Watt
Power Supply Review
The Install:
I installed the I-Star TC-750PD2
750W into my
XION Gamer II case. The build is based on my ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
motherboard and includes an Athlon 64 3000+,
2x 1gig OCZ Gold Edition XTC DDR, the
HDA X-Plosion and a
Gigabyte X1800 XL. The supported drives for this build are two 30
Gig Western Digital drives, a Lite-on DVD Burner,
a Seagate SATA 750 GB drive and a
Plextor SATA DVD Burner. The TC-750PD2 750W also powers three fans
and a total of 5 cathode lights and even the drive lines are running EL
wire accents. This gaming rig is a lab favorite for testing power
supplies.
The TC-750PD2 reveals its server
heritage in the length of the cabling. I was able to reach every
drive location with cabling to spare. Now we need to hunt down a
matching cable kit. The ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe uses the 4 pin power lead
and can also use an extra 12 V run for SLI installations. With the
single X1800 card the MB 12 V is not used in this install.
With some simple cable management
in place the I-Star looks pretty good. The polished bottom surface
even picks up the color and lighting from the rest of the components.
It is just a shame the TC-750PD2 isn't offered in a modular style.
The Tests:
To test the I-Star 750W , I first
ran the system at idle over night. Then using the ASUS PC Probe utility
I captured these numbers. The numbers match the ATX specifications
easily. Unfortunately the probe doesn't measure the rails
separately. To satisfy my curiosity I touch tested the temperature
frequently during testing as well. The TC-750PD2 does run hot but
not terribly hot to the touch.
As usual I verified the idle
numbers in the BIOS after a 15 minute idle. I also checked the
separate rails using my trusty multi-meter to see how consistent the
separate rails tested. All the rails performed flawlessly within
spec with almost no variance.
To test the draw at load, I ran the
system for over 30 minutes using
Passmark's Burnin Test 5.1. This runs the system at peak load to
really stress the components. The above screen shot shows the rails
during the last portion of the test. The only measured variance was in
the +12V rails and measured in at a very slight +/- .1W, the rest of the
readings remained smooth as glass through the testing. I am a bit
surprised by the +12V readings but this is pretty common on power
supplies form all vendors.
Conclusion:
I-Star has stepped up their game
with the TC-750PD2 750W power supply. With 750 Watts of stable
power and four dedicated +12V rails it is clear that there is plenty of
dependable power to satisfy the most demanding builds. The 80mm
cooling fan is not the quietest I have tested but is certainly on par
with most high wattage power supplies. Unlike the more attractive
PD3 series, there is little doubt the TC-750PD2 is all about power
and just civil enough to bring home to Mommy. If you are looking
for a power supply with power to spare and just cant be bothered with
all that frilly stuff, this is the power supply for you!
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Club
Overclocker Rating |
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Innovation: |
8.5
out of 10 |
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Performance: |
10 out of 10 |
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Quality: |
10
out of 10 |
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Stability: |
9.5
out of 10 |
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Overclocking: |
N/A |
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Software/Drivers Pack: |
N/A |
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Value: |
9.0 out of 10 |
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Overall Rating
9.5 |
 |
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Skill Level |
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Project Skill Level
(10 being hardest) |
4
out of 10 |
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