Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

Just when you thought Semi-modular power supply units couldn’t get any cheaper, here comes the Cooler Master Thunder M 520W.

Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

The package comes with the following content.

Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

The connectors available are
– MB 20+4 Pin x 1
– CPU12V 4+4 Pin x 1
– PCI-e 6+2 Pin x 2
– SATA x 6
– Peripheral 4 Pin x 5
– Floppy 4 Pin x 1

Interestingly though the PSU doesn’t have any large sticker at the top and the power delivery table is at the side.

Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

Here’s the power delivery table. The unit delivers 480w of power through the 40A on 12V single rail.

Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

The Thunder M 520w comes with a 140mm fan for intake, and it runs silent.

Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

This is where the modular cables are connected, if you’re familiar with their V series then you’ll notice that they’ve of the same connector. The bundled cable comes with only 2x PCI-E connectors, one connect for each connection point.

Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

Below are the specs as taken from the official product page.

Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

Test Methodology / Report

goldfries.com does not have industrial grade power supply testing tools, therefore the approach for the PSU test is from a consumer angle. This means the PSU will be pushed to operational limit based on components that are available in the market. The key components used for power draw are the CPU (choice of processor), the GPU (graphic card setup) and other components like fans and drives.

The stress test is performed by stressing the 12V rails with 80% to 90% load, and run for at least 6 hours which is a lot more stress than what the average consumer would place on a power supply over the course of months or even years.

The Cooler Master Thunder M 520W delivers 480 Watts over the 12V rails so the target power draw should be around 432 Watts (90%). Cooler Master claims up to 85% efficiency on 50% load but since the load would be around 80% to 90% range then the efficiency is about 83%. With 83% efficiency it should draw around 520 from the wall reading. Load testing was done with Prime 95 and Furmark Burn-in Test, Folding@home and whatever else I can throw at the AMD FX-9590 CPU and multiple R9 280Xgraphics card.

The wall draw for my setup peaked at 530 watt and hovers around 520 most of the time, so the power consumption is estimated to be 439 watt which is slightly above the 90% target.

The readings were good, far from being the best but it’s within the ATX standard.

Cooler Master Thunder M 520W Power Supply Review

The Verdict

The Cooler Master Thunder M 520W power supply retails at RM 219, it works silent, it’s semi-modular with flat cables which are great for management. It has high-efficiency but on the down side it’s not 80Plus certified, not that it’s a great matter of concern but some consumers might just give it a pass.

Overall it’s good stuff from Cooler Master, it’s a power supply unit that’s great for budget setup while not sacrificing the ability to cable manage.

goldfries recommended