Taking Risks on a Cheap PSU: $30 Thermaltake 430W SMART Power Supply Review

Sponsor: Get 10% off Squarespace purchases (https://geni.us/BqEpf) We bought a $30 top-selling power supply from Amazon to review - the Thermaltake SMART 430W. Without going off-brand and while staying in 80 Plus territory, this is one of the cheapest power supplies that might power a low-end gaming PC (e.g. a GT 1030, Intel Arc A380, RX 6400, etc.) or a home office PC. People always say "don't cheap out on a power supply," so we wanted to see how cheap we could reasonably go while still getting something that operates "fine" for low-end parts. In this review, we'll also walk through some basics in the tear-down for more education on power supplies in general. We previously posted a budget power supply round-up! Learn about some of the best $50 to $80 power supplies over here:    • Amazon's 5 Most Popular Power Supplies: Bu...   PSUs need a new rating system - 80 Plus isn't it:    • Power Supplies Need a New Rating System (8...   Watch our power supply review & testing playlist here:    • Best We've Tested - Gundam x ASUS Power Su...   Which PSU do you want us to look at next? Post below! Support us and grab a GN Large Modmat for PC building - it protects your table and your components during the build: https://store.gamersnexus.net/product... Like our content? Please consider becoming our Patron to support us:   / gamersnexus   RELATED PRODUCTS [Affiliate Links] We bought all of the below PSUs ourselves for review. None of these were review units. Thermaltake SMART 430W PSU on Amazon: https://geni.us/ihQc Seasonic FOCUS GM-650 on Amazon: https://geni.us/tVRUm9 Fractal ION Gold 550W on Amazon: https://geni.us/Dj1Fx EVGA 700 BQ on Amazon: https://geni.us/tw9nw Corsair CX650M on Amazon: https://geni.us/r3TWaN Corsair CX650 on Amazon: https://geni.us/XhD9y7 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Going Cheap on a PSU 01:09 - But Not Too Cheap 03:37 - Fan Quality & Tear-Down 05:54 - Incorrect Specs! 06:32 - Misleading Capacity! 08:25 - Tearing Down the Cheap Power Supply 09:28 - Transient & Voltage Spike Filtering 10:57 - Limited Lifetime Bulk Capacitor 12:15 - Rectification & Group Regulation 14:18 - Protections & Standby 14:58 - BENCHMARKS 15:34 - 12V Voltage Ripple 16:33 - All Other Ripple 17:06 - Power Efficiency Benchmarks (Thermaltake Smart 430W) 18:13 - Voltage Regulation 18:47 - Crossload Regulation 19:34 - Power Factor Results 19:59 - Protection & Safety Testing 21:13 - Shorting Components 21:43 - Over-Current & Power Protection 23:12 - Packaging & Quality 24:10 - Cable Ratings & Quality 25:06 - Conclusion ** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! ** Links to Amazon and Newegg are typically monetized on our channel (affiliate links) and may return a commission of sales to us from the retailer. This is unrelated to the product manufacturer. Any advertisements or sponsorships are disclosed within the video ("this video is brought to you by") and above the fold in the description. We do not ever produce paid content or "sponsored content" (meaning that the content is our idea and is not funded externally aside from whatever ad placement is in the beginning) and we do not ever charge manufacturers for coverage. Follow us in these locations for more gaming and hardware updates: t:   / gamersnexus   f:   / gamersnexus   w: http://www.gamersnexus.net/ Host, Writing: Steve Burke Testing, Writing: Patrick Stone Video, Camera: Andrew Coleman Video Editing Assistance: Mike Gaglione