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Tom’s Hardware
Tom’s Hardware
Technology
Mark Tyson

Asus ROG Thor III PSUs come with magnetic OLED displays — and power ratings up to 1,600W

Asus ROG Thor III PSUs .

Asus has taken the wraps off a revamped flagship line of PC power supplies. The new Asus ROG Thor III PSU series comes in capacities from 1,000W, 1,200W, and even 1,600W capacities. They all feature GaN power electronics for efficiency, are ATX 3.1 compatible, and come with so-called GPU-First voltage sensing. But the most eye-catching new feature of the ROG Thor III series is the new magnetic OLED real-time display.

Previous ROG Thor PSUs also integrated an OLED display, but it was embedded beneath the skin of the PSU chassis. That looked cool, but if you were to mount the PSU with the fan facing down instead of up. the display would be facing away from the traditional windowed side of a tower case. Now, with the unique qualities of the repositionable magnetic OLED display, attractive builds will be more flexible.

The display doesn't seem to have gained any other functionality in this new generation of PSUs. All it does is show off the real-time power draw in watts, as measured by built-in circuitry. We expect there to be some kind of pogo-pins under where the magnetic OLED display attaches. Sadly, the product pages for the Asus ROG Thor III PSUs aren't available at the time of writing for deeper diving.

(Image credit: Asus)
(Image credit: Asus)
(Image credit: Asus)

Another feature of these ATX 3.1 compatible PSUs worth highlighting is the GPU-First voltage sensing with patented intelligent voltage stabilizer. Details on this feature are light but Asus asserts that it means your GPU will enjoy a stabler power delivery. It even quantifies its claim by saying power to the GPU is 45% more stable with GPU-First sensing mode.

Turbo mode is also present across the ROG Thor III series, crows Asus. Perhaps less impressive than its moniker suggests, Turbo mode is simply a fan curve that enables longer peak load handling. In other words, Turbo mode is a faster fan mode. However, we don't have details about how we would turn on the Turbo mode, whether it is automatic, or how much noise its dual-ball bearing fan might make.

GaN power electronics are increasingly popular in the mobile market for delivering the most modern compact mobile device chargers, and we are increasingly seeing PC component makers adopt this technology in their PC PSU offerings. Asus claims GaN MOSFETs inside the ROG Thor III PSUs using GaN technology "can deliver up to 30% more power efficiency than standard MOSFETs." GaN MOSFETs can offer more performance in a smaller physical size, meaning that PC companies can deliver improved cooling and airflow within the trusty ATX PSU form factor, even with PSUs rated like this one – up to 1,600W or more.

The GaN power electronics in the Asus ROG Thor III PSUs aren't actually new to this generation. They were also present in the ROG Thor 1600T, for example. However, the GaN technology will now be used throughout the whole of the new ROG Thor III range, not just the top-end 1,600W PSU.

As mentioned in the intro, the new Asus ROG Thor III PSUs come in 1,000W, 1,200W, and 1,600W ratings. The top-end 1,600W model has 80 PLUS Titanium certification and the other two are 80 PLUS Platinum certified. All of them use low-ESR capacitors, feature ROG heatsinks and fully aluminum enclosures, have dual ball bearing fans rated for up to 80,000 hours of service, and come with a set of ROG etched modular cables.

We don't have any word on product pricing from Asus but note that the previous gen ROG Thor 1600T PSU, for example, cost had an MSRP of $699. Buyers get a 10-year warranty.

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