Cooler Master Thunder 500W Review – Good Budget SMPS for Mid-range PCs
Cooler Master is a reputed name in power supplies, PC cabinets, PC fans, PC thermal products and heatsinks. Cooler Master has wide range of PSUs starting from budget range to high-end power supplies. But here in this post I am going to review Cooler Master Thunder 500W which is a good budget range 500W SMPS for PCs with decent configuration with mid-range graphics card.
SMPS or Power supply is one of the most important components of your PC. It is also the most ignored component as most of the people do not care to invest in a good branded SMPS. But if you want your PC to work well and to get maximum performance from your component you should always buy a good branded SMPS. This blog contains many important articles on SMPS which you can find below.
Top Resources on SMPS / PSU
- How to Find a Good SMPS for PC
- Top SMPS Brands in the World
- SMPS Brands to Avoid
- Faulty SMPS Symptoms
Cooler Master Thunder 500W PSU Review
Here is a complete review of Cooler Master Thunder 500W SMPS.
Build Quality & Size
The SMPS comes in black color and it is solidly built. It feels heavy which signifies the high quality materials used in its construction. There is 120mm Fan and a ON/OFF switch located at the back which comes very handy and provides an extra layer of protection. The size of the SMPS is standard and it can fit in any regular ATX cabinet (not the slim ones). The Model number of the SMPS is RS-500-ACAB-M3.
Connectors
Cooler Master Thunder 500W has got all the connectors in sufficient number for your needs. The various connectors and their numbers are shown below in the table.
| Connector Name or Type |
Quantity or Number |
| 24 Pin ATX Power Connector (20 + 4 pin) | 1 |
| CPU 12 Volt Connector (4 + 4 Pin) | 1 |
| PCI Express (6 + 2 Pin) | 1 |
| SATA Power Connector | 6 |
| Molex Power Connector (4 Pin) | 3 |
| Floppy connector (4 Pin) | 1 |
12V Rail Current Rating
As I have explained so many times before also in various posts in this blog that the current on 12Volt Rail matters the most in a SMPS, and it should be at least 30A for a modern day PC. Cooler Master Thunder 500W has got dual 12 Rails and the combined current on 12V Rail is 45A (24A + 21A) which is sufficient enough for a modern day PC having latest specifications with a mid-range graphics card installed in it. Below is the voltage and current table for this SMPS.
Compatibility
Cooler Master Thunder 500W PSU is compatible will all modern day and previous generation ATX complaint motherboards. You can buy this SMPS without any hitch as it has no issues on running on any motherboard.
Protection Features
Cooler Master Thunder 500W power supply comes with all the safety and protection features to protect your motherboard and computer components from any hazard. The various protection features include Over Voltage Protection (OVP), Over Power Protection (OPP), Over Current Protection (OCP), Short Circuit Protection (SCP). Other protection features include Double-Layer EMI Filter which gives the SMPS dual protection from electromagnetic interference and gives it additional protection from noise and interference.
Performance & Efficiency
The SMPS performs really well without consuming too much power. It can handle the maximum rated load without failing. The efficiency of Cooler Master Thunder 500W is more than 85% at typical load. There are high quality capacitors present that produces hold time greater than 14ms on full loading.The SMPS comes with Active PFC (Power Factor Correction) which further increases the efficiency of the power supply. Also it has the Green power design to meet Energy Star and Blue Angel Requirements.
Fan Noise
The SMPS comes with a big 120mm fan which is quite silent in operation. The PSU comes with Intelligent Fan Speed Control that increases and decreases the speed of Fan depending on the load.
Final Words
Cooler Master Thunder 500W is really a star performer and one of the best budget SMPS in 500Watt range. It comes with 3 year warranty. So if you are looking for a good branded 500W SMPS for your computer then look no further and buy Cooler Master Thunder 500W.
You can also check out the review of Corsair VS450 SMPS which is also very good budget SMPS for PCs with medium requirements. If you have any queries regarding this Cooler Master Thunder 500W SMPS or other SMPS then you can ask me by leaving a comment below.
You can Cooler Master Thunder 500W SMPS at great price from the link given below.
Buy Cooler Master Thunder 500W
About Author
Akshat Verma
A Professional Blogger, Web Developer, Hardware Enthusiast, Gamer, Geek and Founder of many other websites. He holds M.Tech degree in IT and B.E degree in Computer Science & Engineering.
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what graphics card this psu will support ???????
up to GTX 960
i m using gigabyte h81 gaming 3 motherboard , 8 gb @ 1600 Mhz ram, cooler master thunder 500 w , will this configuration support GTX 960 ???????
Surely it will support GTX 960.
i want to buy a processor A, i m thinking AMD FX6300 or core i3 4160 . which one shud i buy for gaming ?? i have ram 8gb @1600mhz , gigabyte H81 gaming 3 motherboard .
Definitely i3 4160 for gaming or not. It is much better than AMD FX6300.
m using gigabyte h81 gaming 3 motherboard , 8 gb @ 1600 Mhz ram, cooler master thunder 500 w , core i3 4160 . i m unable to decide on graphics card . plz give me a GPU which will perform best with this configuration with going into bottle neck with any above mentioned component.
sorry ….for mistake in earlier query in processor number
please specify the budget for the graphics card.
best graphics card to play latest games supported by the above configuration . no limits with budget.
I would suggest you to get Zotac GTX 1060 AMP Edition 6GB DDR5. It will fit nicely with your system.
cooler master thunder 500w or corsair cx 500 plz ??
Go for Corsair CX500 and you can get it here http://amzn.to/2gQU7Gv
Kindly let me know if CM thunder 500 will support my new config mentioned below:
Intel core i7 6700k
4*8gb ddr4 ram
Msi z170 motherboard
Kingston 240gb v400 ssd
Note: plan to have nvidia gtx 1080 in future
Well if you are planning to get GTX 1080 in future then you should get Antec VP500P http://amzn.to/2gBWprF and not the CM thunder 500.
Does this psu has capxon capacitors as they are know to be very bad quality capacitors and not reliable for long term usage ?
I don’t have any info on this.
Will this PSU support i5 7500 and MSI Gaming X RX 480 8GB?
Yes it will
Dear Akshat verma
Want to buy a 450 -500 W SMPS.
From your reviews I find you rank – No. 1 Cooler Master Thunder 500W
No.2 Corsair VS 450.
My worry is warranty – being an imported item.
How does ARTIS VIP 500W compare with the above 2 brands,
WHAT SHOULD BE MY CHOICE? PLS ADVISE.
REGARDS
I suggest you to go for Corsair VS450. All the computer items are imported but they are covered under warranty from the vendor. Artis VIP 500W is also a good PSU but falls a bit short compared to the above brands.
hey are artis smps any good?
yes they are fine. value for money power supplies.
My confg..i5-4440,8gb ddr3 ram,asus h97 plus mb,1tb hd..and this psu..
Im planning to get a rx 570 / rx 580..as it falls in my budget..will the psu be able to handle it.
Yes it can handle it.
I recently upgraded my system and decided to use SMPS from my old build (CoolerMaster 500W Thunder) for the new build. Can you please suggest if it will be sufficient.
New Build
1. Ryzen 5 3600
2. MSI tomahawk Max B450 board with RGB lighting
3. Galax 1660 GPU
4. 8GB x 2 RAM HyperX
5. 2 x 1TB HDD
6. 1 x 250GB SSD
7. Additional RGB fan
The HDDs are turning off and on intermittently, don’t know if its happening because of an under-powered SMPS. Power management settings are fine.
The power supply is sufficient. Check hard drive SATA power connector.
Thanks for the revert.. Will try replacing the sata cables first.