ASUS ROG Thor II ATX 2.4

The ASUS ROG Thor 1000W Platinum II is one of those products where the performance is almost secondary to the flash and flair. Many hardware items under the Republic of Gamers branding tend to justify their hefty price points with insane amounts of features and high end components, as well as some elements unique to their product arm. Graphics cards have beefed up cooling, RGB lighting, and hefty overclocks. Motherboards usually have all the features available to them as well as some custom ASUS items like the LiveDash or other fancy lighting options. How willing you are to spend that extra money comes down to a combination of brand loyalty and a desire for the extras that other manufacturers don't provide.

The ROG THOR 1000W PLATINUM II retails at 360 EUR, a steep price, but you need to remember that it’s a premium-level product designed for overclocking and gaming enthusiasts. The unit looks great – you can see that it was one of the focus points of Asus; the finishing is high-quality/design, the ARGB lighting is also an excellent addition, there is also an OLED display to show energy consumption. Speaking of which, it’s a pity that you won’t even see the unit in most of the chassis, as it would be hidden behind the PSU shroud or at the back of the motherboard tray, so in most cases, that effort wasn’t so much needed. Maybe in Thor III, Asus should enable the possibility to rotate the display, or at least allow the option to show the power consumption in the software? As for the power delivery itself – there’s no reason to be worried, Seasonic has made the platform, and it’s a customized Prime Ultra Platinum, and the results are fantastic. The ROG THOR 1000W PLATINUM II offers excellent acoustics (as it becomes audible only above 85-90% load) and great build quality. According to the standards, the efficiency is like it should be for the 80 Plus Platinum award. You also get a 10-year warranty, which you would expect in that price range, but the OLED screen and the ARGB lighting have 3 (why?). You also get the 12-pin PCIe 5.0 compatible cable for powering up to 450 W GPUs (it’s a pity it’s not a 16-pin with 600 W support like in the Loki series). The package is excellent; this product ticks all the essential boxes (and even more). It’s a great option not only for the hardcore Asus fans, but you need to dig deep in your pocket, and that’s the biggest drawback. Still - thanks to its outstanding performance, it stands out in the market. It’s applicable, especially for the noise (or lack of it in most scenarios), but not only. The aesthetics are also great (but in most cases, you won’t have the possibility to see it – hopefully Asus will address this). We think that this PSU deserves our “Top Pick” award, but also understand it's not for everyone due to the pricing.