Typically
when discussing Power Supply units for PC's, sexy and stylish
are two words that do not apply. This is not the case with OCZ's
introduction into the mainstream PSU market segment. The OCZ PowerStream
line is not only stylish and sexy; it's the type of equipment
you want to break out your Carnauba car wax to keep it shiny and
new. Well enough of my fawning over the looks, let's go over the
specifications and get down to the heart of the matter; does it
perform as well as it looks?
Specifications
Type:
BTX Form Factor with ATX adjuncts
Input Voltage: 100-120VAC / 200-240VAC
Input Current: 10A / 6A
Input Freq range: 60Hz / 50Hz
Available Colors: High Gloss Charcoal
Output Capacity: 420W Continuous / 520W peak for 60 seconds
Features: OCZ ConnectAll (BTX/ATX connectors for future proof)
PowerFlex (Dedicated circuitry for each voltage output)
PowerShield (REMI shielded Hard Drive and Video Power)
PowerWhisper (noise levels are maintained at sub 23dBA)
OCZ Over-Voltage and Over-Current protection technology
OCZ 5 year warranty
Initial
Thoughts
The
OCZ PowerStream arrived with a forward thinking 24-pin connection.
Not to worry, OCZ has included a 24 pin to 20 pin motherboard
connector for use with ATX systems should you lack the 24 pin
connector as found on the LGA775 format motherboards. The only
downside is that the 20 pin adapter is not shielded as is the
24 pin cable, but this would likely only be a temporary issue
if you upgraded your computer often.
You
can easily see the mirror finish in the above shots, which shows
up fingerprints quite easily. A quick wipe and everything is
clean again.
The
PowerStream feeds 360W on the 12V rail, 150W on the 5V rail
and 92W on the 3.3V rail. You might be asking yourself, how
is this possible, it is only a 420W PSU, not 602W? OCZ has built
the unit so that if your requirements are higher on the one
rail, such as the 12V rail (water cooling and the like) the
overhead is available, likewise, if you require additional 5V
appliances (PC Cards etc.), there is overhead available on that
rail as well. Obviously you can not crank the load up on all
three rails at the same time, and with current equipment, you
would be hard pressed to do so, even on a 420W PSU.
What
do I mean by "crank it up"? Well, the PowerStream
comes with 3 adjustment knobs on the back of the PSU , along
with that are lights that allow you to visually ascertain the
current status without opening the case and pulling out your
voltage meter. The ability to do a quick spot check by looking
at the back of the case is a great touch for enthusiasts and
novices alike. All lights green, everything is good to go.
Cooling
of the PowerStream is handled by 2 high performance low rpm fans,
positioned at front and rear of the PSU. I removed the "Warranty
Void if Removed" sticker and popped the top, if you were
wondering where OCZ has OEM'd this particular product, this could
give us some clues. We see several similarities with the Tagan
line, but with some added OCZ flair. The internals appear to be
designed for appearance as much as function, this is somewhat
peculiar in that most people won't break the seal to look inside
the unit. You can see by the layout of the Heat Sinks and how
air would flow from the fans that this is designed to cool as
efficiently as possible, this is a good thing in the PSU world.
A unit that is producing too much heat is a unit that delivers
dirty power.
Power
connectors are abundant and well identified, especially in the
case of the Video and Hard Disk Drive connectors. There is 6
standard Molex connectors, 2 Floppy connectors, 1 AUX connector
(does anyone ever use this?), the P4 4 pin (which also has an
8 pin BTX connector upstream from it), 2 SATA connectors and
2 REMI shielded HDD/VGA. I am just wondering, if the standard
Molex connector HDD's need a REMI shielded connector, why doesn't
the SATA HDD connector's afford such a high quality solution?
Now
that everything is accounted for lets hook it up and see what
this puppy can do under load. The test beds are as follows -
Intel
P4 2.8E (478 Pin Prescott), Abit AI7 Innovatek XXS Water Cooling,
1GB Kingston HyperX PC4300, ATI Radeon 9600xt (AGP8x, No VGA power
req'd), WD800 SATA (80GB, 7200RPM), Samsung ATA100 (80GB 7200RPM),
AOpen DVD +/- R, Lite-On DVD-ROM, Matsushita Floppy Drive, 2x80mm
ThermalTake Fans
Initial
power on had the 3.3V rail in the "red", a quick adjustment
and it was glowing green like the others. A quick note here,
adjustments need to be made slowly and at small increments,
don't worry if one of the rails is in the red, if it is to far
out of spec, the PSU has built in Overvoltage and Overcurrent
protection and will shut itself down. To say that the PowerStream
is quiet is to say that Niagara Falls is a waterfall, there
is no noise coming out of the back of the case and the test
bed is water cooled, so silent to begin with. Now that everything
is setup and within tolerance let's run the tests.
To
stress the PSU's I ran 2 instances of folding (Hyper Threading)
while running Newsbin Pro (a resource hog) and writing to a DVD
+RW with Nero on the AOpen 8x DVD writer.
Thermaltake
Results
OCZ
Powerstream Results
As
you can see, the OCZ PowerStream keeps pace with the ThermalTake,
and TT is no slouch in the PSU arena. The 12V rail is one to note,
the OCZ maintains a much more stable rail, I also like that the
OCZ maintains this above 12.0V, not below. An interesting note
is the DDR voltage requested in the BIOS is 2.6V, the TT keeps
that about 0.1V high throughout. With this said, everything is
within tolerance on both power supplies, either would be a good
choice.
Overclocking
This
is where a PSU really comes into play. The above tests were done
at 3.43GHz (it is a 2.8E), which is where I typically run my machine
on a day to day basis. The most I have ever been able to achieve
with this system is 3.85GHz (275FSB). This was with the ThermalTake
PSU; let’s see how the OCZ fairs in comparison .
As
you can see, 4.06GHz, or 290FSB, and most think a power supply
wont make that much of a difference.
Final
Words
The
OCZ PowerStream has hit the mark, and then some. Not only is this
power supply of the highest quality, it is quiet and sexy. OCZ
has hit a homer with the PowerStream line, it would have been
a Grand Slam had they wrapped up all of their power leads, but
that is only a small issue and you can wrap them yourself to get
the colors you desire. In a PC world where clean and high power
is becoming more and more of an issue as we continue to push the
performance envelope, the OCZ PowerStream meets the challenge
head on.
Pros:
Sexy / Stylish Design, Good cooling with almost no noise, Rear
LED's for quick check on status, Adjustable 3.3V, 5V and 12V rails,
Quality power being delivered to the system, Forward looking to
BTX standard while maintaining ATX compliance.
Cons:
All Power Leads are not wrapped, No REMI shielding for the SATA
connectors
Bottom
Line: You push your system to the extreme; you get every
drop of horsepower possible out of it, and your peripherals. You
dress it up so that when people look, they know, it is a work
of art. If this statement describes you, you need this power supply,
because it will do all of that, and look good while doing it.
The OCZ
PowerStream should be on your short list.
Hit
us up in the Forums
if you have any questions.
HOME
