OCZ power supply is the bee's knees

AS WE REPORTED yesterday, memory firm OCZ will soon add a new product line to their offerings. In addition to offering memory, heat sinks, and RAM sinks, it is now entering the power supply market for enthusiasts.

Geared for digital video workstations, network attached storage servers, and PC enthusiasts, the PowerStream series of power supplies sports some nice features for present hardware as well as providing additional features for power users.

Starting at 420 watts, and scaling up to a high end 520 watt power supply, OCZ claims it is committed to offering reliable power supplies for those with demand for stability as well as scalability. The PowerStream 420 has the ability to supply peak loads of 520w for up to a minute. The PowerStream 520 will be capable of supplying a peak load of 620w.

As most integrators and enthusiasts know, looks aren't as important as stability or quality. Although you will pay extra for shipping costs due to the weight of the power supply, OCZ seems not to have cut any corners when engineering these units. Everything from internal component placement to the external appearance has been well engineered.

On the review unit I received (shipping revision) the standard configuration supplied is:

Cable braid one:
one single 6-pin BTX motherboard power supply connector and one single 4-pin ATX on the same line

Cable braid two:
one AUX connector for workstation and server motherboards

Cable braid three & four:
two 12v Molex connectors labeled VGA/HDD with sporting OCZ PowerShield technology

Cable braid five & six:
three standard 12v Molex connectors and one floppy connector

Cable braid seven:
two S-ATA connectors

Cable braid eight:
one BTX 24 pin connector, (OCZ supplies a 24-pin to 20-pin ATX adapter)

The internal layout is extremely clean and well designed. Due to the complexity and facilities required to produce power supplies, OCZ has them manufactured by an Asian ODM, but was un willing to share the exact details of the deal.

Supplying users with a dual fan setup, which glows when in use, will appeal to enthusiasts as well as system integrators. OCZ has also integrated its PowerWhisper, PowerFlex, PowerShield, and ConnectAll technologies.

PowerShield technology is one of the better features added to a power supply to date. This technology adds power filtering capabilities to the VGA connectors, which are required for workstation and high end gaming video cards.

One of my favorite features of the PowerStream power supplies is the external LED voltage sensors which provide a clear indication of rail loads and any possible problems. The additional feature of being able to fix any problems which arise on the fly make this power supply an excellent choice.

The controls which allow users to tune the supply of power don't require a volt meter for an accurate adjustment thanks to the LEDs which correspond to 3.3v, 5v and 12v rails. If the current on a specific volt rail drops under specification, the LED will glow yellow. However if the volt rail is being over powered, the LED will glow red. When out of the box, on a normal system the LED should glow the normal green, indicating that the volt rails are within specification. The instructions on adjusting the volt rails are not only explained in the manual but are also detailed on the unit.

Since the introduction of higher RPM fans, and small form factor cases, noise has been a problem that many companies have tried to solve. OCZ includes its PowerWhisper technology which keeps noise levels below 23 dBA at a 60% load.

Although the BTX standard hasn't come to market in mass yet, the PowerStream series provides connection for the new standard. This future-proofing, in addition with the 5-year warranty (three year unlimited warranty supported by OCZ's exclusive PowerSwap program plus an additional 2-year limited warranty), should allow this power supply to last you for years to come.

Since receiving the unit from OCZ last week, I have been running the power supply on a heavily configured AMD Opteron system with outstanding results. High-end workstation and server environments require a quality power supply and running a lower end power supply has been known to create problems such as random issues including reboots and hardware lockups. This has not been evident in the OCZ PowerStream 420.

Expect to see these power supplies in the channel by the end of the June, and at your local vendors in quantity in the first weeks of July. µ