OCZ Technology famous for producing some of the finest quality memory on the market today has delved into another area of the PC-Enthusiast market, power supplies. Today were taking a look at their newest offering the PowerStream 420 (OCZ-420ADJ), and I believe anyone appreciating exceptional build quality, and high current capabilities, will appreciate what OCZ has to offer. OCZ Technology makes other quality PC-products, including heatsinks, ram-sinks, and at one time made some of the better Geforce-3 graphics cards. Back in Nov.2001 HardwareOne titled a review of OCZ's Titan-3 Geforce-3 "Top of the Pack." In fact the Titan-3 was one of the best graphic's cards on the market. I often wondered why they chose to stop making their VGA cards. Here's a photo from the HardwareOne review of the Titan-3, sporting after-market hardware which was considered true cutting edge for the time





Why mention a 3-year old graphics card? The point is OCZ Technology is no novice to the PC game, and their knowledge transcends that of DRAM. Of course PSU's are not an easy item to build correctly. Almost anyone can sub-contract another manufacturer to supply (pardon the pun) a switching power supply.

However; creating high quality units for budget prices such as TTGI-USA or taking a cost-no-object purist approach as does PCPower&Cooling, takes true talent. These are designs which endure the test of time, and change with the needs of PC-Enthusiast's. Some manufacturers have gone to the extent of offering water-cooled PSU's such as the proSilence 450W, or Cool-Cases LC-Power 550. Water-cooling a PSU is indicative of the fact they produce large amounts of heat. And just like any other electrical PC device, cooling is of primary importance.

Of course, no matter how exotic the accoutrements, if the unit can't hold its rails, it's all water under the rectifier-bridge. As OCZ's PowerStream PSU is fairly new, there's no source of specs at their site to be reprinted here. I chose the next best method, which gives the reader an indication of things to come. Personally I can't wait to get my hands on the 520 version, with a peak power rating of 620W. As OCZ Technology isn't known as a switching power supply manufacturer, I have an intuition the guts of the unit may be produced by a company known as Tagan;

Upon closer examination of the PowerStream 420 I found other similarities to the Tagan units, such as the PCB color, heatsink design, and mini-circuit boards. This review at Tech-PC will show many similarities. This is in no way a criticism of OCZ, as we know out-sourcing produces some of the best products available. Memory makers have done this for years, and countless manufacturers employ this manufacturing methodology as well. After all, do you really think your Sapphire X800Pro has a Sapphire VPU, memory and/or PCB?

Regardless, the reason I even make the association was that I was quite impressed with the Tagan TG480-U01 PSU after coming across several reviews. If you look closely at the PCB's in the photos below, and the arrangement of the parts, I'm sure you'll see the similarities. Of course OCZ Technology is all over the design of this PSU, as your about to see. The top photo is borrowed from the Tech-PC review, the bottom is one of many PowerStream PSU photos I've taken for this article;



Tagan



OCZ


Although it may not be obvious, the PCB's are the same beige color, the heatsinks are just about identical, and the mini circuit-board attached to the heatsink is nearly identical except for placement. While this may not be a revelatory observation, OCZ Technology chose a high quality European manufacturer to source many of the unit's parts. OCZ has certainly customized their unit transforming it into a work of utilitarian art.

The PowerStream 420 arrived in a clandestine plain white box as retail packaging most likely isn't finished. The PSU, however; is about as ready for the market as anyone could wish. The build quality on the unit is absolutely top-notch, and component placement was very well thought out, taking advantage of the unit's twin fans.

Perhaps most interesting, and beneficial to the forward-looking Enthusiast, PowerStream series are not only BTX ready, but in fact designed for those power specifications. This requires the End-user to attach a 24-pin to 20-pin adapter in order to accommodate current ATX boards. So this is not a PSU built for ATX board, adaptable to BTX, but in fact the opposite is true. This makes OCZ's PowerStream series an excellent choice, for current ATX owners (everyone) waiting to make the leap to PCI Express (just about everyone). Astute thinking on OCZ's behalf;







As I stated above, the PowerStream 420 is wrapped in one of the most attractive finishes I've seen since reviewing the TTGI 14-cm 14CM-450TS PSU. The Power Stream 420 (OCZ-420ADJ) offers features found on the very best power supplies, including easily accessible rear voltage adjustment pots. However, unlike pots offered on other PSU's, which require the End-user to have a voltage meter for a truly accurate adjustment, or rely on often inaccurate BIOS readings. OCZ's Power Stream utilizes three LED's each corresponding to 3.3V, 5V, and 12V rail. If the current on a given rail drops below spec, the LED glows Yellow, if the rails is hot or over-volting, the LED glows Red, and Green indicates the rail to be in spec, as seen below where the 3.3V is running slightly hot;





After adjusting the pot just a 1/4 turn the LED's are uniform Green, indicating all rails are within specification. The green LED illuminated exhaust fan is a nice touch as well;





Instructions for the voltage-monitoring LED’s are clearly printed in the manual, and on the PSU;

The finish I alluded to earlier is a reflective smoke grey. I only wish more of the high quality PSU makers would invest in the appearance of their unit's. Of course there are those, who try to distract us with a quality finish, and mediocre performance. In that case I'll take PCPower&Cooling's neutral wrapper any day. In so far as OCZ Technology's foray into the power supply field, they've found a balance which combines high quality parts, with a high gloss finish;





Cables provided are well thought out. There are two (shrink-wrapped) braided cables labelled VGA/HDD, two 12V molex, each with two additional 12V molex on each and a floppy connector, able to supply a total of six devices between them. One SATA connector, one AUX connector, and the BTX 24-pin, with 24-pin to 20-pin adapter included. Finally there's a 6-pin BTX motherboard power supply connector, with a 4-pin ATX on the same line;





The unit not only came with an owner’s manual, but a complete 2-page test report from Fast Auto Electronic;





I doubt everyone will receive this information, none-the-less the unit passed every test Fast Auto ran. Lifting the hood off the PowerStream reveals a plethora of high quality parts, and without a doubt the best heatsinks, and heatsink placement I've seen on any PSU;





What's not readily apparent in the photo above, are the wrap-around style of heatsinks. They conform encapsulating the parts they're intended to cool. Made of anodized black aluminium, their coverage is the most extensive I've seen yet. Even to the extent individual devices come provided with heatsinks as seen in the photos below;







The design also pays close attention to air-flow dynamics, maximizing the placement of the heatsinks between two fans arranged in push/pull fashion. To test the unit's cooling capability I secured the Cooler Master, Musketeer's external thermistor on each heatsink, replacing the cover, and then placed the PSU back into the Case for each test. While under LOAD conditions, the thermistor taped on the heatsink above the induction capacitors (shorter seen above) indicated temperatures peaking at 28°C.

While mounted on the other side, temps maxed out at 29°C. Albeit a rudimentary test, it does give a rough indicator of operational temps within the unit, while under LOAD (running Seti@Home for approximately two hours). Each heatsink has micro fins over just about every exposed surface, and the heatsinks are sectional allowing air to circulate through, and around devices, as seen in the photos below;







OCZ placed a lot of thought into the thermal dynamics of this power supply, and took full advantage in their fan/heatsink placement. The temps recorded by the Musketeer's external thermistor corroborate their efforts in this respect. Heat is the arch-enemy of the Overclocker, Enthusiast, Business-Server owner, and Gamers alike. Where PSU's are concerned heat is just as detrimental to performance as it is any other component, and this is especially true for the system's source of power. As you can see below placement of the heatsinks between inlet, and exhaust fans is well executed;

Everything about the PowerStream from a prima facie perspective is right, of course the true test of any PSU is in its performance under duress. Until my volt-meter arrives, this review must remain a cursory glance at the unit's accoutrements, and I'm dependent upon several monitoring programs to determine the unit's stability. Of course I've thoroughly tested CPUCool's ability to monitor voltage ripples, peaks, and dips, and verified its accuracy. The program is as accurate as the sensors it monitors. Let's take a look how this PSU has been running for the last week on the following system;

CPU - AMD Athlon64 3400+ CAAOC

Cooling - Danger Den TDX , Hydor L-30 (320 GPh), Black Ice eXtreme , 2x120mm Sunon 90CFM fans (push/pull), DD Bay Reservoir, 1/2" DD tubing.

Motherboard - Chaintech ZNF2-250Gb Pro Zenith

RAM - OCZ Technology EL PC-4200 Dual Channel GOLD

VGA - Sapphire X800Pro 256MB (Catalyst 4.5)

PSU - OCZ Technology PowerStream 420

PSU PCPower&Cooling TurboCool 510 Deluxe

Case - TTGI-USA TT-562

OS/Software - WindowsXP SP1, CPU-Cool ver. 7.2.1., Hardware-Sensors monitor, Seti@Home ver. 3.08


I've been running the PowerStream 420 for just over 6-days, overclocking my system, and have not experienced a single problem. The only adjustment I needed to make was when I'd initially powered up the unit out of the box, as the 3.3V LED glowed RED, indicating the rail was running slightly hot. With one 1/4-turn on the pot above the LED, the sensor glowed Green, and all was well. Pushing the unit in an overclocked environment while running 3D applications, Pifast Challenge, or Seti@Home v.3.08 had no adverse effect on rail stability. Nor did the Vcore fluctuate at any time above or below its default setting during the aforementioned tests. The system maintained, and performed solidly under all LOAD conditions. I've yet to place this unit on my Asus P4C800E-Deluxe powering Prescott 3.0E, which under power of other PSU's (with the exception of PCPower&Cooling TurboCool 510) experienced periodic lock-ups and even reboots.


However, I do believe the A64 3400 to be a much more stable performer, requiring less current then the Prescott overall. Thermal throttling features including the infamous Dynamic-VID may translate to difficult loads on any PSU powering Prescott. We already know this to be true in the case of motherboard CPU power circuitry, which undergoes severe stress (high temperatures) while powering Prescott. When driving the Prescott with TTGI-USA 14-cm 450W PSU, I experienced many reboots and a constant low 12V rail. The TTGI-USA TT-550TS, on the other hand, ran the Prescott although temperatures were a concern. What has surprised me is the ease with which the A64 3400+ multi-tasks. Similar test conditions would cause freeze-ups, or reboots with Prescott, regardless of the PSU. This surprised me, as I thought Hyperthreading was the best thing since sliced 300mm wafers, and 90nm Fab. It seems AMD's power rating (although stretched to its limits) is legitimized.


The A64 3400+/Chaintech ZNF3-250Gb combo has handled the stress of programs such as Seti@home v.3.08 with processing power I'd only thought possible in a Hyperthreading equipped CPU. I was sorely mistaken, as the architecture of the A64+ is clearly superior to the Prescott in many respects, and especially in its power consumption. I digress.


Onto the graphs. To create LOAD I ran Seti@Home for approximately 20 minutes, at which time the system has usually attained peak temperatures. I used CPUCool to measure any fluctuation in current, and any change in system temperatures. I've been utilizing this program for some time now, and while it's no Oscilloscope, it's highly accurate given its limitations (software);





On the graph above Seti started at time 11:11, and fortunately for PowerStream (and OCZ) the only indicator Seti@Home commenced at this point is the steep rise in temps. Temp1 corresponds to CPU, Temp2 to the System or Mainboard’s temperature. CPU temps rise approximately 6C under LOAD, Temp2 experiences some minor fluctuation. Most important are voltages which remain steadfast throughout. In the next graph the A64 3400 is overclocked, the FSB raised from 200FSB to 225FSB. This effectively has the Processor running at 2475MHz. Vcore remained at Default;





In this case running at 225FSB or 2474MHz, Seti commences at 13:54. As you can see once again, while Temp1 rises immediately and stabilizes at 38C, all other readings (voltages) remain steadfast. The results are very impressive, as I've seen just about every other PSU's experience subtle ripples as system requirements change. Next to PCPower&Cooling's PSU's these are the most stable results I've seen since first employing CPUCool over two years ago.

Unfortunately I'm unable to push the Chaintech ZNF3-250Gb any further. The CPU has booted into 250FSB without aid of Vcore adjustment, unfortunately whether it's the memory, or the BIOS lack of options holding me back, this is very frustrating. Raising Vcore had no effect nor did changing the VDIMM, or just about any other BIOS option I had at my disposal. I would like to push the system further to impose greater demands on PowerStream, and I'll be testing the unit again on Prescott, and have at my disposal a voltage meter.

The OCZ PowerStream 420 is without a doubt one of the highest quality PSU's I've ever placed in my system. Among the power supplies I currently own: Antec 400W, True Blue 480W, TTGI-USA 4-fan TT-550TS, 14CM-450TS, 14CM-350TS, PCPower&Cooling TurboCool 510 Deluxe, and Silencer 400W. I'm honoured to add the PowerStream to this list, and the unit is currently (pun intended) in my reference system.

Not only has the unit performed flawlessly, it has been powering 3x120mm Sunons, 3x80mm LED Case fans, SATA HDD, ATA HDD, TDK CD/RW, Cooler Master Musketeer, Chaintech C-Box, and a Sapphire X800Pro. To be honest I was sceptical about reviewing this PSU, as I'd just finished testing the TurboCool 510 Deluxe, which I personally consider to be the best PSU on the market today. I was, however; pleasantly surprised with the PowerStream's performance, build quality, and accoutrements. The LED voltage sensors not only ensure the end-user will keep their rails on spec, but reflects the confidence OCZ engineers have in their unit's capabilities.

In other words, giving the end-user the ability to adjust voltage rails, presupposes a parts spec capable of such tolerances. That PowerStream is intended for BTX makes this unit an investment in the future. Very highly recommended!


I'd like to thank Ryan at OCZ Technology for providing the sample.


Question/Comments: Forum thread


Update 1st June '04 - on BTX form factor