OCZ GameXstream 700W



The OCZ comes in a nice, small box. No wonder that the box is cramped on the inside with the PSU and all the cables that are attached to it. A small surprise on the inside : the psu is very small. I was used to an older power stream psu in my system which is a lot longer. This unit only measures 14cm in length, whereas the silverstone for example is over 3cm longer. But no complaints here : the small unit allows for a much less cramped interior of your case, and will ensure full compatibility with almost all cases, which is good news of course. The finish of the psu has also changed from the last generation: no longer the shiny grey finish but a nice matte black. One definite advantage of this finish is that it's a lot less scratch sensitive than the previous one. Whether it's more beautiful or not this way I'll leave up to you. Instead of the two 80mm fans we found in the powerstream series, we're now greeted by a single 120mm fan with a blue LED. This LED might not be to everyone?s liking, but it does fit in nicely with my Lian-Li case and water-cooling setup. The entire cable system is sleeved, and overall the finish of the PSU and the cabling is excellent.



Included in the box are:

Power supply (duh!)

Set of screws

Power cable

One cable binder

Manual

In comparison to the competition OCZ is a little greedy on the accessories, no extra adapter cables or cable binders were present in the box.

Next, let's have a look at what this PSU is capable of. Here are the output specifications of the OCZ :

Max. DC Output	700W continuous
Load Range
+3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +12V3 +12V4 +5VSB -12V -5V Max.(Amps) 36A 30A 18A 18A 18A 18A 3.0A 0.5A /
combined +3.3 , +5V	155W
combined -12V, +5VSB	20W
combined +3.3 , +5V, +12V	680W

OCZ has also printed these specifications on the side of the PSU, which is a good thing. Even better is the fact that OCZ provides us with the function of the different 12V lines. That way you'll be able to spread the load across the 4 lines for maximum efficiency.


Left to right (click to open) : top view, side view, attached cables, 3/4 view

OCZ provides the following cable system with their GameXstream :

20+4 pin motherboard connector

4+4 pin "P4" and EPS connector

two 6-pin PCIe connectors

two cables with each 3 SATA connectors

two cables with each 3 Peripheral connectors and 1 Floppy connector.

This is a very good range of connectors of course, and the sleeving of the cables gives the OCZ a very nice look and feel, suitable for a premium product. The 20+4 pin and 4+4 pin motherboard connectors are still the best option for giving the end user maximum flexibility. Too bad the 20+4 and 4+4-pin connectors can't be clicked together any more, like they did on the power stream line-up. Another thing that didn't make it into the GameXstream are the L-shaped SATA connectors. I grew quite used to those, but you can't have it all I guess.

On a side note, I think it's a shame the cable system isn't modular on this or the other two power supplies. Not everyone needs all these extensive cables. Modularity is most of the time reserved for the lower rated PSU's (e.g. the OCZ Modstream line-up).

In the manual we can find a little more information:

Input Voltage	100V ~ 240V (Auto Range)
Input Frequency Range	50Hz ~ 60Hz
PFC	Active PFC
Efficiency	>83% (230V) ; 80% (110V)
MTBF	100,000 hours
Protection	Over Current Protection, Over Voltage Protection, Short Circuit Protection
Color	black (matte finish)
Cooling System	1x 120mm blue LED fan
Dimension	150 mm (W) x 86 mm (H) x 140 mm (D)
Other	OCZ power whisper technology, OCZ Powerswap warranty