OCZ EliteXStream 800W PSU
Jul 18th, 2008 | By Anthony
OCZ EliteXStream 800W PSU
Date
: 07/18/08 – 03:17:39 AM
Author
:
Category
: Power Supplies
Page 1 : Index
It has been a little while since we have tested a power supply here at Overclockers Online. To break that habit, we have OCZ's new EliteXStream series power supply in our lab.
While we have taken a break from power supplies, the market, and technological world sure hasn't! Fast and more powerful – these two words have, since the beginning, done an excellent job summarizing the progression of technology and this holds even more truth with performance hardware.
Ever since OCZ's humble beginnings back in 2002, OCZ has been on a non-stop conquest into all reaches of the enthusiast market offering everything from cooling to memory to well, of course power supplies! Despite their success, OCZ has held true to their founding philosophy, to ensure satisfaction for each and every customer.
The unit in our hands today is the EliteXStream 800W, the lowest offering of the EliteXStream family. The EliteXStream series boasts an enormous single 12V rail, 80+ certification and a whisper silent 120mm fan. Although it is the lowest rated unit, the EliteXStream 800W is by no means a unit to mock. 800W alone is more than enough to power almost any performance setup today!
Page 2 : Specifications
Here is what OCZ has to say about the EliteXStream 800W:
OCZ designed the 800W and 1000W EliteXStream for optimum power distribution to all components by utilizing the highly efficient ‘single +12V rail’ design perfected by PC Power & Cooling. This trail-blazing approach to +12V rail design ends the need to budget power ‘across the rails’ as is the case with the less effective multi-rail design found in the vast majority of high-performance PSUs on the market today.
Providing sufficient power for all your high-end components including multiple GPUs, the EliteXStream will provide stable, well distributed, certified power to today's most power hungry platforms and beyond. Each powerful yet energy-efficient EXS model is certified under the 80+ Certified program so they run cool and save on utility power.
The EliteXStream will be available in 800W and 1000W configurations, delivering up to 1KW of continuous power through a complete array of connectors including four 8 pin (6+2) PCI-E and 17 drive connectors and is kept supremely cool with a large 120mm fan and features a standard ATX power supply form factor. The EliteXStream offers one of the industry's most robust consumer power supply designs on the market, and is backed by an incredible 5 year warranty and unmatched technical support from OCZ.
All the goodness we would expect in a high end unit from OCZ!
The 800W EliteXStream has one single beefy 12V rail rated at 62A which definitely will be enough power for today's demands.
Having a look at the sticker on the side: E243823 is registered to OCZ.
Page 3 : Package and Contents
The EliteXStream 800W is packed within a fairly typically sized cardboard box.
Covering all surfaces of the box are specifications, features, and artwork.
Removing the unit from the box, OCZ has included a manual, screws, and the power supply.
The unit itself is slightly larger than your typical ATX power supply and measures 160mm in length.
Finished in matte black, with black sleeving and a black fan grill, the OCZ EliteXStream's design is not only minimal, but elegant.
The EliteXStream 800W is cooled by a single large 120mm fan which pushes air into the unit and out through the perforated back plate.
Taking a look at the connectors, OCZ has chosen to head in a new direction. While most units try to maintain compatibility with older form factors, the EliteXStream does not.
The motherboard connector is not a 20+4 pin, but simply, a 24 pin connector. There is also no 4 pin motherboard connector, so those of you who are using an older motherboard which needs a 4 pin motherboard connector, you best look elsewhere!
For PCI Express connectors, we have a toss up of standard 6 pin PCI Express connectors, and 6+2 pin PCI Express connectors.
Something we always like to see is: lots and lots of SATA cables! This unit comes with a grand total of 8 SATA cables.
Oddly enough, despite the fact that the EliteXStream has no 4 pin motherboard connector, and does not support 20 pin motherboards, it comes with a floppy drive connector!
While I could probably go on and on about the exterior, but what we most concern ourselves with is the insides, and performance.
On the primary side, we have two rather large Hitachi capacitors and on the secondary side, an assortment of Teapo capacitors.
Overall, the insides are pretty well put together.
Page 4 : Performance & Testing
While our load tester consisting of a large array of wire-wound resistors is in the process of taking shape, in order to simulate system load, we will be using peltiers. The reason for this is because when using an actual computer system there is no way we could accurately measure how much load we are putting on the power supply without some very expensive equipment.
The total load on the 12V rail is approximately 672W while the 3.3V and 5V rails will be loaded with approximately 73.5W of load. This totals 92% of the EliteXStream 800W's output capabilities.
Prior to any official tests, the units will run with no load for two weeks or approximately 336 hours at an operation temperature of 21°C (room temperature will vary throughout this period) as a burn-in period. We will be running two sets of tests, a cold and a hot test, but both under loaded conditions. This is to reflect different conditions the power supply could potentially encounter within an enclosed system. Cold tests will run with an exhaust temperature of 21°C and hot tests will be run with an exhaust temperature of 45°C. All temperature and voltage readings will be recorded with two separate digital multimeters after a period of 24 hours of load.
As the tests suggest, this is an incredibly solid unit each and every rail held very well under our cold and hot conditions while under heavy load. Also, throughout all tests, the EliteXStream remained incredibly quiet thanks to the 120mm fan.
Page 5 : Conclusion
OCZ's EliteXStream 800W is an all-around solid unit. The unit handled our tests without a sweat and held stable even in the harshest environment. As we have seen today, its performance is on par with much more expensive units.
But, besides performance, the OCZ EliteXStream comes with a few nice perks. The large 120mm fan allows for superb cooling while keeping noise to a minimum. The partially sleeved wires are a nice touch, however, of course, we would much rather see fully sleeved wires.
The EliteXStream is truly a testament of affordability combining all the features we would expect to see in much more expensive units, but in a mid hundred package.
Advantages
- Excellent performance
- Quiet
- Partially sleeved
- 5 year warranty
Disadvantages
- Not fully sleeved
Overclockers Online would like to thank OCZ for making this review possible.