OCZ ModXstream Pro 500w
Introduction
Published: 27th January 2009 | Source: OCZ | Price: £49.42 |
PSU's are a real case of you get what you pay for. The cheaper, non branded PSU's are often incredibly unstable, in-efficient and can fail within a few months of purchase. Installing such PSU's in a high-end PC is akin to having a death wish, but only for your hardware. Not only can low or poorly filtered voltages cause damage to devices that don't employ their own filtering circuits, but surges that often occur when a PSU fails have the ability to decimate every single component inside your precious PC system.A few months ago we reviewed OCZ's 780w ModXstream model, whilst it certainly scored well in our testing and managed to bag our Recommended award, there was still room for improvement. This undoubtedly spurred the release of the ModXstream Pro series announced back in August. Equipped with a larger fan, new internals and a refreshing new look, the 'Pro' is aimed at bringing down noise and improving on the performance of it's predecessor. It should certainly come as no surprise then, that when OCZ asked us if we would like to take a look, we couldn't resist.
Here are the full specifications:
150 x 160 x 86mm (W x L x H)
ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V
Typical load 86% Efficiency
80+ Certified
Overvoltage/OverPower/Short-Circuit protection
(.99)Active PFC
MTBF: 100,000 hours @ 25C
Connectors:
1 x 20/24-pin ATX
1 x 8-pin CPU
1 x 4-pin CPU
Modular Connectors:
1 x 6-pin PCI-E
1 x 6+2-pin PCI-E
4 x Peripheral
2 x Floppy
6 x SATA
ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V
Typical load 86% Efficiency
80+ Certified
Overvoltage/OverPower/Short-Circuit protection
(.99)Active PFC
MTBF: 100,000 hours @ 25C
Connectors:
1 x 20/24-pin ATX
1 x 8-pin CPU
1 x 4-pin CPU
Modular Connectors:
1 x 6-pin PCI-E
1 x 6+2-pin PCI-E
4 x Peripheral
2 x Floppy
6 x SATA
As we can see, the ModXstream has a fairly average spec for a modern PSU, with 86% efficiency and 100,000hr MTBF at 25c. The PCI-e connectors are also noteworthy, with OCZ opting for 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin plugs allowing for the unit to be used with a wide range of modern graphics cards such as the GTX280, 4870x2 and GTX295. Of course, whether the 500w unit has enough gusto to power such cards in addition to a full PC system is yet to be determined.
Unlike the OCZ EliteXstream we reviewed a while back the ModXStream Pro features two +12v rails rated limited to 18A each. Interestingly OCZ rate the maximum output of both rails as 423w which when converted into amps produces a result of 36A (or 18A x2). This in essence indicates that providing the draw on the +5v and +3.3v rails comes to less than 68w, the +12v1 and +12v2 rails can deliver their full 18A ratings.
Most Recent Comments
Lol, it could run a gtx295 if you wanted it to, so yes!
lol I only asked because I wasn't bothered to find out.
SORRY for not using common sense.
lol I only asked because I wasn't bothered to find out.
SORRY for not using common sense.
Thats what we're here for... you wont be dissapointed if you buy one :)
Anyone know where it is available?
Scan doesn't have it...
Scan doesn't have it...
Anyone know where it is available?
Scan doesn't have it...
Last page of the review :P
Lol, it could run a gtx295 if you wanted it to, so yes!
LOL, good luck with that.... I tried it with a 4870 (my comp only needed 220 watts at idle) and it POP'd within 2 min.
This is only the second PS (out of hundreds) that has ever failed like this on me.
The heatsink is very small and the paint/coating is poor (easily scratched)
LOL, good luck with that.... I tried it with a 4870 (my comp only needed 220 watts at idle) and it POP'd within 2 min.
This is only the second PS (out of hundreds) that has ever failed like this on me.
The heatsink is very small and the paint/coating is poor (easily scratched)
The PSU happily ran my gtx260, which loaded at nearly 300w with the rest of my rig. Maybe you just got a bad unit? It survived all the load tests etc..
Good to see you back in the forum though mark
I'd most certainly recommend the modXstream lineup. Used one of these modular PSU's for a friend's Small Form Factor build, it was a pleasure to use and very quiet too.
Excellent review :)
Excellent review :)
Just got 1 of these yesterday and i must say very pleased with it,very quiet cool and its modular and for the price you cant really go wrong,lets be honest you can pay £30 for a no name last a week job !!!!:p
I'm actually using this PSU on my Pentium E5200 and HD5850 rig, even OCing these at times. It's a good-enough PSU built by Sirtec. I think the 600W ModXStream-Pro is better investment as it has 25A on its 12V rail
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Lol, it could run a gtx295 if you wanted it to, so yes!