OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W Power Supply Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W promises to be a high-end gamer-grade power supply, labeled at 50° C and featuring a 120 mm fan, active PFC, single rail design but not a modular cabling system. Is this a good product? Can it really deliver 700 W? Let’s see.

You can have an overall look at the external appearance from this power supply on Figures 1 through 3. OCZ added a nice Fatal1ty logo that glows in red when the unit is turned on (see Figure 3), what will certainly please some gamers. However, we expected more on the aesthetic side, especially because this unit is branded as a “Fatal1ty” model and for us this should mean above-the-average quality and performance for the gamer. We think this unit should have come with a modular cabling system (this feature is available on the 550 W model, however) and a better attention should be given to the nylon sleevings that cover the cables. As you can see in Figure 2, our sample came with one of the sleevings (the bottom one) out of the place. We also didn’t like the hole used to pass the cables – too big in our opinion, allowing things like this to happen.

Figure 1: OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W power supply.

Figure 2: OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W power supply.

Figure 3: OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W power supply.

But our surprise really came when we disassembled the unit: this power supply was going to be sold by OCZ as EliteXstream 700 W. Interesting enough OCZ retired their EliteXstream product line – with no good technical reason, by the way, because we reviewed their 1,000 W model and it performed exceptionally well.

This power supply is manufactured by Impervio, a company that is also in charge of some of the power supply units from SilverStone. It is important to note that OCZ uses several different companies to manufacture their power supplies.

Figure 4: OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W was going to be marketed as EliteXstream 700 W.

This power supply is small, being only 5 1/2” (140 mm) deep, featuring a 120 mm brushless fan on its bottom that glows red when turned on and active PFC circuit.

The main motherboard cable uses a 20/24-pin connector and this unit comes with two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector.

This power supply comes with six peripheral cables: Two cables with a 6/8-pin video card auxiliary power connector each,  two cables with four SATA power plugs each, one cable with four standard peripheral power plugs and one cable with four standard peripheral power plugs and one floppy disk drive power plug.

We think the number of connectors is satisfactory even for the high-end user.

All wires are 18 AWG, which is the correct gauge to be used nowadays.

Now let’s take an in-depth look inside this power supply.

[nextpage title=”A Look Inside The Fatal1ty 700 W”]

We decided to disassemble this power supply to see what it looks like inside, how it is designed, and what components are used. Please read our Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies tutorial to understand how a power supply works and to compare this power supply to others.

The printed circuit board used on Fatal1ty 700 W is identical to the one used by EliteXstream 1,000 W, but using different components, as we will explore during our review.

Figure 5: Overall look.

Figure 6: Overall look.

Figure 7: Overall look.

[nextpage title=”Transient Filtering Stage”]

As we have mentioned in other articles and reviews, the first place we look when opening a power supply for a hint about its quality, is its filtering stage. The recommended components for this stage are two ferrite coils, two ceramic capacitors (Y capacitors, usually blue), one metalized polyester capacitor (X capacitor), and one MOV (Metal-Oxide Varistor). Very low-end power supplies use fewer components, usually removing the MOV and the first coil.

The transient filtering stage from this power supply is flawless. The big metallic piece that looks like an ordinary AC connector is in fact a complete line filter. This power supply has one extra ferrite coil and two extra X capacitors but no Y capacitors. We wouldn’t worry about this for two reasons, first the presence of the line filter, which has these components inside, and secondly because after the rectification bridge this power supply has one more X capacitor and two Y capacitors.

Figure 8: Transient filtering stage (part 1).

Figure 9: Transient filtering stage (part 2).

Now let’s have a more detailed look inside OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W.

[nextpage title=”Primary Analysis”]

On this page we will take an in-depth look at the primary stage of Fatal1ty 700 W. For a better understanding, please read our Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies tutorial.

This power supply uses one GBJ1506 rectifying bridge in its primary, capable of delivering up to 15 A at 100° C. EliteXstream 1,000 W uses a 20 A component here. This component is clearly overspec’ed: at 115 V this unit would be able to pull up to 1,725 W from the power grid; assuming 80% efficiency, the bridge would allow this unit to deliver up to 1,380 W without burning
this component. Of course we are only talking about this component and the real limit will depend on all other components from the power supply.

Figure 10: Rectifying bridge.

The active PFC circuit uses two 20N60C3 power MOSFET transistors (EliteXstream 1,000 W uses three), the same used by several other power supplies we looked. Each one is capable of handling up to 300 A @ 25° C in pulse mode (which is the case) or up to 45 A @ 25° C or 20 A @ 110° C (note the difference temperature makes).

An unusual thing about the active PFC circuit from this power supply is the use of three Japanese electrolytic capacitors from Hitachi rated at 105° C connected in parallel. When capacitors are connected in parallel the value of their capacitances are added. So three 180 µF capacitors connected in parallel is equivalent as one single 540 µF capacitor. This is a very smart trick to achieve a higher capacitance without using a physically bigger component. It is interesting to note that EliteXStrem 1,000 W, which is based on the same printed circuit board, uses three 330 µF, for a total capacitance of 990 µF.

Figure 11: The active PFC capacitors.

On the switching section this power supply uses another 20N60C3 transistors, on the traditional two-transistor forward configuration. The specs for these transistors are published above. As you can see in Figure 12, all main semiconductors from the primary side are installed on the same heatsink.

Figure 12: Active PFC diode, two active PFC transistors and two switching transistors.

This power supply uses a discrete active PFC/PWM controller instead of using an integrated circuit that has this circuit already ready to use. On this power supply this circuit was built using one LM339 comparator, one UC3845B current mode controller and one ICE2PCS02 PFC controller.

Figure 13: Active PFC/PWM controller circuit.

[nextpage title=”Secondary Analysis”]

Even though EliteXstream 1,000 W and Fatal1ty 700 W are based on the same printed circuit board, the +12 V rectification is done by different components. The 1,000 W model uses four power MOSFET transistors to make the +12 V rectification, while the reviewed uses Schottky rectifiers: four STPS30L60CT.

The maximum theoretical current each line can deliver is given by the formula I / (1 – D), where D is the duty cycle used and I is the maximum current supported by the rectifying diode. Just as an exercise, we can assume a typical duty cycle of 30%. Of course the maximum current (and thus power) this line can really deliver will depend on other components, especially the coil.

Each +12 V rectifier supports up to 30 A (15 A per internal diode at 130° C), so we have a maximum theoretical current of 86 A (15 A x 4 / 0.70), which corresponds to 1,029 W, showing that this unit is clearly overspec’ed.

The +5 V output is produced by two STPS30L45CT Schottky rectifiers, each one capable of handling up to 30 A (15 A per internal diode) at 135° C. This translates into a maximum theoretical current of 43 A or 214 W. These are the same rectifiers used by OCZ EliteXstream 1,000 W.

The +3.3 V output is produced by two STPS30L30CT Schottky rectifiers, each one capable of handling up to 30 A (15 A per internal diode) at 140° C. This translates into a maximum theoretical current of 43 A or 141 W. These are the same rectifiers used by OCZ EliteXstream 1,000 W.

On the secondary heatsink we also found the rectifier for the +5VSB (“standby power”) output, an SBL1060CT. This device can handle up to 10 A (5 A per internal diode). This explains the higher current limit this power supply has for its +5VSB output (4 A) compared to other products. This is the same device used by EliteXstream 1,000 W.

Another component found on the secondary heatsink is a voltage regulator integrated circuit for the -12 V output (LM7912). This device has a current limit of 1.5 A. The use of this integrated circuit explains why the -12 V output was so stable during our tests (usually manufacturers use cheaper solutions for the -12 V output, which results in a tremendous ripple on this output). Again, this component is also present on EliteXstream 1,000 W.

Figure 14: +12 V rectifiers.

Figure 15: Rectifiers for the +5VSB output, +3.3 V output (two), +5 V output (two) and the voltage regulator from the -12 V output.

The outputs are monitored by a PS232 integrated circuit, which supports the following protections: over current (OCP), under voltage (UVP) and over voltage (OVP). Any other protection that this unit may have is implemented outside this integrated circuit.

Talking about protections, notice how this power supply has two thermal sensors on the secondary heatsink. Usually this means that the product has over temperature protection (OTP), but there is no reference to this protection on OCZ’s website and since the montoring integrated circuit does not implement this protection we would need to analyze the circuit in more details to confirm this suspicion.

Figure 16: PS232S monitoring integrated circuit.

The electrolytic capacitors from the secondary are from Teapo, a Taiwanese company. It would be great if the manufacturer also used Japanese caps here.

[nextpage title=”Power Distribution”]

In Figure 17, you can see the power supply label containing all the power specs.

Figure 17: Power supply label.

Since this unit uses a single rail design, there is not much to talk about regarding its power distribution.

Now let’s see if this power supply can really deliver 700 W.

[nextpage title=”Load Tests”]

We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.

First we tested this power supply with five different load patterns, trying to pull around 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of its labeled maximum capacity (actual percentage used listed under “% Max Load”), watching how the reviewed unit behaved under each load. In the table below we list the load patterns we used and the results for each load.

If you add all the power listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can vary slightly (e.g., the +5 V output working at +5.10 V), the actual total amount of power being delivered is slightly different than the calculated value. On the “Total” row we are using the real amount of power being delivered, as measured by our load tester.

This unit is based on a single rail design, so both +12V1 and +12V2 inputs from our load tester were connected to the single +12 V rail available.

Input	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Test 4	Test 5
+12V1	5 A (60 W)	10.5 A (126 W)	15.5 A (186 W)	20.5 A (246 W)	25 A (300 W)
+12V2	5 A (60 W)	10.5 A (126 W)	15.5 A (186 W)	20.5 A (246 W)	25 A (300 W)
+5V	1 A (5 W)	2 A (10 W)	4 A (20 W)	6 A (30 W)	10 A (50 W)
+3.3 V	1 A (3.3 W)	2 A (6.6 W)	4 A (13.2 W)	6 A (19.8 W)	10 A (33 W)
+5VSB	1 A (5 W)	1.5 A (7.5 W)	2 A (10 W)	2.5 W (12.5 W)	3 A (15 W)
-12 V	0.5 A (6 W)	0.5 A (6 W)	0.5 A (6 W)	0.5 A (6 W)	0.5 A (6 W)
Total	141.0 W	284.7 W	423.8 W	561.4 W	702.4 W
% Max Load	20.1%	40.7%	60.5%	80.2%	100.3%
Room Temp.	47.3° C	48.1° C	48.2° C	49.1° C	48.9° C
PSU Temp.	51.7° C	52.3° C	52.7° C	51.8° C	52.3° C
Voltage Stability	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass
Ripple and Noise	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass
AC Power	166 W	322 W	485 W	652 W	843 W
Efficiency	84.9%	88.4%	87.4%	86.1%	83.3%
Final Result	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass

OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W provides excellent efficiency, between 85% and 88% if you pull up to 80% (560 W) of its labeled capacity. At 100% load (700 W) efficiency dropped to 83.3%, but still above the 80% mark.

Noise and ripple were far below the maximum allowed, peaking only 60 mV at +12 V, half the maximum admissible. Noise and ripple levels at +5 V and +3.3 V outputs were amazing low, peaking only 10.4 mV and 13.6 mV when we pulled 700 W from this unit – the maximum allowed is 50 mV. All values are peak-to-peak.

Figure 18: Noise level at +12V1 with the reviewed power supply delivering 702.4 W (60 mV).

Figure
19: Noise level at +12V2 with the reviewed power supply delivering 702.4 W (51 mV).

Figure 20: Noise level at +5 V with the reviewed power supply delivering 702.4 W (10.4 mV).

Figure 21: Noise level at +3.3 V with the reviewed power supply delivering 702.4 W (13.6 mV).

Now let’s see if we can pull even more power from Fatal1ty 700 W.

[nextpage title=”Overload Tests”]

Before overloading power supplies we always test first if the over current protection (OCP) circuit is active and at what level it is configured. We increased current on both +12 V inputs from our load tester to 33 A each (66 A total) and the power supply didn’t shut down. This means that either the OCP circuit is disabled or is configured at a value above 66 A. We don’t like this, especially when the label says the +12 V rail has a 56 A limit.

Under the 66 A configuration described above ripple and noise were too high, above the maximum allowed (at 130 mV). So we decreased current until we were back inside ATX specs (below 120 mV). This happened with the below configuration. Noise level was at 95 mV. See how even on this extreme condition efficiency was still above 80%.

Input	Maximum
+12V1	31 A (372 W)
+12V2	31 A (372 W)
+5V	10 A (50 W)
+3.3 V	10 A (33 W)
+5VSB	3 A (15 W)
-12 V	0.5 A (6 W)
Total	844 W
% Max Load	121%
Room Temp.	48.6° C
PSU Temp.	53.6° C
AC Power	1,040 W
Efficiency	81.1%

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

OCZ Fatal1ty 700 W power supply specs include:

• Nominal labeled power: 700 W at 50° C.
• Measured maximum power: 844 W at 48.6° C.
• Labeled efficiency: 82%.
• Measured efficiency: Between 83.3% and 88.4% at 115 V.
• Active PFC: Yes.
• Modular Cabling System: No.
• Motherboard Power Connectors: One 20/24-pin connector and two ATX12V connectors that together form one EPS12V connector.
• Video Card Power Connectors: Two 6/8-pin connectors.
• Peripheral Power Connectors: Eight in two cables.
• Floppy Disk Drive Power Connectors: One.
• SATA Power Connectors: Eight in two cables.
• Protections: over current (OCP, tested and not working), over voltage (OVP, not tested) and short-circuit (SCP, tested and working).
• Warranty: Five years.
• More Information: https://www.ocztechnology.com
• Average Price in the US*: USD 144.00

* Researched at Shopping.com on the day we published this review.

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

Even though we think this would be a better product if it came with a modular cabling system, we were impressed by Fatal1ty 700 W. It can deliver far more than its labeled power at 50° C (840 W in our tests), has an excellent efficiency peaking 88%, has an amazingly low noise and ripple levels and enough cables for even the high-end user. The best of all: it comes at a very good price for a 700 W model. That is why we recommend this power supply.

The side logo that glows in red can also be a nice feature for gamers that like this kind of novelty.

As noted, this unit is based on the same design as OCZ EliteXstream 1,000 W. The main differences between the two is the use of three active PFC transistors on the 1,000 W model against two on the 700 W model, use of capacitors with higher capacitance on the 1,000 W model active PFC circuit, the use of two transformers on the 1,000 W model and the use of power MOSFET transistors to rectify the +12 V outputs instead of using Schottky rectifiers on the 1,000 W model. The +5 V and +3.3 V rectifiers, however, are identical.