OCZ StealthXStream 600 W Power Supply Review

Introduction

StealthXStream 600 W from OCZ has a 120 mm fan, is EPS12V-compatible, has two video card power connectors for SLI and CrossFire systems and comes with an extremely attractive price tag in the USA, costing less than USD 90. Is this a good power supply? Can it really deliver its rated power? Let’s take another look at this power supply, as we updated this article to add load tests results.

Figure 1: OCZ StealthXStream 600 W.

We liked this power supply concept: it has the same features found on high-end power supplies – 120 mm fan, active PFC and high efficiency (80% at 120 V and 83% at 230 V) – but the modular cabling system, with a an impressive low price. Of course we will see if what is inside lives up to our expectations.

Regarding efficiency, meaning less power loss – an 80% efficiency means that 80% of the power pulled from the power grid will be converted in power on the power supply outputs and only 20% will be wasted. This translates into less consumption from the power grid (as less power needs to be pulled in order to generate the same amount of power on its outputs), meaning lower electricity bills – compare to less than 70% on regular power supplies.

Active PFC (Power Factor Correction), on the other hand, provides a better usage of the power grid and allows this power supply to be comply with the European law, making OCZ able to sell it in that continent (you can read more about PFC on our Power Supply Tutorial). In Figure 1, you can see that this power supply doesn’t have an 110V/220V switch, feature available on power supplies with active PFC.

This power supply uses a very good cooling solution. Instead of having a fan on its back, its fan is located at the bottom of the unit, as you can see in Figure 1 (the power supply is upside down). A mesh replaced the back fan, as you can see. Since the fan used is bigger than fans usually used on power supply units, this unit is not only quieter than traditional power supplies, but also provides a better airflow.

This power supply comes with five peripheral power cables: two PCI Express auxiliary power cables, one peripheral power cable containing two standard peripheral power connectors and one floppy disk drive power connector, one peripheral power cable containing three standard peripheral power connectors, one Serial ATA power cable containing three SATA power connectors.

Here is where OCZ saved some bucks: other high-end 600 W power supplies have at least one more peripheral power cable with three SATA power connectors. So if you have more than three SATA devices (hard disk drives or optical drives) you will need to use an adapter to convert one of the standard peripheral power plugs into a SATA power plug.

On the aesthetic side all cables are protected with nylon sleevings that come from inside the power supply housing.

This power supply has two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector. The main power supply connector can be used both on older 20-pin motherboards and on new 24-pin motherboards.

Figure 2: Motherboard and VGA power connectors.

All wires used on this power supply are 18 AWG, which is good enough for this power supply, and the +12 V (yellow) wires used on the motherboard connectors are 16 AWG (i.e., thicker), which is great. Cheap power supplies use 20 AWG wires or even 22 AWG, which are thinner.

Even though OCZ paid to have its own UL number, this power supply is really manufactured by FSP. FSP name was printed on the power supply printed circuit board.

Figure 3: This power supply is manufactured by FSP.

But… Wait a minute! This printed circuit board (FSP part number 3BS0110312GP) is exactly the same one used by OCZ GameXstream 700 W and Zalman ZM600-HP! Are they all the same product with a different name? Let’s disasemble this unit to check this out.