X-bit labs

Powerful Power Supply Units Roundup (page 9)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 01/28/2005 | 05:24 PM ]

OCZ Technology PowerStream OCZ-470ADJ and OCZ-520ADJ

OCZ Technology is widely known as a manufacturer of overclocker-friendly memory modules, but recently it has shown interest in power supplies. The two PSUs from OCZ reviewed here differ in their maximum wattage only, so I will describe the 520W model save for one case where there’s a notable difference between the two – I mean their cross-load characteristics.

The units come in nice-looking boxes inside which you can find a power cord, a pack of mounting screws, a user manual, and an adapter from the 24-pin power connector of the PSU to the 20-pin connector of older mainboards.

Like the above-described unit from BeQuiet, the OCZ model is made in a pretty, dark, polished case, and the fan is highlighted with emerald-color LEDs.

I guess you’ve noticed the three LEDs and three trimming resistors next to the power-on button. Using these resistors you can accurately set up the main output voltages of the PSU. Again, this is made possible by the dedicated regulators, since the classic power supply design only allows regulating the voltages all at once. The LEDs indicate the current value of the voltage: green means this voltage in within the norm, red means the voltage is above the norm and yellow means the voltage is below the norm.

Although this system is interesting by itself, I want to warn you against using it carelessly lest you inflict a lethal damage on your computer. By the way, you won’t improve the overclockability of your computer by raising the voltages of the PSU, since such components as the processor, memory or graphics card are supplied from their own regulators and your changing the PSU’s voltages won’t affect the voltages of these components at all.

So, you’d better not touch these controls or even remove their stickers, if you don’t feel absolutely sure about what you’re going to do. If you still think the output voltages of the PSU need correction, check them out first with a good digital voltmeter. The hardware monitoring tools of the mainboard many users are prone to rely upon are not precise measurement tools and often err. Overall, my recommendations about the manual adjustment of the voltages can be expressed like “Don’t repair it, if it already works”.