Looking @ OCZ Powerstream 520W . . . good enough?

J

jnick

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Soon I will be switching to PCI-E . . . this means I need a new PSU. I will be going a DFI + Next Gen VGA combo. With that in mind, DFI states the 520W Powerstream is the best power supply for their NF4 boards.

My issue with this PSU, is there is no dual 12V rails. Is this really an issue if it has acquadate power on the single 12V rail?

On a side note, I will probably NEVER go SLI, unless in 3-5 years games require THAT MUCH POWER, which I doubt. So unless it's a necessity, I will NOT be going SLI. Keep that in mind.

So I'm basically looking at a DFI NF4, Gx (VGA), Dual Core, and OVERCLOCKING.

Will the 520W be enough, or do I NEED dual rails?

Thanks.
 
you should be ok with it. I run more stuff in my system than you have in yours and I'm on the Powerstream 420w and it doesn't even break a sweat. Rails have been solid since day 1 (and day 1 was over a year ago).

The only complaint I have on the powerstreams is their fans. They run slow and quiet...which isn't necessarily a bad thing unless you have a fan setup which can expel more air than it intakes...which causes the exhaust fan to back-pull air through the PSU slowing it's fan down further and causing it to overheat. I had this problem the first week I owned it. Found out the cause and decreased the speed of the 2x120 case fans and never had a problem since.

btw, my sig says I run my 3000+ @ 1.17v...but I've run it overclocked at 2.6ghz 1.63v for awhile without a hitch. also ran the x800xl overclocked with voltmods. 3gb ram (2x512 and 2x1gb), 2 160gb PATA drives and 2 80gb SATA drives, DVDRW, and I'm pulling another 12v to power a desk lamp :p
 
Will you be overclocking? A single beefy 12v rail is oftentimes better than 2 weaker 12v rails, for overclocking. That way if you ever push the CPU to the limit, you'll never suck one rail dry and kill your OC progress while the other still has juice. All or nothing!
 
The Powerstreams are second only to PC Power & Cooling's PSUs as the best PSUs you can buy.
 
Wow . . . how my views can change in only 20-something days :p. Gotta love technology :).

Anyway, it looks as if I may go SLi, but not right away. I'm going to buy either the R580 or G71 (which ever performs better) down the road, possibly SLi it. So basically, now I have to factor in SLi with what I said above. here's what I'm thinking . . .

Opty 170 @ < 2.5
DFI SLI-DR Expert
ATI X1900XT/X or G71 (eventually SLi/crossfire)
GSkill 2x1GB HZ's

With that said, would the 520W still be enough, or should I spend $70 more for the 600W with Dual 12v?

Just keep this in mind, when it comes to computer hardware, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Thanks :p
 
If I were you, I'd plunk down the extra $70 and get the 600w. Even if you don't SLI in the near future, it'll leave the option open for you so you just need to look at the video cards (unless of course the vid cards make a big jump in power requirements).

Still looking at the OCZ? Or a PC P&C? I'd only do an SLI rig with one of those two, but that's just me.
 
Still looking OCZ. Not only is PC P&C out of my price range, but I heard they are pretty loud.
 
my powerstream 520 is great, except that its the loudest thing in my rig. I think the powersupply lets me get higher overclocks than i would be getting with a crapper PSU. but im just guessing
 
I have had my powerstream 520 for months as well, I am thinking about getting another one for a new rig I will build in a couple of months. I notice a tad low voltage on a couple of readings on the motherboard monitoring software. But it sure beats my old antec 550 that I had.
 
Big Fat Duck said:
my powerstream 520 is great, except that its the loudest thing in my rig. I think the powersupply lets me get higher overclocks than i would be getting with a crapper PSU. but im just guessing
Click to expand...

Loudest? damn...I can't even hear my Powerstream even if it's the only thing running with a fan. The fans in it just don't spin very fast all. In fact, I have to turn down the 120mm case fans to their minimum speed so they don't back-pull air through the OCZ's exhaust and cause it to overheat. I like the voltage controls...but I think they should have put a manual fan control on there as well. Make it switchable between manual and automatic. Or make a USB or SMBUS interface to the PSU and a small app to control the fan speeds (like speedfan or something).
 
Yep, the 520W PowerStream is great! Powers the system in my sig + more. However, why couldn't they put the blue LED into the other fan as well, the one that is inside the case. I can't see the blue LED on the outer fan :(
 
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