OCZ vs FORTRON vs ANTEC vs ULTRA-X

legcramp

legcramp

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
12,401
ocz 520 powerstream
Fortron 530w
Antec 480 Neopower
Ultra-X connect

which one will power my system?
athlon 64 3200+ @ 2.22ghz 276HTT 1gig PC3200 @ 444mhz 5 LED CASE FANS, 6800U @ultra extreme speeds (hopefully) after the upgrade. 2 80gig sata drives in raid 0, 2 ide drives(dvd-rom and cd-rw), sound blaster audigy zs........

right now i know my card can handle Ultra extreme speeds... but my dang power supply is kiling me.. it drops my 12v voltage on my antec "smartpower" 450w down to 11.850..

so which is the bang for the buck and can support my ultra in overclocking to its MAX?

and how does the neopower compares with the ocz powerstream? i am leaning towards the fortron 530w cause of the power/performance ratio... but ANY suggestion is ok and the more the better :D thnx guys help me out! o yeah my new mothboard.. dfi lanparty 754 is coming too so i can expext the cpu to be around 2.5ghzish too
 
If I was betting, I would bet that the edumacated folk in here would rank these power supplies in this order:

Fortron 530w
ocz 520 powerstream
Antec 480 Neopower
Ultra-X connect

Maybe switch the OCZ with the Antec... I don't know.

But I also know that you're only showing a voltage fluctuation of 1.25% off 12V, and I'm not so convinced that it's enough to be the bottleneck.
 
trust me it is a bottle neck... ok before i took out all my fans my overclock was 430/1.3 and i ran cs:s vst and it works.. any higher.. it froze.. after i took out my fans(5) the overclock was 440/1.4 and i ran teh vst and it ran fine.. gaining 4 fps.. any higher than it would freeze just like with the fans in... and my rails went to 11.850.. so anyways i would like to know what is the best for the money? and besides.. bottleneck or not... i still want a new psu... dont know why but i just want! ;)
 
xxaaqq said:
If I was betting, I would bet that the edumacated folk in here would rank these power supplies in this order:

Fortron 530w
ocz 520 powerstream
Antec 480 Neopower
Ultra-X connect
convinced that it's enough to be the bottleneck.
Click to expand...

If you're strictly looking for performance I would put the ocz first on that list. The neopower and the ultra are basically in that price range due to being semi modular / modular. If you don't need that then take them both off the list. Especially the neopower since it's ugly and you're paying the extra money for a sorta/kinda/almost modular ps. You're better off with a truepower as far as antecs go.

The ocz has easily adjustable pots which is nice. The fortron is cheap which is a bonus. The Ultra looks cool and isn't bad (I just bought one the other day)...but I wouldn't put it up against the ocz. People on this forum really overrate the Fortron imho. Don't get me wrong. They make good stuff and they perform excellent. I have owned one and I really liked it. They are also one of if not the best deal going too....but people seem to give them those extra points because of the value and not solely the performance (or some other reason I can't think of at the moment). They speak of them with the likes of PCP&C and Enermax. I just don't think that's the case.

I would say go for the ocz, an enermax (dual rails are nice and I love mine), or an antec truepower.
 
wow thnx just the answer i was looking for..yeah people seems to overrate the fortron.. but it is a good value... but the ocz is hte best out of the other in my opinion.. and i dont want to go antec again.. and i dont know anything about enermax and so many people has the powerstream so powerstream it is :) thnx bro!
 
OK tell me if this isnt a power supply problem....i got my 6800ultra core to 450.... runs cs:s vst fine.. then i start a game.. crashes to desktop and the desktop has all messed up textures?!?!?!? eevrything looks all moldy.. help or explanation plz... it must be psu problem rite?
 
for that rig
and primarilly because you are overclocking
Id say dig deeper and get the PCP&C 510 Turbo Cool Express

none of the above comes close to it for that job description
otherwise, in truth, Id put the OCZ (Topower also rebraded as Tagan) on par with the Fortron at considerably less money

the Neopower is a different animal and doesnt deserve to be grouped with either
has a tighter transient response and dual isolated +12V rails
youd group it with the Enermax ATX12V v2.0 Noisetaker or CoolerGiant series

OCZ
Neopower

and personally I wouldnt consider the Ultra X
 
Ice Czar said:
for that rig
and primarilly because you are overclocking
Id say dig deeper and get the PCP&C 510 Turbo Cool Express

none of the above comes close to it for that job description
otherwise, in truth, Id put the OCZ (Topower also rebraded as Tagan) on par with the Fortron at considerably less money

the Neopower is a different animal and doesnt deserve to be grouped with either
has a tighter transient response and dual isolated +12V rails
youd group it with the Enermax ATX12V v2.0 Noisetaker or CoolerGiant series
Click to expand...

I was wondering when someone would throw a real high end psu in there. The PCP&C is one of the best. I would also add in the 550W and 600W Enermax models. Either would easily meet your power requirements with room to spare.
 
Pixeleet said:
Ice: what's your ranking of these PSUs?
Click to expand...

Actually, most of such a ranking would be simply theoretical based on specs

I can say the Fortron 530 is conservatively rated for amps on the +12V rail the 16A nominal is wildly conservative, most peak ratings are for a few miliseconds on most supplies, for the Fortron they are attributing a 28A peak rating of 15 seconds, and its seeeing action all over the place without issue, I used one in a box I built for my brother for a few months while I optimized it
however its wasnt a really high draw config

on the other end I also have firsthand experience with the PCP&C 510 Turbo Cool AG
(AGP Pro option) Dual Opterons, 4GB of RAM, Nvidia FX3000, K8W and so far up to 8 x HDD and 2x Opticals

rock steady with no fluctuation at all
 
PCP&C 510 Turbo Cool Express are out of my budget :) so i guess it's the ocz powerstream 520.. and o yeah i unplugged 2 of my ide drives (cd-rw and dvdrom and now it's stable at 445.... but when i plug it back.... everything freezes... and i need my drives so i guess i'll order my ocz powerstream 520... anyone know a place where i can get the powerstream for cheaper? i am probably gonna order from newegg here it is.. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-152&depa=1
its about 150... any lower prices anywhere else?
 
for half as much you get nearly the same level by goin with the Fortron

and for one quarter more you get 3 times the power supply with the PCP&C

but its your choice
 
pcp&c give 3 times the power? and how come i dont see it at newegg... i kno its good but 3 times? whoa..
 
5 times the voltage regulation (1% transient reponse compared to 5%)
5 times less AC Ripple and noise on the +3,3 & +5V rails (10mV to 50mV)
12 times less AC Ripple and Noise on the +12V rail (10mV to 120mV)
and extra 100 watts if measured at the same temperature as the OCZ was rated (600 watts to 500)
more peak amps on the +12V rail (38A to 33A)
and real specs are supplied not marketese bullsh!t

yes Id say its three times the power supply
as to whether you actually need a power supply that good...
would depend on what its running and if your overclockling
otherwise the stability isnt going to really matter much

but for one quarter more of the price, Id certainly look into it
or Id pay half as much and get the Fortron
 
Hey there...ummmm...why isn't Enermax on the list??? Have they started to sux0rz or something??? I use an Enermax 500W psu in my case...the blue glittery one with 2 adjustable fans...hasn't failed me yet...
THANX
C'YA :cool:
 
so the pcp&c would bring me to around... a little over 200 bucks? ur talking about the 510 turbo ultra or something like that right? i'll check into that .. but i might need to save up for just a few weeks or so to get that but if paying 25% more for 300% the power... then i am all for it :) ofcourse my 450 antec should hold me out for a couple of weeks.. now i just gotta cancel my powerstream order from newegg ;)
 
aZn_plyR said:
25% more for 300% the power..)
Click to expand...

its qualitative not quantative power :p
thought there is a quantative improvement as well


let me put it another way
you can run dual CPU, the highest powered graphics card on the market
8 GB of RAM and 10 HDDs

and see NO fluctuation on the rails

it will last you for many upgrades, and is an overclockers dream
 
muahahah wow.... i didn't know at first they were that good.. i thought pcp&c power supplies were just overpriced psu and overrated like Alienware :p ..i mean alienware had like a system for 1500$ with a fx5200 in it.... and its only the tower.. nothing else... hehe but yeah i am gonna start saving up now.. and i just canceled my powerstream a few minutes ago :)
 
there are comparable PSU for rackmounts (monster NAS arrays, servers ect),
or medical devices or audio equipment (superclean power)

the point here is that, do you really need it?

I think in the following senerios the answer would be yes

if you are going to run alot of components, or are going to get very serious about overclocking where you want to eliminate power fluctuations from the PSU as a possible instability issue
which of course still leaves the motherboard's own VRM (voltage regulation modual)
its well worth the extra $50

or, like in the case of my workstation where I spent over $5000 on hardware (not including drives and case) that extra $50 is damn cheap insurance :p


of course you should also eliminate the AC power fluctuation as well, it has very good overvoltage protection but its not a UPS, and while its likely able to deal with a wider range of AC fluctuation than most supplies, and when it cant likely safely shutdown
you still need a good power conditionng scheme

actually I am aware of a single issue with the PCP&C
for awhile there was some instability in a few supplies that where massively underloaded
so try to put a decent load on it :p
(I think they addressed that however ;) )
 
wow so is pcp&c like the best of the best for only 50$ more... and can u give me a link for it so i can place an order.. monarch has it backordered and i can't find it on newegg... thnx
 
pcp&c should really drop the price on their 510 deluxe. It's $199 at a lot of places now...and has been for a while. I mean....it's their psu after all...they should have a good price on it.

I've considered buying one a few times from here for $199.

http://www.3dcool.com/?module=product&sku=PCPOW510DLX

That's a lot of money. It's a good product though. Can't argue with that. Worth the additional $50? Depends on whether or not you think $50 is a lot of money I guess.

edit: it's more like a $75 price difference if you shop around.
 
lil layzie said:
I got mine from MonarchComputer because at the time, it was cheaper then @ NewEgg and they don't charge me tax like NewEgg does since I live in CA.

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=100117
Seems to be on backorder.
Click to expand...
Yeah... dunno how this would change people's opinions on the matter, but clicking on the link it looks like the Powerstream's in stock again @ $118, $7 ground shipping and $13 saver (edit: to the bay area). $130ish shipped is a lot cheaper than the over $160 shipped+tax that newegg would run.

I'm looking at a power supply too, which is why I'm keeping an eye on these things. :p
 
aZn_plyR said:
deluxe or non-deluxe? wuts the diff?
Click to expand...

case color and braided harness
both the same color, and in the famous words of Henry Ford describing the model T
"You can have any color you like, as long as its Black :p "
 
I have the OCZ 520 ADJ Powerstream, and I can attribute almost 15 MHz on my 6800 Ultra core to this PSU alone. I had a cheap 500 Watt PSU prior, and it was getting a work out on my system. I really like the adjustable rails and dedicated molexes for the video card. They are capacitated, shielded, and filtered for cleaner power. The only thing I did not like is the lack of sleaving, but I did that myself.
 
I really wish OCZ would hurry up and make modular PSU's already.

can't refute what Ice has had to say though...PCP is top notch if you got the coin...otherwise, OCZ, IMO.
 
Fortron/Sparkle for excellent rails, inexpensive, and stable... PCP for overclocking. I don't overclock, and Sparkle was on sale :)
 
Cliff Couser said:
I really wish OCZ would hurry up and make modular PSU's already.

can't refute what Ice has had to say though...PCP is top notch if you got the coin...otherwise, OCZ, IMO.
Click to expand...

OCZ is probably working on modular PSU's as we speak...
 
IdentityFaux said:
OCZ is probably working on modular PSU's as we speak...
Click to expand...

you mean Topower
or more accurately OCZ is asking Topower to develop modular PSUs
likely ePower is doing the same
 
Ice Czar said:
5 times the voltage regulation (1% transient reponse compared to 5%)
5 times less AC Ripple and noise on the +3,3 & +5V rails (10mV to 50mV)
12 times less AC Ripple and Noise on the +12V rail (10mV to 120mV)
and extra 100 watts if measured at the same temperature as the OCZ was rated (600 watts to 500)
more peak amps on the +12V rail (38A to 33A)
and real specs are supplied not marketese bullsh!t

yes Id say its three times the power supply
as to whether you actually need a power supply that good...
would depend on what its running and if your overclockling
otherwise the stability isnt going to really matter much

but for one quarter more of the price, Id certainly look into it
or Id pay half as much and get the Fortron
Click to expand...

you are very mistaken about OCZ's specs
you sould read this: http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/PSUSpec.pdf
note the ripple, regulation, and power/peak power ratings
 
you may also look at the Turbo Cool 425 Deluxe which is a little more budget friendly and will still power 99% of the system on this board
 
ivanchu02 said:
you are very mistaken about OCZ's specs
you sould read this: http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/PSUSpec.pdf
note the ripple, regulation, and power/peak power ratings
Click to expand...

for starters, that pdf was put up just recently I found it yesterday
and
I find it very suspect, for starters, the Topower site lists the supplies as a 3% load regulation
and only on the ATXP6 Series (the recalled 600 watt OCZ breifly offered)
not the ATXPW series, which the 420, 470 and 520 belong to
http://www.topower.com.tw/home/power_supply_atx12v.htm
Output regulation designed within 3%
Click to expand...
next the 470 which is in the middle of the ATXPW series is independently reviewed here
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article173-page4.html by Mike Chin
When set for perfect accuracy at 90W output, the voltages sagged slightly as output increased, but it was well within the 5% range
Click to expand...
that is not 1% regulation, let me assure you

next the optional ferrite bead chokes that they employ
as tested by Topower give these specs for AC Ripple
http://www.topower.com.tw/home/product_option.htm > #7 REMIC Control Technology
(specific Connector for VGA & HDD)
Improvement figures ?
Actual figure on +5V ： Improved from 40.8mV to 21.6mV
Actual figure on +12V ： Improved from 40.8mV to 21.6mV
Click to expand...


Ive been bitching about the lack of published specs from them
since the Powerstreams came out
I stumbled across this researching the 600 watts issues
and i started to write a diatribe regarding how they now list ATX12V v2.0 in there spec short list
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_powerstream_power_supply
with a small little footnote that it only applies to one out of the four supplies :rolleyes:
when I stumbled on that little PDF,

I have it on disk in the event its corrected in the near future
right now Im reserving judgement till Im able to do further research
but I wouldnt necessarilly believe everything you read from them
getting caught in a lie wouldnt exactly be a new experience for that company
 
a little bit of research would reveal that the amps on the rails are different between the OCZ power supplies and the ATXPW series

it would also reveal that the amps on the rails match between the OCZ power supplies and the ATXP6 series
 
ivanchu02 said:
you are very mistaken about OCZ's specs
you sould read this: http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/PSUSpec.pdf
note the ripple, regulation, and power/peak power ratings
Click to expand...

are you an OCZ rep? You don't actually believe those specs, do you?

Oh, and Ice ain't mistaken at all, when he posts something, he ALWAYS has it backed up by facts, more facts, and even more facts you didn't even know existed.

edit: Does your research about the amps consist of looking at Topowers amperage rating and then looking at the OCZ's amperage rating on both site's websites? If so, you have a LOT to learn about psu's....
 
computerpro3 said:
are you an OCZ rep? You don't actually believe those specs, do you?

Oh, and Ice ain't mistaken at all, when he posts something, he ALWAYS has it backed up by facts, more facts, and even more facts you didn't even know existed.

edit: Does your research about the amps consist of looking at Topowers amperage rating and then looking at the OCZ's amperage rating on both site's websites? If so, you have a LOT to learn about psu's....
Click to expand...

here is a quote from the review
SPC said:
The voltages were calibrated at the 90W output level. Ideally they should be calibrated at about the median load of the PC it will be used with.
Click to expand...

so the review that Ice Czar was quoting says that they didnt calibrate it the best way.

I see you were quick to refute the xtremesystems test on PCP&C
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1026870799&postcount=684

does that make you a PCP&C rep?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top