The final ANTEC vs OCZ thread!

[computerpro3]

dont you say that OCZ is lying every single time someone posts anything about OCZ? anyways this is an Antec vs OCZ thread, nothing to do with PC P&C

and where exactly does it say the OCZ power supplies are rated at 20C

you're pulling facts out of nowhere as well, i dont see it on their spec sheet. have you tried emailing them and asking?

you might as well just starting posting "i hate ocz and nothing they do will ever be good enough for me and i will assume the worse of every single thing they do from this day on"

at this rate you might as well condemn all japanese, germans, english, spanish, russian, hell every single nationality because of something they've done wrong in the past. new management, but hey its still the same country

yet another person that doesn't read the thread before they post:

However it's still a very good psu, I'd rate it about equal to the Antec neopower 480 although I'd personally take the Antec because it's a CWT or Sirtec model as opposed to a Topower

 

[WarLust]

I'm going to put in my two cents here from another person's point-of-view

I have a NeoPower 480. It's a good PSU. It's modular, has dual 12v rails, and has a single, quiet 120mm fan, and looks good. Having said that however, I'm still wanting a PC P&C. My rails are not what they should be and I'm not happy about it. I sincerely believe that my PSU is the cause of various crashes and reboots I've been having lately. I should have bought a PC P&C in the first place and call it a day, but I was way over my budget anyway and vouched for the Neo. Regardless, I would still pick the Neo over OCZ, as far as PSU's. OCZ has great memory, if you find the right sticks for your motherboard. I've never had an OCZ PSU, so this is a judgement call from what I have heard and read about their PSU's, particularly the newest 600W recalls. Antec has always been a good choice for me, along with Fortron/Sparkle and Enermax, but you know what I have and you know what I want

 

[iddqd]

I'm going to put in my two cents here from another person's point-of-view

I have a NeoPower 480. It's a good PSU. It's modular, has dual 12v rails, and has a single, quiet 120mm fan, and looks good. Having said that however, I'm still wanting a PC P&C. My rails are not what they should be and I'm not happy about it. I sincerely believe that my PSU is the cause of various crashes and reboots I've been having lately. I should have bought a PC P&C in the first place and call it a day, but I was way over my budget anyway and vouched for the Neo. Regardless, I would still pick the Neo over OCZ, as far as PSU's. OCZ has great memory, if you find the right sticks for your motherboard. I've never had an OCZ PSU, so this is a judgement call from what I have heard and read about their PSU's, particularly the newest 600W recalls. Antec has always been a good choice for me, along with Fortron/Sparkle and Enermax, but you know what I have and you know what I want

Power supplies burning out on Antec's part, isn't exactly a better reputation, either. Mine would have suffered the same fate, if I haven't re-routed the fans. Had to replace them too; as they were uneeringly loud.

 

[burningrave101]

It's nowhere near as good as the pcp&c 510 deluxe, the the 600w isn't either. In fact the 600w got recalled for killing video cards, neither supply has the tolerance of the pcp&c, neither psu has as many amps, neither has as many watts at any temp (OCZ rated @ 20c is 520 and 600w respectivley and the pcp&c is 650+w @ 20C), I don't believe the OCZ has line condition (although I could be wrong, OCZ seems to take a less publicly available stats the better policy), the ocz isn't sleeved, etc, etc, etc,

Nowhere near as good? According to what results? Speculation is fun but it doesn't mean jack shit when you have no real proof. Have you been able to link to ONE single review that includes the PC Power and Cooling 510w vs the OCZ 520w PowerStream? No you havn't. And until you are able to you havn't proved a thing except that according to YOUR opinion the PC Power and Cooling 510w is superior to anything. Now i will agree that PC Power and Cooling is one of the best considering they are manufactured by the best and it is most likely a better power supply then the OCZ 520w Topower model is but that doesn't make is superior to it, especially when you consider how much a PC Power and Cooling or Zippy/Emac PSU costs.

If you want I can give you a quote from OCZ themselves about how their supplies are not meant to compete with pcp&c and how pcp&c is in a league of their own. Just ask.

PCP&C is in a price range of their own as well. Its a price range out of what the majority are willing to spend on just a power supply considering there will be no real difference between it and another name brand power supply except to the freaks that are trying to run a few household appliances off of it.

You do realize that the majority of PC users are using what we consider to be "generic" power supplies and the other large percentage is using brands like Antec and Enermax while the TINY TINY TINY percentage left over is using PC Power and Cooling and Zippy/Emac PSU's. And while there are alot of power supply related issues out there, most computers operate without any problems whatsoever, even overclocked, when run on a normal quality PSU.

PC Power and Cooling is definitely at the top but you also have to realize how few of their PSU's are in use compared to Antec or Enermax. Because of this their failure rate is going to be much much lower and would seem more "superior".

Lastly, comments from an OCZ rep dont mean jack shit to me and they shouldn't to you ither if you realized the fact that most department reps know very little about the actual specs and performance of their products unless it is printed on a piece of paper for them to read. And OCZ doesn't even manufacture the power supplies so that limits their knowledge even further.

 

[WesM63]

FYI, The Powestream 600W psu's weren't recalled due to killing video cards (althou they did), they were recalled because a large shipment of them was dropped in transit to retailers thus loosining the solder joints inside the psu. (Direct statement from OCZ Employee)

I won't comment on which I think is better since i've never used either, the last powersupply I bought was a PC & PC nearly a year and a half ago and its still running perfectly stable today, even while begin transffered thru 5systems.

 

[computerpro3]

PC Power and Cooling is definitely at the top...Now i will agree that PC Power and Cooling is one of the best considering they are manufactured by the best and it is most likely a better power supply then the OCZ 520w Topower model is but that doesn't make is superior to it.

It is statements like this that make me laugh. Your're hardforum's version of xtremesystems' geforceti4200

Just because it's better it doesn't mean it's better

Course not

 

[iddqd]

It is statements like this that make me laugh. Your're hardforum's version of xtremesystems' geforceti4200

Just because it's better it doesn't mean it's better

Course not

And you're hardforum's version of GWB - we go from foreign policy to education.

 

[notoriousformula]

And you're hardforum's version of GWB - we go from foreign policy to education.

hah! Good one..

Computerpro, your turn..

 

[xonik]

Somebody lock this shit, stat...

 

[sabrewolf732]

IMO ocz. They make badass psu's. Many reviews I have read say they are as good as PCP&C. And it was the OCZ 600 watts that were fucking up systems, HOWEVER, the systems and components that did get fubared were replaced by OCZ iirc. OCZ makes great psu's and has great customer support from everything I have read about them recently. I plan On going powerstream 470 soon once I get some cash
BTw here is a 420 compared against a pcp&c 510 and a ttgi psu:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=5&artpage=723&articID=187

 

[IdentityFaux]

Get that 470 while you can, OCZ is discontinuing it. You might just want to get a new-style 520 with sleeving anyways.

 

[sabrewolf732]

Get that 470 while you can, OCZ is discontinuing it. You might just want to get a new-style 520 with sleeving anyways.

really? well I wont be getting a new psu for a while so Il l get whatever ocz has out that matches my price range

 

[EnderW]

Now i will agree that PC Power and Cooling is one of the best considering they are manufactured by the best and it is most likely a better power supply then the OCZ 520w Topower model is but that doesn't make is superior to it

huh?

 

[Ice Czar]

huh?

can think of a few possible explainations
that dont involve drugs

on a value scale for instance
too busy to search for the context

 

[burningrave101]

It is statements like this that make me laugh. Your're hardforum's version of xtremesystems' geforceti4200

Just because it's better it doesn't mean it's better

Course not

Since you are obviously unable to comprehend what i said, there is a big difference between "better" and "superior".

Example 1

The X800XT PE is generally a little "better" then the 6800U in DirectX games.

Example 2

The 6800U is usually "superior" to the X800XT PE in OpenGL and Linux.

The PC Power and Cooling 510w PSU's are too expensive to even consider unless you have an uber elite system and have lots of money to spend. Its not worth the extra cash over a normal name brand PSU from one of the other top manufacturers because there are few systems here on HardForum that a PC Power and Cooling 510w can handle but an OCZ 520w can't.

If the OCZ 520w can't handle it then you need to be thinking about dual PSU's or something because even that PC Power and Cooling 510w will be under heavy load and thats not good for a PSU to run at full load around the clock as it will decrease the longetivity and stability of the power supply because of the excess heat output involved at running full load.

 

[BillR]

This “Final” thread keeps floating to the top like a bad oil slick.

Real ”Xanax” far exceeds “Virtual Valium” every time

Looks like a good time to flush this thread “Finally” ?

 

[Ice Czar]

LOL

After my soma years in Data Storage, Finally Im moderating a hotbed of discontent

Lots of good points, but be advised burningrave101
soon our PCP&C fanatic will have 2 new EATX 700 and 850 watt supplies to beat you over the head with


ROTFLMAO

 

[computerpro3]

And you're hardforum's version of GWB - we go from foreign policy to education.

correct, and I if I'm bush I graduated from yale and harvard and you have:

degrelessness mode on

But don't worry, I'll school you

Main Entry: 1su·pe·ri·or
Pronunciation: su-'pir-E-&r
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French superieur, from Latin superior, comparative of superus upper, from super over, above -- more at OVER
1 : situated higher up : UPPER
2 : of higher rank, quality, or importance

I bet Language class is what's keeping you from that degree

 

[burningrave101]

Lots of good points, but be advised burningrave101
soon our PCP&C fanatic will have 2 new EATX 700 and 850 watt supplies to beat you over the head with

Yea and i bet they'll cost more then a high-end video card LMAO.

 

[EnderW]

After my soma years in Data Storage, Finally Im moderating a hotbed of discontent

LOL

sooon our PCP&C fanatic will have 2 new EATX 700 and 850 watt supplies

when will those be out?

I'd much rather see a quieter 400W one with the modular cables and full 24 pin ATX compatibility or whatever it's called

 

[computerpro3]

Yea and i bet they'll cost more then a high-end video card LMAO.

People buying those will have TWO high end video cards...like me

 

[IdentityFaux]

^^^

Being like you would make me want to kill myself.

 

[computerpro3]

Thanks (I'm serious)

Why, because I have a nice computer and say brand A is better than brand B

Too bad you aren't

 

[IdentityFaux]

I PM'ed my response to you, trash doesn't belong in the forums.

 

[sabrewolf732]

yet another person that doesn't read the thread before they post:

dude, have you read any ocz powerstream reviews
I think you havent which is pretty evident from all the crap you are taking about ocz. every review I have read and every person I know that has one is very happy with it and the voltages are right on the money.

 

[computerpro3]

sigh.....I'll let someone else respond to you about reviews, I'm tiring of responding the same thing to the same damn question over and over again, doesn't ANYONE read the stickies???????

now I know why Ice Czar copies and pastes everything so much....

I could give you a quote from Ice about the reviews, but tbh I don't have the time to search for it right now.

Sigh...But have you read my posts? I guess not...
Let me make something clear...again:

What was the only comment I made about OCZ's performance? Not the marketing rating, not their hyperbol(shit), not their claims, not their falling short to pcp&c, but what was the only comment I made about it's actual performance?

Here, I'll give it to you:

However it's still a very good psu, I'd rate it about equal to the Antec neopower

It's funny how I'm now getting pms saying im a jobless loser in CT with no social life that spends all my time on forums, I don't understand why people will personally attack someone like that over a power supply?!?!?!

 

[burningrave101]

It's funny how I'm now getting pms saying im a jobless loser in CT with no social life that spends all my time on forums, I don't understand why people will personally attack someone like that over a power supply?!?!?!

LMAO.....

I've ruffled more then a few feathers and i've only gotten like one or two PM's in my entire time here on the boards from people ranting about something.

They must really like you.

 

[computerpro3]

LOL I don't even think me and you have ever done that to each other you NVIDIA GREEN BIASED MEAN BAD PERSON

 

[SJetski71]

^^^

Being like you would make me want to kill myself.

cough, you'll have two video cards in a rig soon enough as well, cough


Stating such doesn't make him a bad person

 

[DirtMerchant]

Hey fella's. I did a review on the OCZ PowerStream 520. You can read it here

http://www.hardwaremods.com/

I also owned a PCP&C 510 Deluxe (sold for $180 on ebay). I love my OCZ 520! It's an awesome PSU, IMHO better and much more affordable than the overhyped PCP&C 510 Deluxe. If you disagree that is fine with me, but my rig i more stable now than it was before and my rails are the most stable they have ever been.

Here is a quick screenshot of my voltages

Here is what I am running in my rig:

P4 2.6C @ 3.51Ghz | 1.6v
Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu | 23C Idle - 28C Load
1Gb Dual Channel OCZ PC4200 3-4-3-7 | 2.6v | 1:1
DFI LANPartyPro 875P fully sinked
eVGA GeForce 6800GT volt modded with NV5 Silencer @ 435Mhz - 1.13Ghz
Audigy2 ZS Soundcard
SONY DVD-RW Drive
LG DVD Drive
2x 120Gb WD Hard Drives in RAID 0
2x UV CCFL's
8x 80mm Fans

My voltages are rock solid no matter how much I stress this machine. In fact when I did that review I wound up frying my 3.2E Prescott in the process because of the amount of load I put on it while overclocked. The entire time the PSU never even so much as made a hiccup. When I jad a PCP&C 510 my 3.3v rails would drop alot and my 12v rail was lower than I wanted. Even when I tweaked the pots it would drop under stress.

Flame away but I stand by my tests and my OCZ 520. Antec PSUs are garbage if you are a serious hardware tweaker.

 

[Ice Czar]

Somebody lock this shit, stat...

the run in was inevitable, Ive known burningrave10, for a lvery ong time and he is a master of debate, and Ive come to know computerpro3 very well in the last several months
Id rather moderate a single thread where they have it out than a dozen where they spar
(PS welcome back burningrave101 )

I PM'ed my response to you, trash doesn't belong in the forums.

\

true, and I try hard to determine the truth, and correct it where I see it departing from what I personally perceive it as, I attempt to be fair, and based on what you have told me over the past week or so, my opinion of the OCZ Powerstreams have increased substantially
information I actually solicited for quite awhile, computerpro3 will be a harder sell probably
I dont use the term fanatic lightly

consider him and to a lesser extent me, Doubting Thomases
convince us
this forum is very interested in what you have to say

Ive accepted the baseline test temperature
regale us with tales of power filering for the PARD figures
and load regulation
unlike some of our members (gee and larrymoencurly) Im still caught in the limbo between the ability able to look at the assorted individiual components and fully determine their quality
but I have focused now on SMPS as my primary arera of study,
past the empirical to both the theoretical and the definative
the industry as a whole seems to be very nebulous, Ive accepted that to a certain extent but the responsibility of this forum and as you point out the truth has impelled me
to further study, generally once I aquire that focus its only a matter of time

Im very interested in exactly how the Powerstreams may depart from the Baseline Topower P6's, and exactly how the AC Ripple was measured, was it for the supply itself or was it only as measured on the power leads with the ferrite chokes? (the "OCZ PowerShield" leads)

the specs definatively claim the same regulatuion and noise as the PCP&C Turbo Cools
computerpro3 has called your hand as have I , how do you account for the seemigly divergent specs between OCZ and Topower?

 

[Ice Czar]

Hey fella's. I did a review on the OCZ PowerStream 520. You can read it here.

you will eventually find my opinon of such reviews
I hope you dont take it personally
Welcome to the Forums

if you want to stress a supply
place it on a variac, ramp it up to near full load, drop the VAC to 90
and unload the PSU, while measuring\logging the regulation
and an Oscilloscope wouldnt hurt

 

[DirtMerchant]

you will eventually find my opinon of such reviews
I hope you dont take it personally
Welcome to the Forums

if you want to stress a supply
place it on a variac, ramp it up to near full load, drop the VAC to 90
and unload the PSU, while measuring\logging the regulation
and an Oscilloscope wouldnt hurt

If I was able to do all of that I would, but to be honest I'm doing reviews as a normal user would. I'm not a scientist and I don't have a lab filled with all kinds of interesting electronic toys. Take my review for what it is worth, but I can honestly say that I feel that the OCZ PSUs, in particular the 520W version, is a solid piece of hardware that should provide any person with some very stable and beefy rails in a heavily overclocked system. I found alot of members over at ocforums.com now using them in thier own rigs after hearing my tesimony and all of them have been having great results.

It would be nice to test them using the tools that you mentioned, but in reality I think our "homegrown" tests have proven that the OCZ PSUs are definitely worthy of praise on price and performance alone. I think about the only gripe that I have with them is that they don't come pre-sleeved. Other than that I am a happy camper.

 

[Ice Czar]

for what its worth I agree with you regarding the value of the Powerstream if not the test proceedure

but this thread has degresssed to a discussion of "the best" supply
(not that it started that way )
and as Im sure you are aware, that is largely about the "operating range" a given supply has and its ability to safely cope with truely adverse conditions, like a heavy load and a brownout while at an abnormal temperature

following the instructions above is a reciept to test exactly where a PSU will fry

 

[sabrewolf732]

sigh.....I'll let someone else respond to you about reviews, I'm tiring of responding the same thing to the same damn question over and over again, doesn't ANYONE read the stickies???????

now I know why Ice Czar copies and pastes everything so much....

I could give you a quote from Ice about the reviews, but tbh I don't have the time to search for it right now.

Sigh...But have you read my posts? I guess not...
Let me make something clear...again:

What was the only comment I made about OCZ's performance? Not the marketing rating, not their hyperbol(shit), not their claims, not their falling short to pcp&c, but what was the only comment I made about it's actual performance?

Here, I'll give it to you:



It's funny how I'm now getting pms saying im a jobless loser in CT with no social life that spends all my time on forums, I don't understand why people will personally attack someone like that over a power supply?!?!?!

Im not personally attacking you at all, and if you feel I did I am sorry. But you give ocz a harder time than they deserve IMO. Ill read the stickies and maybe Ill learn something new. Sorry if you felt I somehow insulted you even though I didnt

 

[DirtMerchant]

I was suprised by my PCP&C, because I was under the impression that it was "the best" PSU available. After owning it for about 8 months I wasn't impressed. Now don't get me wrong, it is definitely better than 99.9% of the other PSUs out there, but I have to say that the OCZ 520 should be in the "TOP 3" best PSUs on the market. I wouldn't trade my OCZ for anything now.

I would really like to see someone who owns an OCZ 520 post what they think about it. So far in the past year I have owned and used an Antec TruePower 550W, PCP&C 510 Deluxe and now the OCZ PS 520W. Out of all three of them the OCZ is my favorite. It is truely an awesome PSU. I only wish I could test them all on a deeper level in order to back up my claims further.

 

[Ice Czar]

Im not personally attacking you at all, and if you feel I did I am sorry. But you give ocz a harder time than they deserve IMO. Ill read the stickies and maybe Ill learn something new. Sorry if you felt I somehow insulted you even though I didnt

a well said rebuttal
a hardy welcome to the forums

I only wish I could test them all on a deeper level in order to back up my claims further.

I wish you or I could as well
and towards that end....
http://www.leesspace.com/Published_reviews.htm
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article148-page1.html
http://www.chromaate.com/english/company/detail.asp?gid=3 (just in case you win the lottery )
http://www.chromausa.com/pdf/Brochure 8000.pdf

Ive refused the oppertunity to review several supplys
I simply cant do it justce yet, having only about half the equipment Id need
Id really like to blow up a bunch of cheap generics and find the threshold for one or two top shelf supplies

A Technical PS: Output Voltage Regulation and AC Voltage

Voltage regulation with most PSUs examined by SPCR has been virtually unnecessary. Perhaps because only reputable brand samples are submitted for our stringent testing, almost every PSU has passed voltage regulation checks easily, often with flying colors. The Seasonic Super series were among the best in this regard, and the new Rev.03 models are no different, with tolerance better than +/-2% in every case.

A test instrument mentioned in the article SPCR's Revised PSU Testing System was used briefly with the new Rev. 03 samples. The California Instruments 801RP Variable AC Power Supply (CI-801RP) allows AC voltage to be varied in order to consider the effects of brownouts and other real-world conditions on PSU performance.

As the voltage is reduced, the PSU has to draw more current (Amps) in order to maintain the output voltages. The actual power drawn by the PSU rises when the input voltage is reduced. This is why, for example, that a power supply rated for 120VAC, 5A might be rated for 240VAC, 3A. Maintaining steady output voltage lines becomes much harder with lower or varying AC voltage. This is how PSU voltage regulation can be really tested.

The PSU was placed in the thermal test rig, with 120VAC power delivered by the CI-801RP. Each PSU was warmed up for a few minutes at 120W, then set to deliver full power. Internal test box temps were ~37°C. AC measurements were made with the Kill-a-Watt AC power meter. Voltmeters were used to continuously monitor the 12V, 5V and 3.3V output lines. The VAC was then reduced from the standard 120VAC down to 80VAC. This is a very demanding test, as the Seasonic PSUs are rated for full power output with 100-240VAC.

<Chart>

Note that the output voltage remains constant through these dramatic drops in AC input voltage — and the associated increases in the current and power drawn by the PSU.

The same test was conducted at 300W output on two other SPCR-reviewed PSUs that will remain unnamed at this time: One rated at 350W sparked and shut down within 15 seconds of running at 90VAC. It appears to be dead. The latter, rated at 380W, auto-shutdown safely within seconds of 100VAC operation. It appears to consider operation at any AC voltage under ~103W to be unsafe.

It is a measure of the Super series' quality design. It means that sags and brownouts in AC power, experienced by many people in many places in the world, should have no effect on a computer powered by one of the Seasonic Super series PSUs. A table of the Super Silencer 400 could have been posted but it would have been redundant because the voltage accuracy and output remained constant down to 80VAC there as well.

We'll look at the VR / VAC relationship in more detail, and examine this aspect of performance in other PSUs in

 

[sabrewolf732]

a well said rebuttal
a hardy welcome to the forums

thanks for the welcoming

 

[computerpro3]

Im not personally attacking you at all, and if you feel I did I am sorry. But you give ocz a harder time than they deserve IMO. Ill read the stickies and maybe Ill learn something new. Sorry if you felt I somehow insulted you even though I didnt

You are not the one that sent me the pm, I wasn't directing that statement at you. Someone else did....

But it is a good idea to read the stickies and check around, one thing you'll find is that there are no more than 4 or 5 places around the net that are actually equipped and able to do a psu review, which renders the rest of them good for nothing more than pictures.

Another welcome to the forums

Edit: and on a whole different topic, I really am interested in learning more of the coveted facts about the OCZ unit. For one, I, as Ice Czar Said, I "call your hand" so to speak about the OCZ being spec'd for 530w @ 40C. Also, what is it spec'd at 50C.

Ice, I would also be very interested in learning the new info that you have come by in the last week that you mentioned regarding the OCZ psu. Would you mind posting or pming it?

Thanks

 

[EnderW]

even if I had a test that showed the PowerStream was as good as the TurboCool, I still wouldn't buy it over the PC P&C because OCZ has such a bad reputation