Overview

   The OCZ PowerStream series power supply is aimed squarely at the power user or gamer.  When you decide to spend several hundred dollars on individual components for your newest box, you want to make sure that you have a quality power supply, and OCZ has assembled this unit to ensure that it is not going to be the weak link.  OCZ has also done a great job of "future proofing" the unit to make sure that it will last you for a couple of upgrade cycles.  When I removed the unit from the bright orange box, I was impressed with the heft of the unit and the fit and finish.

   Especially the finish (see lead photo).  As you probably know from reading my other reviews, I respect quality of construction and engineering much more than looks or eye candy.  Having said that, I must say that in addition to the capabilities of the unit, this is the best looking power supply I have yet seen.  It is finished in a black chrome that is like a mirror when the light strikes it, yet looks black when in shadow.  Very tough.  Mean, even.  This is not a modular power supply like my FrozenCPU modified Antec TrueBlue 470, but the cabling is very well done.  Each power lead is twisted to reduce clutter, and the Molex connector pins are gold plated.  Good stuff.

   Something I have not seen before on a power supply is the inclusion of two dedicated high power leads, specially for video cards and high performance hard drives.  These two cables are heavy duty (looks like dual 18-gauge wires per pin).  They are wrapped in a very flexible, rubberized sheath that allows for easy bending. 

  Each of these two dedicated lines are terminated with their own capacitors for noise reduction and surge smoothing. First time I have seen this.  I would feel comfortable connecting these to any high end video card or 10,000 RPM hard drive.  For those that have the coin to buy a card that requires two dedicated leads (think 6800 Ultra), you are covered.

   In addition to these dedicated lines, the unit also has two strands of daisy chained 12/N/N/5 leads to power your other devices.  Each one of these secondary strands has three standard Molex connectors and one mini 4-pin. Still more, the OCZ packs a separate strand for two SATA drives, a strand for 4-pin ATX aux power (square), a strand for 4-pin inline aux power (other style of m/b power), and to top it off, it also includes the newest EPS12V ATX cable (that has four extra pins on the edges for mainboards that support this).  For most of us that still have the standard ATX mainboard, the EPS plug may or may not fit your board without the included adaptor.  The socket is compatible with earlier designs, but components may interfere (as they did on two mainboards I have). 

   One feature worth mentioning is that each of the power rails has a tuning feature that allows you to fine tune the output to specification.  As you can see from the pictures, on the back of the unit there are 3 LED's that monitor the output of each power rail (12V, 3.3V, 5V), and indicate when the voltage is beyond the +/-5% range specified.  The LED's will glow green when within spec, red when overvoltage occurs or yellow when undervoltage occurs.  Small potentiometers allow you to dial in the output to remain within spec.  I did not find it necessary to change any of the default settings, although with a power-hungry system, some fine tuning may be necessary.  Good to know that you can tweak if necessary.

Specifications

   The OCZ PowerStream family comes in three versions, 420, 470, and 500 Watts total output. I tested the 470 Watt version.  From the diagram below it is clear that the extra Wattage comes in the form of +5 Volt power.  Each of the units provides 28Amps for the +3.3 volt line, and identical ancillary voltage load ratings for the -5, -12 and +5VSB.  The main difference is in the 12 Volt and 5 Volt rail.  The 420 makes do with 30 Amps for the +12 Volt rail, and the 470 and 500 models bump this to 33Amps.  The +5 Volt rail goes from 30A on the 420, to 34A for the 470 and a whopping 40A for the 500.  Depending on your system, you can decide whether your devices require the added grunt or not.  

   The OCZ has a few other notable specs, especially with respect to the adjustable voltages.  The  chart below illustrates the ranges possible with the adjustable pots on the back of the unit:

• Over Current protection: Power supply shuts down to protect components.
• Over Voltage Protection: Separate circuits for each rail so that no single fault can migrate to other components.
• Short Circuit protection: All outputs disabled (shut down/reset)