![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Wednesday, November 12, 2008
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro Power Supply
700 watt power supplies are easy to build right? Not really. These “middle of the road” units not only have to put out a lot of quality power, but are probably the most exposed to pricing competition when it comes to big power. We put the screws to the new OCZ ModXStream.
Overview
The first thing we are going to look at with the OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro is its packaging, accessories, and documentation. While normally none of these items is a real make or break item for a power supply the packaging quite often contains a lot of information about the product we are purchasing. The inclusion of an owner’s manual that provides actual information about our product is also of great help. Accessories are almost unnecessary with a power supply as the unit is self contained, unless it is modular, but there cases where a manufacturer can include useful accessories to make installation, routing, and use more efficient.
The OCZ ModXStream 700w is pleasant to the eyes and very informative. The red and black motif has placed about it a number of specification compliance stickers, some marketing points, power label (broken down below), warranty information, and the support information. All that seems to be missing is the connector count which could certainly be used by someone purchasing this off a store shelf. Suffice it to say, the OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro’s packaging would rival other units’ manuals. Now among those certifications is the SLI certification and 80Plus certification. A quick check of the SLIZone website finds the OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro is not listed as certified for any level of SLI at the time of publication however it is our understanding that it has been submitted. Checking the 80Plus website reveals that the unit is certified for Climate Savers level 1 which is 80%-80%-80% at 20%-50%-100% load. Moving on to the support side of things we find that the OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro carries a 3 year warranty. This length of warranty certainly seems to be in vogue of late and each time it comes up I have the same gripe. For an enthusiast class power supply 3 years is on the short side of things, but that is just my opinion. In OCZ's defense the support information is all prominently available on the box unlike some other units’ information which is hard to find even when searching for it.
The OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro by the numbers seems to be a bit off from what we have come to expect from modern 12v oriented power supplies. The unit only has ~78% of its DC output capacity available on the 12v rails which is certainly lower than what we have seen advertised on the comparable FSP Epsilon based units on the market. That might not be bad as none of those with much higher percentages have been [H] award worthy, so take that difference for what it is. Additionally, the unit only has one 6-pin PCI-Express connector and one modified 8-pin PCI-Express connector on 12v2. This means that the PCI-Express connectors could draw a total of 225w from this rail leaving 75w for all of the Molex, SATA, and floppy devices as 12v1 houses all the fixed connectors which include the 24-pin motherboard and P4/Aux(EPS) connectors.
Once we open the packaging for the OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro we find the usual assortment of items including the power supply, power cord, mounting screws, modular cables, manual, and test report. The manual included with this unit is in a word, useless. Actually it is more than useless, besides not including any real information; the 12v rail breakdown on the last page is incomplete/wrong. So as it turns out, even when attempting to be useful the manual is actually the exact opposite. Thank goodness for the good information on the box, right? If this is the level of support and information that is going to be included in a user manual, users really are better off getting no manual at all. Further, it is certainly ironic that the manual is so poor given that the unit also ships with a nice test report generated by PC Power & Cooling.