OCZ ModXStream 780 Watt Modular Power Supply

OCZ has been catering power supplies to the PC enthusiast ever since they began to offer power supplies in their product lineup.  When it comes to PC enthusiasts, they are looking for power supplies that stand out of the ordinary and offer great performance. Today, we look at the ModXStream series from OCZ.  The ModXStream series of power supplies offer modular connections. OCZ calls this EZMod.  Although it is neither SLI or Crossfire certified, this 780 Watt version features two 6-pin PCI-E connectors.

Upon opening the box, you will find the manual, which is very basic but offers enough information to install this power supply; a velcro strap to store unused or extra cables, a power cable, and black screws. 

Here are some of the main features and specifications from OCZ's website:

The Power Supply:

The power supply features a matte black color, which looks professional.

Looking at the side of the power supply, there is an OCZ label which features the OCZ logo, the model number and a condensed specification list.  Note that there are four +12v rails, each supplying up to 20 Amps, which is great for peripherals requiring lots of power. It is also RoHS compliant.  OCZ also includes a +12v rail listing, which states that the 12v1 rail is for the CPU (1), the 12v2 rail is for the 6-Pin PCI-Express rail (2), along with the CPU (2) connector.  12v3 is for the motherboard, hard drives, optical drives, etc.  12v4 is dedicated to the PCI-Express (1) connector.

The rear (outside of case) features a large honeycomb style grille for exhausting air from the power supply via the 120 mm fan on the bottom of the power supply.  There is an on/off switch and AC Power Input.  This power supply offers a full range power circuit and Active PFC, so there is no need for a 110v / 240v switch. 

The Cables:

The modular connections on the ModXStream 780W.

This power supply features the following cables:

-A 24-pin ATX power connector with removable 4 pin for backwards 20-pin compatibility.

-A 4-pin CPU ATX Power Connector, with a detachable 4-pin connector that allows for 8-pin EPS 12v compatibility

-An additional 8-pin EPS +12v connector.  Note that this one cannot be separated into two 4-pin connectors.

-2x  6-Pin PCI-Express Power Connectors

-4x Molex Power Connectors

-6x Serial ATA Power Connectors.

-2x Floppy Power Connectors

Cooling:

There is a large 120mm fan on the bottom of this power supply, it features clear blades and blue led lights. During testing, at idle speeds, this fan is almost silent, which is great for a quiet system.  With loads, the fan will rev up and stay at a medium speed.

Inside the Power Supply:

* Taking this power supply apart will void the warranty.

Inside the power supply, there are three small heat sinks that offer fins to cool down the voltage rectifiers. I was surprised to see how few heat sinks there were in this power supply, especially for a 780 Watt Power Supply.  There are also two transformers, one large and one one smaller transformer in the middle.  A large copper coil can be seen in the bottom middle of the picture.  An large sized CapXon branded primary capacitor is seen in the bottom left.

-A CapXon branded primary capacitor

-It seems as if the PCB for this power supply is also found in 1010 Watt GameXStream Power Supply.

The fan inside is a Protechnic Electric MGA12012HB fan , with a maximum draw of 0.45Amps.

Testing:

For this power supply, the test system consists of the following:

-Antec Nine Hundred Case

-AMD Opteron 165 Dual Core Socket 939 CPU @ 2.9 GHz (1.62v)

-ThermalTake Blue Orb II Heat Sink

-DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-D

-2GB of Corsair XMS Platinum PC3200 Memory

-320GB x 4 Western Digital 16MB Cache Hard Drives

-2x nVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS Video Cards @ 625MHz Core / 1000 MHz Memory

-Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card

-Sony 16x DVD-RAM / 18x Samsung DVD-RAM Drives

-3x 120MM fans, 1x 200mm fan

-2x CCFL Lights

(Multimeter Results)

*For additional / larger pictures of the ModXStream 780 Watt, Click Here

Voltages are at 'Max Load', running 3DMark06 CPU Test 1 and 2 / Deep Freeze HDR test, and read with a Multi-Meter.

The results are excellent for this power supply. Everything ran fine during testing; the system was stable and performed the tests as expected.  During the tests, the fan speed climbed up to what I would call a medium speed and stayed there.  When the system is idle or doing simple tasks, the fan is quiet.  I was satisfied with the noise characteristics during the testing.  The LED fan grew brighter as the fan speed increased. Installation of this power supply was easy.

Overall, the ModXStream 780 Watt is a recommended power supply. The ModXStream 780 Watt is offered at ~$180, which is a good deal for a power supply on the 700/800 Watt level.  It offers 780 Watts of power and modular cabling for a reasonable price.  The inclusion of the blue LED fan is also welcome.   It is multi-gpu ready with two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors.  OCZ's 3 Year Power Swap warranty is also included with this power supply.  This power supply does not include the new 6+2 pin PCI-Express power connector, which was disappointing.

Pros +

-Great Power Delivery and Stability

-Modularized Cabling

-Two CPU auxiliary 4 and 8 pin connectors

-Quiet

-LED Fan

Cons -

-No 6+2 Pin PCI-Express Power Connector, not ready for future PCI-E graphics cards.

Techaddicts.net would like to give this power supply a 9 out of 10 rating and the Techaddicts 'Recommended' Award for its great power delivery and overall value.

Home