Home : Hardware : Reviews : OCZ GameXStream Power Supply 600W
Installation of the GameXStream is pretty standard for a power supply – screw in the screws and plug in the connectors. OCZ labeled all of the connectors, so if you’ve got a well-marked motherboard, figuring out what plugs go where is pretty easy. OCZ wrapped as many groups of cables as possible, a nice feature that increases the flow of air through the case, but I’m surprised that they didn’t go one step further and make the PSU modular so you could remove any cables you don’t need.
During installation, I was confused for a while about how to plug in both the 20+4-pin ATX power and the two 4-pin CPU power connectors. The 4-pin ATX connector looks just like the CPU connectors and even though OCZ wrapped the two ATX connectors in the same group of cables, if you’re not familiar with the expanded ATX plug in a dual-core motherboard (like me), you might miss where each plug goes. Including a sheet with a detailed description of the connectors to avoid this confusion might be a good addition.
Performance
Using ASUS’s PC Probe II utility, I monitored the +3.3, +5.0 and +12.0 voltages from the power supply for half an hour. For the most part, the voltages remained steady while running a normal-sized load (including several USB devices), with only the +3.3 voltage flickering from 3.25v to 3.23v during the test. As you can see from the graphics, the other two voltages stayed at 4.92v and 12.29v respectively and on the whole, a deviation of no more than 3 percent from the standard is perfectly acceptable in a good power supply.
Besides running a standard full load of two PCI-express cards, an AMD dual-core processor, 2 GB of PC2-8000 RAM, a SATA hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, a CD-RW drive and USB devices like a scanner, printer, mouse and external hard drive without any problems, I also ran a number of overclocking tests on the processor, video cards, RAM and the motherboard and never had any problem getting the power or stability I needed from the GameXStream.
Highs
Very stable; delivers the needed power in all situations.
Lows
Cables aren’t modular; layout of connectors needs to be better documented for installers who are new to dual-core motherboards.
Final verdict
An excellent choice for any gamer looking for a high-quality power supply.
90%
Nov 25, 2006
Review by Eric Hanson.
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