OCZ ZS 750w?

[hedshotx]

Hello, I was wondering if you guys could give me any useful information about this PSU. I am building a budget gaming rig with future upgrades in mind, and I know that a bad PSU can completely ruin/fry your whole system, so I am trying to make the best decision in regards to the PSU. I read that jonnyguru gave it a 9/10 for the 550w version, but I couldn't well understand his review. This PSU is on crazy sale on newegg, and I also saw that the 650w version was in a sticky thread somewhere around here. I understand that 750W maximum is quite different from 750w continuous, and that part worries me. My build is below and I am not sure if it will support it all, or if it will support future upgrades such as crossfiring 2 GPUs. If this is a bad choice, please redirect me to another affordable PSU!

My build:
i5 2500k
GIGABYTE GA-Z68AP-D3 or ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ( not sure)
8 gb DDR3 RAM
7200 RPM HDD
6950 or 6970 ( not sure )
dvdrw
Rosewill Challenger U3
PSU

 

[sosofm]

That PSU is 80+ bronze certified , but if you plan to overclock your CPU and maybe unlock the 6950 or overclock them then you need more then 800W PSU http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6950-crossfirex-review/14

 

[hedshotx]

For the time being with just one 6950 ( possibly a 6970 instead ), and the CPU which may be over clocked, will that PSU suffice? Also, the rosewill challenger case has 3 fans in it. Will the PSU have enough power for those as well, and will it have enough connectors?

 

[davcon]

Much better unit.Seasonic oem.
NZXT HALE82 HALE82-750-M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817116015
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/11
A quality 750W psu will be fine for dual 6970's.

 

[shanky887614]

Much better unit.Seasonic oem.
NZXT HALE82 HALE82-750-M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817116015
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/11
A quality 750W psu will be fine for dual 6970's.

whats the differnece between the ocz and the nzxt one (never heard of nzxt)

 

[davcon]

whats the differnece between the ocz and the nzxt one (never heard of nzxt)

The HALE is semi-modular and has Seasonic platform.
The OZC has fixed cables and is made by Sirfa.
The NZXT is better quality imo.
If modular cables aren't a big deal i'd probably get this.= lots of juice on the 12V.
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

 

[hedshotx]

I don't understand though what is the difference between those two PSU's and the OCZ I posted. They both have maximum voltage of 750W ( not continuous ), all three are bronze 80+. Is it mostly due to brand? I was referred to this page a while back, which lead me to the OCZ psu.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/322966-28-list-recommended-psus

I guess my question and reason for it is this: I am having trouble staying within my budget while trying to also build a rig that does in fact run BF3 on ultra (or damn close). The OCZ, after rebate and the $20 gift card will run for 55$, as compared to the 80 and 85 dollar models you showed. If the three are nearly identical, and the OCZ is a safe bet to power everything I need and maintain a quality stream of power, then I can put that 25-30 dollars saved toward another piece of hardware like a better gpu, or getting a little bit closer to my budget. If the two you showed are exponentially better however, and safer as whole to my system, then I will go for one of them.

Here is the newegg link to the OCZ btw: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049

 

[totalknowledge]

I think your confusion is coming in with slightly different model numbers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049 and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341052

One being made by Sirtec, the other by Great Wall...

The one you posted @ 55 is a pretty good deal. Its not top of the line, but it probably won't blow up either.

Here are some reviews of the same line in different wattages...

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=248
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/OCZ-ZS-Series-650-W-Power-Supply-Review/1361
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-and-Cooling/OCZ-ZS-Series-750W-Power-Supply-Review

 

[davcon]

I don't understand though what is the difference between those two PSU's and the OCZ I posted. They both have maximum voltage of 750W ( not continuous ), all three are bronze 80+. Is it mostly due to brand? I was referred to this page a while back, which lead me to the OCZ psu.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/322966-28-list-recommended-psus

I guess my question and reason for it is this: I am having trouble staying within my budget while trying to also build a rig that does in fact run BF3 on ultra (or damn close). The OCZ, after rebate and the $20 gift card will run for 55$, as compared to the 80 and 85 dollar models you showed. If the three are nearly identical, and the OCZ is a safe bet to power everything I need and maintain a quality stream of power, then I can put that 25-30 dollars saved toward another piece of hardware like a better gpu, or getting a little bit closer to my budget. If the two you showed are exponentially better however, and safer as whole to my system, then I will go for one of them.

Here is the newegg link to the OCZ btw: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049

By all means buy the OZC if budget is a concern.= something i was unaware of.
There's nothing wrong with OZC i own two ModX's, my main gaming rig has a Corsair for a reason though.
Btw all 3 units are 750W continuous output.
The $20 gift card is a bonus no doubt = use it for fans or something.
You still pay $99 for the OZC though off the bat.
OZC = +12V@54A 3yr warranty
NZXT = +12V@53A 5yr
Corsair = +12V@62A 5yr
The Corsair offers quite a bit more amps for o'cing and dual gpu's.
They're all good quality units

 

[ko888]

For a system using a single Radeon HD 6970 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 550 Watt or greater power supply. The power supply should also have a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 38 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

The OCZ ZS Series 750W (OCZ-ZS750W), with its +12 Volt continuous current rating of 54 Amps and with two 6-pin and two (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is more than capable of running your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 6970 and have plenty of spare capacity for overclocking and extra case cooling fans.

 

[hedshotx]

Alright, that's what I was getting at. Sorry for not putting that in the OP. I'm like 100$ over my budget max and I'm trying my hardest to cut it down so I still have some money for other school expenses :/. Davcon, you said that all three units were continuous output? I thought I looked on the NewEgg website and it said that all three were maximum in the details section. I didn't notice the increase in amps on the Corsair model and now I'm wondering about picking that one instead .

Do you guys think or know whether the OCZ 750w could power dual 6950s as well as an OC'd 2500k and 3 fans? And on top of that, does the OCZ have enough cords to connect to 3 fans?

 

[shanky887614]

Alright, that's what I was getting at. Sorry for not putting that in the OP. I'm like 100$ over my budget max and I'm trying my hardest to cut it down so I still have some money for other school expenses :/. Davcon, you said that all three units were continuous output? I thought I looked on the NewEgg website and it said that all three were maximum in the details section. I didn't notice the increase in amps on the Corsair model and now I'm wondering about picking that one instead .

Do you guys think or know whether the OCZ 750w could power dual 6950s as well as an OC'd 2500k and 3 fans? And on top of that, does the OCZ have enough cords to connect to 3 fans?

yes it has enough ports.


it has 8 molex on it.



i dont know wether it could power 2 or not. i dont know how much power the graphics cards pull (it has got enough pci-e power connecters though, but i dont know if its powerfull enough)

 

[totalknowledge]

The max they list on newegg is the max continuous output, not the peak output which may or may not even be listed anywhere.

 

[davcon]

Alright, that's what I was getting at. Sorry for not putting that in the OP. I'm like 100$ over my budget max and I'm trying my hardest to cut it down so I still have some money for other school expenses :/. Davcon, you said that all three units were continuous output? I thought I looked on the NewEgg website and it said that all three were maximum in the details section. I didn't notice the increase in amps on the Corsair model and now I'm wondering about picking that one instead .

Do you guys think or know whether the OCZ 750w could power dual 6950s as well as an OC'd 2500k and 3 fans? And on top of that, does the OCZ have enough cords to connect to 3 fans?

Dude! trust me, all 3 of those units deliver a continuous 750W.
Yes the OZC will be just fine and has all the proper cables.
A high quality 650W could run those specs.

 

[shanky887614]

Dude! trust me, all 3 of those units deliver a continuous 750W.
Yes the OZC will be just fine and has all the proper cables.
A high quality 650W could run those specs.

he is right


i could count the cables in pc if you like?


i know it has 8 molex and cant remember the number of pci-e

but i know there is enough for sli

 

[ko888]

For a system using two Radeon HD 6950 graphics cards in 2-way CrossFireX mode AMD specifies a minimum of a 700 Watt or greater power supply. The power supply should also have a combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 46 Amps or greater and have at least four 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

The OCZ ZS Series 750W (OCZ-ZS750W) should handle this just fine.

 

[hedshotx]

Thank you guys so much for the information and advice. The tomshardware community has saved me so much money on so many different parts. You guys are awesome

Last question directed at what ko888 said: Even with an overclocked 2500k to say, 4.7 ghz, on top of the dual 6950's, would that ocz 750w still be okay?

 

[ko888]

An i5-2500K overclocked to 4.7GHz will draw about 5 Amps more from the +12V rail than the stock/reference clocked CPU so the OCZ ZS Series 750W (OCZ-ZS750W) should be able to handle it.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I'm not comfy with the OCZ PSU's .... The XFX Core Editions have been in a lot of my builds of late but their prices are climbing weekly.....$55 seems hard to pass up.

One way to save some money would be the GFX card

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$ 170.00 6870 (434/701) $ 0.39 - $ 0.49
$ 220.00 6950 (479/751) $ 0.46 - $ 0.59
$ 240.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.50 - $ 0.63
$ 205.00 560 Ti (455/792) $ 0.45 - $ 0.52
$ 320.00 6970 (526/825) $ 0.61 - $ 0.78
$ 215.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.43 - $ 0.50

The 6870 come has the best bang for the buck at 39 cents per frame in single card config and 49 cents per frame in CF. Next up is the 900 Mhz 560 Ti at 43 cents per frame w/a single card and 50 cents per frame in SLI.

 

[theultimateeye]

I'd recommend the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 760w. Got it on sale at microcenter for 80 bucks. Pc power units have always gotten solid reviews and have great build quality. Not modular though.

 

[hedshotx]

What is it about OCZ that you dislike? The reviews I've read from most places seem to be pretty favorable of them.

Also, as for the GPU's, the 6870 is a fair ways behind the 6950 isn't it? I thought I remember reading somewhere that I wouldn't be able to get anywhere near ultra on BF3 if I chose the 6870.

And at the ultimateeye: Pc power and cooling is now owned by OCZ I believe, so it is nice to know that the pc power units have gotten solid reviews and quality.

 

[hedshotx]

@davcon. I'm not saying you are wrong or anything! I'm just curious why on some of the PSU's on newegg, they say like "continuous 700w" or what not. I don't understand why they would say maximum voltage for some and continuous for others

 

[totalknowledge]

Marketing jargon. when its a quality 750 unit it can deliver a continous 750 w maximum output. there is also a peak rating which they do not advertise which is the load the unit can handle for short periods of time.

 

[hedshotx]

Best answer selected by hedshotx.

 

[hedshotx]

Thanks guys. Waiting for the OCZ ZS 750W to come this week