What are your experiences with OCZ PSUs?

[Joe42]

OCZ have been making PSUs for some time now and i've yet to hear a bad thing said about them.
I'm wondering if its time to add OCZ to the 'A list' of PSU manufacturers.

Currently the list is: Antec, Enermax, Seasonic, FSP, Tagan. These manufacturers have been around for a long time, and although their PSUs are not immune to failures its generally accepted that they won't damage connected components, which is the main thing that differentiates a high quality PSU from a lower quality PSU.

Usually the standard response to a 'which psu' thread is to get a PSU from a manufacturer in that list, followed by specific advice as to which one.

So i'm wondering, what are your experiances with OCZ PSUs?

Any bad experiences, such as damage to connected equipment as a result of PSU failure?

Any good experiences? Whats their tech support been like for you?

Any other manufacturers you think should be added to the 'A list' and recomended regularly?

I've used their tech support for ram and it seemed pretty good.
I might read a few reviews and see what the tech sites think of them, but i reckon they have been around long enough now with no major problems reported to start recommending them to people. I might get one myself if the noise levels are good.

 

[Kesnel]

I'd say OCZ are definitely 'A-list' worthy. My 600w Powerstream has been fantastic, never a problem with it, I love the adjustable rails too. Fantastically stable too even under very heavy load, I've yet to see any instability from the rails.

Definitely gets the thumbs up from me.

 

[drunkenmaster]

its simple, some have died, thats life, but they are solid, very solid psu's with simply the company with the single best customer service around. memory and psu's just get a grade direct customer service.

first batch of uk 600w powerstreams would click due to the variability of our voltages(uk goes from 220 to 260v or something depending on time of year(weather)) and it would cause the active pfc circuitry to click if not spot on 240v or something along those lines. even though it still worked fine but was just a bit noisier than it should be, they actively told people on forums to rma them. they didn't wait for "my psu clicks" e-mails but told people they had an issue and could rma if they wanted. i think the fan in mine was overly loud to so rma'd, bloke whose name i forgot in the uk , mighta been tony, sent out replacement day he recieved mine, recieved next day. you can't really beat a company that actively recalls pretty much working psu's for a slight click.

 

[Joe42]

its simple, some have died, thats life, but they are solid, very solid psu's.

Its a little more complicated than that, what makes a PSU manufacturer A-list worthy is not making PSUs that don't fail, its making PSUs which don't damage connected components when they fail and by the sounds of it the OCZ PSUs will happliy die and not take anything else with them.

Pleased to hear about the good customer service too, something that even some of the A list manufacturers are a little weak on.

Just read a review of one on SPCR and it looks like they aren't too great for low noise, but fine for most people.

 

[Witcher]

IIRC FSP PSU's are made by the same people as the OCZ series.

I have read some very good reviews of the Gamextream series and wanted to get one, but the only place I could find one was shipping from Ireland and was horribly expensive as a result.

I hear less good things about the Powerstream series (see review on Custom PC for example). The customer service is meant to be excellent though.