OCZ StealthXstream 2 600W PSU review - Introduction

We stated it before, power supplies are reaching the end of their innovation development cycle and seem to have changed very little ever since the last year. Over the past years we've seen the move from low Wattage 350W power supplies in the dull gray / dull wiring combo towards the most advanced Power supplies you can think of. PSU's these day's are trendy, good looking, preferably has a modular cable design, silent, very safe to use. The latest trend though .. being green, the quest for highly efficient power supplies.

OCZ picked up on that trend for a long time now and slowly but gradually is implementing greener products into that mainstream, market as well.

See, innovation is what it is all about. Five years ago we all had these dull metal grey power supplies, then the consumer and tech market demanded more wattage and performance, we wanted more reliability and right after the physical design challenge in that the industry came up with another concept, modular power supplies to keep everything nice and organized inside that PC of yours. Ever since the last year or so another trend kicked in that started something of a race amongst the top manufacturers -- being green. Delivering a PSU with the highest efficiency, as high efficiency can save on power consumption, which is not only good for mother nature, but also your power bill.

Today's tested product from OCZ fits a sharp budget. It offers, stability, decent design and then good performance and top notch efficiency, saving you on your power bill and mother nature.

The power supplies are so advanced and can take so much load that some serious kit is required to measure under heavy load and to test ripple. We here at Guru3D, do it the old-fashioned way though, we throw as much gear as possible to a power supply (close to its maximum peak wattage) start to stress the components and then monitor the power supply voltage lines for instability. Though not the most objective way to test a PSU, it certainly is a challenging one for any PSU we test, and we are happy to do so.

Today we'll have a look at one of OCZ's latest power supplies. It is the all new StealthXstream 2 600 Watt power supply which can get 85% efficient at typical loads. Will we be impressed by this 80+ certified power supply? Well, let's find out and head onward to the actual review, next page please.