OCZ ZT 650W power supply review

So OCZ introduced the new ZT series with an 80+ Bronze certification, tested by the 80PLUS organization (the people that certify and test efficiency). But what does such a certification entail?

Well, we have bronze, silver, gold, and platinum certifications. A PSU that is certified “80 PLUS Gold” or “80 PLUS Platinum” is more efficient than a normal unit. Below you’ll find a table that shows what efficiency levels a PSU has to achieve at a given load to make the grade for a specific certification level.

All the OCZ ZT power supplies are certified by the 80PLUS organization to deliver an 85% energy efficiency at 50% load (which equals with a Bronze label) and also comply with the ErP (Energy Related product) directive to ensure less than 1W of power is used in passive standby and off modes.

The series as stated exists out of three models with a wattage of 550W, 650W, and 750W, but all of these feature similar specifications as well as a single 12V rail. This can deliver between 45A and 62A of power depending on the model chosen.

As far as the available connectors are concerned, all the units feature a minimum of five SATA power plugs, at least six MOLEX plugs, as well as a minimum og of two 6+2-pin PCI Express connectors.

The 750W models adds another two PCI Express plugs to the mix (one 6-pin and one 6+2-pin), making it compatible with AMD CrossFireX and Nvidia SLI dual-GPU configurations.

OCZ's latest power supplies are kept cool are kept cool under heavy usage with a large temperature and load-controlled 140mm double ball-bearing fan.