Is the OCZ Z-series 550W worth it?

[Plimogz]

Good Evening!

A local shop near here has a pretty good price on an OCZ Z-series 550w PSU and seeing as how they don't usually carry much in the way of major brand name power supplies, I'm pretty interested in picking it up. The thing is, I can't find a review for this exact model. I don't quite know what other PSU's I might be able to get for around that same amount of money, so I certainly can't expect anyone to have a very precise recommendation as to whether or not I should buy this product or another one. And please bare in mind that I'm not ordering online and my choices will be pretty limited. However I want whatever power supply I end up buying to have "very" clean 12V line(s). So if this one can't deliver that I'd rather just pass on it and maybe wait a while or I don't know what.

The problem is, I can't seem to find a review for this thing. JonnyGuru had one for a higher wattage model, and I read that article some time back -- the higher rated one was 80+ Gold, whereas this one is 80+ Silver, so I'm guessing there's always the chance that they are built according to some pretty widely differing specs... Anyway, if there's anyone around with some experience with this model, and preferably a link to good review, I would be very thankful.

I'll post back here if ever my own reserch yields the information which I so crave.

 

[HOOfan 1]

It isn't even the same manufacturer who makes the one that Oklahoma Wolf at jonnyguru.com reviewed.

The Z-550 is an FSP Epsilon platform. A very hit or miss platform. Even at their best, they are only very good, but not exceptional. At their worst, they are not absolutely and utterly horrible, but they are not good. Too much ripple, especially on the 12V line.

What price are they selling it for, and how does that price compare to other units you can get?

 

[Plimogz]

The Z-Series 550W is going for 90$. (all prices are CDN btw.)

here are some other PSUs I could possibly get from the same location, with the approx. cost of each (links are included solely for your convenience and to avoid any possible confusion as to the exact models in question) :

- OCZ Fatal1ty 550w - 70$

- RaidMax 600w Aurora - 70$

- Ultra LSP750 750w - 80$

- Sparkle FSP650-80GLCR 650w - 105$

 

[theAnimal]

The correct answer is f) None of the above.

I'd go with Antec TPN 650 for $99.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...c&promoid=1210

 

[Plimogz]

The correct answer is f) None of the above.

I'd go with Antec TPN 650 for $99.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...c&promoid=1210

Wow! where to start?
-The link you provided appears to list that Antec at 123.27$. Am I not seeing where it's priced at 99$ Or what? (I suppose you missed the part about this all being in CANADIAN dollars. You've heard of CANADA, right? that's where CANADIAN dollars are used, mainly)
-The OP clearly states: "And please bare in mind that I'm not ordering online and my choices will be pretty limited" -- pretty self-explanatory that one, really
-And, just as I'm thanking you for the kind, if cursory, interest you've demonstrated for the topic at hand, I'll go on to propose G) Antec CP-850 850W - 129.99$

I mean, if I'm going to be ordering online (which I'm not) and spending more than a hundred dollars (The CP-850 would be 7$ more than the TPN 650) then I might as well get voltage regulation and ripple/noise suppression on par with a 250+$ signature for 129$.

Of course, anybody who actually read the thread carefully before posting would know that the possible answers only went up to E). With the only correct answer being information regarding the Z550's performance or build quality.

 

[HOOfan 1]

The Z-Series 550W is going for 90$. (all prices are CDN btw.)

here are some other PSUs I could possibly get from the same location, with the approx. cost of each (links are included solely for your convenience and to avoid any possible confusion as to the exact models in question) :

- OCZ Fatal1ty 550w - 70$

- RaidMax 600w Aurora - 70$

- Ultra LSP750 750w - 80$

- Sparkle FSP650-80GLCR 650w - 105$

None of those are very good.

The OCZ Fatal1ty is rather mediocre
The Raidmax and Ultra are absolute crap.
The Sparkle is overpriced and mediocre

I would say if you have to buy from that shop, then the OCZ Z-Series is the best of that bunch.

 

[theAnimal]

Wow! where to start?
-The link you provided appears to list that Antec at 123.27$. Am I not seeing where it's priced at 99$ Or what? (I suppose you missed the part about this all being in CANADIAN dollars. You've heard of CANADA, right? that's where CANADIAN dollars are used, mainly)
-The OP clearly states: "And please bare in mind that I'm not ordering online and my choices will be pretty limited" -- pretty self-explanatory that one, really
-And, just as I'm thanking you for the kind, if cursory, interest you've demonstrated for the topic at hand, I'll go on to propose G) Antec CP-850 850W - 129.99$

I mean, if I'm going to be ordering online (which I'm not) and spending more than a hundred dollars (The CP-850 would be 7$ more than the TPN 650) then I might as well get voltage regulation and ripple/noise suppression on par with a 250+$ signature for 129$.

Of course, anybody who actually read the thread carefully before posting would know that the possible answers only went up to E). With the only correct answer being information regarding the Z550's performance or build quality.

Relax, eh.

The link I posted clearly lists a $98.99 sale price for me when I click it, and ncix is a Canadian site (basically the Canadian version of newegg). If those were the only options I had available locally, I would definitely buy online for better quality.

 

[Plimogz]

@HOOfan 1

Thanks for the advice!
I guess OCZ is in no hurry to get Z550s to reviewers... I think I'll go ahead and be in no hurry to pick one up Perhaps I'll ask the shop owner to order something specially for me... seing as how nothing they keep in stock is really nice quality.

 

[Lewy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ory-_-17139005

$69 and change after $20 rebate for a great PS.

 

[HOOfan 1]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ory-_-17139005

$69 and change after $20 rebate for a great PS.

Except that he would have to buy from newegg.ca, where it is $110 CAD.

 

[Lewy]

I live in the USA but I buy from Canadian companies often. Perhaps he has to pay shipping or duty? Also the Candian egg has a $10USD rebate ?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-005-_-Product

Maybe he can just buy from the USA egg and not even pay shipping? I would try anyway and see what happens are check out. Last time I looked our dollars were pretty equal.

 

[Lewy]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/268313-31-forwarding-components-canada

Looks like it can work out if you near the border but they don't make it easy.

I get the same feelings not having a Fry's near me.

 

[Plimogz]

Maybe he can just buy from the USA egg and not even pay shipping? I would try anyway and see what happens are check out. Last time I looked our dollars were pretty equal.

That's a lovely fantasy world you seem to live in. LOL.

Seriously, I looked over that Tom's Hardware thread you linked. As far as I can see, the two only "solutions" which were mentioned there either involved:

A)using a middleman to receive the package and then ship it into Canada. Which apparently cost 9$ per package + UPS fees + customs + (probably) customs brokerage fees. I can't even begin to tell you how much overhead this would add to my transaction. I suppose I could go ahead and do it, pay the extra hundred-or-so dollars and document my experience, but I won't.

B)using another kind of middleman to just hold the package on the other side of the border and actually, physically drive down to pick it up. LOL. Have you any idea how totally incovenient that would be? not to mention expensive?

Why do people keep going wildly off-topic? All I care to know about is pretty much outlined in the title: Is the OCZ Z-series 550W worth it? So far out of 3 people who've posted only HOOfan 1 has actually mentioned the Z550 in any of their posts. Come on all you people who just go around spouting mindless, generic purchasing advice online, learn to read the thread before you post, won't you?

 

[tomoyo]

That's interesting. The Z550 is really cheap in the US at $50 after rebate at zipzoomfly. I had no idea it was a completely different platform from the higher end Z-series. I'm very curious how it performs since it's on a FSP platform that is obviously geared for efficiency. The higher end Z-series actually reviewed better than I expected, being decent, but not great. If the Z550 can live up to those standards, it sounds like a very good deal for a high efficiency psu...guess we'll have to hope for a review.

 

[Plimogz]

I cannot for the life of me find a review of this thing online. I feel like plunking down the 90$ just to void her warranty all night long...

 

[v8envy]

The Raidmax and Ultra are absolute crap.
/QUOTE]

Just to nitpick, the LSP series from Ultra are a notch above Raidmax. I certainly wouldn't pay that kind of money for either, but I'd say the Ultra deserves "crap" as opposed to "absolute crap." It should be made by Andyson not Wintec; and while it won't output anywhere near the rated 45 amps on 12v it's still a reliable enough (if inefficient) 400-450 watt PSU.

The trouble starts when people actually try to draw anywhere near rated power from Ultras by trying to power an overclocked i7 with a dozen drives, fans and several well endowed graphics cards. You just can't do that and expect the attached hardware to live very long.

 

[HOOfan 1]

The Raidmax and Ultra are absolute crap.
/QUOTE]

Just to nitpick, the LSP series from Ultra are a notch above Raidmax. I certainly wouldn't pay that kind of money for either, but I'd say the Ultra deserves "crap" as opposed to "absolute crap." It should be made by Andyson not Wintec; and while it won't output anywhere near the rated 45 amps on 12v it's still a reliable enough (if inefficient) 400-450 watt PSU.

The trouble starts when people actually try to draw anywhere near rated power from Ultras by trying to power an overclocked i7 with a dozen drives, fans and several well endowed graphics cards. You just can't do that and expect the attached hardware to live very long.

as far as I know, the Ultra Lifetime Series were made by Wintech...just like the X2, and the LSP 750 is the same internally as the X2 Extreme Edition which got one of the worst reviews I have ever seen at HardOCP. Wintech has gone out of business though, so maybe they are made by Andyson or another OEM now.

BTW Raidmax also uses some low end Andyson units, as well as FSP and I believe some ATNG stuff too.

 

[v8envy]

Wow, we both epic fail at quoting. Sure enough, Raidmax could also using the same OEM for the 600W product, an OEM known to be hit and miss.

I retract my nitpick, they are both likely to be equivalent complete crap. Looks like at least some LSP 750 have Andyson UL numbers (same as the X3, not X2) which explains why they don't immolate every user's machine right away, but the wintech manufactured units are very dangerous. So a gamble on top of a gamble.

So to recap,

450 watt FSP for $70
~350 watt Wintec for $70
~350 watt Wintec for $80
550 watt FSP for $105

From those choices it comes down to whether 450 watts will be enough (remember capacitor aging and temperature derating).

OP, do you have office supply stores such as Staples, OfficeMax or OfficeDepot in the area? Big chain stores like Best Buy also work. You should be able to find an Antec EA380 or EA500 there for roughly the same pricepoints as the above choices. The EA380 should run anything the '750 watt' ultra can, and the EA500 should be comprable to the higher rated FSP unit.

 

[Plimogz]

Yes v8envy, I do have office supply stores in my area. I hope you don't mind if I surveyed their PSU choices from the comfort of my chair; I'm currently injured and doing the whole "Jimmy Stewart/Rear Window" thing in front of my monitor -- unfortunately sans Grace Kelly to come check up on me.

Anyway, here's what I found on the websites of some of the office/tech supply stores which I could check out... if there's something worth checking out, that is:

From Futureshop.ca:
- Dynex 500W(DX-PS500W) - 93$

From Staples.ca:
- Retail Plus 465W - 60$
- Retail Plus 550W - 80$
- Retail Plus 700W - 100$
- BFG Tech GS-650 650W - 120$

From Bestbuy.ca:
- Dynex 400W - 80$
- Antec EarthWatts 500W - 100$
- Antec EarthWatts 650W - 120$
- Antec EarthWatts 750W - 150$
- Rocketfish 550W - 130$
- Rocketfish 700W - 150$

As you can see, while I do have access to some alternatives, including the EarthWatts 500W for 100$, I'm thinking that the OCZ Z550W might not be that bad of a deal at 90$. Especially when I consider the big box store alternatives. Retail Plus Power Supplies? Who ever heard of Retail Plus? that's got to be some sh*tty PSU right there... I just wish I could find a review of the Z550 somewhere; I'm still looking around. I would love to be able to compare the EA500 and the Z550.

 

[v8envy]

I just wish I could find a review of the Z550 somewhere; I'm still looking around. I would love to be able to compare the EA500 and the Z550.

If you can't find that particular model you can look for other Fortron Source epsilon platform PSUs rated for 550 watts. It should give you a rough idea of how the two will compare.

Me, I'd just go for the seasonic unit over an FSP, even if the Seasonic is rated 50 watts lower. My data point is the OCZ 700 watt *XStream series, which are also FSP Epsilon platform units. In my biased opinion they are comparable (if slightly inferior) to an EA500. I somehow doubt a unit rated for 150 watts less would have higher grade components or better build quality.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

To answer your question in an outside-the-box manner, OP, it's worth it to increase your budget and buy from a shop that carries quality products. I have never seen a >500w PSU with stable, clean power for less than $130 USD, which means more in CND. So, no I don't think buying a Z-Series 550 is worth it.

 

[gorobei]

you can get a good psu for less than$100, you just have to find a good sale. I have a corsair hx520 and enermax infiniti720, and paid $70 for each after rebates.

OP, it would help if you listed your system components. While we can debate over whether a z-series550 is "good" or not on its own merits, but if you are running a htpc with igp and a pentium2xxx dual core then the z-series may be fine.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Yeah but I don't like to quote prices from rare sales. If someone asked how much my i7 cost, I would say they cost about $290, but you can get them at Micro Center most of the time for $200. I know ZZF had a few really decent PSUs on sale a while ago, but that doesn't help the OP now does it?

 

[Meghan54]

I have never seen a >500w PSU with stable, clean power for less than $130 USD, which means more in CND.

Here you go.....less than 25mV noise/ripple on all rails at full load, 2% voltage regulation (True, not 1%, but for the price, excellent performance!)....for under $130 shipped, USD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371025

 

[Emulex]

the problem i see is that by the time someone has one; verifies its good; its possible production has replaced the parts with other parts and you could have suckage.

Parts du jour of china - happens alot sadly.