in some cases yes, in some cases no. It's widely known that having a good ups can prevent power failure in a computer, but not all the time. regardless of what kind of psu you have, getting a ups will in most cases help it live longer, and under less stress.
I have to admit that my OCZ 520 does an awesome job and it doesn't make me wish any other PSU.
Dammm from reading computerpro's posts, I am definitely glad I got a PCP&C 510. I did his little challenge and well.... found only a few instances where they failed from being over driven by multiple peltier's on the 12 volt in addition to a beefy system. but this is just overload and the power supply wasnt damaged, so really it isnt a bad thing, user error as usual.
Also I agree with the warranty being better. Also the custom options really just plain out say that PCP&C know's their product and has done their homework. Sure it'll cost more but you shouldnt be buying expensive computer stuff if your poor.
Also one big thing I noticed from switching my old high quality power supply to a PCP&C is that my computer doesnt crash and reset when I turn on a device that sags the power line a bit and dims the lights like my custum 9 channel amplifier putting out 7200 watts. or the vacuum cleaner, AC etc.
I'm an electronics engineer and have seen the insides of the PCP&C and can say that it is indeed packed with decent quality components and evidently in a way that things dont break in shipping (OCZ's 600W failure excuse). This power supply is bult more like an industrial medical critical systems switch mode power supply than a computer one, which also says a lot about the qulaity of engineering put into it. I have never scene the insides of an OCZ one but from what I've read doing a serch on google, I bet they are using inferior caps and inferior voltage regulation causing the caps to explode and output devices to explode giving the loud crack snap and pop.
If your having a good time with your OCZ, then good!!! but from what I've read there is a significant population that has had major problems with them. If you look at PCP&C, it's MUCH MUCH harder to find a bad article on them even though they have been around much much longer... put that in your pipe and toke it.
At last, an answer.
I know that OCZ has a great reputation in customer service, and I know that lots of people have no problem with there products. However, it is really hard to RMA anything from where I am. And I'm not paying 200$ for anything if there is an RMA possibility to begin with.
Thanks computerpro3
My mind is made up.
looked a little more into the ocz 520's dying, because even I was blown away by how many there were, I was looking for a common variable.
I noticed that the board they most failed on was the msi k8n neo 2. i wonder if that's just because so many people use it or if there is a compatibility issue? I can cite 7 or 8 instances already, and I'm continuing to look into it.
two questions
1. are pc p&c psu as good without mods as they are with mods?
2. y do people do mods on it?
sorry if the questions r stupid, but im relatively new here.
Computerpro,
While I ultimately agree with the saying "you get what you pay for" I cannot find a reason to buy a PSU that is $20-$80 ,600-520W respectively,more when you may have MINIMAL gains, if any that would REALLY be noticed.
I am not trying to get this fued going agian cause it is gettin out of hand, :D I just want to point out the fact that money, I think, becomes the real factor when deciding between these 2 GREAT PSU's.
Also, all those quotes that you found fail to mention that some of the components that were blown up by these bad OCZ PSU's, OCZ actually replaced!!! I have read on bleedingedge where OCZ paid for video cards and such that were destroyed by their defective PSU's.
I prefer not to have my things die in the first place.
Good point, neither do I :DQuote:
Originally Posted by computerpro3
I just wanted people to know that OCZ has great customer service, the best that I have ever dealt with.
Although the ideal situation is to never have to deal with RMA support, but crap happens, right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ed.howell
They do have excellent service, they have really made a 180 in that regard, and I respect them for that.
I would hope they have great customer service because they are a marketing company, who tells an OEM what they want and market it under their own name. Marketing companies always go under because of poor customer service, which basicly is the only product/service they really truely sell. It's good to see that OCZ realizes this but they seam to be plagued with the 2nd major problem marketing companies have which is poor quality products from china....
In reality, $200 for a good quality 510 watt switchmode power supply is a STEAL!!! look at REAL industrial switchmode power supplies and tell me $200 is a lot of money. You really do get what you pay for and in this case, a very rare case, your getting a whup assk deal on a good power supply.
Hmm right first off.. I AM Glorfy! I'd change my name here if I knew how! In common with a lot of people, my problems with the PSU were of my own making. My particular problem was caused by an incorrectly wired molex>PCIe adaptor. It was wired to the 5v side of the molex instead of the 12v. Now that I know that, everything is fine. Secondly, there are a lot of people connecting these psus up incorrectly, through either not reading the instructions, or not understanding them. People have been taking the 4 pin part off the 24 pin connector and connecting it up to the 12v MB socket - not a good idea, also due to it having the 8pin feature (4+4), people have been plugging the wrong set of 4 pins into the same socket. - its not OCZ fault that they have a future proof psu that people don't understand. Thirdly there was the issue of those damaged in transit. There are bound to be plenty of examples of bad psus when googling due to the way OCZ operates its business, with a furum at BE dedicated to helping there customers. The fact that they do this should be a credit to them, not a detriment.
I have just recieved my 600w OCZ yesterday and yes it was DOA. I called OCZ and they were very helpful. Understood the problem and shipped me out the same day a brand new hand tested unit via fedex with the charge on them. They also agreed to pay for return shipping on my dead unit. That is great customer service. It is a hassle yes but at least it isn't coming out of my pocket. I wish I had the same experience with Antec. It took me a month to get a replacement PSU when I had one die and that was only with follow up calls trying to find out what is going on. In replacement for my brand new psu I ended up getting a repaired refurb instead which didn't impress me. At least with OCZ I am getting a brand new one and being guaranteed its working as they test it themselves before it goes out. 5 year warranty is great too even if only the first 3 years are with a full swap. By the end of 3 years I am sure there will be bigger and better psu's to buy anyways. I think you are doing a great job OCZ. Keep up the great work. Myself and others will surely be supporting you in the future no doubt.
computerpro3 - There are a lot of dead, defective, and "underperforming" neo2's.. I dont think running them with an OCZ power supply has anything to do with their deaths.
Ther are not even in the same league. Look at the insides of PCPC jam packed with heavy duty inductors caps coils etc. half the inside of OCZ is Heat sink. And I'm sure the tolerances are not even close between them.
Plus PCPC 510 is really a 700W PSU. OCZ with fancy lights, fancy chrome, fancy cableing with PCPC insides would cost $299, not $150. Think.
sorry to ask but anyone knows if there is a store that sells ocz or pcpc psu in taiwan, and how much they cost??
between ocz 520 & 600 &pcpc 510, sorry to ask but i live in chile (southamerica) and my gf is on vacation in taiwan (taipei exactly) and she is the one that will buy the psu and i cant find anything in english or spanish, i already emailed to ocz but thay havent answered.
well the 510 deluxe is around $200 (US dollars that is)
I agree with what you're saying - the PCP&P is the better power supply - however - its not cheap. Thus - I will stick with my Fortron. I am a self confessed Fortron Fanboy.Quote:
Originally Posted by computerpro3
Also - your method of using Google to demonstrate which power supply has more failures is decidedly unscientific and quite meaningless. OCZ sells signifigantly more power supplys - to a completely different group of people than would buy the PCP&P.
On the otherhand - it was rather dramatic and effective at getting people's attention. Heck - it certainly got mine.
For the reccord my 5 minutes of googling only found 1 guy with a bad Fortron but then it turned out it wasn't bad. He only thought it was.
:D:D:D
OCZ PSUs could be made to OCZ specs. I don't want to refute that.
However, they are designed and manufactured by Topower.
And as has been show by multiple posts here and elsewhere, Topower does not manufacture PSUs to high standard. Whatever the electrical specs.
Also, the Tagan PSU that is deemed unsafe electrically (due to design) and not fit for sale at all, has the prestigious 3 year warranty and a high price tag.
So, it's not really a guarantee of quality.
I don't want to attack OCZ and I think that they do a very good job on many fronts.
I just don't want people to get overly optimistic about Topower manufactured PSUs, until Topower actually starts designing and manufacturing good quality PSUs :)
If your OCZ works fine (like my Tagan), then great, but don't be fooled into thinking that the electrical performance, max temperature range or general quality is approaching that of Zippy manufactured PSUs (like PCP&C 510 and above).
Personally I'd really like to see a Zippy manufactured PSU with some of the features that OCZ Modstream has.
Now _THAT_ would be a very interesting PSU for overclockers and quality fanatics alike.
friendly regards,
halcyon
The way I look at it, they are both very good & you can't go wrong either way.
halcyon - I agree with your last paragraph :) I cannot speak to the quality of an OCZ PSU vs a PCP one, as PCP are not available in the UK. I can rate them against a couple of Antec PSUs I've had (neopower 480 and Trueblue), and they trounce them for stability and power. As a very unscientific test :rolleyes: I've used a Neopower 480, an OCZ 520, and an OCZ 600 with my SLI set up (2X6800GT) while monitoring the voltages through Asus probe (told you it was unscientific :)) the voltages were seen to vary very slightly. Not with the OCZ 600 though! Acouple of runs through with 3DMark05 (clocked 400/1100) and the lines were dead straight! No variation whatsoever! Unless you have experience with OCZ power supplies, I think its a bit unfair to dismiss them as 'being made by topower'! Also OCZ is very clear as to what the specs of their PSUs are - for instance the quoted performance is for up to a temperature of 50C - and as previously mentioned OCZ customer support is sooo good it makes you wonder why all companies can't be like it
BTW - the modstream is a PSU I wouldn't want! They take the best features of the modstream, throw them away and give it some tacky cable system - another thing I hated about the Neopower PSU - fully installed it looked like a rats nest in my case!
Oh - I hope bigtoe doesn't mind me quoting him, but heres something he had to say on their customer care. -
'One of the reasons our ram is a little more expensive is so we can offer the support Lightspeed has experienced. We have a dedicated team who search online forums for customers with issues and offer help. We have a support forum hosted on a neutral forum not attached to OCZ in anyway so that we can show we do not censor posts and do honestly mean what we say.
If you decide to try ocz products you know all your support answers are only a forum post away'
And its true the good the bad, and the ugly, its all there, which is why so many google links can be found - and its also the reason buying from them is such a good idea!
Oh yes it is, here you go - http://www.extremeprometeia.com/acat..._Supplies.html .Quote:
Originally Posted by :banana::banana::banana:in
And here - http://store.over-clock.com/ATX_Power_Supplies.html .
Cheers, dEl. :toast:
Quote:
Originally Posted by :banana::banana::banana:in
Oh yes they are, from two places actually. If you are quick, you will find Turbocool Deluxe models going for £139 at Extreme Prometiea
:banana:
I got mine this week :banana: :banana: :D
Edit: damn, beaten to it :banana4:
You gotta be quicker than that! ;) :toast:
It's always a mad scramble at the keyboard to correct someone when they make a mistake, lolQuote:
Originally Posted by del_fuego
:cord: :slash: