Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
Taking a look at the bottom of the OCZ ZT Series 650W, there is a 140mm ball-bearing fan used for intake cooling. The fan grille consists of seven rings with a 'Z' logo at the center. Having a fan grille is generally a good idea, as it provides low airflow impedance, and block out miscellaneous objects from getting stuck in the power supply, which could possibly lead to damage to the internal components. The fan grille is attached to the casing using four screws, but the fan is mounted on the opposing side, so it is pretty challenging to remount the fan unless you plan on voiding your warranty. Four Phillips head screws are located near the corners of this side of the power supply, and can be removed to open up its cover for access to its internal components. Opening the PSU means voids the warranty, and should not be done unless the warranty doesn't matter to you, or when the warranty is absolutely done for. There are no user serviceable parts inside anyway -- unless you are really curious as to what is going on inside. We will be going over the details later on page 3, so hold your horses.
Like the OCZ ZX Series 850W and Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid 1050W reviewed by my colleague Jonathan not too long ago, The OCZ ZT Series 650W is a fully modular PSU, which means all the cables are detachable. Users that like a clean cabling job would find this especially useful. However, having modular cables means higher electrical contact loss at the connectors compared to permanently fixed cables. This could be solved simply by permanently soldering on cables such as the ATX 24-pin and ATX 4-pin/EPS 8-pin, since they are guaranteed to be used anyway. Besides, how hard can it be to spend an extra minute or so to route these cables?
The rear connection panel is done in a very clean and organized fashion, as each of the main sections are labeled accordingly. From left to right, you will find an ATX 24-pin connector, followed by five peripheral connectors at the center top, 8-pin CPU connector at the center bottom, and finally, two PCIe connectors on the right. The modular cables are also labeled on each end, so there should be little trouble trying to figure out which end goes where.
As with most products these days, picking up the product for the very first time would give you a good general feel of what it's like. Picking up the OCZ ZT Series 650W, you will notice that it has a nice and clean metal finish to it; mainly painted in black with highlights of yellow and shades of gray all around. Measuring to 150mm in width, 86mm in height, and 175mm in length, it is among the longest PSUs to hit our labs. That said, it should still fit in most modern ATX chassis. If you have a small case, this might be a tight fit, but double checking your measurements won't hurt.
The overall build quality of the OCZ ZT Series 650W is fairly solid and durable. Panel gaps are shaved down to the minimal, and the edges seems to be finished off decently. Personally, I think OCZ still has some room left for improvement in terms of overall quality, but for a PSU in this price range, I really have nothing to complain about.
Taking a look at the back, you will see its honeycomb mesh for ease of heat dissipation, and a power switch as well as a male power connector at the bottom left corner. However, I think its efficiency of heat dissipation could be improved, as the power switch occupies quite a bit of space, considering the overall area. If the size of the switch were to be reduced and the honeycomb area increased, I think this would improve airflow in one way or another. Of course, there are four standard screw holes for mounting the PSU itself snugly in your case. The ZT Series 650W features an automatic full range (100V-240V) AC line voltage selection, so users do not have to worry about manually adjusting the input voltage.
According to the label provided on the OCZ ZT Series 650W, there are two main virtual rails. Following the power formula P=I*V, the +3.3V rail can deliver up to 24A, totaling 79.2W. The +5V rail delivers 30A resulting in a total output 150W. The total combined output for the +3.3V and +5V rail is 170W. This means that the power allocation combination for each of these rails must fall within the listed specified limits. The single +12V rail delivers up to 54A, which results in 648W. One single +12V rail is used to reduce operating overhead instead of using multiple +12V rails. Combining the power output for the whole OCZ ZT Series is, of course, 650W.
If you really don't feel like reading through all those explanations of numbers, here is a quick overview: The power distribution in your system must fall within the specified limits, where the +3.3V rail must not exceed 79.2W, the +5V rail must not exceed 150W, and 170W combined for both. The +12V rails are limited to 648W. Last but not least, with all the rails combined, the limit is 650W.
The OCZ ZT Series 650W is 80 Plus Bronze certified, which means that it is certified to be at least 82%, 85%, 82% efficient at 20%, 50%, and 100% load, respectively. Higher certifications available at press time would include the 80 Plus Silver, 80 Plus Gold, and 80 Plus Platinum.
A total of ten modular cables are included out of the box. All cables are sleeved and easy to bend, making them extremely easy to work with. All the cables are 18 AWG. The following cables are included out of the box, with some fairly accurate quick measurements:
- 1x ATX 24-pin, ~55cm
- 1x ATX 4+4-pin, ~70cm
- 2x PCIe 6+2 pin, ~55cm
- 3x SATA, 3 connectors each, ~40cm to first connector, ~15cm subsequent spacing
- 2x Molex, 3 connectors each, ~40cm to first connector, ~15cm subsequent spacing
- 1x Molex to Floppy 4-pin, ~10cm
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
