OCZ ZT Series 550W Power Supply Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅23-11-11
Conclusion

Choosing the right PSU is an important decision for the enthusiast because it is the backbone of any system. Buying an inferior, no-frills unit brings with it many consequences – some of which can be catastrophic. I’ve personally read of many stories of various individuals who have been strapped for cash and gone down this route, these cheaper units can often blow and when they do, they will take everything with it. So you may think spending all of your money on the core components like CPU, GPU, motherboard and then very little on the PSU is a good thing – this may change when it goes up in smoke!

Today’s review sample is a fine example of what a PSU should and could be. The ZT’s selling point is quite obvious from the packaging – its 100% fully modular. Most units that claim to be modular are only in fact part-modular, meaning that some of the cables are still hardwired into the unit. Even the 24-pin ATX cable on the ZT is removable, showing just how flexible this product can be. This means that creating a tidy interior within the case can be easily achieved, unwanted cables can be stored away when not used – the idea of a fully modular PSU is just great.



Though we aren’t able to test every aspect of a PSU we did examine the ZT’s voltage variance during real-world testing and the results were pleasing. All rails remains within the ATX specifications and fluctuations were only minor. The only slight niggle being that at 75%+ the unit’s 140mm Yate Loon fan did generate some ramp up noise.

Priced at £69.99 inc. VAT the ZT 550W is an affordable PSU, not only is it within the same price-range as some of the other 500W PSUs that aren’t modular it obviously adopts this fully modular characteristic. There really is no excuse for not buying a decent branded PSU.

Pros
+ Fully modular
+ Good performance
+ 5 Year Warranty
+ Reasonable Price

Cons
- No cable carry case
- Noise under load




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