XFX PRO850W XXX Edition vs OCZ ZX-Series 850W

[S0L0]

The XFX is 80 plus silver and manufactured by seasonic for 120 (5 year warranty)

The OCZ ZX-Series 850W is 80 plus gold fully modular with mixed reviews, mostly good. going for 134 - (5 year warranty)

 

[rolli59]

The price tells me XFX but the OCZ is modular and just a little bit more so I would go with that!

 

[Raiddinn]

OCZ is just much worse than XFX in terms of power delivery. Even with the modular cabling I would still choose XFX any day.

 

[rolli59]

OCZ is just much worse than XFX in terms of power delivery. Even with the modular cabling I would still choose XFX any day.

Not sure where you got your info from http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/OCZ-ZX-Series-850-W-Power-Supply-Review/1204/10

 

[Raiddinn]

Probably from the fact that I have had to troubleshoot many dozens of OCZ failures and not even 1 XFX failure.

 

[bigcyco1]

Go with the XFX it's made by Seasonic which makes the best PSU imo

 

[rolli59]

Probably from the fact that I have had to troubleshoot many dozens of OCZ failures and not even 1 XFX failure.

And you do not think they have improved after they bought PC Power and Cooling? A few years ago.

 

[S0L0]

There seems to be a lot more reviews on the OCZ ZX Series, all of them giving it a good raiting and a recommendation, furthermore there seems to be a lot of people who are using them in their rigs and have had no complaints about the OCZ ZX power supplies. The XFX has also gotten good praise, mainly because they are manufactured by seasonic and perform well, however there are not many reviews on them.

I think the OCZ ZX 850W is a better buy, for one it has an 80 plus gold rating as oppose to silver in the XFX, second it is fully modular which is also plus.

 

[Raiddinn]

And you do not think they have improved after they bought PC Power and Cooling? A few years ago.

Not really. What is more common during corporate acquisitions is that most of the redundant support staff is fired and usually the redundant ones are the ones from the acquired company, not the ones from the acquirer.

It is also not common for an acquirer to just buy its competitor in order to have its product designs. It is more common that the acquirer continues to use its own product designs and buys the competitor in order to make use of the competitors manufacturing base, distribution channels, and so on.

It may be the case that OCZ really did improve in the last few years and some of it may be related to the acquisition of PC P&C, but I see what I see. What I see is plenty of times people's problems trace back to (even new) OCZ PSUs.

The fact that it is gold rated probably means that it uses pretty high quality parts, so maybe that one model is a pretty good one.

Regardless, the OCZ company has a huge track record of shoddy products in pretty much all of its product lines. OCZ RAM was so bad they had to leave the RAM business.

Contrast with XFX which makes great products and for which I have never heard one complaint from anyone. To me the choice is pretty clear.

My money is where my mouth is, see the XFX PSU in my signature. I made the same choice of XFX over OCZ (and other competitors) and I don't regret it even a little bit.

Not that there has never been an XFX complaint or anything, I am sure they have probably shipped DOA products in the past, but so has everyone. The overall numbers are the ones that are telling from my point of view.

If everyone just bought XFX instead of OCZ PSUs, I think our job here would be a lot easier.

 

[S0L0]

Whether or not the last generation of OCZ PSU's were giving people issues, the reviews and customer satisfaction of the ZX series have all being very good and highly recommended. Don't forget that XFX is newer in the PSU market and even if they are using Seasonic designs the XXX series is in the same price region as the ZX (both 850W models were selling at a low point of 99 earlier this year). Furthermore the lack of reviews and feedback from those who own the XFX XXX series doesn't make brand name XFX enough of a reason for me to buy one.

The fact of the matter is the ZX series has being critically acclaimed by many solid review sites and owners which gives consumers more confidence in buying the OCZ ZX 850W than one of XFX's rebrands.

 

[ko888]

Whether or not the last generation of OCZ PSU's were giving people issues, the reviews and customer satisfaction of the ZX series have all being very good and highly recommended. Don't forget that XFX is newer in the PSU market and even if they are using Seasonic designs the XXX series is in the same price region as the ZX (both 850W models were selling at a low point of 99 earlier this year). Furthermore the lack of reviews and feedback from those who own the XFX XXX series doesn't make brand name XFX enough of a reason for me to buy one.

The fact of the matter is the ZX series has being critically acclaimed by many solid review sites and owners which gives consumers more confidence in buying the OCZ ZX 850W than one of XFX's rebrands.

There are more reputable reviews of the XFX P1-850B-NLG9 than there are for the OCZ-ZX850W.

ProSeries 850W PSU - 850W XXX Edition Semi-Modular (Silver) - P1-850B-NLG9

Hardware Secrets: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/808

JonnyGuru: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=165

[H]ard OCP: http://hardocp.com/article/2009/12/10/xfx_black_edition_850w_power_supply_review/1

X-bit labs: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/psu-800w-850w_11.html#sect0

Who are these "solid review sites" that you mention that have reviewed the OCZ-ZX850W? Generalizing a series isn't that meaningful or even accurate.

The tear downs show that the XFX P1-850B-NLG9 uses higher quality components than the OCZ-ZX850W.

 

[S0L0]

There are more reputable reviews of the XFX P1-850B-NLG9 than there are for the OCZ-ZX850W.

ProSeries 850W PSU - 850W XXX Edition Semi-Modular (Silver) - P1-850B-NLG9

Hardware Secrets: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/808

JonnyGuru: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=165

[H]ard OCP: http://hardocp.com/article/2009/12/10/xfx_black_edition_850w_power_supply_review/1

X-bit labs: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/psu-800w-850w_11.html#sect0

Who are these "solid review sites" that you mention that have reviewed the OCZ-ZX850W? Generalizing a series isn't that meaningful or even accurate.

The tear downs show that the XFX P1-850B-NLG9 uses higher quality components than the OCZ-ZX850W.

If the seasonic uses higher quality components than why doesn't it have a gold rating? Here are the reputable reviews for the OCZ ZX.

Hardware Secrets: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/OCZ-ZX-Series-850-W-Power-Supply-Review/1204/10

JonnyGuru: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=167

Hardware Heaven http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1129/pg8/ocz-zx-series-850w-power-supply-review-conclusion.html

TechPowerUp: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/OCZ/ZX_850W/8.html

TweakTown: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3979/ocz_zx_850_series_850_watt_power_supply_review/index5.html

Hardware Bistro: http://hardwarebistro.com/?option=com_simple_review&Itemid=84&review=190-OCZ-ZX-850W-80Plus-Gold-Certified-PSU-Review

The XFX definitely holds its ground with solid reviews to back it, but just because it has a Seasonic design doesn't automatically put it up their with Seasonic and Corsair, let the price be a clear indicator that both the XFX and OCZ are 850 watters for people on a budget. Even so, both the XFX and OCZ are both high performance PSUs with solid ratings, Hardwareheaven even compares the OCZ ZX to the Seasonic X series in its review. In my opinion the ZX 850 is a better buy than the Black Edition 850, it has an 80 Plus Gold Rating, Fully Modular Cabling, and plenty of satisfied owners who are recommending them to everyone else.

 

[ko888]

If the seasonic uses higher quality components than why doesn't it have a gold rating? Here are the reputable reviews for the OCZ ZX.

Hardware Secrets: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/OCZ-ZX-Series-850-W-Power-Supply-Review/1204/10

JonnyGuru: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=167

Hardware Heaven http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1129/pg8/ocz-zx-series-850w-power-supply-review-conclusion.html

TechPowerUp: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/OCZ/ZX_850W/8.html

TweakTown: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3979/ocz_zx_850_series_850_watt_power_supply_review/index5.html

Hardware Bistro: http://hardwarebistro.com/?option=com_simple_review&Itemid=84&review=190-OCZ-ZX-850W-80Plus-Gold-Certified-PSU-Review

The XFX definitely holds its ground with solid reviews to back it, but just because it has a Seasonic design doesn't automatically put it up their with Seasonic and Corsair, let the price be a clear indicator that both the XFX and OCZ are 850 watters for people on a budget. Even so, both the XFX and OCZ are both high performance PSUs with solid ratings, Hardwareheaven even compares the OCZ ZX to the Seasonic X series in its review. In my opinion the ZX 850 is a better buy than the Black Edition 850, it has an 80 Plus Gold Rating, Fully Modular Cabling, and plenty of satisfied owners who are recommending them to everyone else.

Your question says it all.

You seem to think that the 80 PLUS GOLD certification is a rating of power supply quality when it is nothing of the sort.

There are PSUs on the market with an 80 PLUS Platinum certification that have an electrical performance (i.e. voltage regulation, noise, ripple, transient response), excluding efficiency, that aren't any better than some 80 PLUS Bronze certified PSUs.

It's an AC to DC conversion efficiency certification only, that is determined at an unrealistic 23°C ±5°C temperature.

Any test review that doesn't perform hot box testing isn't worth anything.

Also your JonnyGuru: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=167 link is a review for a completely different discontinued OCZ PSU model OCZ-Z850 made by Sirtec.

All three OCZ ZX models are made by Great Wall.

Your other post also mentioned the missing MOV in the transient filtering stage. This is one way of lowering the price.

I have never said that the OCZ-ZX850W isn't a good PSU.

I'm just pointing out that you seem to place a heavy emphasis on the 80 PLUS GOLD rating thinking that it is a rating of PSU quality when it isn't. You wouldn't be the only one that has been mislead by the 80 PLUS ratings either.

 

[S0L0]

Your question says it all.

You seem to think that the 80 PLUS GOLD certification is a rating of power supply quality when it is nothing of the sort.

There are PSUs on the market with an 80 PLUS Platinum certification that have an electrical performance (i.e. voltage regulation, noise, ripple, transient response), excluding efficiency, that aren't any better than some 80 PLUS Bronze certified PSUs.

It's an AC to DC conversion efficiency certification only, that is determined at an unrealistic 23°C ±5°C temperature.

Any test review that doesn't perform hot box testing isn't worth anything.

Also your JonnyGuru: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=167 link is a review for a completely different discontinued OCZ PSU model OCZ-Z850 made by Sirtec.

All three OCZ ZX models are made by Great Wall.

Your other post also mentioned the missing MOV in the transient filtering stage. This is one way of lowering the price.

I have never said that the OCZ-ZX850W isn't a good PSU.

I'm just pointing out that you seem to place a heavy emphasis on the 80 PLUS GOLD rating thinking that it is a rating of PSU quality when it isn't. You wouldn't be the only one that has been mislead by the 80 PLUS ratings either.

I am aware of the fact that the 80 plus rating is with respect to efficiency, however the psus with higher quality parts will easily get Gold and Platinum certification, and yes that does not mean that bronze and silver parts are not quality psus. I also know the ZX is made by Great Wall, thanks for pointing out the JG review is on the Z model not the ZX model. As for the MOV, I was more concerned about surges from the grid, but if your rig is plugged into a surge protector which most people do, than it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, both are great psus and I am going to go with the OCZ cuz IMO your getting more bang for your buck with high quality and performance. However if I were going to buy an 1000W psu, between the OCZ ZX 1000W and the XFX PRO1050W Black Edition I would go with the XFX in that scenario, mainly because it is also 80 Plus Gold and fully modular and in this case the Seasonic design gives it the edge.

 

[Raiddinn]

You can go with whatever you want, you just have to be aware that you get what you pay for. PSU makers aren't going to give you something for nothing and if it sounds like you are getting modular and gold too cheap then you probably are just not seeing what you give up.

The aforementioned missing MOV would be one example.

The ZX PSU in question may really be good, but Great Wall just isn't comparable to Seasonic in track records. There is a reason everyone here says go Seasonic and don't go back rather than to go Great Wall and/or OCZ and don't go back.

 

[amuffin]

Are you sure there isn't another quality modular 850W for $130?