OCZ GameXStream 850 Watt

INTRODUCTION

Offensive linemen, teachers, dear ol’ mom, and power supplies. The one thing these all have in common is that they are all the unsung heroes of their fields. Often overlooked as their roles may not be as glamorous as others but without the solid foundation they provide everything built atop of them would quickly crumble to pieces.

When building a computer most of the attention goes to the stars of the show including the CPU, video card, memory and motherboard. Parts that can be shown off and command a certain amount of enthusiasm. But behind all the sparkle and shine, amidst none of the fame of those items is the one piece that makes it all possible; the power supply. Without a rock solid PSU your computer would quickly turn into an unstable beast of burden that at best restarts the computer in the middle of your frag fest and at its worst, dies completely damaging your motherboard and CPU with it. A good power supply can provide your system with clean solid power helping you to achieve those massive overclocks or simply to keep your gear working for many months.

And so I present you the OCZ 850 Watt GameXStream PSU. A no nonsense, get the job done at all costs power supply. With enough power to run even the most demanding gaming machine, this PSU has it where it counts. Housing a ton of amps, active PFC and a large 120 MM fan to keep it all cool the OCZ 850 Watt GameXStream looks good on paper. Looking good on paper also happens to mean squat when it comes to the real world. So let’s get to it.

The OCZ GameXStream 850 Watt PSU

OCZ Technology

OCZ is a company many of us are familiar with as they provide the very best products for a wide range of users. Starting with overclocked video cards and memory modules to power supplies and cooling products OCZ has earned the respect of hardware enthusiasts around the world (No easy feat).  For the rest of you who may not be familiar with the company I’ll let them tell you:

Entering the memory market in August 2000, OCZ Technology was built around the determination to manufacture the best high speed DDR and RDRAM. OCZ was founded by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, and our commitment to the end-user has not digressed. OCZ Technology has been an innovator in many areas. We were the first manufacturer to make Dual Channel optimized memory available to the public, which originally took advantage of nVidia's Twinbank or Dual DDR architecture, found in their nForce chipset. We have now taken that technology and tailored it for the Canterwood, and Granite Bay chipset's. OCZ developed and was the first to implement ULN technology, which has been a critical element in our manufacturing process for some time. We at OCZ diligently work to improve communication with CPU and motherboard chipset manufacturers prior to the release of their products. Only in this manner can we fine-tune our memory's SPD settings, ensuring a synergistic relationship between the memory module, memory controller, and microprocessor. In today’s rapidly evolving semiconductor industry, such communication is not simply research, but a necessary component of our manufacturing process.