OCZ EliteXStream 800W PSU

Results

Since the testing equipment is limited to 300W per channel, this means the 12V rails are limited to 25 Amp a pop, which is why they've been split into three and evenly balanced.

As you can see from the results table below, the output quality is excellent - providing a consistent set of solid voltages all the way from 50 to 100 percent load. The 5V standby drops a slight fraction at 100 percent load, but to nothing that's ever worth worrying about - it's still well within the ATX specification, and all the other voltages were very close to their rated values. With a superb active PFC that resides between 97-98 percent, this helps to encourage a great set of efficiencies that do not drop below 85 percent.

Usually we find the 50 percent load efficiency is higher than the rest, but in this case the EliteXStream excels at 75 percent at a nose over 87 percent efficiency using a 230V input. The 3.3V/5V weighting for one of the 100 percent load tests is also very consistent, unlike some other PSUs we've seen where efficiency typically drops. While we don't expect any modern system to load the 3.3V and 5V this heavily, it's good to see consistency in a product and it certainly does what it claims on the tin.

The Magic fan that uses a rifle bearing has a typical noise level of 25dBA at full load, but spins at nowhere near this under normal, 50-75 percent operation. At this power output the PSU was really very quiet - only a very slight bearing noise could be heard. As we increased to 100 percent load the fan speed increased quite a bit, making the bearing noise was a little more obvious along with a now noticeably audible fan. It certainly wasn't intrusive at 100 percent load and should fall under the radar of any (quiet) performance set up.

While cool to touch at 50 percent load, at 75 percent it got a little warmer as we'd expect and at 100 percent load it got quite a bit hotter again with a warm base and a few hotter spots, but nothing that was of concern. With one fan getting rid of 125W of heat this is not unexpected in a PSU of this size, and with all its features in consideration we can't argue the EliteXStream is a good balance in design.