OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W PSU

Comparative Efficiency

Comparatively speaking, the OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W fares quite low against the competition that's already on the market - some for more than a year already. At 75 and 100 percent load it's bottom of the table, for example. However, it's only by less than one or two percent which, realistically equates to just a few watts difference. The efficiency is at least consistent for OCZ, where the 3.3V and 5V loading doesn't droop, unlike the Corsair and Thermaltake. However, these aren't real-world realistic loading scenarios, and were only tested to see if the PSUs on test could really do what their boxes claimed they could.

Conclusions and Value

For the most part, the OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W is a good bit of kit: it's very quiet, doesn't cost too much, has solid voltages, a pretty decent efficiency and survived our full load stress test. Most of the cable choices by OCZ are pretty good too. We still have a slight concern about the tiny heatsinks and the unknown choice of capacitor manufacturer that could put a spanner in long term use.

Unfortunately, there's no way for us to tell - both could be perfectly fine, and our internal temperature readings certainly corroborate OCZ's penny-pinching on the heatsinks. We're just saying the odds are less in its favour compared to other brands here with more extravagant cooling and well-known capacitors.

OCZ does throw in a three year PowerSwap warranty that means you'll get a replacement before you have to return yours though, which allays some of our trepidation. And in three years time we'll likely need new connectors and want a far more efficient PSU anyway.

At £58, this is a good price for a decent, modular PSU. The Corsair VX550W on the other hand is hitting £70 now, while the very popular HX520 is even more. The Cooler Master RealPower series units are a bit cheaper and are also modular, but are now a little long in the tooth like the HX520. Corsair's HX450W comes close at £69 but the OCZ still offers 50W more power and costs £11 less.

Final Thoughts

OCZ's latest ModXStream Pro ticks most of the right boxes for us, but there are a few build quality issues. None of them are big enough to prevent this unit from being good value for money though. If you're in the market for a cheap, modular, solid 500W PSU, the OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W will do the job nicely.

• Efficiency/Voltages
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• -
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• 8/10

• Noise/Heat
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• 9/10

• Features
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• -
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• 7/10

• Value
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• -
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• 8/10

• Overall
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• -
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• 8/10

Score Guide