OCZ Z850M 850W Review at [H]

[burebista]

By Paul (http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/10/08/ocz_z_series_z850m_850w_power_supply_review).
Very good PSU but
The unit’s biggest weakness is going to be that its price is very high.
Thanks Paul for a nice review as usual. :beer:

[Spectre]

The fun part is I have had those units since the beginning of August. The review is for the second unit I received.

[Travis]

What's with the first unit?

[Spectre]

What's with the first unit?

The efficiency was way low.

[muddocktor]

Paul, who is the oem of the unit. I didn't see where you listed the oem in your article.

As usual, a good review man.:beer:

EDIT: I see that's the same unit that Wolf had trouble identifying. Have you all come to a consensus on who the actual oem is for these?

[370forlife]

Wolf came to the conclusion that it is sirtec/sirfa, but he couldn't find any markings indicating it.

[Travis]

Not many clues here. The casing which looks like High Power HP-850-G14S-Silver, the Globe Fan that is usually used by Sirtec/Sirfa, and the fact that not many OEMs have soldering quality close to this.

[Spectre]

When I first got this in August I thought it was Sirfa but honestly that was just a feeling.....and the manufacturing quality is higher than anything I have seen from Sirfa before. Wolf and I are still stumped.......and I don't think Oleg could really shake an answer loose either.

Someone out there knows.....

(And really I think Travis will have the best chance of shaking it out given his location and language)

[370forlife]

Actually kind of looks like a super happy giggle tech to me.

[ef3393]

after read the X review I think the Z is far behind X and even not close to HX, the Z-850M could be a good unit if sell cheaper than 850HX
________
450 (http://www.mercedes-wiki.com/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_450)

[Stefan Payne]

Well, the UL Number on the Controller PCB where the fan header is on lead to
DONG GUAN KAIMAU ELECTRONICS
Don't know if that helps annyone...

[Travis]

I saw that too. It's the PCB manufacturer.

[Spectre]

I saw that too. It's the PCB manufacturer.

Ding ding.

___________________


That is why it still is kind of unknown. They really sanitized the unit to make it hard to recognize.

[Travis]

http://www.kaimau.com/

They make single-layer and double-layer boards.

[MrWicked1968]

is it possible OCZ has sourced these through their PC P&C branch? That probably can't account for the mystery involved, but maybe they've actually listened to reviewers' criticism of their FSP and Sirfa OEM sourced units.

[HOOfan_1]

is it possible OCZ has sourced these through their PC P&C branch? That probably can't account for the mystery involved, but maybe they've actually listened to reviewers' criticism of their FSP and Sirfa OEM sourced units.

You mean Seasonic or Win-Tact? Looks nothing like any units from either of those companies...performs nothing line any units from either of those companies.

Looks more like Sirfa to me.....Sirfa sometimes has a diamond in the rough...like the Coolmax 1300W. Although I might call the Z series more of an Amethyst in the rough.

[370forlife]

Or a red diamond in the rough. Usually sirtec has a nasty reputation of overrating their psu's.

[370forlife]

Reminds me of this (http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=12) where there no indication of who the OEM was and it was better than usual quality. Perhaps sirtec is capable of making a really good unit if they wanted to?

[garegin]

what do these bastards have to hide? why can't they just tell you the oem. none of the companies will not tell you the oem, even if a look inside would reveal the source.

[ferky]

I don't know about you guys but this HP-850-G14C-GOLD (http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/HIGH%20POWER_HP-850-G14C-GOLD_ECOS%201495_850W_Report.pdf) (made by Sirtec) has VERY similar performance to the Z850M (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZ-Z850(M)_ECOS%201495.1_850W_Report.pdf) as well as Z1000 (http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZ-Z1000%20(M)_ECOS1273%201_1000W_Report.pdf) in comparasion with HP-1000-G14S(C)-GOLD (http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/HIGH%20POWER_HP-1000-G14S(C)-GOLD_ECOS%201273_Report.pdf) (also made by Sirtec)...

[Travis]

what do these bastards have to hide? why can't they just tell you the oem. none of the companies will not tell you the oem, even if a look inside would reveal the source.

They hate to be identical.

[Makalu]

well the main PCB layout is a bit different but the controller board and modular interface look just like a Sirtec built Lian Li Silent Force 850 to me.

[Spectre]

I don't know about you guys but this HP-850-G14C-GOLD (http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/HIGH%20POWER_HP-850-G14C-GOLD_ECOS%201495_850W_Report.pdf) (made by Sirtec) has VERY similar performance to the Z850M (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZ-Z850(M)_ECOS%201495.1_850W_Report.pdf) as well as Z1000 (http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZ-Z1000%20(M)_ECOS1273%201_1000W_Report.pdf) in comparasion with HP-1000-G14S(C)-GOLD (http://www.80plus.com/manu/psu/psu_reports/HIGH%20POWER_HP-1000-G14S(C)-GOLD_ECOS%201273_Report.pdf) (also made by Sirtec)...

Those are being manufactured by Sirfa. Sirtec is out of the consumer PSU business.

[ferky]

I know that the Sir-tec (technologies) sold their part Sir-fa (factory) and the original idea came from Sirtec ...

Anyhow it was the same family and the political dispute between China & Taiwan are really not our concern ... Sirtec sold their ideas and resources to the other party and now it's just called differently ...

So yes, you can call it Sirfa too.

[Spectre]

I know that the Sir-tec (technologies) sold their part Sir-fa (factory) and the original idea came from Sirtec ...

Anyhow it was the same family and the political dispute between China & Taiwan are really not our concern ... Sirtec sold their ideas and resources to the other party and now it's just called differently ...

So yes, you can call it Sirfa too.

Or you could call it Sirfa, because Sirfa is a seperate company responsible for producing the product, and designing the products since early last year.

[Hondacity]

could this possibly be atng?


atng has an 1100w(83a single rail) thats the same...like the abs majesty1100...which is also the same as the ocz zm1000.

[Zero82z]

The guts look nothing like any ATNG I've seen.

[Hondacity]

i think i'm wrong with the 850...atng don't have a good 850 right now..

[Stefan Payne]

The guts look nothing like any ATNG I've seen.
That doesn't neccesarily mean anything, if they developed a completely new plattform.

Or could you tell who manufactured that:
http://www.abload.de/img/img_1175rbb6.jpg

[Zero82z]

Is it a HEC?

[Stefan Payne]

Hmpf, that was too obvious, was ist?

Yes, it's a HEC, the Inside of a Cougar-S700...

[Lemmy]

Yes, but is it a real Cougar? :lol:

[Stefan Payne]

This one actually is, as far as I know.
Exclusively sold as a cougar and not HEC...

[Zero82z]

Hmpf, that was too obvious, was ist?

Yes, it's a HEC, the Inside of a Cougar-S700...
And I made that guess based on the appearance of the internals and the heatsinks. So you can often tell who manufactured a PSU based on what the guts look like.

[Travis]

And I made that guess based on the appearance of the internals and the heatsinks. So you can often tell who manufactured a PSU based on what the guts look like.

Judging by the appearance won't work everytime. It's up to the manufacturers themselves.

[Zero82z]

Judging by the appearance won't work everytime. It's up to the manufacturers themselves.
Well, it's obviously not an infallible system. It's just a way to get an idea of who may or may not have manufactured a particular unit if all else fails.

[HOOfan_1]

And I made that guess based on the appearance of the internals and the heatsinks. So you can often tell who manufactured a PSU based on what the guts look like.

not to mention certain people are absolutely obsessed with HEC on this forum.

shillllll.......

[Stefan Payne]

I just chose it 'cause I thought it would be a challange for you 'cause could be something that you haven't seen.

Anyway, let's try something new:
http://imgur.com/2xaaIs.png (http://imgur.com/2xaaI.jpg) http://imgur.com/dGydEs.png (http://imgur.com/dGydE.jpg) http://imgur.com/wgdZas.png (http://imgur.com/wgdZa.jpg)

A tip: not from HEC/Compucase.
One of them could be easy, the rest isn't...

[Travis]

1: Seasonic
3: AcBel
Not familiar with the second one, but that topology is popular among lowish units.

[370forlife]

Looks like maybe a topower or a maxpower. Maybe linkworld. Too generic to tell.

Though the transformer doesn't agree.

[Stefan Payne]

1: Seasonic
3: AcBel
Not familiar with the second one, but that topology is popular among lowish units.
Correct.
Your guess for the second one is correct too.

I'ts a manufacturer who was pretty popular back in the Athlon (and XP) days, befor LC-Power came.
Looks like maybe a topower or a maxpower. Maybe linkworld. Too generic to tell.

Though the transformer doesn't agree.
Nope, is some other manufacturer who built those things themselves.

And yes they are pretty known for blowing up (and kill your computer)...

[370forlife]

And yes they are pretty known for blowing up (and kill your computer)...

Hmm, ohh, I know! It's a HEC :lol: (look at the primary caps!)

Kidding, but I honestly have no idea. There are so many small companies out there that use this same design it's almost impossible to tell. Being that old, maybe deer or High Power.

[Stefan Payne]

It's a Codegen (300X)

[Travis]

Codegen? I know this factory.
http://www.pcpop.com/doc/0/407/407612.shtml

A major computer enclosure manufacturer in mainland China. I remember it's held by a Taiwan investor.

[jonnyGURU]

So THAT'S what happened to Super Power. They're part of the Codegen group. Super Power used to be really big in the US during the DIY boom of the late 90's, but quickly disappeared. Codegen is still here, but the stuff we get here is all crap.

[Spectre]

I have a Super Power server chassis sitting right here that had a piece of shit Codegen power supply in it that bit it and took the RAID array with it.

[370forlife]

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1174&stc=1&d=1259629916

Who is? If I posted the top, it would be wayyyyy to easy.

[Stefan Payne]

It's either an Enermax or a Superflower.

I'd go for an Enermax.

[370forlife]

I knew this solytech (deer) had pretty good soldering.

[Travis]

It's either an Enermax or a Superflower.

I'd go for an Enermax.

No Enermax doesn't have THAT lot of radial lead resistors/caps.

[Travis]

So THAT'S what happened to Super Power. They're part of the Codegen group. Super Power used to be really big in the US during the DIY boom of the late 90's, but quickly disappeared. Codegen is still here, but the stuff we get here is all crap.

Super Power(SP), Codegen(CG), Mustiff, they're brands of the same company Codegen. Now Codegen China (maybe only the branch in China, maybe the whole Codegen) has been acquired by a PC Speaker OEM manufacturer 3NOD (http://www.3nod.com.cn) digital, and Codegen's C&P business in mainland China is operated by 3nod. so maybe we can call this "3nod power supply" from now on?

[Stefan Payne]

BTW Has someone ever asked OCZ who the real manufacturers are?

[Travis]

Has ATNG used a Globe Fan before?

[Stefan Payne]

I don't know.

But I think the larger models (850W and up) should be Sirfa, the smaller could be from someone else.

[Spectre]

BTW Has someone ever asked OCZ who the real manufacturers are?

Yes, they say it is their product. They are playing the PC Power game since they aren't he manufacturer. They either have found a small OEM and are soaking up their entire volume like PC power did with Win-tact's PS2 units, or they have gotten a larger comapny to strip all their info off of the product to hie the source.

[Stefan Payne]

Hm, maybe you should aks someone else?

[Spectre]

Hm, maybe you should aks someone else?

Such as?

[Stefan Payne]

Hm, OCZ Taiwan, UK, Germany, the PSU Makers.

[Spectre]

Hm, OCZ Taiwan, UK, Germany, the PSU Makers.

I have already been up the food chain all the way at OCZ. The PSU makers? Really? That many emails for something they have no reason to tell me....not to mention if it is someone known.

[HOOfan_1]

I don't know.

But I think the larger models (850W and up) should be Sirfa, the smaller could be from someone else.



The Smaller ones are FSP

[blivit4]

The Smaller ones are FSP

Not always. I recently bought a OCZ StealthXStream 400 W that Gabe states to be made by CWT, and much better than the SXS 500w that is made by FSP.

OCZ is a lot like Rosewill in the sense that they use a number of different mfg's. (They also seem to differ from Rosewill, because a lot less of their PS's show up DOA or die in the first 6 months :))

[Stefan Payne]

We are talking about the 80+ Gold certified Z-Series ;)

The 'normal' Ones are usually made by Sirfa, except for the under 500W ones wich are made by CWT.

[HOOfan_1]

We are talking about the 80+ Gold certified Z-Series ;)

The 'normal' Ones are usually made by Sirfa, except for the under 500W ones wich are made by CWT.

There is no under 500W Z series...the 850W and 1000W are unknown...maybe Sirfa...the 550W and 650W are FSP

If you are talking about StealthXstream, all of those except the 400W are FSP. ModXstream are FSP, ModXstream Pro are Sirfa, Fatal1ty 550W is Sirfa, Fatal1ty 700W is Impervio.

Then they used to have Topower and 3Y units as well.

[Stefan Payne]

Does anyone have pictures of the 550 and/or 650W OCZ Z-Series?

[Hondacity]

its here..z650 z550
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/

[Travis]

ModXstream Pro are Sirfa

OCZ400MXSP is CWT.

[Breogan]

Going by their 80Plus reports (they are verbatim copies from the OEM built model), 550/650 are built by FSP and 850/1000 are built by HIGH POWER / Sirfa:

OCZ Z550 (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZZ550_ECOS1279%201_550W_Report.pdf) - FSP 550 80GHN(88) (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSP%20TECHNOLOGY%20INC%20_FSP550-80GHN%2888%29_ECOS%201279_550W_Report.pdf) / OCZ Z650 (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZZ650_ECOS%201280%201_650W_Report.pdf) - FSP 650 80GHN(88) (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSP_FSP650-80GHN%2888%29_ECOS%201280_650W_Report.pdf)

OCZ Z850M (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZ-Z850%28M%29_ECOS%201495.1_850W_Report.pdf) - HIGH POWER 850 G14C-GOLD (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/HIGH%20POWER_HP-850-G14C-GOLD_ECOS%201495_850W_Report.pdf) / OCZ Z1000M (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZ-Z1000%20%28M%29_ECOS1273%201_1000W_Report.pdf) - HIGH POWER 1000 G14S(C)-GOLD (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/HIGH%20POWER_HP-1000-G14S%28C%29-GOLD_ECOS%201273_Report.pdf)

[Hondacity]

Going by their 80Plus reports (they are verbatim copies from the OEM built model), 550/650 are built by FSP and 850/1000 are built by HIGH POWER / Sirfa:

OCZ Z550 (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZZ550_ECOS1279%201_550W_Report.pdf) - FSP 550 80GHN(88) (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSP%20TECHNOLOGY%20INC%20_FSP550-80GHN%2888%29_ECOS%201279_550W_Report.pdf) / OCZ Z650 (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZZ650_ECOS%201280%201_650W_Report.pdf) - FSP 650 80GHN(88) (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/FSP_FSP650-80GHN%2888%29_ECOS%201280_650W_Report.pdf)

OCZ Z850M (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZ-Z850%28M%29_ECOS%201495.1_850W_Report.pdf) - HIGH POWER 850 G14C-GOLD (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/HIGH%20POWER_HP-850-G14C-GOLD_ECOS%201495_850W_Report.pdf) / OCZ Z1000M (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/OCZ_OCZ-Z1000%20%28M%29_ECOS1273%201_1000W_Report.pdf) - HIGH POWER 1000 G14S(C)-GOLD (http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/HIGH%20POWER_HP-1000-G14S%28C%29-GOLD_ECOS%201273_Report.pdf)


you got it :D

[Travis]

Going by their 80Plus reports (they are verbatim copies from the OEM built model), 550/650 are built by FSP and 850/1000 are built by HIGH POWER / Sirfa

I totally forgot to check their 80Plus reports... How dumb am I:wall:

[Spectre]

I totally forgot to check their 80Plus reports... How dumb am I:wall:

We looked before that is part of why we have been saying it probably is Sirfa ;)

THe part that made it odd is Sirfa usually doesn't make this good of a unit.

[Travis]

I guessed it's Sirfa because
1. it used a Globe fan with a Sirfa style baffle.
2. Sirfa has built units similar to CWT's before, and this unit is similar to DSG.

[SKYMTL]

THe part that made it odd is Sirfa usually doesn't make this good of a unit.

Didn't you go through two units with the first underperforming by quite a large margin? ;)

[Spectre]

Didn't you go through two units with the first underperforming by quite a large margin? ;)

Yeah well that is still a huge improvement for Sirtec/Sirfa though!

[SKYMTL]

Yeah well that is still a huge improvement for Sirtec/Sirfa though!

:lol::lol:

So true.

[garegin]

Yes, they say it is their product. They are playing the PC Power game since they aren't he manufacturer. They either have found a small OEM and are soaking up their entire volume like PC power did with Win-tact's PS2 units, or they have gotten a larger comapny to strip all their info off of the product to hie the source.

so basicly, they rather insult someones intelligence than simply say that they don't want to disclose their source.