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500 - 700W Power Supply Group Test

Author	Edward Chester
Published	24th Apr 2009
Manufacturer	OCZ
Supplier	ebuyer.com
Price	£80.09 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£94.10 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price	Click here

Features
Performance
Value
Overall

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Given its pro-gamer Fatal1ty branding, it should come as no surprise that the OCZ Fatality Champ1ion Series is one of the flashiest PSUs in this test, quite literally. When turned on the 120mm fan glows red as does the excised Fatal1ty logo on the side. The cable braiding then continues this red theme all the way to the rest of your PCs components.

The cabling is also among the longest we've seen with the motherboard connector, auxiliary CPU, and PCI-Express cables being the shortest at 65cm long, while the Molex and Floppy connector cables top 130cm - this is definitely a PSU for the enthusiast with an enormous case. Of course, if you don't have a particularly large case then for the very same reason this is probably one to avoid as all that excess cabling will be an absolute pig to manage.

In the box we got both a European and UK mains cable as well as four black screws for mounting the PSU and three plastic cable ties. Clearly it's only the PSU itself that you're paying the premium for.

Looking at our performance figures, we once again have a clean sweep of green. On top of this it safely exceeds its rated efficiency of 80 per cent with a minimum of 81.9 per cent and maximum of 84.3.

Fancy lights and pro-gamer affiliation it may have, but one thing this PSU doesn't excel in is idle sound level. At 39dB this was our joint second noisiest PSU on test when idling. However, this was countered by the noise level only increasing by 1dB when under load. As with the other 700W units this was partially to do with the power draw of our test system being relatively easy for a supply of this power (340W is only about 60 per cent load), but it's still mightily impressive that the sound level increased so little.

Verdict

The Fatal1ty name may not add much to this PSU beyond a red colour scheme and a glowing red fan, but this is still a very capable PSU that's worth considering if you have a particularly large case. For most people, though, the extra long cables will be of little use, the higher than average idle noise level will put many off, and overall the cost is a little high.

£95.44

Latest 4 of 14 Comments

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basicasic said on 25th April 2009

Thanks for the review. Excellent.

I'm pretty sure Corsair PSUs are made by Seasonic so they will be decent. I've got plenty of Enermax, Seasonic and Antec ... more

b166er said on 26th April 2009

Thanks for the round-up, they always help to keep abreast. I would have really liked to see warranties mentioned for these, though. I wouldn't consider buying one with less th... more

Ed said on 5th May 2009

Hi b166er,

Good point about the warranties, though this is something that most manufacturers clearly list on their websites. I'll consider adding them next tim... more

Rickysio said on 9th May 2009

I was using a Cooler Master eXtreme 430W, and it frigging surprised me.
I managed to use it to run a Q6600 and a GTS250 without a hitch.
Though I've since then u... more

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