OCZ EliteXStream 1000 W is one of the most affordable 1,000 W power supplies available in the market today. Its lower price point was achieved by carrying fewer features compared to other 1,000 W models, such as less auxiliary power cables for video cards (only four) and the absence of a modular cabling system. On the other hand OCZ was able to put this power supply inside a housing with a depth of only 6 19/64” (16 cm), while other 1,000 W models like Corsair HX1000W needs to use a bigger housing with a depth of 7 7/8” (20 cm). But is this a good power supply? Let’s see if it survives our load tests.

We were very curious to test this power supply, because we had already tested another 1,000 W model from OCZ, ProXStream 1000 W. We were not impressed by this other model from OCZ especially because it uses two printed circuit boards and two 80-mm fans, what made this other model to heat like hell, to be heavy and very noisy. The project from this other model was presented efficiency below 80% when we were pulling 800 W or more from it. With these two problems we simply can’t recommend ProXStream 1000 W.

Like ProXStream 1000 W, EliteXStream 1000 W also provides a small form factor like mentioned, but at least OCZ is using a 120-mm riffle bearing fan on its bottom instead of an 80-mm fan on its rear and another on its front. As you know, 120-mm or bigger fans on the bottom of the power supply is preferred as they provide a higher air flow and a lower noise level.

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Figure 1: OCZ EliteXStream 1000 W power supply.

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Figure 2: OCZ EliteXStream 1000 W power supply.

As you can see, this power supply does not have a modular cabling system, what helped to lower the manufacturing cost and thus the final price of the product.

It has “only” four auxiliary power cables for video cards, all using 6/8-pin connectors. We say “only” because competing 1,000 W models may offer six or more cables, which is desirable on 1,000 W units. Power supplies from this power range are clearly targeted to PCs with three or four video cards. Since very high-end video cards require two auxiliary power connectors with EliteXStream 1000 W you can only power two very high-end cards directly. If you want to have more than that you will need to use adaptors to convert peripheral power plugs into video card power connectors.

EliteXStream 1000 W has four other cables for peripherals, one with four standard peripheral power connectors, one with four standard peripheral power connectors and one floppy disk drive power connector and two with four SATA power connectors each. The unit also has one EPS12V connector with no ATX12V support and the main 24-pin motherboard connector can’t be transformed into a 20-pin one. So you can only use this power supply with motherboards with an EPS12V connector.

On the aesthetic side all cables use a nylon sleeving that comes from inside the power supply housing.

On this power supply all peripheral wires are 18 AWG, with the +5 V and +3.3 V wires from the main motherboard cable being 16 AWG, which is really nice (i.e. they are thicker). It would be nice to see more 16 AWG wires on a 1,000 W product.

This power supply has active PFC, so it can be sold in Europe, and because of that it also features auto voltage selection. OCZ says this unit has 82% efficiency. Of course we will measure efficiency during our tests.

This power supply is really manufactured by Impervio. This manufacturer also produces power supplies for SilverStone. Even though the external appearance, internal layout and primary from OCZ EliteXStream 1000 W is identical to SilverStone OP1000-E, the secondaries from these two power supplies are completely different.

Let’s now take an in-depth look inside this power supply.