OCZ 550W (OCZ550FTY-UK) Fatal1ty Series Power Supply Review

Posted by: Sahil Mannick (Helios1234) on: 08/09/2009 11:06 PM [ Print | 0 comment(s) ]

Closer Look

Above the 6 pin connectors is a label specifying the individual pins
The PSU itself is of steel construction to ensure a sturdy and solid build. I has a very nice smooth finish but it does scratch easily when mounting it. At the back, there are the 6 modular connections that use 6/8pin connections. The black ones are for general peripheral and Serial ATA connections while the red ones are dedicated to the PCI-E connections. The main cables come from the interior of the PSU. There is a small circular plastic ring surrounds the hole out of which the cables come from and I noticed that it did come loose occasionally. This was not detrimental at all and was just for aesthetic purposes. A cable tie kept all the cables together for tidiness and all the cables were sleeved right to the end.

To avoid clutter, only the mainboard cables are captive. It would have been better to have the PCI-E cable there as well rather than a seperate modular cable
The main motherboard connectors include a 20+4pin ATX cable for all motherboards, a 4 pin and 8 pin CPU cable to power them under stable conditions. The 4 pins on the ATX cable can be detached if only the 20 pin connector is required. Plugging the 2 in a 24 pin connector on the motherboard was easy and didn't require much effort for the two cables to attach properly.

The Fatal1ty brand reminds us once again the gaming philosophy behind this power supply
OCZ provides all the adequate cables to populate the connectors at the back and they should be enough for however many components you use. The side of the PSU list the Amp readings on the individual rails as shown previously. The PSU is fairly compact in size so it should fit in any case, including smaller ones for Lan Parties.

All the cables bundled
There are 6 cables provided with the red ones being the PCI-E cables and the rest dedicated to SATA and peripherals. Of the 2 PCI-E connectors, one is a 6 pin and the other a 6+2pin for more power hungry cards. The two cables dedicated to SATA power connectors have 6 connectors in total mounted at 90 degrees to the cable except at the ends. This means there are enough for an optical drive and 5 hard-drives. The other two cables are for Molex connectors to help power fans and other peripherals. One of those cables have a floppy drive connector at the end rather than a Molex.

The red fan certainly fits the gamer attire
Once installed and powered on, the fan spins away and LED shines brightly to illuminate the computer without going overboard. It's subtle enough not to make it seem like a Christmas tree...