Introduction

We would like to thank OCZ for supplying the ZS 650 W review sample.

OCZ is trying to make a dynamic re-entry in the PSU market with the affordable and value oriented ZS Series. In the last review we reviewed the ZS 750W and concluded that its price needs an urgent revision in order to avoid the hard competition it has to face in the $100 category from other PSUs that utilize newer platforms and in general perform better. The ZS 650W costs only $10 less than its bigger brother so it will also face strong competition, especially since it uses the same outdated platform. Nevertheless, before we draw any conclusions let's first finish all tests and then conclude if the price/performance ratio will work out on today's market.

The ZS series may be positioned below the ZX models, performance and price wise, however it uses all Japanese capacitors contrary to the ZX units, which utilize Teapo ones. That's quite surprising and it's the first time we see a "weaker" series utilizing better caps than the high-end models! Regarding the rest of features, the ZS 650W is 80 PLUS Bronze certified, it uses a non-modular cabling design and is equipped with two PCIe connectors.