Ultra X-Finity 500W ATX12V AC Power Supply

Not bad for the price...

Strengths: Appearance, performance exactly in line with the manufacturer's claims, lots of connectors.

Weakness: Can be noisy, length of connecting wires can become a bit of a jungle in your case.

I bought this PSU after reading reviews tha the latest X-Connect generations of power supplies were strong and delivered as per the manufacturer's specs (which has NOT been my experience with a number of PSU's.) When there were rebates enough to make it cost less than $30, I thought it would be worth it to upgrade my existing PSU from a 350W stock model. Unfortunately, it didn't fit into my Dell...
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I bought this PSU after reading reviews tha the latest X-Connect generations of power supplies were strong and delivered as per the manufacturer's specs (which has NOT been my experience with a number of PSU's.) When there were rebates enough to make it cost less than $30, I thought it would be worth it to upgrade my existing PSU from a 350W stock model. Unfortunately, it didn't fit into my Dell 8400 (Dell's love of "proprietary" hardware makes it difficult to changes PSUs without buying directly form them or cutting thorugh the back of the metal computer case), but it found a home in a system I was building for a relative.

For the price, it delivers exactly as promised, which is more than I've come to expect from other manufacturers. It's an attractive unit for those with a see-through computer case. It's SLI ready, but a little underpowered for that task (I have yet to see an SLI configuration that requires any less than the 500W given here, and quite a few that want strictly more.) Althought there's good output on the 12v rails (16A and 18A, for a total of 384W), it would still nto be my choice to start an SLI configuration.

By geo442 - Feb 28, 2006

Great PSU for the money

Strengths: VERY stable voltages (check some test reviews and you will see) Bang for the buck Multiple 12V rails Slim, Industrial Strength Wires Unique to this company ONLY

Weakness: Only thing I can think of is wishing the fan was a blue led fan, lol

I've had this thing for about 3 months now, no probs whatsoever. I had an old 500 watt psu and the 12V rails were not maintaining their voltage, thus whenever I played a game a high pitched whining sound came from my video card (similar to a TV tube with a leak). This was due to the lack of voltage. Needless to say, it no longer does that and my voltage deviation on my cpu is about .3V at its...
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I've had this thing for about 3 months now, no probs whatsoever. I had an old 500 watt psu and the 12V rails were not maintaining their voltage, thus whenever I played a game a high pitched whining sound came from my video card (similar to a TV tube with a leak). This was due to the lack of voltage. Needless to say, it no longer does that and my voltage deviation on my cpu is about .3V at its absolute worst, the 3.3V and the 5.0V, etc are within .1V deviation. THIS IS A REALLY GOOD POWER SUPPLY. Don't listen to people bashing this great product just because they didn't like the X-connect. The x-connect WAS junk, this is better than OCZ in my honest opinion. My roommate has an OCZ he paid a little under 200 for, it was also 500watt and a similar computer setup, his tend's to deviate more than mine :D

By p4l1ndr0m3 - Feb 12, 2006

Good Value - Looks Nice - Nvidia SLi Approved

Strengths: Good value when purchased with rebates. Attractive design. Ample cables. Approved by Nvidia as 'SLi ready'.

Weakness: No active PFC on this model. Model ULT31843 (retail $20 more) has Active PFC.

This supply continues Ultra's tradition of creating nice looking power supplies at a good value (when you get them with rebates). The flexforce cables are easy to work with and also look nice. Only time will tell the true story of build/design quality. Initial perspective is positive based on the use of quality cables and heft of power supply (heat sinks/components/etc).

By rjg63 - Mar 1, 2006

Plenty of juice

Strengths: Looks amazing, good cord management, lots of power, SLI approved, and cost effective

Weakness: A little weak for a major SLI setup

This power supply is awesome. It looks amazing in my case and provides enough power to get it done. It's SLI approved, so you know you can use the heck out of it. THe only drawback is the amperage, which is a little low if you build an extra high-end system. I would recommend this to anyone putting together their own machine.

By slimshadyemb - Jan 27, 2006

It does its job

Strengths: Good amps on the 12v rail enough power to run most NON sli systems.

Weakness: If your upgrading to sli and use a higher end card i would upgrade to something bigger. The rails arn't as steady as i'd like to see them, it can cause your vcore to flux from 1.5 to 1.52

Might not be the best thing in the world for a serious overclocker with good graphics cards. It does its job for me at the moment. I'm not really sure if i like it blowing all that hot air right at my CPU either...

By DarqAngels - Feb 11, 2006