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Ultra X2 550W / X-Finity 500W & 600W SLI


Date
: 06/6/06 – 03:03:29 AM

Author
:

Category
: Power Supplies

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer:
Ultra Components and Technologies

Price:
$129.99 MSRP / $99.99 MSRP / $119.99 MSRP

Hot off the heels of Simon Stad's Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower review, I will be looking at another shiny offering from the Ultra shelf. Apparently a single shiny item wasn't enough for me as Ultra jammed a total of three power supplies into the box that arrived at my place. That was very nice of Ultra except now I have three times the work to do!

The Ultra web site has a product list that would rival most online retailers and the company is always expanding its line-up. This States based company has been around for a while now and is primarily known in the modding circles for all kinds of accessories in that realm but Ultra also provides quality components that are vital to system stability such as memory, power supplies, and cooling products. Today, we look at a couple of different power supply lines, the X-Finity and the X2.

The Ultra X2 is a completely modular design while the X-Finity series is not. They both share the sleek FlexForce Technology behind their cables that are designed for easy manipulation aiding in routing and cable management that leads to a cleaner case. The two different lines of power supplies also share their mirror titanium finish and dual rail build design. This review will be all about performance in a two month long torture test so we need to get started.

Page 2 : Package

With this review covering 3 power supplies there will be plenty of photos and we start with looking at the packaging. Both the X2 and X-Finity power supplies have very similar packaging that tends to lean towards the "flashy" side of the spectrum.

There is no denying it, all three of these packages are bright, loud, and grab attention sitting on a shelf. The products inside provide even further bling factor with all three power supplies having a mirror finish. Despite the amount of color and graphics, there is quite a bit of useful information on the packages.

The top front angle of the X-Connect 2 definitely conveys what the power supply inside looks like. There should be no surprises when we open up the package. The package does a good job letting us know that a wide assortment of cables will come with the modular power supply.

The side of the package actually goes as far to show the entire assortment of cables and how they can be used. We also get a diagram outlining the fact that the power supply has a UV reactive window in the side that will provide further visual appeal when mounted in our case.

The rear of the box provides the standard voltage/amperage breakdown as well as a bit of information about the cables Ultra uses, called FlexForce cables.

The last of the X-Connect 2 package photos confirms that Ultra is really advertising the amount of cables provided and the great advantage this will have. This is by far the most advanced modular cable selection I have seen and it appears that Ultra has out done themselves on this front.

Moving on, we will now look at the packages for the two X-Finity power supplies. They obviously come in a smaller box and that will mostly be due to the packaging of the modular cables in the X-Connect package.

The X-Finity package also provides a complete breakdown of cable connections offered as well as the power output of the power supply inside. From the photos seen here, we are able to determine the 500W X-Finity to have a single large fan design with a honeycomb back end for the hot air to escape through.

Connection types are also provided for us and we can see a full complement of SATA power connections as well as a single 6-pin PCI-E power connection and an 8-pin EPS CPU power connection.

Power output is again displayed and exactly like the 500W package, the cable breakdown is listed on the side. The other physical difference between the two X-Finity power supplies is that the 600W SLI version seen here is not a single large fan power supply. It, instead, sports the standard from the past in a dual push/pull fan design. Once we get inside of these guys I am sure it will tell the story.

The close up of the top of the package shows the large "SLI Ready" sticker as well as the pair of 6-pin PCI-E connectors that will allow us to power two high-end video cards requiring extra power, without any adapters. With us having a look at 3 different power supplies, there is a lot of specifications to cover so let's have a look at those now.

Page 3 : Specifications

Ultra is quite pleased with the new revision of the Ultra X-Connect series in the X2 and here is a little blurb from their web site as to why:

Another aspect that Ultra really pushes about their power supplies is the "FlexForce" cables they use. All of the units we are looking at today come with the FlexForce cables and this is why:

The other aspect of these cables that will appeal to some is the fact that they are UV reactive and should really add some nice color to a modded or standard case interior. Ultra is also making my job very easy by providing so much information about the X2 power supply on their web site. This is very much appreciated from a consumer perspective. Here is the length of cables table that I pulled, of course, from the Ultra web site.

As you can see, the available cables are plentiful and quite good to be honest. Most modular power supplies come with a few cables with 3 or 4 splits in each going to 3 or 4 connectors. Ultra has truly made a modular design with plenty of multiple ends but also single ended cables such as the one single SATA, and single Molex cables. This is the only way to truly reduce cables in the case, offering a modular power supply with a weak selection of cables that requires you to use all of them anyway isn't exactly reducing clutter. I think with this cable line up, most people would be able to really reduce the cable mess.

We also take a look at the amperage breakdown chart that holds some of the more important information when looking at a power supply.

Being a dual rail power supply we get two 12V rails that are designed to split the load between the CPU and the rest of the system. In theory, the multiple rail design is a good one but I prefer single rail power supplies for hardcore overclocking. In the situation where a high-end video card is present and overclocking isn't the most important aspect for the machine, then a dual rail is far more beneficial. If you would like more information on how multiple rails work there are plenty of already written articles out there so I won't go into great detail here.

At this point we will switch gears and head over to the X-Finity page of Ultra's web site and provide some specifications on the other two Ultra X-Finity power supplies. This is what Ultra has to say about the X-Finity series:

Both the 500W and 600W X-Finity power supplies are listed as SLI Ready on the web site and both come with two 6-pin PCI-E connectors for such a setup. They also both come with the 8-pin EPS power connection, like the X2 550W, for future expandability as that standard makes its way over to consumer motherboards. As I mentioned earlier, this line of power supplies also uses the FlexForce cables found on the X2 series except these two power supplies are definitely not modular. Here are the connections that both the 500W and 600W SLI X-Finity offer:

1 – 20/24 Pin Motherboard Connector
1 – 4 Pin +12V Motherboard Connector
8 – 4 Pin Molex Connectors
2 – 4 Pin Floppy Power Connectors
2 – PCI Express Connectors
4 – SATA Connectors
1 – 8 Pin EPS Connector

And to wrap up the specifications section we look at the power distribution charts for both the 500W and 600W X-Finity.

500W X-Finity

600W X-Finity

What is interesting to note is that the 3.3V rail on the 500W is rated at 30A and the 600W only 25A yet the combination of the 5V and 3.3V rails on both power supplies equals. I checked the boxes that each power supply comes in to see if it was a typo on the web site but they are the same. In fact, on the 600W package the combined wattage of the 3.3V & 5V rail is listed as 165W and not the 160W listed above. So there is a bit of inconsistency in the values provided by Ultra.

That is about all we are going to be looking at as far as specifications go but I will also mention that all three power supplies are rated to be running above a 70% efficiency at the full rated loads.

Page 4 : Package Contents

Again, three power supplies are going to lead to plenty of photos with my shutter finger so I will let the camera do the talking and keep my comments to a minimum here.

The first power supply we are looking at is the 600W SLI X-Finity and this mass of cables is what feeds the power to the system. It may look small and tidy now but when you release the elastic band holding these cables together, it is a mess comparable to Carrot Top getting hit with a lawn mower.

Our four little friends are caught here hanging out. The FlexForce cables are quite nice not having any sleeving but acting as if they did. Notice the EPS power connector second from the left; all high end power supplies should offer the EPS power connection at this point.

The last photos of the 600W X-Finity power supply shows off its label affixed to the side.

Like the 600W SLI X-Finity, the 500W version came in a box protected by plastic wrap. The X-Finity series is not the highest of the Ultra line-up so I understand the minimalist packaging but a sheet of something soft around the unit wouldn't hurt.

Like its bigger brother, the 500W X-Finity has a label touting what exactly is under the hood and what it is capable of. The rear of the unit is completely honeycombed to allow the air to freely exit.

That air exiting will be sent on its way by the large 120mm fan on the underside of the power supply. This is an obvious difference between the 500W and 600W units as the 600W SLI X-Finity uses a push/pull fan design to flow air through the case sideways. Obviously the cooling requirements for the 500W are not as great.

The cables for the 500W X-Finity are the same selection offered with the 600W sans the extra 6-Pin PCI-E connector.

Moving forward we have come to the star of the show, the X2 550W modular power supply. Unlike the X-Finity power Supplies, Ultra packs the X2 550W in a small foam bed protecting it from the sides of the box. With the modular design we receive a small box with what I assume to be the cables and other accessories.

Sometimes when you're on, you're on, and it appears that I am on because that little box is in fact chock full of cables. We saw on the box exactly what cables come with this power supply and I have to admit that I cannot find another modular power supply with this array of cables included.

Ultra obviously thinks more of the modular X2 than it does the X-Finity giving it the styrofoam packaging but it might just be the modular design that allows for such a setup.

The opposite side provides a little insight into the power supply with a window that appears to be UV reactive. The titanium finish is incredibly nice and provides a perfect reflection.

The other end is where the modular business comes to work. There is no code for the connections on this power supply as the connections on this end are identical to that on the motherboard. There are a total of 5 4-pin molex connections, 2 SATA 5-pin, 1 8-pin EPS and 4-pin CPU connection, and 2 6-pin PCI-E connections. The last is the most obvious, the 24-pin mainboard connector. Most modular supplies will run the 24-pin straight from inside but Ultra has gone with a connection for it as well.

The fan on the inside looks to be of the blue LED variety. There certainly is a lot of flash in this power supply so it makes sense that under this over-the -top grill is housed a LED 120mm fan.

Since we have seen enough of these cables I won't talk much more about those except the modular ones are the same except for the connections. Here is the 20/24 main connection as well as the 4-pin CPU and 8-pin EPS connection. It is nice to see Ultra include 8-pin EPS connectivity without an adapter as many new motherboards are using this connection.

The most unique of the 14 included cables are these three. On the left is a single floppy power cable that would use up one of the 4-pin molex connections on the power supply. This is certainly long enough of a cable to reach the floppy slot of any case but also where your PCI sound card is that might require the extra juice. I am a big fan of single ended cables as not to have an end dangling free. In the middle is a 4-pin molex to floppy power connection providing a second floppy connection if need be and on the right is a cable that provides 3 power connections for 3-pin fans. Again it would just use up 1 4-pin molex connection on the power supply. Ultra has thought of every cable combination.

My first treat under the lid of the X2 550W power supply was the two short UV cathodes along each side of the 120mm fan. Obviously those windows are of a reactive material like I had suspected. This amount of lighting should make this unit glow like street light in the dark.

Things are tight up around the AC input where the cathodes have cables running past. The rest of this area is neat and tight but the layout of the power supply looks good with the two large heatsinks in the middle and everything jammed around the base.

The Koshin capacitors used throughout the power supply don't necessarily say its a bad power supply because they don't use Japanese capacitors from the likes of Nichicon or Panasonic but Koshin is a Hong Kong based company that I have heard neither good nor bad things about.

One last shot from above before we leave this area and move to the installation of the power supplies in their various roles throughout testing.

Page 5 : Installation

Installation for the Ultra PSUs spanned a variety of setups as I was quite busy over the two months that I had the power supplies. I again start with the 500W X-Finity.

Found here posing in the Titan Robela, there is nothing awkward about the install of this power supply in a standard mid-tower case. The cable bundle is a little larger than most but the opening for the power supply provides ample room.

Once the rest of a typical air-cooling setup was installed and wired, it was obvious that even with the odd 4-pin molex connection at the bottom of the motherboard, the cables are somewhat tidy. My first run with FlexForce cables was a positive one. The install went rather quickly with the cables doing what I wanted of them rather easily.

After spending some time in the Dragon case the 500W X-Finity got some time out on a bench running some memory. This setup ran 24/7 with some brief shutdowns to swap in bigger video cards for testing, but the system ran every moment it could for the better part of a month. It was quite the little workhorse.

The 600W X-Finity took up position as the power source for my main benchmarking system which included a spell of two brutal weeks with a power hungry PowerColor X1900XTX. This is where it spent the entire two month period performing various tasks such as chilled water overclocking with an Opteron 146 operating at 3200MHz+ and rather high voltages. Much of the time was spent stress testing memory. Again, this power supply ran on and off pretty much 24/7 under load as well.

The X2 was used in a couple of installs one notably being with the SilverStone TJ-08. The X2 550W is just a pinch over 6 inches long. Though the modular setup is nice, a 6" long power supply makes things tight for the small cases. Without the optical drive things are not looking good for the X2.

I am not sure what it is about this rear shot but there just looks to be more room. Either way, the optical drive is going in next and cables will be hooked up.

It turned out to be very tight but easily do-able. There is a 1/2" gap between the PSU and the drive but the cables were hooked up with relative ease while both devices were mounted and screwed into place. I was also able to tear down the setup without having to remove the two pieces first. The single cables let me keep the case virtually void of any cables aside from the 4-pin CPU power connection.

I would just like to comment on the FlexForce cables that all three of these power supplies used. They are easy to work with and I learned ways to really utilize them in a hurry. They are rather soft and therefore sticky which is an advantage at times. They also hold form well enough when lead properly. Overall I would have to give the cables a "very good" on a scale up to excellent as far as system building is concerned. My only negative was the clips felt brittle on all power supplies and it felt like I was going to break them at times.

Page 6 : Performance & Testing

When I am approached about power supply reviews I am always concerned because I truly don't have the tools to do a proper test on a power supply's capabilities. The only thing I can do is put them in real life situations and beat on them for extended periods of time. Full load situations for weeks on end for just over two months is what each power supply saw. At the beginning and end of this two month period I tested voltages and posted them below.

The method for testing voltages was by loading the system for 4 hours and taking 3 random readings from the connections on the motherboard with a digital multimeter. Those 3 readings were then averaged and recorded for the charts. Again, there are the results at the beginning and end of the two month period so we can see how the power supplies fared over time. Below are the three main configurations and test results that the Ultra power supplies were a part of for testing:

Ultra X-Finity 500W

The X-Finity 500W power supply ran my sever while I was on holidays and for 18 days the system ran flawlessly running both my home network and me remotely without a single reboot in an overclocked warm environment. The voltages have dropped slightly since I received the power supply but it looks to be holding strong. The fan made no noise and didn't seem to throttle but I could not tell it was running so it is hard to say.

Ultra X-Finity 600W SLI

The 600W X-Finity was put through the toughest two months of all the Ultra power supplies having the job of powering my main benchmarking rig which included an X1900XTX for two weeks of constant 3DMark runs. I was quite impressed with this power supply and how it handled the various duties it was asked of. I did get some wind noise from the 600W X-Finity and that is because of the dual fan setup versus the single in the 500W version.

Ultra X2 550W

The X2 550W seemed to have the lowest voltages of the three power supplies but it seemed to drop those voltages over the two months the least. Each power supply saw different use but the X2 ran just as much as the other two did so it certainly saw as much work. I would have hoped for the 12V rail to stay above 12V but it is still well above my personal lower limit of 11.70V where I find instability creep in during heavy overclocking. The last point I mention is the noise and lack thereof. Much like the X-Finity 500W, the single fan design does well to all but eliminate fan noise from the power supply.

Page 7 : Conclusion

Whether it was running MemTest86+ with a 2GB kit of memory at DDR540 for 297 hours straight, or dual priming an X2 3800+ at 2.9GHz and an Asetek water kit for over 48 hours, or finding the maximum 2.5-3-3-5 frequency of a trick TCC5 kit and passing 310HTT 1:1 on chilled water, none of the systems had a failure, reboot, or random possible power related issue. Voltage always remained within specification but did drop below 12V on occasion under heavy loads with a couple of the units but for the most part they all seemed to hold their own.

The finish on these power supplies is also worth mentioning again before I am done. It is absolutely smooth and provides a perfect mirror finish adding a nice touch to the case that needs to look good. The FlexForce cables are easy to work with and make a clean install a breeze. The X2 modular cable selection is the best that I have seen and sets the standard in my opinion.

I really wanted to test the three power supplies over the period of time I ran them and they surprised me in how well they responded. The fancy package and shiny finish had me worried that the performance would lack but the voltages on my digital multimeter tell otherwise.

Advantages

• FlexForce cables get my two thumbs up
• Beautiful mirror finish
• X2 modular cable selection

  Disadvantages

• Packaging was minimal on X-Finity

  Overclockers Online would like to thank Ultra for the review samples.