Ultra X-Connect PSU's -- Part Deuce!!

C

collegeboy69us

Supreme [H]ardness
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soo -- the only thread I saw about the Ultra X-conenct PSU's didnt have anything except "someone thought they were crap"


I ran across the page and the PSU's look pretty sweet. But looks arent everything. I'm in the market for a new PSU because i think my Antec 350W is limiting me (keep in mind i have 5X 7200RPM HDDs (1.2TB) heh

So, anyone get to play with one of these X-connects? I could get one for about $70 bucks with their trade in program. If they can deliver clean quality power, I would be VERY interested because the whole thing of being able to customize the amount of connectors in your system if VERY appealing to me.

Any and all ideas about these PSU's are welcome, thanks

Jeff
 
yes I have it. The rails are Excelent, the stabaility is awesome and teh looks are killer.

but one thing that makes me mad is this weird ass smell that comes out of teh back of my PSU exhaust fan. I called ultra and they said it was natural so O well.
 
Ph0s5ph0L1p1D said:
yes I have it. The rails are Excelent, the stabaility is awesome and teh looks are killer.

but one thing that makes me mad is this weird ass smell that comes out of teh back of my PSU exhaust fan. I called ultra and they said it was natural so O well.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:

You believe powmax? Trust me, a psu emitting strange burning smells is NOT natural....and I've owned many psu's.

I'd ditch it immediatley.
 
computerpro3 said:
:rolleyes:

You believe powmax? .
Click to expand...

Ultra X
he doesnt know about POWmax
see POWmax had to invent a new company in order to cut themselves away from their bad rep, actually POWmax is Leadman again same difference

look you want to spend your $$ on bling bling, thats what your buying
just dont mistake an adequate PSU for a good one
 
I had one of these PSUs for a couple weeks. It worked fine for me, but there were a couple things I did not like about it.

1. That godawful smell.

2. As nice as the modular cables are, they aren't that flexible and the ends of the mobo power cables are larger and difficult to work with. In some cases, ie. Addtronics 6896 and Antec SLK2600AMB the mobo power cables were a deal killer.

I did not have the PSU long enough to say how reliable it will be long term.

I did however buy a PCPower and Cooling 510 deluxe after the ultrax and I am not looking back.
 
I've got one. It's stable and consistent. Plenty of power, especially when I really need it.

I am happy enough with it that I will probably get another.
 
I've had an Ultra-X for around two months now powering an AMD 3500, 6800gt, 2x HDD and Audigy 2 SB. My readings have been stable and problem free. HOWEVER, I did some work to it:
1. Changed out the 80mm fans with SilenX ones since the stock ones made clicking noises at low speed and were louder than I like.
2. Cleaned up the internal wiring for better air flow and because several were resting on the heatsinks.
3. Removed the glob of glue carelessly poured onto the heatsink. I bet that is the smell that several others have commented on.

It's a pretty PSU and the fully modular cables are sweet, if stiff. Internal worksmanship is spotty, so I can see how others have had problems with this model. There are other modular PSU alternatives available now. I would look at those as well.
 
Id also throw a multimeter on it and check its baseline voltage, its been reported consistantly high on the +12V rail,
something that if it has the normal 5% load regulation called for in the spec,
will wear on components if its letting overshoots through
 
keep in mind that maximum pc actually did a fairly good psu test relative to others out there (although still no scope or anything like that, SPCR's are still far better). The Ultra got a 4 verdict and blew up.
 
c1001 said:
I've had an Ultra-X for around two months now powering an AMD 3500, 6800gt, 2x HDD and Audigy 2 SB. My readings have been stable and problem free. HOWEVER, I did some work to it:
1. Changed out the 80mm fans with SilenX ones since the stock ones made clicking noises at low speed and were louder than I like.
2. Cleaned up the internal wiring for better air flow and because several were resting on the heatsinks.
3. Removed the glob of glue carelessly poured onto the heatsink. I bet that is the smell that several others have commented on.

It's a pretty PSU and the fully modular cables are sweet, if stiff. Internal worksmanship is spotty, so I can see how others have had problems with this model. There are other modular PSU alternatives available now. I would look at those as well.
Click to expand...

It sounds like anyone who gets the Ultra is going to have to do a warranty voiding internal makeover. I don't understand why people will still value a product thats got "spotty" workmanship just because its got a flashy colorful case. My Enermax's only "bling bling" is the gold plated fan guards and thats probably just to resist tarnishing. The Ultra's internal careless construction is going to probably affect its reliability. Why not paint the case of an Enermax with some automotive paint if you can't stand to look at something functionally elegant.
 
As I've mentioned before, I wouldn't pay $100 for any PS with a one-year warranty. Just shows either the manufacturer knows it's crap and won't last, or they don't want to bother with their custormers.
 
It's actually a 3 year warranty. However, some people (like me) like to take everything apart and put it back together or apply warranty-voiding tweaks and overclocks. It's part of the fun of building and modding, so usually warranties go out the window anyway.

I don't feel as secure about the Ultra-X as I do my Neopower, but it has worked well (power/noise/stability/heat/looks) so far. If it blows up then I'll have another excuse to buy something new...hee hee.
 
I just learned this lesson, dont buy an Ultra, My new 500 watt Xconnect would not run my 6800gt properly, caused it to artifact and act weird. worked fine with lower end cards though. Replaced it with an Antec and no problems what so ever now.
 
computerpro3 said:
keep in mind that maximum pc actually did a fairly good psu test relative to others out there (although still no scope or anything like that, SPCR's are still far better). The Ultra got a 4 verdict and blew up.
Click to expand...

OK Ive heard that roundup mentioned three times now
(however yours was the first :p )
but its not online, Ive gone as far as to reviewing threads about it on their forums in an effort to get the low down
but other than they pasted the Ultra-X as a hyped up over rated PSU
I wasnt able to garner much more info
(they dont want to spoil it for those that havent gotten their Jan issue yet)

I'll see what my local stores have available, but care to post the cliff notes?
test proceedure
how the PCP&C, Neopower and OCZ stacked up
other notable entrants
 
would it be against the copyright to scan in the article and post it? I have it right here....They did some good tests like dropping the AC voltage incrementally down to 60v, load testing, and all that stuff...

PCP&C in their words "undoubtedly performance king", 9 and Kick ass verdict. Only thing preventing it from perfect is cables arent modular and doesnt use 120mm fan

Antec neopower 10 verdict, kick ass award (while it wasnt best performing, it was modular and silent). Lines drooped more than pcp&c, but was only one of two psu's (the other being the pcp&c) to maintain spec tolerances when input voltages were dropped down to 60v. The others all blew up or varied wildly

the OCZ did fairly well, about the same as enermax I think, I'll go get the article now, but it didnt get a 9 or a 10 or a kick ass.....
 
indeed, but then a posted PIC or pdf isnt "cliff notes" :p
any summarization especially as it would be attributed
and embellished with your own colorful interpretation
would of course be outside the copyright, and simply commentary on "news" :p

even hard numbers employed to uillustrate your points would be allowed
a new thread might even be in order
something infalitory no doubt
like I told you so :p
 
Pffft doesnt have a 120mm :rolleyes:
it cant with its thermal design, (through cooling front to back) but I see the noise point
Im sure the US Patent and Copyright Office wont come after you if you embelish that a bit more :p
 
Im suprised any of them worked down to 60V
a hard test is at 90V
60 if far far out of their range of operation
I would have expected them all to shutdown at that
but they should also do it gracefully without killing themselves or taking components to Davey Jone's Locker

and while modular cables are all the craze
well they violate the KISS rule
(Keep it simple stupid)
adding another level of something to go wrong
(the additional interface, added resistance)
and PCP&C does offer custom harnesses, I personally wouldnt have weighted modual cables much in an assessment
 
My 500W X-Connect powers an oc'ed 3500+, 1GB RAM, oc'ed 6800 GT, two hard drives and one optical without problems. Rail levels are spot on.
 
keep it cool and get a UPS
not to single you out, I always say that :p
I do that for my PCP&C too, hell almost all my supplies
(some old boxes are on just surge protectors)
it just makes any supply all that more reliable
 
shockwave85 said:
My 500W X-Connect powers an oc'ed 3500+, 1GB RAM, oc'ed 6800 GT, two hard drives and one optical without problems. Rail levels are spot on.
Click to expand...

a fortron 350w could do that. easily. That's not a very power hungry rig.
 
shockwave85 said:
My 500W X-Connect powers an oc'ed 3500+, 1GB RAM, oc'ed 6800 GT, two hard drives and one optical without problems. Rail levels are spot on.
Click to expand...

My specs are about the same with a water cooled system added and I haven’t had any problems at all. The cables are not too stiff in my full size tower. The fan runs quiet and at a low RPM. I also don’t notice any odd smell.
 
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