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Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W Power Supply Review
Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W Power Supply Review - PCSTATS
The Ultra X-Connect Green UV power supply certainly look quite impressive and should be able to satisfy even the most hardcore of users.
Filed under: Power Supply Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Ultra Products Jan 20 2005   M. Dowler  
Home > Reviews > Power Supply > Ultra Products Ultra X-Connect

Performance Tests , Conclusion

PCStats Test System Specs:
processor:

intel pentium 4 540

clock speed: 16 x 200 mhz = 3.2 ghz
motherboards:

gigabyte ga-8anxp-d, 925x

videocard:

msi rx800xt-vtd

memory:

2x 512mb crucial ballistix pc-5300

hard drive: 40gb wd special ed
cdrom: aopen 8x dvd+/-rw
powersupply: ultra x-connect green uv 500w psu

*all voltages were read from the motherboard bios.

Listed Voltages AMP Lower Voltage Upper Voltage Jitter
+3.3V 28A 3.29v 3.33v 0.04v
+5.0V 30A 4.95v 5.01v 0.06v
+12V 34A 11.99v 12.02v 0.03v
-12V 0.8A 11.99 12.00v 0.01v
-5.0V 0.3A 5.00v 5.00v 0.00v
+5.0Vsb 2A 5.00v 5.00v 0.00v

Considering that our Pentium 4 test system draws a lot of power, the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W PSU handled the load very well. The 12V rail only dipped to 11.99V, which is inconsequential. It's important that the voltages inside the power supply do not fluctuate very much. If they do then the power supply is delivering bad power to your components.

Seasonic Load Tests Source: Seasonic

When looking at the Seasonic Power Supply test results we see two values, wattage and volt-amps. Since it might not be clear what they measure, here's a brief overview.

The volt-amp (VA) value is how much real power is being consumed by the power supply being tested to provide the wattage (W) value. The higher the VA value is, the more electricity is being used by the power supply. Because no electrical device is 100% efficient, there will always be some loss when converting AC to DC. The closer the volt-amps and wattage figures are to each other, the more efficient a power supply is. This is called the Power Factor: wattage / volt-amps = PF.

Since we're testing with a 120W dummy load, the load on the power supply (wattage) should be as close to this figure as possible. Anything above this load in apparent power describes the overhead and wasted energy (given off as heat) for the particular power supply being tested.

For the unloaded tests, the wattage and volt-amp figures should be as close as possible to one another. The lower the figures are, the less power is being used.

Seasonic Load Tests

Power Supply Wattage Test Load Unloaded
Seasonic SuperTornado 400 W Active Power 177 W 6 W
Apparent Power 182 VA 7 VA
Vantec iON2

350 W

Active Power

192 W

10 W
Apparent Power 277 VA 21 VA
Antec TruePower 330 330 W Active Power 195 W 22 W
Apparent Power 289 VA 38 VA
Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W 500 W Active Power 193W 22 W
Apparent Power 307 VA 40 VA

As you can see here in the Seasonic Load tests, the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W is not very efficient and uses the most electricity of any power supply we've tested recently. What that means is, it costs more in electricity to use the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W PSU when compared to the other power supplies in this test. Even when unloaded the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W uses the most electricity!

Keep in mind that the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W can also deliver more power than the rest of the supplies in this test, so even though it is not the most efficient, it may still be a better choice for your complex rig. Also, it's shiny...

Pretty but...

When you buy a cheap power supply, you're putting everything inside your computer at risk. Does it makes sense to save $50 on a PSU to only have it blow up in the future and take the rest of your PC with it? Doesn't seem like such a good deal anymore eh?

Believe it or not, the above can happen and will happen. within my own circle of friends I've seen it three times in the last two years! Of course that's an extreme case but bad power supplies can also manifest many other problems from intermittent crashes to data corruption.

Ask around in any computer forum about power related issues, I'm sure you'll hear some real horror stories.

The Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W is certainly one of the most cosmetically innovative power supplies to come around in a long time. Its modular design means that you won't have to hide those extra power supply cables behind the motherboard tray or in the 5 1/4" drive bays, you can simply connect what you need!

Under UV light the green plastic windows glow a nice neon green while the cables are cyan in colour. Who says your power supply can't be as pretty as your system? UltraProducts include enough cables and power plugs for most users; there are eight molex, one floppy and two Serial ATA power cables as well as the regular 20 pin ATX, ATX12V and Auxiliary lines.

When the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W is hooked up to a system, the rails are rock solid which means system stability shouldn't be an issue. However, this power supply certainly uses a lot of electricity. The Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W uses the most power (idle and at load) of any power supply we've tested of late and if you pay directly for your electricity, you might notice.

The Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W is easily the best looking power supply on the market but this beauty has a pretty steep price in terms of the electricity it can use. Retailing for $154 CDN ($125 US), the PSU is priced near the middle of its class, but perhaps its best to look past the bling bling and choose another brand which puts its circuitry first.

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Related Articles

Here are a few other articles that you might enjoy as well...

1. Antec TruePower 330W Power Supply Review
2. PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510-PFC Power Supply
3. Seasonic Super Tornado 400W Power Supply Review
4. Vantec iON2 350W Power Supply Review
5. iCute4 420W Aluminum PSU Review

< Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com Power Supply Reviews...»

 

Contents of Article: Ultra Products Ultra X-Connect
 Pg 1.  Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W Power Supply Review
 Pg 2.  Bright Green and Chrome
 Pg 3.  More Power Supply Goodness!
 Pg 4.  — Performance Tests , Conclusion

 
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