Home | Forums | Cool Case Gallery |Archive | Reviews | Articles | Guides | Links | VH Gear | Contests | Downloads | Contact
 





  Thermalright TRad2 VGA Coolers Review  
 
 
  Cooler Master HAF 932 Case Review  
 
 
  Zotac AMP Graphics Card Round Up  
 
 
  G.Skill F2-6400CL4D-4GPI-B DDR2 Memory Review  
 
 
  OCZ ModXStream-Pro 600w Power Supply Review  
 
 
  NZXT Whisper Case Review  
 
 
  OCZ Gladiator Max CPU Cooler Review  
 
 
  Antec Notebook Cooler 200 Review  
 
 
  Thermaltake Armor+ MX Enclosure Review  
 
 
  Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler Review  
 
 
  Norco Technologies DS-1000 Storage System Review  
 
 


Get prices for...

 
 
Top Products

Motherboards
Intel | Abit
Gigabyte | Asus
Epox | Iwill
MSI | Shuttle
Tyan | Soyo
ECS | ASRock

Processors
AMD | Intel
Compaq

Cases
Antec | Lian-Li
Thermaltake
SilverStone
Coolermaster
ATX | BTX

Graphic Cards
ATI | nVidia

Memory
DDR | DDR2
Corsair | Crucial
OCZ | Patriot

Sound Cards
Creative Labs
Turtle Beach

Hard Drives
Seagate | Hitachi
Western Digital | Maxtor

Monitors
Viewsonic | Dell
Samsung | Apple

CD & DVD Burners
Plextor | Lite On
Sony | LG

 
 

 

Click here to join the VH Forums!

Ultra Products X2 550w Modular Power Supply Review  
Date Published:
04-27-2006
Written By:
Diceman
Edited By:
N/A
Provided By:
Ultra Products
Where to Buy:
FrozenCPU
Discuss Article:
VH Forum link
Pages: 1 2 3

 
 
 
 
 



Testing Methods:

   In order to test the stability of a power supply it's best to put it thru it's paces with a high-end system and some serious gaming and benchmarking trials. In order to test the efficiency of this power supply I used the Seasonic Power Angel and I will compare it to previous units I've compared.

   The load stats are compiled running long gaming sessions of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Quake 4, and/or Call of Duty 2. Also benchmarking stress testing included Prime95, PC Mark 2005, 3D Mark 2005 and Sisoft Sandra CPU Burn in.

Test Hardware:

Asus A8N-SLI Premium MB
AMD X2 4400+ Dual Core CPU
2GB Corsair PC3500 Pro DDR
2 XFX Nvidia 7800GT's in SLI
74gb Western Digital Raptor 10K RPM HDD
2x80gb Western Digital 7200rpm SATA HDD's
Pioneer DVD drive & Sony DVD-RW
Numerous Fans and Accessories

Seasonic Power Angel Results Comparison:

Test

Enermax 620w Seasonic 430w Old Antec 480w Ultra X2 550w Ultra X-Finity 500w
120v Reading/wall outlet 121.8 122.7 122.5 122.8 122.7
Amperes 1.41 1.39 2.26 2.12 2.20
Watts 170w 170w 190w 180w 182w
Volt-Amps 172va 171va 277va 260va 270va
Hertz 59.9 59.9 59.9 59.9 59.9
Power Factor/120w load 0.99% 0.98% 0.68% 0.68% 0.67%

   The Efficiency results were not the best of the bunch and certainly no comparison to the Seasonic 430w I reviewed previously or the Enermax Liberty 620w. You can see particularly the Volt-Amps and the wattage usage are below average, or at least below the best of class.

   Keep in mind the "Power Factor" is the fancy term for "Efficiency". So the closer to 1.00% we get the better. With only a .68% rating for the Ultra X2 550w we're only getting just under 70% efficiency. That's "typical" of a lot of power supplies today, but not on par with the active PFC ones.

Voltages:


Stable voltages

   The voltage readings were all extremely stable and I didn't notice any stutter or "Waves" in the power output, even with my higher-end system. I didn't really expect any problems however, this is a high quality power supply with special attention to the power outputs and stability. My SLI and X2 dual-core system didn't give this unit any troubles that I could find.

Conclusion:

   The new X2 Titanium 550w Modular Power Supply is definitely a good solid product. The looks department are covered with a mirrored finish, shiny titanium look cables, and 100% modular cabling system. There's no LED fans, but the cables are UV reactive.

   Ultra's FlexForce cabling system is a very unique flat flexible cable design with a special emphasis on dual rails and superb stability.

    The quality feel of this unit is something to behold. It's as solid a power supply as I've ever handled. Modular's are great in most situations and something that most people say "once you go modular, you never go back", but I can tell you from experience, having a modular power supply in some of today's inverted ATX and BTX cases can be more of a hassle than it's worth.  Remember my Lian Li V1000 review where I had to completely remove the power supply cage and half the hard drive cages to get my Modular psu to fit correctly? So take into consideration the specific application before you buy any power supply.

   However in the typical ATX chassis setup, I can't think of a better PSU to have in it. Use only the cables you want, leave the rest out. A Quality modular power supply is certainly the way of the enthusiast today, and this X2 PSU leaves nothing but some fancy lights to the imagination.

   After a thorough review, installation and testing of this unit I can whole heartedly recommend it for purchase. At a street price of around $100, it's on par with other quality power supplies in it's class for this amount of wattage. However no other power supply can say they have the Flex-Force cabling system, and no other can say they're better built than this unit. It's top quality construction all the way.

   So with all said and done, I recommend the Ultra X2 Titanium 550w Modular Power Supply. This power supply is just slick, mean and well designed with special attention paid to not only looks and convenience, but also quality and stability.

   Head on over to the Ultra Products Website and check out their large selection of unique and quality products.


<< A Closer Look | Back to VH FrontPage >>

 

Got News? Send 'em in!

.







 

 - Quiet Computer Fans
 - Quiet CPU Cooling
 - Quiet PC Power Supply
 - Quiet Laptop Cooling
 - Silent Computer Fan
 - Noctua Fans
 - Noctua CPU Fans
 - Noctua NH-U12P Quiet CPU Cooler
 - Noctua NH-C12P Quiet CPU Cooler
 - AcoustiPack PC Sound Proofing
 - Laptop Toys - Laptop Cooling
 
Acoustic PC: Quiet Computer Hardware & PC Soundproofing

 - Data Recovery
 - Raid Data Recovery
 - Electronic Components from Made in China
 - Data Recovery
 - Data Recovery Software
 - Raid Recovery
 - Data Recovery Software
 - Data Recovery
 - Computer Forensics
 - RAID Data Recovery
 - Computer forensic
 - Shopbot Canada
 - MjM Data Recovery Ltd
 - Data Recovery
 - Data Recovery
 - Data Recovery Services
 - IPDRA.org
 - Computer Forensics
 - Digital Photo Frame
 - RAID Data Recovery
 
 
 
 

Copyright © 1999 - 2008 Virtual-Hideout LLC.
All other trademarks and copyrights on this site are property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.