Date:
Tuesday , April 03, 2007
Author:
Paul Johnson
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
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Ultra X-Pro 600W EE

This Ultra PSU falls into a category that is drawing more and more attention now days, that being the "Energy Efficient" niche. Can 600 watts of power really be EE, quiet, and powerful all at the same time? Is it worthy of your custom system?

Introduction

The Ultra X-Pro 600W EE (Product# ULT40053) is the second of the Ultra X-Pro line of power supplies to be reviewed here at HardOCP and follows on the footsteps of it’s bigger brother the X-Pro 750W. Ultra Products is not a computer parts company that started out with one product line and diversify like our first two reviews but started out offering a wide variety of computer parts from day one. One of those product lines has been their power supply offerings which have enjoyed great initial acceptance due in large parts to their good looks. The more recent offerings in their power supply line that we have looked at, the X-Pro 750W, proved to be a worthy contender even if had not been blessed with its dashing good looks. Today however, we will be looking at a member of the X-Pro family aimed at the energy efficient arena as denoted by its EE designation.

The Ultra X-Pro 600W EE does not come to Ultra from the same OEM as the X-Pro 750W (Seventeam) but from Andyson International. Andyson is a company that end users may or may not be familiar with as they have provided the basis for a number of Hiper units, Sunbeamtech, and others. Ultra has also used some of their other units including the original non EE X-Pro 600W.

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The Strong Silent Type?

Today’s Ultra offering is slightly different from the first Ultra unit we reviewed in that it has been tweaked to try and hit Ultra’s goal of 85% efficiency. Moreover, with the inclusion of a 135mm fan (the second largest I have seen on a PSU) it appears Ultra is aiming squarely for the quiet cooling demographic with the Ultra X-Pro 600W EE. To make this already difficult job tougher Ultra has committed themselves to supporting high end gaming systems.

Ultra once again addresses the needs of demanding, high end gaming systems, while maintaining 80% efficiency under typical loads. The X-Pro EE 600W can supply a continuous 432W on the 12V rail. The X-Pro EE 600W features a black titanium finished housing and cool black sleeved cables. Because all of the X-Pro EE's potential power is available to any of the units connectors, you'll never again have to wonder if you'll have enough power to get you through the next level, or next CPU or GPU upgrade.

Taking such a wide approach with one power supply is definitely a tall order but it can be done successfully as we have recently seen Corsair do with their HX620. Can the Ultra X-Pro 600W EE dismount the Corsair HX620 from its [H] pinnacle? Will the Corsair remain the dominate player?

Now that we know what Ultra expects from this power supply lets see what we have to look forward to when we purchase the X-Pro 600W EE in terms of documentation, accessories, cable count, rail layout, output characteristics, and general build quality.