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Ultra X3 1600w Power Supply

Ultra makes a huge statement with their 1600 watt rated power supply. This is so much power that we had difficulty fully load testing the PSU, but we did finally realize the 1600w rating. Yep, all 1600w without burning down the house and your household wiring is something you will want to take into very serious consideration.

Introduction

Ultra Products is a marketer of a wide variety of PC products ranging from media readers to cases to power supplies to cables to memory and on through a seemingly unending list of product categories. It has had its fair share of trials and tribulations as some of their PSUs got off to a rocky start in North America, but overall what we have seen out of the company in the last year or so has shown a somewhat matured product line. Because of this, Ultra is now fairly well known in both power supply and regular PC peripheral circles. Some credit for their brand awareness is also due to the striking looks of many of their products which set them apart in the early days of its marketing effort. All this coupled with the wide use of modular cables is what drove much of Ultra’s high profile in the power supply market. Today however we have the opportunity to review the product that has the single best chance of embedding the name Ultra in the power supply realm and users psyche for good, the Ultra X3 1600w.

The X3 1600w is the single largest capacity power supply we have seen to date in the consumer market and may well be for some time for reasons we will discuss later. In launching the X3 1600w, Ultra is thumbing their noses at the competition who are just now pushing out 1200w and 1300w units. These claims of 1600w power supply are lofty but if Ultra can deliver on those claims, and those claims can be realized by the average user, it will translate into a real workhorse power supply that could literally power several of today’s high-end PCs at once.

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 power supplies, Sunbeamtech power supplies, and others. Ultra has also used Andyson for some of their other power supplies including members of their X-Pro line of branded power supplies (X-Pro 600w EE) and the X3 series (X3 1000w) so we have become somewhat familiar with their products.

Lightning in a bottle?

The Ultra X3 1600w is the largest capacity power supply from Ultra to date (or from any other consumer brand for that matter) and comes with Ultra’s characteristic touches of good looks and fully modular FlexForce cables. Ultra has just now slipped this unit into the market, though it was announced sometime ago as a 2000w show piece. After some safety certification wrangling, the unit was artificially capped at 1600w. Ultra has not done much in the way of advertising the product. However, a quick check of the Ultra webpage finds this product (ULT40070) listed with the rest of the X3 line.

Ultra pulls out all of the stops for their latest power supply. By combining our "EE" (Energy Efficient) platform, which converts as much as 85% of AC power into DC power during typical loads, with a quiet 135MM ball bearing fan, our patented modular interface and our Limited Lifetime Warranty, Ultra clearly dominates the market with the new X3 power supply! The X3 is super efficient, using less electricity than other power supplies when providing power to your computer and it generates less heat. Cooling is substantial yet silent by utilizing a thermostatically controlled 135MM ball bearing fan and a honeycomb cut exhaust grill. The X3 also has full range active PFC, which improves apparent power used by the computer. The modular interface allows you to only plug in the cables you actually require for your particular PC. The X3 is ready for even the highest end gaming rigs by providing up to four 6-pin PCI-e connectors, and the 800W and 1000W models provide the newest 8-pin PCI-e connector for the latest 300W graphics cards. If the you're looking for an efficient, quiet, powerful, modular power supply with a Lifetime Warranty, there's no reason to look any farther than the Ultra X3!

I would say that claiming the X3 1600w is ready for "even the most high end gaming rigs" may be a wee bit of an understatement. However, now that we know what Ultra expects from this power supply let’s see what we have to look forward to when we purchase the X3 1600w in terms of documentation, accessories, cable count, rail layout, output characteristics, and general build quality.