Date:
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Author:
Paul Johnson
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
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Ultra X3 600w Power Supply

This 600 watt PSU makes our 5th Ultra power supply we have reviewed since March of 2007. While most have been award winners, our last 600 watt unit was not worthy of passing our testing suite. Is Ultra's new 600 watt up to the test?

Introduction

Ultra Products is a marketer of a wide variety of PC products ranging from media readers to computer chassis 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 a more moderately placed “X3” product from Ultra in comparison to the X3 1600w and X3 1000w we have reviewed in the past.

Andyson is a company that end users may or may not be familiar with as they do not have a retail presence in North America but 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 and X3 1600w) so we have become somewhat familiar with their products.

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X3 - 3 for 3?

Previously we have seen two power supplies from Ultra's X3 line up the 1600w model and the 1000w model. Both of these units performed admirably and today the X3 600w hopes to carry on in those excellent footsteps. With that in mind how does Ultra place the lowest capacity member of its X3 line of power supplies?

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 most high 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!

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 600w in terms of documentation, accessories, cable count, rail layout, output characteristics, and general build quality.