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- Date:
- Wednesday, February 06, 2008
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Ultra X2 Extreme Edition 750w Power Supply
Ultra hits rock bottom with a 750 watt PSU that claims NVIDIA SLI certification. Make a note to stay as far away from this flaming hunk of crap as you possibly can. If not, we highly suggest you make sure and have a fire extinguisher handy.
Build Quality
As we already know from Ultra’s website and packaging the X2 750w features a single 135mm fan design that is in the same vein as the preferred standard of a single 120mm fan, only larger, for quiet cooling due to its ability to move a larger volume of air at lower RPM than a smaller diameter fan. At the same time, the key criteria in our evaluation is whether or not the cooling solution is sufficient, not necessary its sound level or form factor.
External Build Quality
The external build quality of the X2 750w is cosmetically very similar to that of the X3 line we have seen so much of recently but with a few differences. First, there is the modular interface which has a different layout and connector type for the SATA cables. Also different from the X3 line is the gaudy fan guard on this unit that carries the Ultra logo emblazoned upon it that just looks chintzy. Moving on to more substantial matters, while the metal and finish are highly polished and look like other Ultra power supplies the housing here is very thin and flimsy which makes it about as easy to distort as an empty coke can once we opened the unit. Not to be left out in the differences category we notice, when we look at the back of the unit, that we see the return of the voltage selector switch as the unit does not have APFC.
All of the cables on the Ultra X2 750w are modular and they provide varying serviceable lengths of between ~19 inches (~480mm) and ~24 inches (~609mm). Typically the Ultra products we have reviewed have been attractive albeit flashy and include the ribbon like FlexForce cables which is a welcome addition. However, the X2 750w moves past the flashy category into the gaudy category in our subjective opinion and this is not a good change.
Internal Build Quality
Once we open the X2 750w by removing the 4 screws securing the fan housing we are left looking at what looks like a left over parts bin not a power supply. First thing of note is at the main PCB itself and the power supply as a whole is a good 1 inch to 1 ¼ inch shorter than the housing. This is followed by the just generally sloppy construction inside the unit that we will see more of in a minute. The unit is though for all intents and purposes brightly colored as if to match its shiny exterior including the golden heatsinks used here. These ridged heatsinks are paired with an Ultra branded fan (Young Lin Tech made) that is rated at 0.4A at 12v.
On the primary side we see a rather sloppy bit of construction with components pulled and not fully seated on the PCB with a few spaces screened for additional components that are not there. We do however see that unlike many power supplies now on the market that the fuse is replaceable but you will void your warranty getting to it. We also see a pair of JEE capacitors here rated at 1200uF 200v 85c that are really disappointing as these are just “junk” capacitors. Let’s move over to the secondary side and hope the build quality gets better.
The first thing we see on the secondary side is a part of the primary side in the input filtering that is housed on a small PCB attached to the back of the unit above the AC receptacle. While it looks completely populated, unlike on many cheap power supplies, the construction is again sloppy. Moving back a bit further we see another PCB screwed to the heatsink here that houses the OCP/OVP circuitry and the fan controller. This particular PCB doesn’t look so bad but when we look at the secondary as a whole it too looks to be a very sloppy construction job. The wiring is not well bundled or routed obstructing just about everything on the secondary especially airflow while components are not seated on the PCB, legs on capacitors aren’t trimmed, and the modular interface is a mixed bag. While the main portion of the modular interface actually looks rather clean compared to the rest of this unit and some of the ones we have seen in Andyson built Ultra’s the main ATX connector is bizarrely separate. Rather than house the ATX connector on the same PCB as everything else Wintech (or Ultra) has elected to terminate the cabling wholely inside the unit as we would normally see at the end of the cable that goes to the motherboard and then employs an adapter. Why this was chosen is beyond me as it adds not only mess and bulk to the power supply but the adapter is going to create some resistance, that while not great in magnitude normally, is going to be compounded when used as it is here, as there is another modular connector on the other side of this adapter. Finally, capping off this whole mess is the capacitor selection, that is in the same vein of the primary’s rather low quality capacitors from Jun Fu.
Build Quality Summary
Overall the build quality of the Ultra X2 750w is quite simply bad. The entire construction of the unit was sloppy with a thin flimsy case, poorly seated (or not even attempted) components, untrimmed capacitor legs, a few small missing components, poorly constructed ATX connector for the modular interface, and poor capacitor selection. It is certainly a bad day when looking at a power supply you are hoping to see capacitors from OST or some other, what I am going to call, midlevel brand and you are disappointed because the ones you find don't even make it to that level. There quite simply is nothing about the Ultra X2 750w’s build quality that says to me that this is a 750w unit. What this unit does say to me is that for some reason Ultra has fallen back to using an OEM that they should have left behind long ago.