Viewing page 1 of 5 pages.
1 2 3 4 5 NextDecember 14, 2005 by Devon
Cooke
Judging from their web site, Ultra's marketing branch is pretty slick. They
describe the X-Finity power supply in short, staccato phrases that sound
great but say little: "Breakthrough technology! Phenomenal power distribution!"
etc, etc. Fortunately, they also include a decent amount of technical information,
unlike many other marketing-driven companies.
The X-Finity is targeted at users who place a premium on style. Three different,
highly reflective finishes are available, and the cables are made with clear
insulation so that the silver wires show through (much like some speaker cables).
Is the X-Finity a pretty showpiece or is there some
substance beneath? The technical detail on the web page suggests that Ultra
knows their stuff, but can it live up to the high demands of the SPCR test
bench? Keep reading to find out...
The retail box is exceptionally slick (and surprisingly small).
One of the nice things about dealing with a marketing-driven company is that
their reputation is everything. People won't buy from a company with a bad reputation,
so the more PR-conscious a company is, the more likely they are to bend over
backwards to make sure you are satisfied with their product. In the case of
the X-Finity, this is evident from the prominent sticker on the box that reads
"Limited LIFETIME Warranty".
However, it always pays to read the fine print: Unless you register on
their web site, the warranty lasts for only three years, not for "as long
as you continue to own and use" the product. Registration can be done online,
and consists of telling Ultra your name, address, and where you bought the product.
Other than its length, the
warranty is fairly standard. It covers "materials and workmanship"
and warrants that the X-Finity will do what the manual says it will do. Oddly
enough, "normal wear and tear" (section 2.v) is not covered by the
warranty. (Looks like Ultra has a good team of lawyers.) Fortunately,
even if Ultra is not legally liable for very much, the company
won't want to deal with a reputation for dishonoring their warranty, so they
will almost certainly honor the warranty, even if the unit breaks down from
"normal wear and tear".
The usual: Power supply, screws, AC cable, short manual, and a warranty
card.
Like the web site, the user's manual is short, concise, but still reasonably
complete. Two of its four pages are occupied by illustrated, step-by-step instructions
that illustrate what each connector looks like and what kind of socket it requires.
The other two pages describe the unit's electrical specifications in detail.
As with the web site, the specifications are quite extensive for a retail product.
Page 1 of the manual. Illustrations are clear and easy to understand.
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
|
Feature Highlights of the Ultra X-Finity ULT-XF500
(from Ultra's
web site)
|
| FEATURE & BRIEF |
COMMENT |
|
120mm Fan (Dual 80mm for 600W Models)
|
The de facto standard. |
| Low Acoustic Noise |
We'll see... |
|
Dual Rail Technology
|
Required by ATX12V 2.x. |
|
FlexForce Cabling Technology
|
Cables are ribbon style
like oversized IDE cables. |
|
20/24 Pin Motherboard Connector
|
Compatible with all recent
motherboards. |
| 4 - SATA Connectors |
Good. Many otherwise
"modern" units ship with less. |
|
2 - PCI Express Connectors
|
Certified SLI Ready by
NVidia. |
| PCI Express graphics
card power connector. |
Almost standard issue
now... |
| 1 - 8-Pin EPS Connector |
Compatible with dual
CPU boards. |
| Meets ATX v2.2,
v1.3 and ATX 12V v2.03 Specifications |
ATX12V is
the current standard. The latest version is v2.2. |
| Short Circuit Protection |
Required by ATX12V along
with several other forms of protection. |
OUTPUT SPECIFICATIONS
|
SPECIFICATIONS: Ultra X-Finity ULT-XF500
|
|
AC Input
|
115/230 VAC / 50~60 Hz
|
|
AC Input Current
|
8.5A (RMS) @ 115VAC / 5.5A (RMS) @ 230VAC
|
|
DC Output
|
+3.3V
|
+5V
|
+12V1
|
+12V2
|
-12V
|
+5VSB
|
|
Maximum Output Current
|
30A
|
30A
|
16A
|
18A
|
0.6A
|
2.5A
|
|
Maximum Combined
|
160W
|
384W
|
7.2W
|
12.5W
|
|
481W
|
19.7W
|
|
500W
|
The specifications for the X-Finity are quite routine for a power supply of
this capacity. The most interesting bit of technical information is the efficiency
graph on the product web page. This is far more than the standard squiggly line
on two vaguely relevant axes. There are three features that make this particular
graph useful and believable:
- Two data points are listed, 300W and 500W output
- The efficiency numbers are quite believable, and were confirmed by our own
empirical testing
- The ambient temperature of the test is reported as 25°C
The only somewhat misleading aspect of the graph is that the output axis starts at 100W;
the data below 100W output is not shown.
Ultra's efficiency graph is quite detailed and accurate.
We applaud Ultra for their extensive and honest marketing information.
Too many other companies use incomplete or unverifiable information to sell
their products. Ultra has done a good job here of balancing the
needs of marketing (building hype and selling products) with information that
is both useful and correct.
| Help support this site, buy the Ultra X-Finity ULT-XF500 power supply from one of our affiliate retailers! |
|
