Ultra X-Connect Review

I like to thank Malsert Chapman PR Coordinator Ultra Products for the Ultra X-Connect.

The model we have for testing is the 500 watt model.

Pros

Modular

nice bit of wattage 500max(480 norm) is ok unless you power some mean mods.

Cons:

cables are a bit stiff not easy to route out of the way in a mid tower.

 Case and finish

Pros

2 whisper quiet clear-plastic 80mm fans.

The case has a wicked high gloss and polished blue finish.  All the plugs and corners are smooth and will seated.

Cons

The plug dustcaps are not secure at all.  If you tap the case some even fall out.

The coating on the metal is too thin, and we feel it should have been powder coated instead of a single thin coat of finish.  It would be fairly easy to have a guy load up a van and run 5000 cases over to another factory and "borrow" their paint line once a month or so for this

Quality of workmanship

Pros

Really good attention to detail inside the case.

Leads and most loose wires are stabilized and fixed with heatshrink tubing or hot-melt glue.  

Inside soldering is clean. no ugly blobs of solder and 90% of rosin residue was removed .

Cons

The internal circuit layout of the power supply is older style technology.  It is all discreet components and average tolerance parts.  Very little "high tech".  While this is good for it's ability to be repaired, it means that the factory end products will vary from piece to piece a couple of percentage points on rated values and outputs.

The main power switch is glued in place on the inside...... hmmm.  This however, bears upon the manufacturer of the switch, not Ultra Poducts.  Every instance of these switches I have seen are loose and ill-fitting, someone should write a few letters to this companies board of directors

There is a big blob of glue inside on secondary heat sink.  This might be there to prevent a short from one of the output filter toroids or prevent movement of the toroid.  Either way, it is something that we found just a touch unprofessional.  I am pretty sure the the heat of the heat-sink will probably dislodge the glue after awhile.

Test results

Pros

 All DC voltages were within 5% or rated output easily.

Cons

However, there is a 50mV AC rolling phase square-wave noise on the +12 and +5 volt output bus.  We had to scope it to actually see the wave shape.   However this rates as 1/10th.

Final Thoughts

Amigaman2

All in all I'm pretty pleased with this product at the time I got this it was 129.00 cnd plus gst and shipping at TigerDirect.ca

but has since dropped down in price I've seen it for $69.99 now I think.

The Company has released 2 new products since and they just keep getting better

I see no reason not to give them a try and enjoy the great products from them.

K-Man