PSUs: Ultra 600Watt $70 | OCZ 700W $118 with MIR

[Negotiator]

Ultra X-Finity PSU 600W from Tiger Direct.

Regular price, no rebates/sales/mir's

Have fun.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1273341&sku=ULT31848



Seems, not a lot of people like that, so I'm adding another one:

OCZ GameXStream 700W with 120mm fan from Direct Canada for $118 after $25 MIR:

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220AC9376&vpn=OCZ700GXSSLI&manufacture=OCZ

[voided]

makes me wish i needed a PS nice price

[Steveoph]

I can't seem to find this on NCIX to add to my order and PM, since I already am getting the free shipping. It seems to be a pretty good deal though

[najibs]

I'd hesitate to ever buy an Ultra branded product. I've seen so many peoeple with faulty memory cards, and ram. I can only imaine how bad their PSU's are. Sure 700w is what it might say, but I bet a 400w brand name would be WAY better.

[gves02]

companies are clearing out of older SLI powersupplies because they will not have enough current on the 3.3V / 12V bus to support the newer generation of video cards. So they're going to be selling cheap cheap.

I would suggest buying a newer Enermax Galaxy or better PSU.

They're expensive but worth the investment in the long term.

Just my opinion :)

[JackyTheBeaver]

I only have bought 2 Ultra products because I was attracted by their cheap prices - a 512MB DDR400 memory module that turn out to be, unsurprisingly, manufactured by a third party manufacturer called "Kingmax". The memory is fine and performance on par with expectations (i.e. not faulty but can't be overclocked either).

The other thing I bought was a 600W power supply - the price was really really cheap and on my system it produced rock solid voltages on all the rails, not dead on 5 volts or 12 volts mind you, but at least it was very stable regardless of load conditions, and the voltages were well within 5% tolerance. The problem is its fan can't be adjusted to spin slower.

I would probably buy Ultra products again provided that the price is right.

[nsx]

I can't seem to find this on NCIX to add to my order and PM, since I already am getting the free shipping. It seems to be a pretty good deal though

I think Ultra is TD's home brand.

[JasonWein]

Is this any good?
Quality?
Price?
My PS fan is dead or slowly dying.
Using a backup PC right now.
Any better options out there?

[vric]

Ultra PSU are very average quality. For that price, you would be better with Antec, OCZ, Enermax, Silverstone, BFG, Corsair, Seasonic, Vantec, Zalman, Fortron, Muchkin, PC Power & Cooling, Tagan, Zippy.

They are all better than Ultra..

Edit: Also don't be fooled with the 600W rating... Amp on 12V Rail are good, but some 500W have the same rating or even better.

Edit2: if you want feedback about Ultra PSU, take a look to this great forum: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/

[madman604]

Is this any good?
Quality?
Price?
My PS fan is dead or slowly dying.
Using a backup PC right now.
Any better options out there?

replace the fan yourself? for $5 and 10 min to open the PSU and solder 2 wires.

[Pricyber]

I have an 500w ultra x-finity b4. I generate a busss noise when ever there is any load on the graphic card.. ie scrolling webpages, loading any 3d games.

switched to enermax now. and the ultra 500w is doing well with my P3...

[SKYMTL]

Ultra PSU are very average quality. For that price, you would be better with Antec, OCZ, Enermax, Silverstone, BFG, Corsair, Seasonic, Vantec, Zalman, Fortron, Muchkin, PC Power & Cooling, Tagan, Zippy.[/url]

Are you kidding me? Do you actually think you can get a decent Zippy, Seasonic, PCP&C or Tagan for $70?

Next let's see:
Enermax: Anything under the $70 mark has had serious RMA issues. Great, you might know a friend of a friend who has had a cheaper Enermax for YEARS. So what?

OCZ: Show me a $70 OCZ. Please.

BFG: BFG and quality PSUs do not go hand in hand

Vantec: Please tell me you are kidding. They are made by the same OEM as the BFG PSUs.

In addition, the Ultra X-Finity 500W is a completely different PSU that the 600W. If you don't believe me go here:
http://www.slcentral.com/ultra-x-finity-500w-600w--flexforce-cables/page4.php

While this PSU is not at the top of my list when it comes to effeciency or performance, it surpasses nearly everything else in its price range.

[kud0s69]

I have this PSU. I like it, no problems so far. Mind you, I am not running SLI. The cable system is quite nice for a non-modular PSU.

[duckdown]

Ultra makes some pretty good PSU's, I've used them in the past and never had a problem.. And trust me, I hate TD as much as the next guy

[Negotiator]

Another PSU added.

[vric]

Are you kidding me? Do you actually think you can get a decent Zippy, Seasonic, PCP&C or Tagan for $70?


Did I said they were $70 ? I said they were better than Ultra... And you can get Zippy and Seasonic for $90.. worth the $20 more for sure.... Even OCZ had the modstream for as low as $69 with MIR before...

Anyway, you got my point.

[hagbard]

Been in RFDs too long. I can now look at a subject line and know then whole story before clicking. For example, if it says w/MIR or AR, and its some junky POS, its got to be Tigerdirect.

[kud0s69]

Been in RFDs too long. I can now look at a subject line and know then whole story before clicking. For example, if it says w/MIR or AR, and its some junky POS, its got to be Tigerdirect.


So you think that the Ultra is a "junky POS"? That does not make you know RFD at all, just makes you ignorant and uneducated.

In fact, I challenge you to find a negative review.

I will start with the positive reviews:

http://www.extensivemods.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=52&page=3
http://www.slcentral.com/ultra-x-finity-500w-600w--flexforce-cables/index.php
http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1584_1.html
http://reviews.pcapex.com/power_supply/ultra_products_x-finity_600w_psu.php

[jollyeskimo]

So you think that the Ultra is a "junky POS"? That does not make you know RFD at all, just makes you ignorant and uneducated.

In fact, I challenge you to find a negative review.

I will start with the positive reviews:

http://www.extensivemods.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=52&page=3
http://www.slcentral.com/ultra-x-finity-500w-600w--flexforce-cables/index.php
http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1584_1.html
http://reviews.pcapex.com/power_supply/ultra_products_x-finity_600w_psu.php


For all of its glossy glory, the Ultra X-Finity is ordinary beneath its surface. Voltage regulation and efficiency were average, and although cooling was adequate at the levels for ordinary usage, it was not good enough for sustained use under the heaviest loads. Its worst aspect is the noise; almost any other power supply we've tested in the past year will beat the X-Finity for low noise.

What the X-Finity lacks in technical substance can be made up at least partially by the company that is selling it. Ultra has very good marketing, not just because it is likely to generate sales, but also because of its technical comprehensiveness and apparent honesty. Yes, a good chunk of the product page consists of meaningless (and fragmented) phrases, but this is common enough, and the technical information is surprisingly complete. Ultra is one of the few companies that reports an efficiency that we can confirm in our lab.

In addition, the X-Finity comes with a three-year warranty out of the box which can be upgraded to a lifetime warranty if you're willing to give them your name and address. There's more to a product than its technical side, and Ultra does a better job than most selling a product that looks cool (if you're into that), and backing it up with a warranty. Then there is price: Using the SPCR/Pricegrabber shopping engine, the typical lowest price we found was US$70, which is pretty low for a 500W PSU.

All in all, we can't recommend the X-Finity as a quiet power supply. But, if you're willing to settle for "good enough" rather than "top-of-the-line" and you like the looks or you would feel safer in the hands of a lifetime warranty, the X-Finity could be for you.

Keeping in mind that the quote was for the 500W X-Infinity.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article288-page1.html

[SKYMTL]

And? What do you expect from a $70 PSU. For the price this can't be beat.

[jollyeskimo]

What do you expect from a $70 PSU.From your tone, apparently not much.

[SKYMTL]

It really depends what you are powering. If it is a mainstream system, a good $70 PSU like the Ultra featured in this thread is a good choice. On the other hand if it was a high-performing system, I would avoid this Ultra like the plague.

[kud0s69]

Keeping in mind that the quote was for the 500W X-Infinity.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article288-page1.html

Still waiting for a negative of the 600W version. I don't like comparing apples to oranges.

[tdotcbc84]

Got myself a Seasonice S12.

Over-Priced ? I'd say so! But NO ONE will say I got a BAD PSU and mean it ~!

[jollyeskimo]

Still waiting for a negative of the 600W version. I don't like comparing apples to oranges.Nope, no negative reviews. In fact, every review indicates that this PSU is exceptionally average.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/atx-psu4_12.htmlSo, the X-Finity ULT-XF600 power supply has the same pros and cons as the junior, ULT-XF600 model. This PSU doesn’t have any exceptional traits (I don’t count in the silvery cables among such since owners of non-transparent system cases won’t notice them at all while other users are offered much more exciting options like shining cables, for instance). Its +12V voltage is set too low; it has a rather strong low-frequency pulsation on the output and is rather loud under high loads. If you are not worried about these drawbacks, the PSU will suit you fine. It is quite capable of powering up a modern computer.



And when a review site like SLCentral says that the Ultras are "VERY QUIET", despite the leading authority of Silent PC's ranking the Ultras as "almost any other power supply we've tested in the past year will beat the X-Finity for low noise.", I'd question the rest of what their review has to say.

[hagbard]

Got myself a Seasonice S12.

Over-Priced ? I'd say so! But NO ONE will say I got a BAD PSU and mean it ~!

:arrowu:

[humansoul]

Been looking for one and came upon this on cty.ca:

http://www.cty.ca/details.asp?pid=2093

Any thoughts on which one would be better - Ultra or Coolermaster (forget the price, I'm interested in quality, etc)

[Tmayhem]

I just bought a Silverstone ST50EF-Plus 500W, so I'll tell you how it fares. It got very good reviews on the load it can take and while it's not totally quite, the fan at full load is still under 30db.

It's 92$ at Direct Canada:
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=17670AC3386&vpn=ST50EF-PLUS&manufacture=Silverstone%20Technology

[Daijoubu]

Look at the fans speed (2x80mm), a lot of system use about 200W-250W (non-SLI with a HDD and one optical drive) so the fan will be spinning at 2200-2600RPM
http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/other/atx-psu4/4gr4.png

A cheap Sparkle (400W max here) using a 120mm fan runs at half the speed under the same load

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/other/fsp-psu/3d4.png (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/fsp-psu_9.html)

Effeciency however is good when the load is above 200W (80%+)

[Negotiator]

Funny. Everybody talks about the Ultra psu, nobody mentions the OCZ one, although I thought THAT would be the killer deal.

[maniacshopper]

I've bought ultra ram before for my A64, it's fine.
But their PSUs are not worth getting since spending a few more bux can get better psu.

[archaeo]

Funny. Everybody talks about the Ultra psu, nobody mentions the OCZ one, although I thought THAT would be the killer deal.
The OCZ isn't that great either... its a fortron epsilon unit w/ a blue LED, but for some reason this model of fortron's doesn't seem up to their usual standards... a fair amount of noise on the lines. Its not a bad deal but not as good as when it was on sale at ncix for $99 a few months back.