How do Ultra PSUs compare?

[mattthenewb]

I was reading of the importance of quality over quantity in PSU construction. I recently purchased a 500W ATX modular PSU of the "Ultra" brand. So far so good. It has a MTBF of over 100k hours at full use and 78% efficiency. It was a $70 PSU but I got it for $30 on sale. Does anyone know about this brand and the quality of its engineering? I dont want to brown out.

 

[boogityboo04]

I'm not sure about their reputation, but I think it's pretty good. I've been using a 500w Ultra for four or so months now and it's run flawlessly though.

 

[Guest]

Exhaustive list of PSU ranked by Tier, quick and dirty reference
List
(BTW who linked that in the first place?, I would put a thanks everytime I link it ).

So yeah pretty cheap. I would be monitoring the voltage just to make sure it's they're stable...

 

[piratepast40]

I had an ULTRA X-connect 550W for a few days. The fan controller woulnd't come down off high speed so returned it for a replacement. Replacement had the same problem so RMA'd that one too. Maybe just a bad batch of controllers but I'm switching to Seasonic. If yours is doing what you want it to, then it's probably OK - hard to argue with that price.

 

[Valtiel]

Exhaustive list of PSU ranked by Tier, quick and dirty reference
List
(BTW who linked that in the first place?, I would put a thanks everytime I link it ).

So yeah pretty cheap. I would be monitoring the voltage just to make sure it's they're stable...

I believe it's in Mpilchfamily's sig.

 

[grant_77]

I'd have to say for $30 bucks you got a good deal, but if your a hardcore overclocker you should go with a better powersupply higher than 600w.

Most of the better powersupplies have an efficiency of over 80%, but they all still have one major flaw. They still use electrolytic capacitors which means they wear out over time.

If anyone knows of any power supplies that use all solid state capacitors please post, I would be interested to know! Solid state capacitors would ensure that over time the power quality would not degrade as electrolyte evaporates.

Look at the charts for the best tested ones. I had one power supply 420w blow in a Aspire case and i was only drawing 300w. So stay away from aspires anyways.

 

[jaguarskx]

Makes a good stocking stuffer if you don't have a lump of coal handy.

 

[Slappy_Slime]

running 2 ULTRA 550's in 2 systems and both are going strong. no problems what so ever.

 

[waylander]

It really depends on how much load you are putting on it. I would never buy one personally but if you keep the load at under 70% of it's rated capacity I don't think you'll run into any problems. Kind of like buying an economy car, if you don't run the sh!t out of it then it's fine as a daily driver... if you are going to race it then chances are somethings going to blow.

Ultra's are not known as a good maker, no offence to those out there that own one but really, the good reviews come from those that don't know better or that only load them to 50% max so the chances of it having problems are low.

It also depends on what you are going to run on it.... doesn't make sense to use it for a QX6800, two 8800GTX's, two raptors, a x-fi fatality and water cooling as you've just spent $3000 on the rest of the computer... would you really want to chance all that investment on a $70 psu? On the other hand, for a E6300, 7600gt... etc (under $1000) then it's not so much of a risk, both in terms of less stress on the psu and less loss if something blows.

 

[uwisuwerme7]

Mine was DOA from New Egg.
:/

 

[mattthenewb]

Put it this way: was it a worth-while step-up from the 305W Dell brand that the company originally had in here?

I have a dual core processor, 1 internal HDD, 1 external HDD, 1 optical drive and an integrated GPU (although I plan to upgrade this, I buy mainstream). I don't overclock, and the main use of the PC is school (applications).