There was a time when a 1000Watt power supply would not have even been considered something you might need for your computer, but times, they be a changing and depending on what types of power hungry components you have you might need that extra juice. Today for review I've got one of the newest power supplies from ULTRA, the X3 1000Watt version and this thing is a beast, not only in size but of course the power it can put out. During my testing I found it to be extremely stable, but yet very quiet…
Power Supply Review: Ultra X3 1000 Watt ATX Power Supply ULT-HE1000X / ULT40064
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: ULTRA
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Ultra X3 1000 Watt ATX Power Supply ULT-HE1000X / ULT40064
All New X3 Modular Power Supplies
Ultra pulls out all of the stops for their latest power supply. By combining our "EE" (Energy Efficient) platform, which converts as much as 85% of AC power into DC power during typical loads, with a quiet 135MM ball bearing fan, our patented modular interface and our Limited Lifetime Warranty, Ultra clearly dominates the market with the new X3 power supply!
The X3 is super efficient, using less electricity than other power supplies when providing power to your computer and it generates less heat. Cooling is substantial yet silent by utilizing a thermostatically controlled 135MM ball bearing fan and a honeycomb cut exhaust grill. The X3 also has full range active PFC, which improves apparent power used by the computer. The modular interface allows you to only plug in the cables you actually require for your particular PC. The X3 is ready for even the most high end gaming rigs by providing up to four 6-pin PCI-e connectors, and the 800W and 1000W models provide the newest 8-pin PCI-e connector for the latest 300W graphics cards.
If the you're looking for an efficient, quiet, powerful, modular power supply with a Lifetime Warranty, there's no reason to look any farther than the Ultra X3!
Qty Cable Description Length(inches)
1- 24 Pin Motherboard Connector 19.5
1- 4 Pin +12V Motherboard Connector 19.5
1- 8 Pin EPS Connector 19.5
4- 6 Pin PCI-Express Connectors 19.5
2- 8 Pin PCI-Express Connectors 19.5
2- 5 Pin SATA Power Cable (3 Devices) 25.5
2- 5 Pin SATA Power Cable (2 Devices) 21.5
1- 4 Pin Power Cable (2 Devices) 23.5
2- 4 Pin Power Cable (2 Devices + 2 Floppy) 29.5
1- 4 Pin Power Cable (3 Devices) 23.5
1- 4 Pin Power Cable (1 Device) 7.5
1- 3 Pin Fan Connector (3 Devices) 25.5
Input:
AC Input Voltage: 115V/230V
AC Input Frequency: 50-60Hz
AC Input Currents:
· 13A (RMS) for 115VAC input
· 8A (RMS) for 230VAC input
Total Output Power:
1000W (Full Load, Nominal Input Voltage)
Efficiency:
85% at Typical Load
Additional Features:
Supports AMD and Intel Motherboards
Low Acoustic Noise
135mm Fan
Meets ATX Version 2.2, v1.3, and
ATX 12V Version 2.2 Specifications
Short Circuit Protection
In-Rush Current Protection
Thermal Overload Cutoff Protection
MTBF > 100,000 Hours at Full Load,
110VAC and 25°C Ambient Condition
FCC and UL Recognized
Other Features:
Flex-Force Technology
FlexForce Cables are designed to be easily routed and hidden within your case while increasing the airflow.
What is FlexForce?
Manageable – FlexForce Cables are designed to be easily routed and hidden within your case.
Increased Airflow – Special design promotes easy cable management and 30% better airflow than ordinary cables by easily routing cable under the motherboard, behind drive bays, etc.
Design – Cables are dressed in a sleek looking titanium like finish.
135mm Cooling Fan
Low noise 135mm fanwill maximize airflow through the power supply as well as keep the noise level of your pc down.
Modular Design
Use only the cables you need!
No need to clutter up your computer with useless cables. This not only increases airflow within your case, but it gives the inside of your case a clean professional look.
Power Protection
Short Circuit Protection
In-Rush Current Protection
Thermal Overload Cutoff Protection
All the power protection you'll need!
A Better Look at Things
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The power supply itself is large, so one would expect it to come in a large box, but the box for the X3 100Watt PSU is huge actually, I was shocked by it's sheer size. There is a cardboard slipcover over the actual box that has a flip open part that give you a brief review of the specs and features of the X3 that's inside.
Inside the main box is where you'll find another smaller, thinner box that contains all the cables that you'll ever need for pretty much any system, and of course the power supply itself is there wrapped in plastic and protected by styrofoam.
The Ultra X3 1000Watt is a thing of beauty actually, if a power supply can be called beautiful then this one can. The finish is excellent, but just watch those fingerprints, while I was taking pictures I had to keep wiping it clean so they wouldn't show up in the pictures.. though I'm sure I might have missed a few. Like any power supply on one side is the specifications label telling us all the particulars about the X3.
If we look closer at the label, specifically looking at the UL number we find it as E239028, then taking this number and visiting Johnny Guru's website we find that the power supply is actually made by Andyson, who also makes PSUs for Hiper, Aerocool, Sunbeam and some Sansun.
The back of the X3 PSU has the popular honeycomb ventilation system, this seems to work very well at promoting good airflow to keep your power supply nice and cool. One thing I would like to note is the main power button, it's nice and large, I like to see a large button on my power supplies, it makes life much easier when reaching around and turning the power off to swap parts in and out.
The entire X3 power supply is very well made, solid, and has an excellent finish to it, a mirror finish actually. The PSU itself is heavy and larger than the standard ATX PSU so it might be a tight fit for some types and sizes of cases out there.
The bottom of the X2 has a large 135mm cooling fan that is actually very quiet, it takes up most of the bottom of the PSU actually.
Find more ULTRA Products at ShopZilla!
A Better Look at Things
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Some power supplies out there advertise themselves as being modular when they aren't really, they'll have the main ATX power and a couple other connection hard wired into the PSU. The X3 is actually truly modular with every cable having to be connected to be used, I like this idea as then you truly only use what you really need and don't have to try and hide and extra connections.
The ULTRA X3 includes a plethora of cables, more than enough for pretty much any system out there today. The cables themselves are using Ultra's FlexForce system which makes the cables thin and very flexible yet very sturdy.
Qty Cable Description Length(inches)
1- 24 Pin Motherboard Connector 19.5
1- 4 Pin +12V Motherboard Connector 19.5
1- 8 Pin EPS Connector 19.5
4- 6 Pin PCI-Express Connectors 19.5
2- 8 Pin PCI-Express Connectors 19.5
2- 5 Pin SATA Power Cable (3 Devices) 25.5
2- 5 Pin SATA Power Cable (2 Devices) 21.5
1- 4 Pin Power Cable (2 Devices) 23.5
2- 4 Pin Power Cable (2 Devices + 2 Floppy) 29.5
1- 4 Pin Power Cable (3 Devices) 23.5
1- 4 Pin Power Cable (1 Device) 7.5
1- 3 Pin Fan Connector (3 Devices) 25.5
Normally I open up any power supply so I can take pictures of the insides to show the inner workings of the PSU, usually this involves cracking the seal and voiding the warranty but when I received the X3 the sealed appeared to already have been broken… so it's not a big deal I guess now…
The first thing you'll notice is just how large the components are inside, nice large industrial sized components. The next thing you'll notice is how small the heatsinks are, I was expecting massive heatisnks inside but when you look at how large the fan is you can sort of understand the lack of large heatsinks. As I mentioned before the fan takes up most of the bottom of the power supply thus providing a lot of airflow across everything to keep it all cool.
Find more ULTRA Products at ShopZilla!
Installation, Testing and Comparison
Ok, onto the fun part, the testing and installation…
I've got a lot of stuff in my system and really thought I was pulling more power than I am really, I was very much surprised, but here's everything in my current system:
Intel C2D 6420 CPU (with stock cooler presently)
2 gigs Crucial Ballistix Tracer Pc2-8500
2 BFG 7900GT OC video cards (2 17” Samsung Syncmaster LCD monitors)
2 dvd/rw optical drives (Sony,Pioneer)
4 hard drives (2 IDE, 2 SATA)
-Both SATA drives are in powered, cooled mobile racks (Vizo Ares, Icy Dock Modiflash 722)
3.5” bay card all-in-one card reader from USBGeek
4 120mm fans
all inside of an Antec P182 case
Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers
Logitech G5 v2 laser gaming mouse
Brother MFC-3360C multi-function printer/scanner/fax
Due to the Antec P182 configuration I had to move the 120mm cooling fan to the opposite side of the case divider or the X3 would not fit, not a big problem but it did cause a delay in installation time while moving the fan around.
For testing I used my handy multimeter to monitor the voltages and I used a Seasonic Power Angel to monitor overall wattage and power factor. All testing for load was done with SLI enabled, and to achieve full load on my system I used Orthos Stress Prime and 3dMark05 running at the same time.
During boot up I checked the wattage used and it peaked at 195Watts, with a Power Factor of .97-.98 or 97%-98% efficient.
After boot I let the system sit for a bit to get the wattages, PF and the voltages of the 12volt and 5volt lines. This was during a one hour period, the wattage was between 168 and 171 with the Power Factor stable at .98 or 98%. For 30 minutes of that one hour I monitored the 12 volt line and for the next 30 minutes I monitored the 5volt line using my multimeter connected to a molex connection.
Idle:
12v = 12.11v – 12.10v
5v = 5.02v
It's normal to see voltage fluctuations on the 12 volt rail, especially while the system is at idle, and the fluctuations are so minor really it's nothing to bother about.
My load testing was done for the same one hour duration, here I monitored the voltages individually again for 30 minutes each. Under load my system peaked at a paltry 222Watts according to the Seasonic Power Angel, during this time the Power Factor actually went up to .98 and .99, or between 98% and 99% efficient. This is something you want to see, the efficiency going up under load on the system, so that's a very good thing.
Idle:
12v = 12.10v
5v = 5.02v
In the very beginning of the test, the first ten seconds or so the 12 volt line did bounce from 12.10-12.11 but then it held steady at 12.10v for the duration of the testing so I would have to say that the X3 is a very stable power supply. The 5 volt line didn't move at all…
Oh and I almost forgot, the 135mm fan is virtually silent, I heard no difference in the fans noise between idle and load.
Find more ULTRA Products at ShopZilla!
Summary:
Well it's a beast, and it's a beast that works hard to keep your system running with nice clean, stable power. If your system needs this much power then I suggest you look into getting the Ultra X3 because it will provide the power for you and be able to handle most anything and everything you throw at it.
The included assortment of cables will be more than enough to hook everything you have up easily, the cable do come in varying lengths as well so you can mix and match them to make due for your system layout.
And well if you need this much power you might also want to start buying stock options in your local electric company as well…..
DragonSteelMods gives the Ultra X3 1000 Watt ATX Power Supply ULT-HE1000x a 5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.
Pros:
-Quiet
-Lots of connections
-Stable
-Very efficient
-Well made
Cons:
-Large size, may not fit in all cases
I would like to thank ULTRA for the chance to review the Ultra X3 1000 Watt ATX Power Supply ULT-HE1000x and for their continued support of DSM.
review# 273