Ultra Products has been in the power supply game for several years now. They brought the X-Connect units to the table with their patented modular design and high quality finishes. The power supplies looked just as good as they performed. The X-Connect 2 units followed a year or so behind the original and allowed the SLI / CrossFire users to utilize the high end piece of art. Ultra has yet again improved upon their designs with the X-Connect series of power supplies. Today we are going to take a look at one of their X3 600 Watt power supplies.
First Impression:
The Ultra Products X3 600 Watt unit comes packed in a large black box with a Red sleeve over it. Looking at the main box we are greeted with basic lettering letting us know that it is an Ultra X3 600 Watt unit. Flipping the top panel of the black box up you will see a couple of high resolution pictures showing the X3 and its cables as well as listing its main features.
Cracking open the main box you will find another box. Contained in the second box is the modular cables and users manual for the X3 power supply.
Once that is removed we will find the X3 nicely bagged and packed with foam to protect it from receiving any damage during shipment. So far we really have nothing to complain about. The unit came very well packed and appears to have everything included thats suppose to be. Lets take a look at the features of the X3.
Quote from Ultra
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.
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
The X3 is offered in a total of 5 different configurations. They range from 600 Watts up to a whopping 1600 Watts. The 1000 Watt unit can be had in two different versions (SLI / CrossFire). The X3 600 Watt unit is a single rail design that offers a total of 36A on the +12V rail producing 432 Watts of power. Will this be enough to power a decent gaming rig? Well that all depends on what you consider a "decent rig". As the graph shows above, the X3 600 is capable of 80+ efficiency. It peaks out at 85% at a little over 300 Watts. The X3 units offer short circuit, in-rush, thermal overload protection and utilizes a 135mm fan for its cooling, which will ease some of the worries that users have pertaining to their power supplies.
