Ultra 500 watts psu 14.90 AR at Fry's

[Ckleijne]

Is this psu a decent one?Was in the fry's store and it was on sale for 44.90 plus a 30.00 rebate good until 3/31/2005.Comes to 14.90 plus tax.Hot or not?The outpost site states 120mm fan but it has 2x 80mm fans.

 

[50]

Is this a modular one? If so I would consider it HOTTTTTT

 

[funboy6942]

I got the 400 one from td while back for $30 and I am more then happy with it. Condsidering that they had the 500 for $39 without a rebate on clearance this seems pretty good to me.

 

[Ckleijne]

No,its not the x-connect style.But still I don't think its bad

 

[VirtualLarry]

The non X-Connect models of Ultra PSUs appear to be the same mfg as the Aspire PSUs. Choose accordingly.

 

[Ckleijne]

So is that a bad thing?

 

[jonnyGURU]

Larry's thinking bass-ackwards. The X-Connect is built by Youngyear, which also makes MGE and Aspire's power supplies. The X-Finity (the ine you're talking about) is built by Wintech. Either way, I don't think it matters to anyone but Larry.

It's a no-frills power supply. No lights, windows, modular connectors, etc. But in build quality, you'll find it's twice as stout as other power supplies three times that price.

They're discontinuing that model, which explains the price. If you don't have SLI or a Prescott build with more than four drives, I'd say go for it.

My review: http://www.webhelp.org/jonnyguru/ultra/

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
Larry's thinking bass-ackwards. The X-Connect is built by Youngyear, which also makes MGE and Aspire's power supplies. The X-Finity (the ine you're talking about) is built by Wintech. Either way, I don't think it matters to anyone but Larry.

I apologize for getting the association backwards. I think you're right, and that does make sense, the pics of the insides of the Aspire see-through models, and the Ultra X-Connects with their covers off, are very similar.

I do think that you are very wrong about it not mattering to anyone besides myself - one of the primary considerations for the build quality of anything "tech", is based on knowing the true OEM mfg of the item. So I would suggest that such information is of primary importance to nearly everyone interested in purchasing a PSU, and educating themselves about them. However, I do apologize for getting the two mixed-up, my memory is apparently slipping. :|

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
It's a no-frills power supply. No lights, windows, modular connectors, etc. But in build quality, you'll find it's twice as stout as other power supplies three times that price.

Twice as stout, aye? I look forward to seeing proof of that. Thus far, the X-Connects haven't been making a very good showing in reviews in terms of their quality.

 

[jonnyGURU]

You need to take a look at some more power supplies, Larry. I can definitely appreciate a good power supply. I even have a Turbo Cool 510 here. Nice power supply.

But fact remains, it's overkill for most everyone here.

Read my statement: It's twice as stout as other power supplies three times that price. What power supplies does that include, Larry? Deer, Allied, Codegen, Powmax....

I didn't try to hide any kind of Ultra fan-boy statement in my sentence. I merely stated what I stated because they power supply is only $14.90 and should be more than adequate for anyone here, especially if the budget only allows for < $50.

If you look at my review, I actually called the power supply "lack-luster" and not as "substantial" as it should be. At MSRP, I would suggest a plethora of different power supplies. But at $14.50 after MIR, I'd hop on it if all I was running was an A64 with one PCI Express card or a Prescott with an AGP card and up to four drives. But I think I already stated that, so I guess there's no need to point that out a second time, right?

Really, all you said was "choose accordingly," which there certainly is nothing wrong with. Therefore, I am the only one guilty of thread crapping. But I grow a little tired of people "hunting down" threads about Ultra power supplies and throwing their two cents worth when they don't have any personal experience of their own.

 

[kamranziadar]

You can buy a Case with 500Watts Power supply for $35.

 

[sjwaste]

500 watts might be overkill for an athlon, a vidcard, and some drives. I'm running a Barton 2500+, 9700pro, two HD's, two opticals, plus a tv tuner card, pci sound card, LAN, etc off of my Antec PP-303X (300 watt, 160W "combined"). The PS is at least 4 years old, probably more like 5 or 6, with no significant drops in voltage on any of the rails even when adding drives. I guess what I'm getting at is that one should aim to buy quality, rather than the highest wattage rating they can afford. I'm wary to upgrade this one even though every review site out there would suggest 300W isn't enough for my setup, because I've never had a HD or any peripheral die on me while using this PS. I'm using the same kinds of drives as everyone else, and it seems people go through 2 or 3 of them in that many years. The difference is likely dirty power.

 

[wampa]

How is this Ultra 500 compared to an Antec SL350? Would it be wise to replace my SL350 with this Ultra 500?