Ultra X-Connect 500W PSU

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: mechBgon

but 90% of them were all made by the same three factories in Taiwan (Giant, Merita and I forget the third... Ming Tien, maybe?)

Giant, Merida, and China Bicycle Company, if my memory serves me correctly But I put down my apron about three years ago and began trying to un-learn the special bicycle mechanic handshake (the one where you look at your hand first, to check for grease), so I could be behind the times anymore.

I have a Cannondale Team Saeco Caad 4 and a Specialzied M4 S Works . I'm pretty sure both Cannondale and Specilzied both make their own frames?

Last I knew, all Cannondale frames were truly built in the USA. Specialized has kicked around with the offshore fabricators just like most other companies have. Ask Brutuskend since he's still in the industry, and/or check out Bicycle Retailer And Industry News here and you may find some interesting info

edit: your S-Works may very well be an exception, also made in the USA. Both of mine were. I miss my grey-anodized hardtail M2 from ca. 1998, that thing was just unusual.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

I honestly don't know hardly anything about PSUs. But for a real world reference, I checked out the voltages in my BIOS on my ASUS P4T533-C and here's what it read:

+3.3V - A constant 3.36V
+5V - A constant 5.13V
+12V - Fluctuated between 12.34V & 12.40V

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: mechBgon

but 90% of them were all made by the same three factories in Taiwan (Giant, Merita and I forget the third... Ming Tien, maybe?)

Giant, Merida, and China Bicycle Company, if my memory serves me correctly But I put down my apron about three years ago and began trying to un-learn the special bicycle mechanic handshake (the one where you look at your hand first, to check for grease), so I could be behind the times anymore.

I have a Cannondale Team Saeco Caad 4 and a Specialzied M4 S Works . I'm pretty sure both Cannondale and Specilzied both make their own frames?

Last I knew, all Cannondale frames were truly built in the USA. Specialized has kicked around with the offshore fabricators just like most other companies have. Ask Brutuskend since he's still in the industry, and/or check out Bicycle Retailer And Industry News here and you may find some interesting info

edit: your S-Works may very well be an exception, also made in the USA. Both of mine were. I miss my grey-anodized hardtail M2 from ca. 1998, that thing was just unusual.

Bikers!
I have a Gary Fisher Supercaliber.. 6061 Easton frame. great bike, short wheelbase, great for XC and perfect for steep ascents. I used to live to ride.. I havent as much lately, but I'll get out again this summer a lot!

 

[jonnyGURU]

Hey, I said 90% of bicycles, not all of them. And it wasn't China Bicycle in my time. I put my apron down over 10 years ago. We didn't have any Chinese made bicycles unless they were sub $300.

As for this statement: "Over my dead body will I own anything that appears on PowMax's site. " Come on, man. That's silly. You're going to not buy something because of who sells it? That's like saying you wouldn't buy Sony because it's on the shelf at Walmart.

 

[mechBgon]

As for this statement: "Over my dead body will I own anything that appears on PowMax's site. " Come on, man. That's silly. You're going to not buy something because of who sells it? That's like saying you wouldn't buy Sony because it's on the shelf at Walmart.

Not all PowMax power supplies fail immediately, nor do all of them result in unstable systems. But if I'm trying to help someone troubleshoot, and their unstable/non-POSTing system has a PowMax in it, guess what the problem almost always ends up being...? Yeah. It's predictable. PowMax and its ilk are not coming anywhere near my own computer, or my business fleet either.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: crossphyr
if u found 15,000 people saying bad things about it u must have 15000 dumb friends just like urself.. i searched last night for over 4 hours on about evrey possibly site and at most maybe found like 20 ppl having problems. and not to mention one thing you're forgetting is A PCP IS 197 DOLLARS FOR A 500 WATT psu.. u are insane if u spend that much.... and i have had np's yet... and if it does blow something up the company is responsible.. but like i asked the other guy why every person that did the review said ULTRA is the manufacturer???? but on some sites that sell it they show powmax being the manufacturer.. which does make sense in a way because they would be a reseller.... do i know if any of it is true or false no? do i know it powers my 6 fans my cpu overclocked to 2.6 my cd/dvd drive my 6800gt with no artifacts... overclocked to 420 1.2 YES so my point is i own the freaking thing and i have a real life situation with it... and if thats not enuff not to mention the forty sites that have reviewed it.. not to mention they just upped their WARRANTY TO 3 years.. i doubt a pos would do that they would lose tons of money.. if u think of it logically like that they wouldnt want to have to rma thousands of things for the next 3 years and consecutively as people buy them.. they would keep it at the 1 year they obviously feel confident about their product... AND LIKE EVERYONE HAS ALREADY SAID ABOUT THE PC MAG they were sent a ultra x connect to show how nice it looked IT WAS NOT SUPPOSE TO BE USED FOR TESTING PURPOSES it was basically a beta model they just sent so ppl could check it out.. and pc mags dumb idiot decided to test it.. i have found that reply about 40 times... but u still cant prove one thing.. even tho u dont think its logical that they would sell it to powmax.. doesnt mean its not true.. so once that guy finds out for himself because he emailed them and asked them that directly we wont know.. and just beacuse u think it is a rebadged product and basically one reviewer had problems oh well.. i spend 70 bucks on the thing.. if it goes i get a knew one or i just say F it and go to the next greatest brand.. but till than IDC what other people say.. i own a honda car and its one of most reliable cars on the earth.. u think there isnt ppl that hate them and have had nothing but problems with theirs???? its common sense dude.. any new company is gonna have bugs to tweak and thats why they offer great customer service.... i dont knw what to tell u besides what i wrote about but i dont understand why u are so against it...!@#!#!@#! if u want go look up on every forum besides HARD THAT IS 99 PERCENT here say... and give me all the horror stories.. cuz if u look in ultra forum a couple people had to rma because it didnt work ONE GUY DIDNT EVEN HOOK IT TO HIS MOTHERBOARD AND THOUGHT IT WAS DEAD member user error is a possibility also.. i can own a bfg 6800gt and overclock it to 450 1.5 and than say its a pos it fried and just say it was never overclocked.. u think everyone is honest on these sites???????

PCP IS 197 DOLLARS FOR A 500 WATT psu.. u are insane if u spend that much....

You get what you pay for, $99 blue light special (i don't mean K-mart but the lights inside of the PSU) is not as well designed as a $200 Pc Power and Cooling Turbo Cool 510.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: mechBgon

but 90% of them were all made by the same three factories in Taiwan (Giant, Merita and I forget the third... Ming Tien, maybe?)

Giant, Merida, and China Bicycle Company, if my memory serves me correctly But I put down my apron about three years ago and began trying to un-learn the special bicycle mechanic handshake (the one where you look at your hand first, to check for grease), so I could be behind the times anymore.

I have a Cannondale Team Saeco Caad 4 and a Specialzied M4 S Works . I'm pretty sure both Cannondale and Specilzied both make their own frames?

Last time i checked ( a few years ago) cannondale was made in the usa, so was giant, and many others.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

This is a thread about the X-connect, not bikes.

As someone stated before, you're paying $30 dollars for a pretty looking PowMax. So that means I paid $79 for a glossy finish and blue UV's...I don't think so.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Googer

Last time i checked ( a few years ago) cannondale was made in the usa, so was giant, and many others.

Giant has NEVER been made in the USA. Giant is a manufacturer based in Taiwan. Home office, factory the whole 9. They now have a factory in China too. But if you see a Giant with a MADE IN USA sticker on it, that only means "assembled" in USA and unfortunately, WAY too many bike manufacturers use the term Made In USA to sell a bike whose frame was actually welded in China or Taiwan.

mechBgon: Maybe PowMax branded power supplies tend to have high failure rates, but when we sold Ultra at TCWO, which is not made by PowMax, only sold by PowMax, we had no greater failure rate than any of our other brands. Of course, if we did, we would quit selling them as ofen it's more expensive to support a crappy product than any amount of profit you're going to make from selling it.

From what one of the guys over at Ultra's forum said, PowMax is buying the power supplies from one of their channel suppliers (wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't the same one TCWO bought from, actually) and that Ultra's legal team will be contacting PowMax about the way they're presenting their product. The impression that Ultra's power supplies are made by PowMax is not just a result of consumer ignorance. Apparently, this is the impression PowMax is trying to put out there and it's actually HURTING Ultra's business. Unfortunately, when you sell your product through the channel using distributors like Bell Micro and SED, you can't pick and choose who is going to sell your products to the end user.

 

[Twigstir]

What's the link to Ultra's forums?

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Twigstir
What's the link to Ultra's forums?

Find it your self, we are not here to do work for you.
WWW.google.COM

 

[Twigstir]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: Twigstir
What's the link to Ultra's forums?

Find it your self, we are not here to do work for you.
WWW.google.COM

I searched for before I asked. It didn't come up. Nor is it on Ultra's product website as far as I could tell.

Next time you want to be smart , just give it up.

 

[Gamingphreek]

http://www.3dvelocity.com/revi...axconnect/ultrax_6.htm

That illustrates my point completely. That tagan completed every single test. The Ultra on the other hand couldn't handle half of what the Tagan could, and Tagan is still in a league below OCZ and PCP&C.

Also this might help as well....
http://www.powmax.com/Index.htm
I then procede to "Power"
*GASP* Ultra products on Powmax's website under there products. What is this a conspiracy or something?!

-Kevin

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Also this might help as well....
http://www.powmax.com/Index.htm
I then procede to "Power"
*GASP* Ultra products on Powmax's website under there products. What is this a conspiracy or something?!

-Kevin

Kevin, Quit beating the dead horse, man.

Of course Ultra Power Supplies are on PowMax's website. That's what everyone is talking about. Did you read any of the posts? The point is that people are assuming that Powmax makes Ultra because Powmax sells Ultra not realizing, simply because of industry ignorance, that PowMax is just a reseller and are actually buying the power supplies from the channel.

You of all people should know how that works, but you didn't even read any of the rebuttles. You're making the same assumption as the ignorant people here and saying, "If they sell it, they must make it." Come on. I typically give you more credit than that.

Here's a prime example: I have a Grundig FR200 radio (Ultra X-Connect.) It's a hand crank AM/FM/SW radio. The thing is GREAT during hurricane season. I just wish it had TV band. It's not made by Grundig, it's made in China for Grundig, but it's an exclusve Grundig product and always bears the Grundig name. Recently, I was in CircuitCity and saw the exact same radio in a Nexxtech bubble pack (PowMax Ultra X-Connect) with "Nexxtech FR200" written on it just like they were making them, and Nexxtech is pretty much infamous for making cheap crap. The radio itself still said "Grundig" (the grills on the PSU still say "Ultra",) but all over the package it says "Nexxtech." So.... do we theorize that this radio is crap because Nexxtech must sell it because everything that Nexxtech puts out is crap? I've had mine for over two years without failure. I don't think I'll call it crap.

Hopefully nobody doubts the Tagan is a very good power supply. Superior to Antec and Ultra for sure. PCP&C, no contest. I even give props to the OCZ (although MaximumPC didn't because they're testing was incomplete INMHO,) but we're talking about different leagues of power supplies. I never tried to claim that an Ultra is a better power supply. It's just not a "bad" power supply. It works for me and I like the modular cables. My rails are stable. No artifacts when gaming. No heat issues even though my wife insists it's 80 degrees in this damn house. If I didn't want the pretty cables, the money would have been invested elsewhere. Since I have had a lot of good Enermax's in the past, maybe an Enermax or maybe even the OCZ. But I liked the modular cables, the clean look, the good air flow... That's all I'm saying. If I hadn't worked for a reseller that sold a bunch of them with very little return, I probably would have thought it was just a gimmicky POS and moved on.

 

[jonnyGURU]

UL Listing for Wintech power supplies, including the Ultra X-Connect 500W: http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin...=1073787374&sequence=1

Please note the lack of Powmax/Leadman power supplies model numbers.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
UL Listing for Wintech power supplies, including the Ultra X-Connect 500W: http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin...=1073787374&sequence=1

Please note the lack of Powmax/Leadman power supplies model numbers.

Searching information Wintech yields nothing. If they do manufacture PSU's they do it in a very small obscure fashion. This certainly doesn?t do anything to improve the X-Connects reputation.

 

[jterrell]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
Hey, I said 90% of bicycles, not all of them. And it wasn't China Bicycle in my time. I put my apron down over 10 years ago. We didn't have any Chinese made bicycles unless they were sub $300.

As for this statement: "Over my dead body will I own anything that appears on PowMax's site. " Come on, man. That's silly. You're going to not buy something because of who sells it? That's like saying you wouldn't buy Sony because it's on the shelf at Walmart.

I wouldn't. Wal-Mart is killing the economy by selling a bunch of off-shore manufactured crap that American companies can't compete with since they have to pay more than .25 per hour to their workers.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
UL Listing for Wintech power supplies, including the Ultra X-Connect 500W: http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin...=1073787374&sequence=1

Please note the lack of Powmax/Leadman power supplies model numbers.

Searching information Wintech yields nothing. If they do manufacture PSU's they do it in a very small obscure fashion. This certainly doesn?t do anything to improve the X-Connects reputation.

Oh, I'm not familiar with Wintech either. I only posted that to thwart those who keep saying that Ultra is manufactured by Leadman/PowMax. Nothing more.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: jterrell

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
Hey, I said 90% of bicycles, not all of them. And it wasn't China Bicycle in my time. I put my apron down over 10 years ago. We didn't have any Chinese made bicycles unless they were sub $300.

As for this statement: "Over my dead body will I own anything that appears on PowMax's site. " Come on, man. That's silly. You're going to not buy something because of who sells it? That's like saying you wouldn't buy Sony because it's on the shelf at Walmart.

I wouldn't. Wal-Mart is killing the economy by selling a bunch of off-shore manufactured crap that American companies can't compete with since they have to pay more than .25 per hour to their workers.

Umm... Uh... Good point. I'm not a big WalMart fan either. Let me put it this way.... You wouldn't buy Sony at Circuit City because Walmart sells it too?

How's that?

 

[Cook1]

Originally posted by: pickle965
I am thinking about getting an Ultra X-Connect 500W with my new Athlon64 rig. Would like to hear some personal opinions and experiences with this PSU. Is it worth the price? Thanks in advance.

I love mine, does the job and is quiet about it.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Cook1

Originally posted by: pickle965
I am thinking about getting an Ultra X-Connect 500W with my new Athlon64 rig. Would like to hear some personal opinions and experiences with this PSU. Is it worth the price? Thanks in advance.

I love mine, does the job and is quiet about it.

I liked mine too, until I had to get a different PSU to fit my case.

the Modstream is nice too. :thumbsup:

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Alright, ULTRA has FINALLY e-mailed me back.

I asked them:
Does PowMax manufacture your X-Connect PSU's?
Do you have any affiliation with PowMax at all?

This is their response:
Dear Customer,

We have a plant in china which manufactures our power supplies, we are in no way
related to powmax.

So there you have it, some real proof, straight from ULTRA themselves.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: wolfman579
Alright, ULTRA has FINALLY e-mailed me back.

This is their response:

Dear Customer,

We have a plant in china which manufactures our power supplies, we are in no way
related to powmax.



So there you have it, some real proof, straight from ULTRA themselves.

but at least now everyone knows they are made in china

cool to know though

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Originally posted by: CraigRT

Originally posted by: wolfman579
Alright, ULTRA has FINALLY e-mailed me back.

This is their response:

Dear Customer,

We have a plant in china which manufactures our power supplies, we are in no way
related to powmax.



So there you have it, some real proof, straight from ULTRA themselves.

but at least now everyone knows they are made in china

cool to know though

It says "Made In China" right under the serial # on the X-Connect box.

 

[Cook1]

The X-Connect fit perfectly in my Lian Li PC-65...like it was made for it. So if you're looking for a new case/PSU I'd strongly suggest that combo.