Ultra X-Pro EE 600W review

[jonnyGURU]

madmat has contributed to jonnyguru.com with a review of Ultra's first "Energy Efficient" power supply: the X-Pro 600W.

Check it out here: http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=45

[Mantralord]

So who makes this unit?

[CAD4466HK]

Andyson;)

[Bbq]

It needs a JonnyGURU stamp of approval.

Or a Madmat one..

And if you're feeling awesome, a G4M3R EXTR3M3 one.

[jonnyGURU]

133t raaaaaar lol of approval.

I guess it does get a seal, doesn't it?

[jonnyGURU]

In the review, Matt had mentioned the retail box model had better ventillation than the E.S. I have pics, but didn't know where to put them in the review, so I'll just stick them here.....

[GalvanizedYankee]

Not that it matters but I like the spacing much better. Lets the air get to the PCB's population. Glad to see it got a good review. Don't care that much for anodized heat sinks but many PSUs have them and seem to be OK with it.
Note: Anodizing slows down heat transfer by a few percentage points.

[madmat]

Hey, look...there are components under those heatsinks! Whodathunkit? Thanks for those Jon, I had intended to get some shots but since I had to press it into service in the aircooling rig the same day I unboxed it, took the comparison shots and ran the confirmation testing on it I kinda forgot about it...it was a chronic day indeed. Thanks for not razzing me guys!

[SKYMTL]

I'm actually really impressed by this PSU because everywhere you look there are people ragging on Ultra's products. Great review!!!

[jonnyGURU]

Hey, look...there are components under those heatsinks! Whodathunkit? Thanks for those Jon, I had intended to get some shots but since I had to press it into service in the aircooling rig the same day I unboxed it, took the comparison shots and ran the confirmation testing on it I kinda forgot about it...it was a chronic day indeed. Thanks for not razzing me guys!

Hey.. I got an "X2" 600W EE in the mail yesterday that I bet you'd slam into your system in a heart beat. ;)

I didn't get it with cables, but I know you already have all of those. :D

I don't need it myself because I have a 1kW version. :D

[madmat]

Sadly I don't have cables any longer, I donated my X-2's to peeps that had PSU headaches and needed a quality PSU to fix it. When it gets to the point that I'm sleeping with my PC equipment not due to being a sick puppy (not that I'm denying it mind you) but due to having nowhere left to put anything in my room I have to cull things.

I have to say that is sexy as hell though.

[dqniel]

Now we need to just start seeing the new X2 and the lower wattage X-Pro (600w) show up for purchase. I can't find them anywhere yet.

[jonnyGURU]

You probably wont until Jan.

[jonnyGURU]

I worked my ASS off w/ the guys at Ultra and Andyson trying to get this thing dialed in and it's STILL not quiet enough for SPCR. That's it. I give up! :D

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article708-page5.html

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I can't even hear mine over the ChillTEC, even at low speed. It's quiet enough for me :D

[madmat]

30db is too loud? The ringing in my ears (coupled with the voices in my head...but I digress) puts my threshold of hearing at roughly 15db, a very quiet room has a background level of about 20db so they're saying that acoustically twice the level of a quiet room is too loud? My HDD's are louder than that fer cryin' out loud.

[Bbq]

3db difference, is usually percieved as twice as loud. at SPCR, 30db is roughly the limit of a "silent" computer, vs a normal one.

Then again, I would rather have a slightly louder pc than have a lower-performing one that you pay more for (2.5" drives...)

And I'm pe rfectly fine with a powerstream 420. it's quiet enough.

[CAD4466HK]

And I'm pe rfectly fine with a powerstream 420. it's quiet enough.

Green lit, right?:p

[Bbq]

Unfortunatly. Then again, the store, at the time, had the Powerstream 420 for $85, an enermax 535w for $150, and that's it for name brand psu's.

Then again, this supply hasn't done much bad. It's gone through all my system upgrade parts, it's quite quiet, and it's rather blingy.

[madmat]

3db difference, is usually percieved as twice as loud. at SPCR, 30db is roughly the limit of a "silent" computer, vs a normal one.

Then again, I would rather have a slightly louder pc than have a lower-performing one that you pay more for (2.5" drives...)

And I'm pe rfectly fine with a powerstream 420. it's quiet enough.

A 3db difference is a perceptible raise in volume, a 10db difference is what the human ear perceives as a doubling in volume.

The decibel begins by being a relative measure comparing two powers. It's one tenth of a Bel, named for Alexander Graham Bell. (Note that one "l" is omitted from the name of the unit.) The number of Bels difference between two powers is simply the log (base 10) of the power ratio. The number of decibels difference is 10 times this. (The abbreviation for decibel or decibels is dB. Note that the "b" is capitalized in the abbreviation only.)

A 3db rise in sound is simply a doubling in the mechanical output of sound. IE by doubling the amplifier output to a speaker we see a 3db rise or doubling the square inches of the speakers we see a 3db rise. This does not mean it's become twice as loud as we perceive it, it means that we can easily identify it as being louder. To raise the volume of a speaker to twice as loud we need to raise the power to the speaker to the power of 10. a 10W load ends up being doubled, redoubled and redoubled then boosted yet again to 100W. Nifty no?

[EsaT]

I worked my ASS off w/ the guys at Ultra and Andyson trying to get this thing dialed in and it's STILL not quiet enough for SPCR. That's it. I give up! :DYou should have known better... They have own definition of silent and quiet.
I think you might find only other people equally fond of silencing everything from captains of "boomers".

[jonnyGURU]

It's all good. At least they said,


The Ultra X-Pro does very well in it's aim of providing a solid powerful PSU for high power systems. The power output of the X-Pro was nothing short of extraordinary, with extremely low ripple, and excellent voltage regulation. The overall efficiency of the PSU was very good as well, helping keep up the standard of high efficiency PSUs. Electrically, this Ultra is head and shoulders above the earlier X-Inifinity sample we tested.


That's pretty damn glowing.

Besides... trying to figure out how to make it quieter gives me something to do. :D

They did misquote the Ultra website, though. There's no website for the X-Pro EE (Energy Efficient) series. They got the efficiency rating of 78% typical from the X-Pro 750W and 800W which are based off of Seventeam and Andyson server platforms that aren't as efficient. The minimum efficiency on the 600W is actually 79% with 83% being typical.

[jonnyGURU]

Yeah... I'm going to sound "bitter" like I feel "cheated" or something, but some thing is wrong with SPCR and/or their testing methodology. I mean this in a positive way as perhaps they can find the problem and address it.

I currently have an M12 700W on the bench powering the Quad Father w/ the two 8800GTS cards. The 60MM fan kicked in as soon as I was in Windows (this rig pulls a lot of juice. I don't have a single 600W PSU that will power it beyond the Windows boot screen.) It's by far louder than many of my other PSU's (Enermax Galaxy or Liberty 620W, Corsair HX620W) including the X-Pro 600W. Yet they scored the M12+ (500W/600W and 700W) a "7+" for noise on their list of recommended PSU's. The X-Pro, they state, was "too loud" to be recommended by them at all.

Hmm... Seriously, no offense... but something's not right there.

[GalvanizedYankee]

I'd contact Mike Chin about it. But I tend to be confrontational anyhoo. :D
Didn't he change out the fans in his load tester for silent jobs? That should
make that 60mm really stand out.

[jonnyGURU]

That's what I'm thinking. He just upgraded his load tester to, what he calls, the "bonefish" edition just before reviewing the X-Pro EE.

Any changes in the testing methodology are going to skew comparison results. That's the whole reason I don't have navigation going to my old reviews (pre hot box, pre Stingray, etc.) and removed the scoring. With new variables taken into consideration, how does one actually make the comparison.

I'm going to read more on his "bonefish" and see what all this upgrade means and how he adjusted his testing methodology and then drop him an email asking him how he feels it affects test results. Trying not to be confrontational, of course. I totally respect what Mike does over there. :)

[JEDIYoda]

For the longest time I have always said SPCR is a good site but at times there representation of the word silent gets skewered somehow...

Now don`t get me wrong I have never been a silent freak. But thats only because My server is in a seperate room from everything else as well as my gaming rigg...the wifes rigg is in room where she has her cooking library,,over 5,000 hardback volumes.....

I have alwasy taken what the good folks at SPCR say about how quiet something is with a grain of salt!!

Merry Christmas!!

[CAD4466HK]

I currently have an M12 700W on the bench powering the Quad Father w/ the two 8800GTS cards. The 60MM fan kicked in as soon as I was in Windows I don't have a single 600W PSU that will power it beyond the Windows boot screen.

:eek: That's fucking insane.What else is on that rig:confused:
That sucks about the 60mm:mad: I've never really been able to here it ramp
all the way up and stay there for any amount of time:eek:
Have you tried the Magnum with setup:confused:

[jonnyGURU]

No. I haven't tried the Magnum external w/ it. But I could. ;)

Doubt it'll pull it off. We'll see. :D

[CAD4466HK]

Seventeam, oh yeah;)

[templar_m1a1]

Hi every one, I know I am new on this forum and what I say doesn't carry much weight.

Have any one read AnandTech review of n680i and n650i chip sets for the the mother boards, there is a part where they compare power usage of those chips with Intel and ATI (ATI SB600 for Intel CPU currently owned by AMD :confused:),
here is a link (the chart is at the end of the page) http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2894&p=6

[jonnyGURU]

Hi every one, I know I am new on this forum and what I say doesn't carry much weight.

Everyone gets to be heard here! :D

Have any one read AnandTech review of n680i and n650i chip sets for the the mother boards, there is a part where they compare power usage of those chips with Intel and ATI (ATI SB600 for Intel CPU currently owned by AMD :confused:),
here is a link (the chart is at the end of the page) http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2894&p=6

Yeah. I think it's come up in the GPU forums, but why does it belong in this thread? :( Is there a connection I'm somehow missing? Please don't be so subtle. ;)

[templar_m1a1]

I would hope this might provide some insight why you having problems with your set up and a 600w PSU. (but they also call me "Captain Obvious" for a good reason)

I currently have an M12 700W on the bench powering the Quad Father w/ the two 8800GTS cards. The 60MM fan kicked in as soon as I was in Windows (this rig pulls a lot of juice. I don't have a single 600W PSU that will power it beyond the Windows boot screen.) It's by far louder than many of my other PSU's (Enermax Galaxy or Liberty 620W, Corsair HX620W) including the X-Pro 600W. Yet they scored the M12+ (500W/600W and 700W) a "7+" for noise on their list of recommended PSU's. The X-Pro, they state, was "too loud" to be recommended by them at all.

I bet most of the watt load is on the watt load is on 12v. rails (no shit I'm thinking to my self) plus what ever devises you got hooked up to it.

There might be a way (VERY BIG IF :confused:) to run a 8800GTS in SLI on a 600w PSU, with 1 hard drive, 1 optical drive and nothing else other then mouse, keyboard, monitor, and on board audio with some 2.0 speakers with external power source. (I wonder will that work? it seams as if when windows boots up it actually draws 100% specified power to all components all at one time)

I will try to be more descriptive next time, when I post a :cool:

[jonnyGURU]

I have NO problems running 8800GTS or GTX with a 600W PSU.

You seemed to miss the most important aspect of my post: The Quad Father.

The board has TWO inefficient nVidia Northbridge chips and two separate dual core CPU's. It's essentially two motherboards on one PCB. It's a little different than Anand's P5N-E or any of the other boards on his list there. :D

[templar_m1a1]

I just realized that (I should do more looking around before I reply:wall:) it is a 4x4 that could use a 1kw power supply when fully loaded, maybe more?!
(Jonny you are the Master I am a noob :lol:)

[Adamantine]

Yeah... I'm going to sound "bitter" like I feel "cheated" or something, but some thing is wrong with SPCR and/or their testing methodology. I mean this in a positive way as perhaps they can find the problem and address it.

I currently have an M12 700W on the bench powering the Quad Father w/ the two 8800GTS cards. The 60MM fan kicked in as soon as I was in Windows (this rig pulls a lot of juice. I don't have a single 600W PSU that will power it beyond the Windows boot screen.) It's by far louder than many of my other PSU's (Enermax Galaxy or Liberty 620W, Corsair HX620W) including the X-Pro 600W. Yet they scored the M12+ (500W/600W and 700W) a "7+" for noise on their list of recommended PSU's. The X-Pro, they state, was "too loud" to be recommended by them at all.

Hmm... Seriously, no offense... but something's not right there.
They seem to weight silence at <250w, which 30db max seems to be needed. At <250w, the noise produced is measured at 38db for the X-Pro vs 21db for the M12. If the fan controller on the X-pro would start it's RPM climb at 250w, then it'd probably end up on the silent list. I suppose a different fan might alleviate some of the noise problem and score better at spcr.

[jonnyGURU]

They seem to weight silence at <250w, which 30db max seems to be needed. At <250w, the noise produced is measured at 38db for the X-Pro vs 21db for the M12. If the fan controller on the X-pro would start it's RPM climb at 250w, then it'd probably end up on the silent list. I suppose a different fan might alleviate some of the noise problem and score better at spcr.

Yeah, and since the 60MM fan on the M12 doesn't even kick in until about, oh.. I'd say, 300 or 350W, it doesn't even come into contention.

So certainly, it's easy to say that the one PSU is quiter than the other at these particular low loads, and not everyone has a high end machine (G80 SLI) but for those who do, it's a completely different playing field.

I have the M12 700W on the QX6700 w/ 8800GTX SLI now. It doesn't kick in on boot up like it did on the Quad Father, but it does as soon as any apps are run. And I already measured this thing as pulling about 400W from the wall during 3DMark.

[Adamantine]

I always just assume they are reviewing PSU's for people who don't play games ever and don't have a need for high power draw video cards. You know, only do office, media center stuff. :D

Sheesh. I don't know how accurate my APC UPS is, but the battery backup load with my single Opty 2.7GHz @ 1.6v and single X1900XTX @750MHz w/1.55v had around a 385w AC draw (only the PC connected to the battery side). Well, I was using a notoriously efficient Powerstream 520SLI at the time.

It's a good thing I don't pay the power bill.

[jonnyGURU]

Well, I was using a notoriously efficient Powerstream 520SLI at the time.

That's sarcasm, right? Efficiency on a Powerstream is somewhere around 75% typical. :D

Yeah.. I guess gamers need not apply at SPCR because if you did have a pair of G80 cards, your GPU fans would EASILY drown out ANY PSU fan at any load.

Of course, I'm currently running a Corsair Nautilus 500 kit on the CPU and GPU's so I no longer have the GPU fan sound to contend with. Now, the only fan I can hear is the 120MM in the Nautilus reservoir. :D

[Adamantine]

Yeah, that was sarcasm.

Their "worst case senario" PC is actually quite pathetic. AND they claim dual graphics cards have no place in silent computing.

Intel Pentium 670 (Prescott, 3.8GHz)
Intel D915PBL motherboard
2 x 512MB Corsair DDR2 RAM
AOpen Aeolus 6800GT PCIe VGA
2 x 250 GB Western Digital Caviar SE HDD
Seasonic S12-430W PSU
Creative SB Audigy-2 ZS Platinum
3 x 120mm fans

Uhh yeah. How about something a little more up to date.

If you want silent and high end, there's probably only one way to go, reducing the number of fans in the system. The only way I can think of that allows for that is by going watercooling. If you WC, then you can do dual GPU's and be near silent as well.

[jonnyGURU]

Not even... because then the water has to be cooled. :(

[madmat]

We have to remember that these are the same guys that were underclocking AXP's back in the day so that they could go fanless as far as the case goes and use the slowest 80mm HSF they could concoct. They're freaks I tell ya ;)

[Adamantine]

Not even... because then the water has to be cooled. :(
I don't know about 8800GTX's but one X1900XTX at full RPM's was louder than one of my Silverstone 110CFM 120mm fans (or maybe it was just worse because it was a higher pitch).

I've switched to a PA120.2, it's actually quieter at the same RPMs than the BIX it replaced.

[jonnyGURU]

I don't know about 8800GTX's but one X1900XTX at full RPM's was louder than one of my Silverstone 110CFM 120mm fans (or maybe it was just worse because it was a higher pitch).

Really? Maybe it was the pitch. Because last week I built a rig with a pair of X1950XTX cards and I was JEALOUS at how quiet those paddle fans were over what nVidia uses.

[Bbq]

Oh, the X1950's use a different fan from the X1900. The 1950's are way quieter, push more air, are more efficient... what a stock cooler should be.