Inside, the Ultra
X-Connect Green UV 500W PSU is nothing special. It looks pretty much like every
other power supply on the market. Both 80mm fans are replaceable which is good
news should the fans die. We did see a replaceable fuse on the PCB although
accessing it would be quite
difficult.
There are
no potentiometers inside the PSU, so enthusiast will not be able to adjust the voltage rails
independently.
The back of the of
the power supply looks quite normal. There's the 80mm exhaust fan as well as the power plug, power switch
and voltage selector. We liked the large chunky power switch which
also glows a nice bright green.
During operation we're happy
to report that the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W PSU is virtually silent. The two fans
built into the unit are extremely quiet and you'll only hear them if you
place your ear right next to the power supply.
Connecting the various cables to
the power supply is easy. They just have to be plugged firmly into the power supply.
Both the main 20 pin ATX and ATX12V connectors have clips so once installed
they're quite secure. There are no securing clips for the molex connectors so it's probably
not a good idea to stretch the cables out all the way.
More
goodies!
UltraProducts was also kind enough to includes a few extra goodies with the power
supply which are not included in the retail package. They sent along two extra 80mm
UV reactive fans as well as a dual tube UV Cold Cathode kit. After all what's
the point of having a pretty power supply if the rest of your computer is
ugly?
Not much is included with the 80mm Ultra Translucent UV case fans;
there's a three pin to molex power connector as well as four case
screws.
Ac cording to UltraProducts, the
80mm translucent UV case fans push around 33.2 CFM of air while spinning at 2500
RPM and producing just 29.8 dB worth of noise. That's a decent amount of air,
and even with the two of them on they were barely audible. The fans draw
their power from the 12V rail and consume 1.68W of power, something you might want
to keep in mind if you're using a smaller size power supply or one where the 12V
line is weak.
When you shine UV light on the fans they glow a
very nice bright neon green. If green is not your thing, never fear; UltraProducts has
an assortment of different colours like blue, red and orange!
Last but not least, the dual tube UV cold cathode that UltraProducts sells
is very interesting. Most cold cathode kits you buy from your local retailer only use a single tube
but the one that's included here has two! Each tube is connected to the inverter by
a 40 cm long cable, making them easier to place.
UltraProducts placed adhesive tabs on the
the ends of the tubes which will let them stick pretty
much
anywhere. It would have been nice if UltraProducts had put a tab on the inverter
as well so users could stick it out of the way. Everything is controlled through
an on/off switch that occupies an expansion slot bracket, although the button
can be removed and placed elsewhere too.
The cold cathodes draw their power
off the 12V line but we could find no information about
their requirements. We were pleased to see that the inverter
did not generate much heat in operation.
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