When looking at the Seasonic Power Supply test results we see two values, wattage and volt-amps. Since it might not be clear what they measure, here's a brief overview.

The volt-amp (VA) value is how much real power is being consumed by the power supply being tested to provide the wattage (W) value. The higher the VA value is, the more electricity is being used by the power supply. Because no electrical device is 100% efficient, there will always be some loss when converting AC to DC. The closer the volt-amps and wattage figures are to each other, the more efficient a power supply is. This is called the Power Factor: wattage / volt-amps = PF.

Since we're testing with a 120W dummy load, the load on the power supply (wattage) should be as close to this figure as possible. Anything above this load in apparent power describes the overhead and wasted energy (given off as heat) for the particular power supply being tested.

For the unloaded tests, the wattage and volt-amp figures should be as close as possible to one another. The lower the figures are, the less power is being used.

Seasonic Load Tests
Power Supply	Wattage	Test	Load	Unloaded
Seasonic SuperTornado	400 W	Active Power	177 W	6 W
		Apparent Power	182 VA	7 VA
Vantec iON2	350 W	Active Power	192 W	10 W
		Apparent Power	277 VA	21 VA
Antec TruePower 330	330 W	Active Power	195 W	22 W
		Apparent Power	289 VA	38 VA
Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W	500 W	Active Power	193W	22 W
		Apparent Power	307 VA	40 VA

As you can see here in the Seasonic Load tests, the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W is not very efficient and uses the most electricity of any power supply we've tested recently. What that means is, it costs more in electricity to use the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W PSU when compared to the other power supplies in this test. Even when unloaded the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W uses the most electricity!

Keep in mind that the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W can also deliver more power than the rest of the supplies in this test, so even though it is not the most efficient, it may still be a better choice for your complex rig. Also, it's shiny...

Pretty but...

When you buy a cheap power supply, you're putting everything inside your computer at risk. Does it makes sense to save $50 on a PSU to only have it blow up in the future and take the rest of your PC with it? Doesn't seem like such a good deal anymore eh?

Believe it or not, the above can happen and will happen. within my own circle of friends I've seen it three times in the last two years! Of course that's an extreme case but bad power supplies can also manifest many other problems from intermittent crashes to data corruption.

Ask around in any computer forum about power related issues, I'm sure you'll hear some real horror stories.

The Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W is certainly one of the most cosmetically innovative power supplies to come around in a long time. Its modular design means that you won't have to hide those extra power supply cables behind the motherboard tray or in the 5 1/4" drive bays, you can simply connect what you need!

Under UV light the green plastic windows glow a nice neon green while the cables are cyan in colour. Who says your power supply can't be as pretty as your system? UltraProducts include enough cables and power plugs for most users; there are eight molex, one floppy and two Serial ATA power cables as well as the regular 20 pin ATX, ATX12V and Auxiliary lines.

When the Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W is hooked up to a system, the rails are rock solid which means system stability shouldn't be an issue. However, this power supply certainly uses a lot of electricity. The Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W uses the most power (idle and at load) of any power supply we've tested of late and if you pay directly for your electricity, you might notice.

The Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W is easily the best looking power supply on the market but this beauty has a pretty steep price in terms of the electricity it can use. Retailing for $154 CDN ($125 US), the PSU is priced near the middle of its class, but perhaps its best to look past the bling bling and choose another brand which puts its circuitry first.

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