The Free After Rebate Ultra 500W Power Supply

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Zoogle
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Post by Zoogle »

Good to see that you can get a good deal on a reasonably good PSU. If anything, it could power a folding machine!
Vaggeto
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Post by Vaggeto »

Hey there, thank you for this review!

I have Two Ultra power supplies.

Right now I have an Ultra X-Finity 500W and this FAR Ultra V 500W.

My question is which one is best for a system running:
Intel C2D E6400 overclocked. 1 HDD, 2GB ram. EVA 7900 GS.

The first test system was similar to this especially with the 7900 GS which brought up two questions.

Note: The Ultra V has 1 12V rail rated at 28A(336W). The Xfinity has 2 12V rails rated at 16A and 18A(384W).

Firstly: "First up to bat is the XFX GeForce 7900 GS video card. To run this card it is suggested that you have a 350W power supply with 12V rating of 20A or more."

I was going to use the Xfinity due to it have higher 12v rails overall. But none are rated above 20A? Does the fact that they're seperated matter much? Am I going to have to use the Ultra V instead?

Secondly: Are either of these two PSus strong enough for a system like this?

Thank you very much, I appreciate your help!
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Apoptosis
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Post by Apoptosis »

Vaggeto,

To be honest both should work fine and I suggest trying them both and seeing which one has the best looking voltage rails to you. You can check this in the BIOS or with software or a volt meter like I did!

Cheers!
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Post by Vaggeto »

Thanks for the quick reply. So you don't think the whole 20A 12V rail will matter with the 7900 GS? When it says you should have that, does it mean total amps or at least one 12v with that much? I think the X-Finity is the better PSU so I'd like to use it, I just don't want that to be an issue.

Thanks and I guess you're right, it can't hurt trying both and testing... Just will have to wait for the MB, and videocard... and figure out the ram!
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Post by Apoptosis »

Many power supplies have multiple +12V rails and just because the rails are 'low' it doesn't mean your hardware wont have enough juice. If a power supply has four +12V rails at 18Amps each they route them to feed different things. Like +12v1 might be for the mobo only, +12v2 is for the 4-pin molex connectors, +12v3 is for the PCIe headers and +12v is for the SATA drives. No worries at all!

oh and it means total Amps...
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Post by Vaggeto »

Ahhh, sounds good. Thank you very much!
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Post by Zenphic »

Ahhhhh, I can't believe I missed this deal to get a free power supply! I was already depressed on how I missed the last deal a year ago or so at RadioShack, now again! Dorgh!

Nice review though Apoptosis. Any comments on it's noise? Or is it relatively quiet?
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Post by DaIceMan »

werty316 wrote:Isn't it just styrofoam?

That is quite risky using a PSU that meets the bare minimum of a 8800GTX as you still have to account everything else connected to it.
Don't worry... the GTX can take care of itself. If it isn't getting sufficient power, it will give you an alert (in the form of a pop up in the middle of your screen) stating that the GPU isn't receiving sufficient power and is running at a lowered rate to prevent damage... or something to that effect. I had this come up with my Silverstone power supply *cough* POS *cough* that I bought for my new rig wouldn't power my GTX.
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Post by jonnyGURU »

Zenphic wrote:Ahhhhh, I can't believe I missed this deal to get a free power supply! I was already depressed on how I missed the last deal a year ago or so at RadioShack, now again! Dorgh!
The deal gets "rotated."

Just keep your eyes peeled at the usual suspects like Rat Shack, Fry's, Tigger, MicroCenter and ZZF and they're bound to have an FAR V-Series some week.
Landon
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Receiving Rebate

Post by Landon »

Apoptosis,
I read you article concerning the Ultra "free" power supply and was impressed. Also, was wondering if you've got your rebate back or checked the status at http://rebate-zone.com/default.asp?PN=U00138 to see if they have any info on the rebate? I did, and it said there was no record of a rebate for me. Curious.
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Post by Apoptosis »

Ultra Products, Inc

Search Results:
Results: Claim Not Found

For further assistance please call (866) 871-4973
Nothing on me either and I sent mine in on Feb 20, 2007... I am keeping my eye on this and will be updating the article or writing a new one if things go south.
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Apoptosis
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Post by Apoptosis »

still nothing on mine :(
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Post by Landon »

Still nothing on this end either!
Could make you wonder if this is a scam to get rid of those 500 watt Ultra Power Supplys.
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Apoptosis
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Post by Apoptosis »

yeah it's been a almost a month and it's not even in the system yet... This is an example of why rebates suck.
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Post by T-Shirt »

I believe Ultra is a division of Systemax Inc (ie Tiger direct, Global computer, etc.)
If the rebates are like Tiger direct's you will get it eventually, but their system is extremely slow with checks and updates coming weeks or months late.
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Post by dicecca112 »

well that'd be wrong. And Tigerdirect since there rebate scandal has had an outside company handle there rebates and from what I've heard are really good now
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Landon
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Post by Landon »

If you want another "free" item check out this site for a free computer case after rebate. Includes free shipping.
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5124886

I would try it if as you can see from above I haven't got my rebate for the free power supply yet nor they said they haven't received it. Maybe if it comes before this deal run out I will try it.
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Post by Apoptosis »

agreed... waiting too
FTLOSM
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I have this and have a few questions...

Post by FTLOSM »

I have this very same power supply, got the deal on frys $40 with $40 rebate, bought it in nov 06, just got the rebate this week March 07 not sooo bad, anyways i just installed a video card from MSI that had this pc check program, i ran it and it gave me warning messages about my power supply, i then downloaded speedfan and it is showing what appears to be funky readings but again I am not sure on this so am asking here...

This is what speedfan says

Vcore1 1.62
Vcore2 2.48
+3.3v 3.23v
+5v 3.41v ????
+12v 12.29v

-12v -1.16v ???? not a misprint this seems very off...
-5v -1.09v ?????
+5v 2.18v ?????
Vbat 0.00v ?????

This just seems odd to me, the MSI program keeps trying to turn the pc off! Speed fan reports those numbers above, starting to have a weird feeling my free power supply might be a bad one, but the pc has worked fine no issues or anything so its making me wonder....

Here is my setup,
antec 1080 full tower case, 5 pc fans, 1 7200rpm 160 gig hd, 2 cdrom/dvdburners, floppy, MSI nx6200 T256 video card, amd athlon throughbred 3000 processor, 1 gig of ram, on a gigabyte motherboard, nothing overclocked or souped up, fans going keepin things cool, no hardcore gaming or anything normal pc use, just curious is this ps bad or are these readings normal to see (seem way out of range to me) I did call Ultra sat on hold hung up and sent an email but no reply yet...

I guess I never would have known this if i didnt install that tiny msi pc check program, then as I dug around the net i installed speedfan as a secondary check which confirmed something is goofy here i think...

anything i can check or do or have i just got a lemon ps here...

The powersupply didnt even fit into my case, it seems too small, i have a antec 1080 full tower i did install it but there is a gap on one side, thought it would fill the hole and replace my old antec truepower that did die on me (smoked) had to get new motherboard and everything...ughh

Thanks for any input on these questions about this power supply, curious what others have to say after a few months use like myself, i never would have known these readings if i didnt install that tiny pc app from msi, now im freakin out a bit here...or am I just over reacting....

Bill
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Post by FTLOSM »

Just got a reply from ultra via email zapped them a jpg of my invoice name phone addy etc and supposedly they will reply with return information to get a new one.

Not even sure if it is worth the $$ to ship this one back at my expense but at this point I am even (paid for it got it free) so maybe $5 to send it back in hopes a good one comes will be worth it...

Bill
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