Conclusion:
If you are looking for a power supply that will look nice, but doesn't scream out for attention this is a great option! Looking over my past power supplies, I see that the longest running power supply I have is an
Ultra Products unit. It has been in use for nearly 2 years and is still running strong and providing stable power. I have no doubt that this power supply should hold up just as well and I expect it to provide clean and stable power for a long time.
Even with the praise for this unit, I would like to see Ultra Products increase the efficiency of their power supplies. There are a large number of high performance power supplies on the market, and with the increasing demands we put on our power supplies, the efficiency of the power supply is becoming important. Along with increasing the efficiency, increasing the 3.3V+ and 5V+ rails total output would be very helpful if you have many power hungry components.
While not a negative aspect, there are only two SATA power plugs on the power supply. Using the included Y SATA cable, you can have three SATA devices out of the box. Ultra plans to sell the Y cable separately, so you can have four native SATA connections. If you find that four SATA connections is not enough, you always have the option to use Molex to SATA converters that are widely available.
A search of
PriceGrabber shows this unit sells for between $85 and $110 (US) at the time this review was completed. This is not a bad price for a solid performing, modular, 550W power supply.
Given the performance, and overall improvements from the first generation, unit I award the
Ultra Products 550W X-Connect 2 Power Supply a final score of four out of five stars and the rating of "Recommended".
Final Rating (4 out of 5 stars):
Pros:
» Solid Performance
» Good length modular FlexForce cables
» Quiet
» UV Reactive Cables
» Lifetime Warranty
Cons:
» 72% Efficiency
» 160W Combined power output of 3.3V+ and 5V+
» No LED fan (personal preference)
Special thanks to
Ultra Products for providing the X-Connect 2 550W power supply Bigbruin.com for review!
