Well, for those that dont know I was one of the contest winners and got my X-Connect today. The thing came 2nd day air from Ultra Products which was a nice touch to start with.

I giddly opened the packing and rummaged through the add on cables they give you, my initial impression was they that were a little short and the ends weren't flexible but more on that later. I wanted to see this beaut. And a beaut it is, who needs a mirror when you've got that finish!

unfortunatly being a mirror is all it seems to be good at ATM...

plugging the cords into the PSU went just fine as I am not a mentally challenged individual. The 20-pin connector (24-pin's a comin...) felt like it wasn't fully in but it wouldn't go any farther (still cant get it any farther) so on to plugging stuff into the periphery.

The molex cables were in fact short, a good 6+ inches short than my old PSU, a generic 420w'er thats produced some sic overclocks (2.7ghz AXP and 460 / 1.23 6800 Ultra). Seeing as nothings in a case I was able to move my jazz around to accomidate but it was a little dissapointing. The 20-pin CPU connector really surpsied me. With the way the plasic is molded wire routing is neigh on impossible. I'm pretty sure these connectors were made so that you HAVE to see their UV sleeved cables. Its not really a bad thing but this isn't a PSU for the wire routing fanatics. Also the 20-pin connector blocked the fan header next to the connector forcing me to re-locate my radiator fans connection.

Well, that was fun. At least there are fewer PSU related cables now. I also plugged in my dual UV CC. No piccies right now but let me say those wires GLOW, the frozenCPU ad thats at the top of the screen isn't an exaggeration, thats how bright it is.

Naturally seeing that meant I hit the power button. Everything turns on OK and I'm just staring at the beauty of the PSU and its cables when I notice my comp rebooted on me! Then the winXP load screen looks messed up and finally it crashes

well, I unplugg the cables, check the connections and plug em back in. Now nothing happens. WTF? The PSU is definatly turning on as the HD's are spinning up and the lights are on but the computer aint workin.

So, thinking I might have blown my mobo I plugged Mr. 420 generic back in.



and here I sit typing this review; on my 420w generic. It's a little late and by no means am I quitting on it but as it stands now I'm unimpressed with this power supply. Hopefully it'll work tomorrow and I can get some mutlimeter readings on it with various levels of stress.

but right now its looking like all beauty and no brains.

pimp on the outside, gimp on the inside...


ed:: I've been psyched about getting this thing for over a week now and naturally the fact that it doesn't seem to have enough juice for my system (the PSU turns on and its def. giving some stuff power) is a huge letdown. I'm reserving all right to change my mind 180 degrees on this thing but these are my initial reactions...

I'm a noOb at this and when someone says "overclocking", I think of someone setting their clock ahead a few minutes but.....

Is it possible that there is an issue with the overclocking and the output voltage from the X-Connect?

Just a noOb trying to get a nut....

Rob

Damn..I was hoping to hear some better things about it, I realy liked it too.

RMA it, and give it another shot, you probably just got a DUD

You saw on my latest review how much voltage I was drawing from it and it stayed rock solid. Check the voltages and see what you get. I've had more than a few high end PSU's in my day and the X-Connects I've been using are up there with the best as far as stable voltage.

Alright, dont have the time to test it (frickin school) but now that I actually have some sleep and am thinking coherently; I'm pretty sure my issue was that the 20-pin connector wasn't plugged into the PSU all the way, it took both arms pushin pretty dam hard but I think I finally got it in.


So....

later today; pics and voltages (hopefully). I'd love to get this tihng working because it DOES look sic...

Thanks for your review, Ark...hope things turn around for you

Got pics?

It's deja vu all over again - haven't I already seen the exact post before, Arkangyl?

wth? I posted here first last night but it didn;t show up after waiting a few minutes so posted it elsewhere.

Honestly the only reason it appeard twice was because I thought this thread didn't post for some reason...

Quote: Originally Posted by Arkangyl wth? I posted here first last night but it didn;t show up after waiting a few minutes so posted it elsewhere. Honestly the only reason it appeard twice was because I thought this thread didn't post for some reason...

NP ... but for future reference posts in this section have to be moderated before they appear - i.e. someone has to approve them - that's why it didn't show up immediately

Sorry to hear about that Ark...It realy looked like a winner from other reviews on the net

When you get it RMA'd, remember to try and post some pics from MBM showing voltage idle and load, I know you can't right now...

Part II!!!

It's WORKING!!!

EDIT :: ALL VOLTAGES ARE UNDER A FULL LOAD, I dont bother running my PC without F@H and if it aint givin it all she's got; it dont deserve to be on

like I said, I reserved the right to change my mind and thus far things are looking good; my multimeter shows the rails as follows;
12.13v
5.11v
3.42v

this is with the following sucking powah;
AXP @ 1.9v (voltage seems to be a little more consistent than with generic as per CPU-Z)
GeForce 6800 Ultra @ 455 / 1.23
SB Audigy 2 ZS
2x 7200rpm IDE HD's
USB DVD drive
USB controllerpad
2x sticks DDR ram



thus far its looking to be meeting the challeng. My 420w generic was pulling about 11.9v and 5.01v with the same stuff running. The real challenge is when I boost the CPU voltage, the VRam voltage and run 3D apps together, that seemed to crash my old PSU.

pictures will come soon, taking pics with out digicam and getting them from the camera to my machine is quite the endevor. It will happen soon though.

As it stands now; here is my ratings and my prognosis paragraph, I dont do bullets;

8/ 10

In my mind this power supply sets out to look good, control airflow and cable clutter and keep the rig going. With the way it's been advertised I wasn't expecting any fancing OC'er based tools; and I didn't get any. This PSU did as advertised though; it looks very, amazingly good both in normal light and when UV illuminated. Regularly the titanium finish is chrome like but under almost direct light it turns black. The rails appear to be very solid with the visible alteration being only .01v which in my mind is excellent. All the rails were over there base rating which wins points in my book. I am, however, a believer that giving me what I expect gets an average grade (7), this PSU excells in the looks catagory but the cable clutter is a little marred by the stiff end connectors on all the cables which prevents the almost wireless looks from occuring; in my mind this PSU was designed to be seen and look good but no be intrusive cuz thats what it does. It failed to offer a few things though that kept it away from a 9 or 10. First of all it didn't come with SATA, 24-pin CPU or PCI-E power cables; although you can appearantly get a set of SATA cables for free from Ultra Products. The lack of these cables shows a lack of forwards thinking as they are all becoming increasinly used. There were also no options to adjust the voltage pots; again, not sometihng I expected but its a nice touch and its the little things that make the jump from an 8 to a 10. Before anyone thinks I'm being unreasonable for the price the Antec Neopower for $125 (ZZF) has the cables along with dual 12v rails a-la Enermax and the OCZ PSU's (520w for $125 @ the egg) have the pots and rails that rival the PC P&C's, hell, $75 Fotrons have the same features as the OCZ. But again; I'm not expecting the X-Connect to go head to head, I'm expecting a strong showing and good looks and thats what I got.

overall though it is a very nice PSU and I'd reccomend it to anyone except the hard-core overclockers.

I'm glad that you are liking it. The reason there are no pots is because the voltage is designed to fluctuate depending on the load. If you have a lot pulling off the 5V rail, and little off the 12V, it will decrease the voltage to the 12V and increase to the 5V. I guess that's why it received one of the first green ratings for a PSU.

Yeah, the cables are designed to be looked at. If someone didn't want their cables to be seen they would obviously go with the traditional 4 wire so it could be routed in a more flat manner. But, you got to admit, they do look pretty nice under UV and the construction is so solid you don't have to worry about them coming apart.

I am surprised you didn't receive a SATA adapter but hit their website, look at the bottom where it says something like did you buy an X-Connect?, and fill in the info. They'll get one to you real quick.

The one suggestion I had for Ultra was that since the fans are thermally controlled off the PCB, there should be an option to RPM monitor if a user wished. The engineer's are looking at that. Oh yeah, and put clips on the Molex cables.

All in all, I am very happy with with the PSU, and I consider myself a rather well-versed computer user.

Yea, I need to do the thing on their site, problem being I dont have a fax machine at my immeadiate disposal..

oh wel.

and yes, those cables look amazing under UV light

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita II am surprised you didn't receive a SATA adapter but hit their website, look at the bottom where it says something like did you buy an X-Connect?, and fill in the info. They'll get one to you real quick.

Yeah, after failed faxes ("Bad line condition"), I called them, and verified that I purchased it even though I have not received it yet, over the phone, and they sent out the SATA power cable (Yesterday). Great service.

thanks for the info tek, I'll definatly call them later today

oh, and pics this afternoon I PROMISE!!!

Well, I just got my 500w X-connect in last night. Didn't figure it was worthy of a new thread so I thought I would share here.

First impression: Boy, it sure is purdy.

Actually, the install went quite easy. A tad harder than most PSU's, but that was my fault from rushing. Protip: plug the cords into the PSU from the bottom up to save some hassle.
On to the wires, if you plan to hide all the wires in your system you might have to get real creative. These things are rigid. I can't think of anything to do to make the ATX cable less noticable. On the plus side, the cables look very nice and will compliment my case.

Also, on little gripe, although extremely minor. I would like a shorter cable w/ 2 molex conex. I have a burner and fan controler directly accross from my psu, about 6" away. Would be nice to have a little less clutter with those wires being as rigid as they are, no real wire orgami gonna happen with em.

If I had a blowhole in that area, I would bet the performance would have went way south without some serious creativity.

On to performance. Rock solid so far. I havn't put it to any real stress tests yet, but the rails are right on.
This weekend I am gonna start putting it through the ringer. I will let ya'll know how it goes.

hows about telling us what you did to get it "working".....

Quote: Originally Posted by TekXoID Yeah, after failed faxes ("Bad line condition"), I called them, and verified that I purchased it even though I have not received it yet, over the phone, and they sent out the SATA power cable (Yesterday). Great service.

Thanks Tek I was haven the same problem????? I will have to call them today as well....

by bad fu3l, my problem was that that main ATX cable wasn't plugged into the PSU all the way; it took far more effort than I had expected to get it to click in

I was a winner too and I received it today. I was surprised on how fast shipping was since I live in Canada. I want to give a big thanks to all the staff at PimpRig and Ultra products for a great contest. I have some crappy pics taken but not when it is in my system as I am home for Thanksgiving.