400-450W PSU Roundup
by Christoph Katzer on November 6, 2007 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Ultra V-Series 400W
Ultra sent us their V-Series 400W power supply for this roundup, but testing revealed quite a few surprises. We'll get to those in a moment, but let's start with initial impressions. Like many other power supplies, the Ultra 400W is black and has a 120mm fan intake fan located on the bottom. The exhaust has square-shaped holes punched out, except for right around the power connector, switch, and the voltage selector. Wait... voltage selector!? One of the first things surprises is the small red switch that allows users to choose between 115VAC and 230VAC power input. It has been a long time since we've seen such a switch -- these were commonplace several years ago, but today their presence is usually an indication of a very cheap power supply. Let's not draw any premature conclusions, however; we'll give it a try and maybe get some interesting results. Since there are only two options for power input, we only tested this unit with 115VAC and 230VAC.
The label shows a single 12V rail rated for 20A, a 5V rail rated at 30A, and a 3.3V rail with up to 18A. This power supply does not meet current ATX12V 2.x standards; it appears to be more of an ATX12V 1.2 PSU -- circa 2004.
One of the better aspects of this power supply is the cables. They are very nice since they are all flat like IDE cables, and there's no need for sleeving since the cables aren't broken up into individual strands. Most of the cables are detachable. The longest cable harness from the Ultra 400W is 65cm long, and it's a floppy connector. The Molex and SATA connectors have a distance of 40cm and 55cm measured from the power supply. The 24-pin connector has a length of 45cm -- tolerable, but it could present difficulties in larger cases. Frankly, we are surprised to see a 6-pin PEG connector, but there it is -- all 40cm of it.
The inside doesn't look too bad, but several components missing. Where is the PFC stage for example? (Yeah, that's what the red switch is for.) The filtering stage is also under-equipped. This topology is definitely very old and we are surprised to see such an old-timer rear its ugly head these days.
Ultra sent us their V-Series 400W power supply for this roundup, but testing revealed quite a few surprises. We'll get to those in a moment, but let's start with initial impressions. Like many other power supplies, the Ultra 400W is black and has a 120mm fan intake fan located on the bottom. The exhaust has square-shaped holes punched out, except for right around the power connector, switch, and the voltage selector. Wait... voltage selector!? One of the first things surprises is the small red switch that allows users to choose between 115VAC and 230VAC power input. It has been a long time since we've seen such a switch -- these were commonplace several years ago, but today their presence is usually an indication of a very cheap power supply. Let's not draw any premature conclusions, however; we'll give it a try and maybe get some interesting results. Since there are only two options for power input, we only tested this unit with 115VAC and 230VAC.
The label shows a single 12V rail rated for 20A, a 5V rail rated at 30A, and a 3.3V rail with up to 18A. This power supply does not meet current ATX12V 2.x standards; it appears to be more of an ATX12V 1.2 PSU -- circa 2004.
One of the better aspects of this power supply is the cables. They are very nice since they are all flat like IDE cables, and there's no need for sleeving since the cables aren't broken up into individual strands. Most of the cables are detachable. The longest cable harness from the Ultra 400W is 65cm long, and it's a floppy connector. The Molex and SATA connectors have a distance of 40cm and 55cm measured from the power supply. The 24-pin connector has a length of 45cm -- tolerable, but it could present difficulties in larger cases. Frankly, we are surprised to see a 6-pin PEG connector, but there it is -- all 40cm of it.
The inside doesn't look too bad, but several components missing. Where is the PFC stage for example? (Yeah, that's what the red switch is for.) The filtering stage is also under-equipped. This topology is definitely very old and we are surprised to see such an old-timer rear its ugly head these days.
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Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
Yep, otherwise it's just getting too long and I thought actually nobody is too interested in that analyses anyway. Let me work something out for the next ones...Ripple is also coming today, I updated the 1200-1300 roundup already.
Super Nade - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
Good to know! I understand that it is going to take a considerable amount of work at the outset, to do a bit of design analysis, but once you have the popular topologies employed figured out it should be a lot less work.The length of the review is unimportant if it makes an interesting read. (Hypothetical example) Having 10 pages on the fans employed is going to be be boring. Since you have a wide audience with varying degree of technical appetite, the length of the review should not matter if the content is arranged appropriately.
Best wishes,
S-N
floffe - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
When referring to the 8800GT article, it'd be nice to point out that those 327W from the wall was with SLI. A single card didn't get much over 200W, so even the Ultra should be able to run that, however horrible it otherwise is a a PSU.As for the market, I just wish someone would produce a high quality 300W modular PSU. That'd be plenty for my needs.
xsilver - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
Would you be ok if they charged you the same as a 400w PSU? because for the manufacturers, they're not going to the trouble of making another PSU that costs them almost exactly the same to make.(its like asking for a car with only 15hp because thats all u need ;)
jonnyGURU - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
Exactly. The cost difference at that level is rarely more than a $1. So if it costs me $30 to build a 400W, and $29 to build a 350W, etc. why would I bother?Souka - Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - link
maybe because some people "think" a 350w power supply consumes 50w less than a 400w power supply...:)
Hinkdog - Tuesday, July 21, 2020 - link
My 430 watt Antec Earthwatts that I bought in 2008 just failed. 12 years, pretty cool. Guess the 80mm fan didn't hurt its longevity. I know no one is going to read this in 2020 but wanted to post it anyway.