Before installing a power supply in my test system, I first connect it to my CoolMax Power Supply Tester. Doing so answers a few questions up front. First, is the power supply functional or defective, and second, I get some useful information about the unit's voltages.



Initial testing with the CoolMax PSU tester shows that all of the voltages are within spec. Next up, installing the power supply in my test system. I will be installing the X3 in my dedicated test computer, which consists of the following hardware.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.5 GHz
Zalman CNPS9500 CPU Cooler
EVGA 680i SLI Motherboard
2x 8800GTX VGA cards in SLI
2 Gb OCZ FLEX PC2-9200 Memory
74 Gb Western Digital Raptor 10k RPM HDD
Lite-On Optical Drive
Mountain Mods Duality Case
3x 120mm Fans
2x 80mm Fans




In the first photo, you can see the X3 installed on top of my 780w ModXStream in the Duality case. The X3 is roughly an inch longer than the ModXStream, so it should not present any issues with clearance in most cases. As you can see, the X3's cable system works great. It was very easy to tuck most of the cables behind the motherboard and route the others out of the way.

I used a digital multimeter to obtain voltage readings. Since most power supplies correct any fluctuation in the current to the rails before our multimeters would even notice, we're unable to monitor every output in real-time simultaneously. To record idle voltages, I let the system sit idle in Windows for 20 minutes. For load voltages, I ran Prime 95 (one instance per core), Winamp, and defragmented the hard drive, all while playing the DIRT demo on max graphics settings. This combination of programs put a nice load on the system. Below are some photos and the results from my testing.



Usage, Findings and Conclusion

Voltage testing on the X3 shows a very stable power supply, with only slight fluctuations on the 12v and 5v rails. The 3.3v rail didn't budge throughout testing.

The X3 1,000w Modular Power Supply has so many great things going for it. Starting with the unit itself, the mirror-like paint job looks fantastic. The 135mm fan is the quietest fan I have heard in a power supply with this much wattage. I was not able to make the fan kick into 'high' gear throughout testing, very impressive. The rear of the unit has a honeycomb-style grill which allows for plenty of airflow.

The modular cable system on this unit is one of the best I have seen. Every cable on this power supply is modular, allowing you to use only the ones you will need. Four 6-Pin PCI-E and two 8-Pin PCI-E cables ensure that your video card needs will be taken care of for a long time to come. There are plenty of 4-Pin Molex and SATA cables as well. The FlexForce system worked great, allowing me to really clean up the cable mess that most other power supplies leave behind.

All of this comes backed with a lifetime warranty. At a price of around $250 USD as of writing, the Ultra Products X3 1,000w is certainly worth every penny of its asking price. This unit has become my new favorite power supply... job well done, Ultra.

OCIA.net has awarded the Ultra Products X3 1,000w Modular Power Supply our seal of approval!



Thanks to Ultra Products for supplying us with this review sample.