Intro

You have to respect a company that doesn't rest on its laurels. Ultra Products is having great success with their X-Connect modular power supply, it seems to be a great hit with modder's as well as performance junkie's. However, Ultra still sought for ways to improve their flagship product. Ergo, the X-Connect UV power supply. The original X-Connect is mighty purdy and performs exceptionally well, but users had some suggestions to improve it. Ultra has incorporated a couple of those improvements in this version; namely the UV windows and the expanded cable color. I would also imagine that some of the internals would have matured since my first X-Connect review, we'll see if that is the case.

Package

It may seem that I have quite a few pictures of Ultra's box, but I get a real kick out of it. The box reads like a user manual, you can tell that Ultra gave a little extra budget to the marketing folks so it is noticed while sitting on a store shelf. When I received the package the box was sealed in plastic, and the top was sealed with a gold sticker. There is even gold embossed text on some parts of the box.

Opening up the box the first thing we encounter is ...another ornately printed box. This is the one that houses the X-Connect cables. It was packed in there pretty tight so Ultra thoughtfully placed two finger hole punch outs on the top.

Along with the X-Connect cables, there was the obligatory power supply cord, 5 mounting screws (in case you drop one), and a well written user manual. This is a big improvement over the stapled together sheets of instructions I received with my previous version of this PSU. The cables are extremely well constructed and contain a metal braid under a thick layer of UV reactive tubing. The ends are very secure and I even tugged on the end of a Molex cable to see if it would give at all, it didn't. All of the Molex and the ATX power cables have a Silver Ultra logo imbedded into the end.

The cables that you receive with this power supply are as follows:

1 - 17.75 inch ATX Power Cable (actual 22.75 inches)
1 - 17.75 inch 4 Pin 12V Power Cable (actual 21.25 inches)
1 - 17.75 inch 6 Pin Aux (Xeon) Power Cable (actual 21.50 inches)
1 - 17.75 inch 4 Pin Single End Molex Cable (actual 21.25 inches)
1 - 21.75 inch 4 Pin Single End Molex Cable (actual 25 inches)
2 - 17.75 inch 4 Pin Dual End Molex Cable (actual 21.25 inches for 1st end, 28.5 inches for 2nd end)
1 - 17.75 inch 4 Pin Dual End Molex Cable with Floppy Connector (actual 21.25 inches for 1st end, 28.5 inches for 2nd end, 39 inches for floppy)
1 - 6 inch dual Molex to SATA adapter (actual 9.5 inches each)

As you can tell, Ultra Products is a bit conservative when they list the length of the cable. The method they used was to measure the tubing only without the ends, and even then they are still a little under. Yes, Ultra now includes a SATA adapter cable with the PSU. During my previous review of the X-Connect, the lack of a SATA adapter was one of my major gripes. Ultra has listened to their customers though, and now offer a SATA adapter for free if you purchased a X-Connect PSU that didn't include one. All you have to do is go to http://sata.ultraproduct.com and fill out the request form. Major kudos' to Ultra for doing this. I've heard complaints from some people stating that the cables were too stiff to bend easily, but the only cable in the unit I received that was stiff was the ATX power cable. The rest are very pliable. Another thing that I like about the Molex cables is the method they used to connect the additional ends. They are connected away from the end of the first Molex so that it lies flat back against the cable. This makes it easy to tidy up cabling if you don't need the second Molex on a cable. If there was a single flaw I would point out, it is the fact that the power cables have clips to hold them securely into the PSU but the Molex cables don't.

Finally, we get to the PSU itself. Underneath the box of cables lies the PSU safely nestled in a bed of plastic foam. The PSU is further protected by another plastic cover.