Topic: [Frontpage News]July Contest

[Luvlyan]

Thanks guys, I will use it well

[Luvlyan]

Yay! I just received the power supply today! My sister took the digital camera for her trip to Toronto, so I won't be able to take some pictures for quite some time. But no fear, I will describe how the prize is for the moment and update with pics whenever I get the digital camera back !   

So, basically, it came in a sort of cardboard of 10"x8"x8" dimensions. Some of the corners of the package are fairly beaten up thanks to Canada Post.  Shipping was through "Expedited Parcel" and it took 7 days to go from Alberta to Quebec.

Now onto the contents. Inside there was these two cardboard hollow blocks that protected the power supply. Pulling out the package of the power supply revealed a very nice green graphics (like here) with pics of a black power supply everywhere. The package was still in its orginal plastic wrap! Goodie!

The power supply was identified as the X-Pro 600W! I thought the prize was actually a X3 600W. Ultra must have sent the wrong one to Zeus or he got mixed up during shipping.  The modular version of the X3 would have been very helpful for a tight mATX case like mine, but this is better than nothing. A bit dissapointed but no biggie really.

The power supply itself, once out of the package, the plastic and the styrophoam, looks remarkably beautiful with its shiny coating. It is much better than conventionnal, OEM-style power supplies. Cables are nicely meshed and sleeved. The power supply came with a neat manual, a power cable and some screws.

I did the trick of turning on the power supply without a PC and the unit is very quiet. Very nice product! Thanks for the prize Zeus and BCCHardware and Ultra. Hopefully I will have some time soon to install it into my case. 

[Zeus]

Sorry about the mix-up between the X-Pro and the X3.  They said they were going to send the X3, and I honest never even checked when the PSU arrived.  Because I didn't get to keep it, I never opened it or gave it much attention.  I just dropped it in another box and sent it off to the lucky winner!  Sorry it's not modular, but at least it's free I guess. . .

Once again, sorry for the mix-up, but I hope you still will enjoy it!

[Luvlyan]

Yesh, I noticed that you stuck your own shipping label on top of the original one from Ultra. It's okay, I don't blame you. Ultra is most likely new to this whole contest and giveaway business so a mixup on their part is oky-doke. It's free afterall. Hopefully they are aware of this and won't make the same mistake again

I'll be installing the power supply tommorow morning into my case. I'll report back. Wish me good luck!

[Luvlyan]

Sorry for the late reply, but the power supply was giving me some trouble. I finally got it into my tight case and here's a sexy picture for ya'll



Everything seemed to be fine, like the power supply would power up my system. But something odd happened. Welcome screen of Windows started getting ripples near the edges and poof! the computer turned off. It happened a few times and I hope I didn't break anything. I have no idea what happened, but I checked all the cables and it seems to be fine. My motherboard is a S939 socket one, the AMD one. Weird thing though is that I swapped the power supply back to my original one and it works like a charm. Either the power supply is incompatible with my system or it's unstable Any ideas?

[Zeus]

Sounds like it's not grounded properly. . . Do you have a multimeter to test the ground on your chassis?  Also it might be a good idea to check each of the wires coming out of the main 24-pin connector to see if they are over/under volted.

Keep me posted and I'll see what Ultra can do about it.  Anybody have any other ideas?

[Luvlyan]

Alright, I'll see if I can a multimeter to test the power supply out. How do I check if it is properly grounded?

[Zeus]

You can test the ground by holding one lead of a multimeter against the back of your case (with the PSU installed and switched on) and the other lead against the center screw of your receptacle.

The screw of the receptacle should be grounded, and if there current (voltage) measured between the bare metal on your case and the receptacle, it's not grounded.  You don't have to have your PC running, just plugged in and the PSU switched on.  If that yields no results, turn on your PC and enter the BIOS screen and repeat the test.

If that still doesn't give you any information or voltage, you can check the rails on your PSU to see what voltage they are.  In fact, I'd do that before I stuck it back in the box.  Jump start your PSU like you did earlier to hear how loud it was, and they test all of the colored wires in the 24-pin connector.  The black ones should be ground, so hold the black multimeter lead there, and then test the color wires.  They should be 12v, 5v, 3.3v and -12v.  You can also test your molex and PCIe leads as well.  Red = 5v, and Yellow = 12v with Black = Ground.

[Luvlyan]

Alright, I'll check that out soon. At the moment though, I'm busy with school so I'll do it in some time. If not I'll just test it on another pc...

[Luvlyan]

I sent an email to technical support at Ultra Products and they recommended me to return the power supply to them. They mentionned that I will need a copy of the invoice if I am to receive an RMA. I might do this, but I'll try and test this power supply on another PC first. Could you guys forward me the invoice just in case?

[Zeus]

Check your PM

[slugbug]

Sorry to hear about your problems Luvlyan. I hope you get it all sorted out soon.
I'm guessing that your PC works fine with your old power supply right?

[Luvlyan]

Sorry to hear about your problems Luvlyan. I hope you get it all sorted out soon.
I'm guessing that your PC works fine with your old power supply right?

Yup, I am using the stock power supply that came with my computer. It's a Bestec 300W.
I'm glad that the Ultra power supply did not destroy anything.

[werty316]

Do bad about your issue Luvlyan but the receipt needed to RMA your PSU is BS in my view. I know its a requirement that Ultra insists on but how can you provide an invoice if you won it in a contest? Maybe Zeus can email his Ultra contact and try to work something out.

[Luvlyan]

Do bad about your issue Luvlyan but the receipt needed to RMA your PSU is BS in my view. I know its a requirement that Ultra insists on but how can you provide an invoice if you won it in a contest? Maybe Zeus can email his Ultra contact and try to work something out.

Yeah, the invoice is a strange requirement, especially for contests, but I think it's just a mixup between the technical department and the marketing team. Actually, Zeus is working something out with Ultra Products and he is making some progress.