Ultra-V series 500W PSU review

[law.of.averages]

Ok, don't let the wife see this, or I'm mashed potatoes.

Last week, Circuit-City had a deal for an Ultra-V series 500W PSU for $9.99 after rebate. Since the wife's machine has been occasionally restarting itself, I figured this would be a good time to replace the power supply, in my latest attempt to cure this problem.

Well to keep the review simple, the power supply just plain sucks.

Almost all across the board, the power raitings were worse than the cheap one that came with her case (both are rated at 500W)...

More importantly, from my point of view... the PSU doesn't have a strain relief. (That's the black plastic 'lug' where the wires enter the PSU case) ... Instead there's a big gaping hole with a cheap rubber ring to smooth the sharp edges. This means any strain on the wires is carried right to the solder joints on the PSU circuit board. I didn't look for the sticker, but I believe this means the PSU can't be U/L approved. (feel free to correct me if you're up to date on U/L rules)

*IF* this PSU solves the restart problem, i'll be satisfied with it as a short-term replacement. Otheriwse, I've wasted my $9.99

[nonstop]

I had all kinds of reservations about that one but thanks for being my test case. : )