Ultra shows off carbon fibre case

Author: Wil Harris
Published: 9th January 2007
Comments (28) Stumble
The finish on the CF case is very nice indeed.

The finish on the CF case is very nice indeed.

We headed down to Ultra today to see what the company, best known for being the first to market with modular PSUs, had to offer.

There was a cool amount of new kit, the most impressive of which is undoubtedly the new carbon fibre based case. This is an aluminium frame with side and top plates made out of real carbon fibre, and it really looks the business.

As part of this case, Ultra is again delivering something new on the PSU front. Are you fed up of having to route cables from your PSU across your case, down to your hard drives and VGA cards? This case incorporates a PCB - you can plug the connects into the top of the PCB, right next to the PSU, and these lines run down the case and you only have to run a small cable between the PCB and your VGA card. This is a pretty sweet cable management solution, and we look forward to seeing exactly how it works.

Also on show was a 2kW PSU - yes, you read that right. It's pretty huge, almost the size of two PSUs bolted together, and it has a 80mm fan and a 130mm fan. This is going to be the PSU to have to run Quad FX with GeForce 8800 SLI, we suspect - bonkers.

Slightly more practically, Ultra also had the world's smallest 1kW PSU on show - it's basically the size of an average PSU, and it's modular. A pretty sweet deal.

We can't wait to really get testing some of this stuff, as it seems Ultra keeps on innovating in the power space. Let us know your thoughts on the pics over in the forums.


The Ultra carbon fibre case.


PSU routing PCB.


2kw PSU.
Quote ArsoN 9th January 2007, 03:25
Is the case just to show off the PSU? Or will you be able to buy one?

As for the PSU, 2KW is completely insane.
Quote Tyinsar 9th January 2007, 03:52
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArsoN
...As for the PSU, 2KW is completely insane.
Seconded (thirded I guess because the article said it was "bonkers") Personally I'm stopping at 500W (my current highest is 450W) - Any more than that and the power costs get ridiculous.
Quote ArsoN 9th January 2007, 04:01
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyinsar
Seconded (thirded I guess because the article said it was "bonkers") Personally I'm stopping at 500W (my current highest is 450W) - Any more than that and the power costs get ridiculous.

Well I had to upgarde from 400 to 500W when I ran SLI. I can imagine maybe 600W for SLI 8800s, but 2KW is just rediculous.
Quote Tyinsar 9th January 2007, 04:05
Well, it looks like OCZ is going for 2KW too (link)
Quote Woodstock 9th January 2007, 05:20
Who the hell honsetly would need a 1kw psu let alone a 2kw - its just become a mines bigger then yours situation. But the case is nice with some good ideas in it, but i hate to think what the cost of this would be
Quote Glengarry 9th January 2007, 05:23
Case looks good ! But if it was real carbon fibre and not just sheeting it would cost an absolute fortune !!!

2Kw PSU is just daft :(
Quote Drexial 9th January 2007, 05:35
im actually in the works on a kevlar case. probably next summer. also need to find a friend that will let me use their garage. dont want vinyl-ester fumes confined to my apartment...
Quote JADS 9th January 2007, 07:07
Remember a power supply only uses as much power as being drawn from it :) A bigger power supply may in fact draw less power as you're very likely not running it anywhere near its stated maximum output and thus it will be converting power more efficiently.
Quote Snafu-X- 9th January 2007, 07:12
I imagine the price on the CF case will be fairly high. CF is is short supply currently, and bicycle manufacturers who use WAY more than a case will, are having trouble gettting some of it. Aircraft manufacturers tend to grab up most of it, and cf bikes have skyrocketed because of it. Yeah, it will look cool, but in my mind, it's just not worth it when you look at the cost.
Quote willowthewhite 9th January 2007, 07:40
2 kw psu.. why? ... maybe Nvidia are planning to release a dx10 version of there 7950 gx2
two of those would draw some power.
Quote modster 9th January 2007, 07:49
2kw for peltiers maybe
Quote Mankz. 9th January 2007, 10:24
i have about 580w, and thats more than most people will ever need.

1k or mabey 800W is over the top, but 2K ??

talk about Excess.
Quote Duste 9th January 2007, 11:05
As I said in the other thread about this new 2KW Power Supply...

g0t overkill?
Quote [USRF]Obiwan 9th January 2007, 11:09
Quote:
Originally Posted by JADS
Remember a power supply only uses as much power as being drawn from it :) A bigger power supply may in fact draw less power as you're very likely not running it anywhere near its stated maximum output and thus it will be converting power more efficiently.

Maybe true, but dont forget that it needs operating power also. A smaller PSU needs less operating power the a 2kw PSU.A 1 cillinder engine runs stationary and a 8cillinder runs stationary. guess who needs more fuel to run stationary.
Quote DougEdey 9th January 2007, 11:10
we were discussing PSUs here randomly and reckoned that if you have a server room and each row has one big PSU on it converting to DC then you could probably save a lot of money.
Quote JADS 9th January 2007, 11:56
Quote:
Originally Posted by [USRF]Obiwan
Maybe true, but dont forget that it needs operating power also. A smaller PSU needs less operating power the a 2kw PSU.A 1 cillinder engine runs stationary and a 8cillinder runs stationary. guess who needs more fuel to run stationary.

It'd be an interesting test to see whether efficiency savings made up for the higher operating power. Maybe Bit-Tech could investigate?
Quote tm36usa 9th January 2007, 12:19
What I find that sucks is the PSU PCB thingy was toatly stolen from captin slugs project. As for the case it looks ok, but all ultra products suck (esp their power supplies)
Quote ArsoN 9th January 2007, 16:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by DougEdey
we were discussing PSUs here randomly and reckoned that if you have a server room and each row has one big PSU on it converting to DC then you could probably save a lot of money.

However, if your PSU fizzles, you lose usage of an entire row of servers, instead of just one.
Quote DougEdey 9th January 2007, 17:01
True, but you're provided they are built correctly they won't have a high enough failure rate for it to be significant.
Quote Mister_Tad 9th January 2007, 17:15
Feel free to put it in the theoretical hardware thread in the HW forum, where I can explain why it won't work ;)
Quote AngelOfRage 9th January 2007, 17:39
The carbon case looks pretty flash, i'm guessing it will be pretty darn expensive, but i also expect to see the idea ripped off for cheaper cases and the look being seen in some case mods to be seen in the future.

Any better pictures of it around? :D
Quote duc 9th January 2007, 19:38
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1205/ultra4wd3.jpg

I wonder if that would be made available separately, looks like a nice idea.
Quote Dustin 10th January 2007, 13:42
You guys noticed that mirror black plexi on the bottom?
Looks ****in bussiness
Quote SteveyG 10th January 2007, 14:29
A switch-mode PSU running nearer to it's maximum output does indeed run more efficiently than a PSU which is very lightly loaded. The difference in efficiency between 50 and 90% load is usually only about 5-10%. At about 90% load the efficiency tends to drop off and below about 30% load, the efficiency is falls significantly.
Quote Da Dego 10th January 2007, 17:02
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dustin
You guys noticed that mirror black plexi on the bottom?
Looks ****in bussiness
That's actually not mirror plexi - that's more CF. :) I love the look of this case, and we'll be one of the first getting a review of it. So we'll keep you informed!

The efficiency of the 2k is much like standard efficiency on a PSU. Low 70s at between 20-50% load, which is the most relevant figure (particularly for this size of monstrosity). What was more useful knowledge to me was that the Ultra XConnect 600W has been submitted for 80+ testing - the latest revision of the unit will be the first modular PSU to join that hallowed club.

For reference, the 80+ club means that a PSU must behave at at LEAST 80% efficiency at ALL load levels - very few actual PSUs reach that level. We'll look forward to the official certification, but preliminary numbers put the newest 600W at almost 90% at 75% load. That is AWESOME.
Quote R_H 12th January 2007, 00:50
Quote:
Originally Posted by duc
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1205/ultra4wd3.jpg

I wonder if that would be made available separately, looks like a nice idea.

Captain Slug's project has had that for awhile now.
Quote Cthippo 12th January 2007, 02:19
I dunno, I think carbon fiber must be an aquired taste. Doesn't turn my crank, but the power header PCB is nice, if stolen.
Quote Captain Slug 13th January 2007, 04:50
Quote:
HAHAHA! I just noticed the included gigantic crack in the plastic panel.
And yes I have been trying to develop that kind of power distribution device for close to 2 years now. More details in my project log: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=92646
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