Ultra Products: Microfly SFF Case Review :: V-Series 400W PSU

Since there WAS a power supply included with this case, I'd figure it was a good idea to toss it onto the test bench too, to see how well it could handle the stresses of a full scale system, in order to see if it could handle a tightly packed SFF system. And as such, it'll pay to give it the once over, then crack it on open to see what dwells inside.

The first thing to notice about this power supply is that unlike many of Ultra's other units, it features a textured matte black finish, rather than the coloured chrome of many others. This finish dominates the entirety of the unit, from its unbroken back and sides, to the huge (or so it seems) 120mm fan on the top, and hexagonal mesh out the front. On a part of this mesh, the mains plug and power selection switch dominate, flanked by a fading piece of solid metal. To the top of the unit, the fan grille sits recessed overtop of an Ultra Products branded fan, which operates damn silently (to the degree where I had nothing else running in the room and it could not be heard). Around the rear of the unit, a cluster of atrociously short wires exits through a plastic shielded hole, one which thanks to a bit of short sighted design, will collide directly with the back of longer drives.

As to the innards of the supply, they inspire so much more confidence than the thin and ropey wires outside of it do. It really breeds confidence in me to see thick wires handling the lethal current, to see the kill switch properly wired, and to see the plugs on the mains line sheathed, so to avoid that fun little thing called electrocution. From these wires, the current travels to a soft black (similar to MSI's PCBs) PCB, where it is filtered through nice and beefy capacitors, as well as a pair of heatsinks that look a little out of place - what with their dissipation fins set in a direction to catch air flowing through a power supply, not down and into. On the opposite side of these tremendous sinks, a small green bulb sits, glued to nearby coils, which senses the temperature of incoming air, as well as the PSU's internal temperature, then regulates the speed of the fan accordingly, via PWM. As you may notice, the front of the unit is largely unoccupied, as if intending to hold a single 80mm fan, but then again, this seems to be how many PSUs are, as few (except the X Connect 2, and Enermax Liberty, so far as I know), actually have PCBs that sit so far forward in the casing. For this reason, there is a small plastic piece installed on the fan to deflect this airflow, and focus it on the heatsinks below.

V-Series PSU inside

As to what these innards can do, it's worth running off the specs of the power supply, starting first with the connections, and finishing off with what shows up on that sticker. From this PSU, you will find

• 1 20+4 Pin ATX Connector
• 1 4 Pin Auxiliary "P4" Power Connector
• 1 6 Pin PCI Express Power Connector
• 5 Molex Connectors - 4 Full and 1 Mini, on 2 Chains, one featuring the Mini
• 2 Serial ATA Connectors
• 2 Thermally Regulated "Fan" connectors.

Connectors

Max Output Current	+5V	+3.3V	+12V1	-5V	-12V	+5VSB
	30A	18A	20A	0.6A	0.6A	2.A
Max Combined Wattage	160W		240W	3W	7.2W	10W
	380W				20W
	400W

With those fair specs aside, I'd like to close this little section of the tour, and hop onto the next, which outlines the tribulations, trials, and triumphs of getting a system into this wee case.