The 500 watt power supply is one of the most popular of todays power supplies. They provide enough for the majority of people who run home computers, even ones with powerful processors and video cards.

In the 500 watt power supply range you will find that not only does the power go up, but quite often the efficiency goes up and the general quality of the power supplies is better. That general build quality that goes into 500 watt power supply units will mean the difference between a 500 watt power supply that does its job for now, or one that will still be doing good in years to come.

Ultra X-Finity 500 Watt Power Supply

Ultra X-Finity 500 watt power supply

Ultra are well known for their competitively priced power supplies and this 500 watt power supply is no exception. It’s not the cheapest in the 500 watt power supply range, but it does give good looks, decent performance and decent price as part of its package.

As well as meeting all the usual requirement like the ATX standard it has other technologies in its favor. It has removable cables which mean that the ones you don’t use on this 500 watt power supply can be removed and kept elsewhere, rather than in the computer.

It comes ready with all the power cables you could need. It also include two cables for PCI Express video cards so you can run an SLI setup with this 500 watt power supply. An SLI setup is just a technology whereby two video cards are connected together and nearly double the processing power of a single card.

Consumer reviews of this 500 watt power supply are good, with most saying how it has plenty of power for their needs and the price is not bad. It is reliable, except that some batches had a bit of a problem with the fan, which has been fixed in later revisions.

Ultra X-Connect 500 watt power supply with UV clear sides

Ultra X-Connect 500 watt power supply

This is another 500 watt power supply from Ultra. It’s a good comparisson before to see where Ultra have gone with their power supplies and how they have made imporvements to an already well-designed system.

This is an older version from Ultra. Their new 500 watt power supply units in the X-Connect range have newer cabling. This model has the original removable cable design. The removable cables on this 500 watt power supply have a round shape which proved to be a little hard to bend, which led to some users not being able to use it on computers where the power supply was too close to the motherboard power plug point.

As this 500 watt power supply is designed for the modding crowd, those who like to add unique cool looking features to their computers, it has UV lighting. Although not helping with the general function it does give cool looks to see the stuff in the power supply and the cables on this 500 watt power supply glow with a UV light.

These older models use 80mm fans, which have been replaced by 120mm ones in the new models, so as to reduce the noise of the power supply. It is also not recommended for use with SLI which the other model is.

Aspire 500 watt Power Supply with Clear top

Aspire 500 watt power supply

The Aspire is one of the cheaper 500 watt power supply units I look at here, so it gives a good idea of how a cheaper power measures up (or doesn’t measure up).

In regard to looks there are some who like things to glow and others who like a more simple design. If you do like things that glow in the dard and can catch peoples attention then you can’t go far wrong with the Aspire 500 watt power supply. The clear top allows you to see all the components inside, most of which react to UV light.

The fans on either end (front and back) of the 500 watt power supply have LED lights inside, so they glow when the power is turned on. The fans themselves are adjustable, but not by a switch but by a knob, that means you can set it manually to even the finest speed setting rather than 2 or 3 preset ones.

It’s voltages are alright and stay within spec. There are no reports of strange goings on with the Aspire 500 watt power supply, but many people are happy with the buy. It does a lot of selling on looks.

Coolmax 500 watt Power Supply

Coolmax 500 watt power supply

The Coolmax 500 watt power supply is the cheapest of the lot here. However, its not as bad as it sounds. Although it is cheap, sometimes you are just paying for something a little more simple, which doesn’t have any fancy little extras which make it easy to price a 500 watt power supply a little higher.

The Coolmax 500 watt power supply holds solid on its power delivery and does so very quietly. Some users have reported it as the quietest they have every used, and although thats subjective its still quiet enough.

It uses a 120mm fan at the top to help keep the air moving and cooling this 500 watt power supply.

The Coolmax 500 watt power supply doesn’t come with too many cables as standard which is a little strange for a power supply in this range. There is only a single floppy cable, 4 DVD, CD, hard disk sized cables and one for SATA. This leaves many out like the ones for new video cards. So even though it does do well for a 500 watt power supply, it doesn’t have those cable options.

Xion 500 Watt Power Supply with 140mm fan

Xion 500 watt power supply

The Xion 500 watt power supply sports the biggest cooling fan I have ever seen on a PSU. The analogy of bigger is better does work quite well with fans. Larger fans can move more air at lower RPMS than smaller fans. Lower speeds allow quieter operation which contibutes to a quiet working environment when you have a computer.

A 500 watt power supply will usually come with some kind of adjustable cooling, but the Xion 500 watt power supply comes with two options. You adjust the fan manually or use the automatic setting which will increase or decrease the fan speed by using a sensor in the power supply.

The fan also has an LED to give it a cool glow. It’s not the cheapest of the 500 watt power supply units, but falls somewhere in the middle of the pack.

One of the great extras with the Xion 500 watt power supply is that it has plenty of cables, there are 10 for peripheral devices, 2 each for SATA, PCI express and floppy drives as well as the usual adaptable 24 pin motherboard cable.

Ultra X-connect 2 550 watt Power Supply

Ultra X-Connect2 500 watt power supply

The Ultra X-Connect2 falls well within the 500 watt power supply range. It has a redesigned cable system that still allows you to leave out the cables you don’t use, but are easier to use than the old kind.

The fan size has been increased from 80mm to 120mm allowing a quieter design with better cooling in this 500 watt power supply. The finish of the box is a reflective surface that gives it good looks and the logo on the top has the same finish.

The Ultra X-Connect2 500 watt power supply delivers smooth power and has as many cables as you could need for your computer. Most of the cables run to a single end but have Y-connectors so that you can double them up for use on more than one device.

Although the looks and the ability to disconnect cables make this a very popular 500 watt power supply, most users also find it runs fine with a lot of things connected to it and provides good performance in most areas.