IN-WIN Commander 850W Power Supply

Introduction 

     After seeing IN-WIN's new product line in the Matrix mATX tower, I was interested to see more.  Fortunately, my new friends in Taiwan had a spare Commander 850W Power Supply to send my way.  From my old experiences with IN-WIN products, and then the recent view of the quality they are still using, I was very excited!  here is some information on IN-WIN:

Packaging

The new Commander line is packed in a camouflage box, resembling an ammo box from the Vietnam through Gulf War 1 eras.  The front shows the size and general specs, plus the Commander logo.  The sides show the UPC, EAN, Serial, and product codes on one; and some mid-level specs on the other.  The IN-WIN logo is stamped into the top and bottom sides.  

The back of the box displays much more in-depth specifications.  Reading into this you will find out quite a few things.  Here are the highlights:

• Supports SLI, Quad SLI, and Crossfire (Though it isn't listed on the ATI website, and on Nvidia, it is only listed for Dual 7900GTX's, I personally feel that the certification standards are set a bit high.)
• Efficiency up to 88%
• Modular cabling with 4x12V rails
• 140mm double bearing fan with smart speed controls
• Many automatic corrections

The Opening

     Upon opening the box, I was greeted by many layers of items.  First I came upon the owner's manual, set in the same camo design as the box.  Next was a black velcro bag for storing the spare modular cables.  Under that was a white, soft drawstring bag.  I can only assume that this is for storing the unit when it is not in a machine.  Packed in the sides I found a box with the cord (14 gauge!), mounting screws, and a few zip ties for cable management.  All of the cables were in a plastic bag stuck in another side.  The powers supply itself was wrapped in a very thin bubble wrap.  I was a little disappointed in how thin that protection was.  The redeaming factor was all of these items were packed like a glove, preventing any movement in shipping. 

The Unit

      Here are the top and bottom views of the unit.  You can see the texturing in the paint, completing the ammo box / tank feel to it.  This unit also has some weight to it compared to some of similar wattage I have felt, typically a good sign.  In the top you see the label further spouting the specs of the rails, safety certifications, and general warnings.  On the bottom you can see the large 140mm fan, and note the serial number label across one of the screws.

      The side view shows the stamped wattage, Commander logo, and specification logos.  On the back you can see the main 20+4 cable coming out, plus the spaces for the modular cables.  Each section and rail is/are clearly labeled.  Each plug is then color coded to match the cables, eliminating the need for the owner's manual entirely (though well printed it is).  Each plug also has a snugly fitting cap, showing the attention to detail that IN-WIN provided in this line of products.  These help keep out dust, and any possible conduit for a short circuit.

***Tech Arkade does not recommend opening your power supply!!  It is very dangerous and voids your waranty!! Note the serial number label across the last screw, they will know!!  Consider yourself warned!!***

     With the cover off, you can see the large size and quality of the parts used.  The components used to make this power supply easily rival that of some much more expensive, and some larger wattage, units on the market currently.

***Tech Arkade does not recommend opening your power supply!!  It is very dangerous and voids your waranty!! Note the serial number label across the last screw, they will know!!  Consider yourself warned!!***

 Installation

I did not take photos of the entire install, just the final view.  For those of you who don't know, the process is:

1. Put in four mounting screws
2. Route cables
3. Plug in cables

     Cable management is the number two concern with a power supply, following quality of the voltage rails.  This being a modular cabling supply, that process got a lot easier (and this is a hard case to do it in).  The choices of cables made it easy to limit the number of cables in the tower, and easily get everything the juice it needs.  The SATA cables are a full 36 inches, stretching to the opposite end of the majority of full towers with ease.  The inclusion of a few short cables would be nice for those in smaller towers, or just for that extra drive next to the unit, without having to hide the rest of the cable.  The 20+4 and the motherboard 12V cables were a good length, getting to my board with a bit of room to spare, but not an excessive amount.  All of the cables are sheathed in black mesh, helping to improve the cable management, airflow, and appearance. 

     The logos on the side of the unit are designed to face outward, showing everyone what you have through you window kit.  I think the textured paint and "ammo box" stamping looks great.  Though a concern to some, I was pleased that this unit does not include LED's.  They would have been overkill, and would not have fit in with the theme of the power supply. 

 Performance

     To test this power supply, I started my system fresh, closed anything unnecessary, and let it sit for half an hour.  At this point I considered it "idle" and took my first set of voltage reads across each of the rails.   Next I needed to load the system.  For this I ran Prime95 on all four cores, played a DVD (Boondock Saints, if you care), and left Folding@Home running on both the CPU and GPU to eat any additional resources.  With my system loaded out, I went back to each of the rails and tested them again. 

     As you can see, the biggest drop was .04V!  Most of the rails were either perfect, or dropped .01V under load.  I consider this to be well within limits of a stable system.  What this means to those who don't like specific numbers, the Commander puts out good stable power, even when you max your computer's resources. 

     The noise level is kind of arbitrary without a decibel meter, which I am too poor to get.  That being said, I spent some time sitting next to my OCZ StealthXstream 600W and this Commander, both at idle and under load.  It is interesting the difference 20mm of fan can make.  When idle and under moderate use, the Commander was significantly quieter, even being a much larger supply.  At full load the Commander does spin faster and eventually puts of more noise than the StealthXstream.  It also pushes a lot more air however, which can have benefits across your entire system.  Some reviews will tell you of the temperatures of the air coming out of the power supply.  I didn't do that because each system produces different temps inside the tower, resulting in different temps out of the power supply. 

 Conclusion

      IN-WIN has really spent time on the details with this product.  The theme matches across all of the components.  Care was taken in packaging, and storage was provided for both the unit and the spare cables.  The internals are large, quality parts.  Each of the rails provided stable power with a minimal voltage drop on only a few of the rails during testing.  The modular cable selection is good, with nice long cables to reach inside large towers.  It would have been nice to have a few short (6" to 1') SATA cables for items placed close to the power supply.   I did find it interesting that the box lists support for, SLI, Quad SLI, and Crossfire, but it is not listed on ATI's website, and only listed for a lower dual setup on Nvidia's site.  After my testing I would not hesitate to use a dual GPU setup with most of the cards on the market.  In between the quality parts used, the automatic protections provided, and the 3 year warranty, I have full confidence in this product. 

Found At: www.inwin-style.com MSRP $249.99  

Pros:

• Unique Styling
• Good Testing Results
• MTBF > 120,000 Hours
• Protections: Over Current, Over Voltage, Over Power,Under Voltage and Short Circuit Protections
• 3 Year Warranty

Cons:

• Lack of Shorter Cables
• Fan a Little Noisy at Full Load
• A Little Pricey

Considering the benefits overwhelming the negatives, but still the presence of negatives, I give the IN-WIN Commander 850W Power Supply:

9  / 10

And the Golden Ghost Award