![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , June 16, 2009
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
In Win Commander 850W Power Supply
Another contestant in the 850 watt computer power supply market moves into position. Does this long respected chassis manufacturer have what is needed to give us an award winning PSU that is a good value? Just passing our test suite is a tall order; attention private!
Overview
The first thing we are going to look at with the In Win Commander 850W is its packaging, accessories, and documentation. While none of these items is a real make or break item for a power supply the packaging quite often contains a lot of information about the product we are purchasing. The inclusion of an owner’s manual that provides actual information about our product is also of great help. Accessories are almost unnecessary with a power supply as the unit is self contained, unless it is modular, but there cases where a manufacturer can include useful accessories to make installation, routing and use more efficient.
M81 Woodland is that you? Wow, haven't seen you in a few years, and certainly never on a power supply. Funny, I still remember my first set of M81 BDU's, but that is neither here nor there as today it is the In Win Commander 850W that is dressed up for the fight of its life. From the packaging we see that the In Win Commander brings to the fight a number of marketing points, a power table (reproduced below), a 3 year warranty, and a user manual (I was worried about that user manual until I saw it advertised on the packaging). Moving on, the Commander does not seem to be packing any SLI, CrossFire, or 80Plus support according to the packaging but a quick check of those sites tells us that the Commander was actually just setting us up for an ambush. The Commander is certified for up to 7900 GTX SLI (that seems low), Climate Savers 1 (it's an original PSH based unit so no surprises there) but no level of CrossFire support (which really isn't a huge deal since the unit most certainly should be able to run most simple CrossFire configurations). Lastly, the Commander comes backed with a short-ish 3 year warranty. As we say every time these shorter warranties crop up, this is simply too short for an enthusiast class product
As we see from the In Win Commander 850W power label the unit features a multiple 12v rail topology with no clearly defined 12v capacity. Since the recent Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W and the CWT PSH-850 (http://www.cwt.com.tw/english/2_product/1_detail.php?ID=1055) base model are both specified as having a total 12v capacity of 62A (or ~88% of the unit’s total possible capacity) we are going to base our testing on this number today. Like the Toughpower XT 850W, the 5v/3.3v combined maximum output for this unit is 180w (as necessary up to the 850W capacity after subtracting the 12v load being used) which will be more than adequate for modern systems logic and RAM needs. Also similar to the Toughpower XT 850W, the Commander 850W comes equipped with four PCI-Express connectors (though all four are modified 8-pin connectors today), seven Molex connectors, and eight SATA connectors for all of your power distribution needs. Unlike with the Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W however, this unit has four 12v rails that are split up such that the PCI-Express cables are paired off with two on each 30A rail (well almost as the OCP is actually set at 35A on these rails so why it is advertised as 30A is not clear). In addition to this, 12v4 also has all the peripheral connectors on it. This general arrangement is certainly far from ideal as this leaves the motherboard all alone on a single 18A rail while the 12v4 can get a bit crowded if you use both PCI-E connectors and a significant number of peripheral connectors.
Once we open the In Win Commander 850W packaging we see an assortment of items including the unit itself, power cord, modular connectors, a pouch for the modular connectors, mounting screws, and manual. The manual is a single sheet of paper folded over a number of times lengthwise. Once we untangle the manual we find some limited information about this unit. Included in the manual are the connector counts for all Commander series units ranging from 650w to 850W, basic electrical specifications (still without the 12v combined capacity), some warranty details, and a wiring diagram. The only problem with the information provided is that for the things it does cover, which are limited to say the least, the provided information is incomplete. The power table doesn't give the 12v combined capacity and the wiring diagram does not indicate which 12v rails feed which connectors. Also of great interest, is the section that states "for further information" visit the website www.in-win.com. The only problem is this site redirects to www.in-win.us (for those people who select North America) and there is no information about this product to be found on the in-win.us site. No; the information for this product is on the www.inwin-style.com website and that is information is anemic at best. This makes the documentation rather incomplete overall and really not of any great use to a user. However, you might be able to use it to camouflage you (or your kids) GI Joe base and that would be more useful than reading it.