Date:
Tuesday , June 16, 2009
Category:
PSU / Power Supplies
Manufacturers:
In Win
Author:
Paul Johnson
Editor:
Kyle Bennett

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!

Introduction

In Win Development Inc. is one of the larger chassis manufacturers and like some of those other manufacturers they also happen to maintain their own branded line of power supplies. What sets In Win apart a bit from these other chassis manufactures that marker power supplies is that they predate many of the current big name chassis manufacturers in the DIY market as they were founded in 1985. (The original BlowHole case built by HardOCP happened to be an In Win chassis.) In Win then began to develop its own power supplies in 2000. As such, In Win has over the years produced its own power supplies as well as at times rebranded other companies’ units. This second method of production happens to be the case we are looking at today as the In Win Commander series is produced with Channel Well Technology. So, for our introductory look at an In Win branded power supply we will be looking at the In Win Commander 850W (IRP-COM850).

Channel Well Technology (CWT) was founded and began manufacturing power supplies in 1993. Since 1993 Channel Well Technology products have shown up under various guises including Antec, Xclio, 2theMax, CWT, Thermaltake, Xigmatek, In Win, and Corsair. While most familiar to our US users from when they used to provide OEM services for Antec, CWT is one of the more complete OEM manufacturers as they have a fairly high level of vertical integration providing transformers all the way up to their well designed independently regulated SMPS. Recently however, CWT has begun stretching out and is providing OEM services for a number of brands as today’s unit demonstrates.

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Hawk or Cobra Commander?

The In Win Commander 850W is certainly not the first 850W PSH based unit to come through testing and to date no PSH-850 based unit has been particularly outstanding besides the Corsair TX850W (which gains a lot of that ground based on time frame and cost). So, can the In Win Commander 850W route the enemies that have been laying siege to the CWT PSH-850 platform? Or will the In Win Commander 850W go out in a blaze of glory trying? Either way, we shall see the firepower the Commander brings to the table momentarily. First, let’s do a little bit of reconnaissance on today's recruit so we know what kind of leader we are supposed to be getting in this change of command.

All other power supply need step aside as the Commander series from In Win rolls in full force ready for battle. High end users will enjoy the Modularized Cable Management System which makes customizing simple and easy. The Commander Series offers a number of features, from Patented 4-Pin Molex Connectors to its Japanese Industrial Grade Components. Offering only the best in specifications, In Win offers users the option of choosing their wattage needs: 650, 750, 850.

And now we know what kind of leader we are supposed to be getting, and knowing is half the battle. The marketing information for the In Win Commander 850W indicates that In Win is going to be laying the military motif on a bit thick today, but that is ok. We will just have to put this unit through basic training and see if it comes out a real soldier, or if it goes all Leonard Lawrence on us. So let's move on to see what we have to look forward to when we purchase the In Win Commander 850W in terms of documentation, accessories, cable count, rail layout, output characteristics, and general build quality.