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- 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!
Build Quality
The In Win Commander 850W features a single 140mm fan design. 140mm fans are in the same vein as 120mm fans in that they can provide for quiet cooling environments due to the ability to move a larger volume of air at slower speeds than a smaller diameter fan. The 140mm fan is the almost the largest diameter fan we are likely to see in ATX power supplies given the physical constraints of the form factor. While great for quiet computing environments, the key criteria in our evaluation is whether or not the cooling solution is sufficient; not necessarily its sound level or form factor.
External Build Quality
Love it or hate it, the In Win Commander 850W has taken the military paint scheme and motif to heart more so than any other unit we have seen to date. The olive drab and yellow are truly striking and would look stunning in a build with a military motif. However, any other system build with a window is going to leave this unit looking more out of place than the Thermaltake Toughpower's which previously have taken this particular slant but to a lesser degree. Overall, the motif is very tight and well executed so I really can't fault the unit in this department as it does an excellent job. The only other thing that stands out here is that In Win has applied a label on the front of the unit which designates which 12v rail feeds which of the modular connectors, which is very helpful and appreciated. However, the fixed connectors still aren't labeled so that is a bit of a letdown.
The Commander 850W comes in at a length of 6 1/4 inches while the cables provide a serviceable length of ~17 inches to the first (or only) connector and are sheathed in black mesh (though not completely into the housing).
Internal Build Quality
Once we open the In Win Commander 850W we find ourselves looking at yet another CWT PSH power supply. The In Win Commander 850W is almost identical to the Xigmatek NRP-MC851 and differs very little from that unit or the reference PSH-850. As such, the majority of the particulars of this unit have been covered before (more than once), but in general we see that the Commander 850W maintains the same layout and design (independently regulated) that is standard for CWT PSH units. The fan that resides in the housing is once more a 140mm Yate Loon fan rated at 0.70A at 12v.
As we move on to the primary side we see the typical CWT PSH primary design yet again. The APFC circuitry is housed on the card next to the primary capacitor while the APFC coil is situated behind the primary filtering capacitor. In this particular build the primary filtering capacitor is the same Matsushita rated at 470uF 400v 85c that we saw in the Xigmatek NRP-MC851 and Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W. Matsushita is a very good brand so really there wasn't much of an improvement that could have been made in this regard.
The sense of déjà vu that this unit instills continues on the secondary side as we see the standard CWT PSH design once more. There is an add-in PCB that houses the fan controller, OCP, OVP, and other protection circuitry taking up much of the frame. Just beyond that there are the three coils that indicate the unit is independently regulated. Along with these coils we see that the wiring is all bound with zip ties and the wiring that exits the housing does go through a thin wire guard as is normal for the base model this unit is derived from. We can also see here again that the sleeving does not extend into the housing for the fixed cables. Also following along in standard CWT PSH fashion, the wiring that is routed to the modular interface PCB is also well cared for and the modular interface is very cleanly constructed. The capacitor selection for this unit’s secondary are the same Nippon Chemi-con selection that we have come to expect from the more expensive CWT PSH based units.
Build Quality Summary
Overall the In Win Commander 850W represents yet another CWT PSH unit dressed up like a military ammo can. The exterior of the unit takes the military motif that goes a few steps beyond the Thermaltake Toughpower units we have seen previously. The overall motif is very well executed though and will fit perfectly if a user is going with a military theme. Moving on, the interior is once more identical to any number of PSH-850 units on the market and there is nothing new to note on this unit today as it reproduces the component selection from the NRP-MC851 to the letter. With that out of the way, let's now move on and see how this particular PSH-850 based unit performs since the last few have been rocky to say the least.