In Win Commander II 1200W
by Martin Kaffei on June 10, 2011 1:10 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- 1200W
- In-Win
Voltage Regulation
| +3.3V Regulation | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 10% | +2.42% |
| 20% | +2.12% |
| 50% | +0.61% |
| 80% | -0.91% |
| 100% | -1.82% |
| 110% | -1.12% |
| +5V Regulation | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 10% | +1.60% |
| 20% | +1.20% |
| 50% | +-0.00% |
| 80% | -1.00% |
| 100% | -1.40% |
| 110% | -2.00% |
| +12V Regulation (Worst Rail) | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 10% | +1.17% |
| 20% | +0.92% |
| 50% | +0.08% |
| 80% | -0.75% |
| 100% | -1.17% |
| 110% | -1.83% |
The measurements are better than expected. +3.3V starts with a clear overvoltage, but the drop at higher loads is very low. +5V is within ATX specification too. The worst +12V rail performs very well with results very close to the optimal values. Despite the questionable information on the label, it is nice to see that this PSU has no problem with 1200W or even more. The label with 1079W combined power for +3.3V, +5V and +12V was very confusing but now we know 1200W is a reasonable rating for this PSU. Note that we did use a separate 16A power cord for testing.
Ripple and Noise
| +3.3V Ripple Quality | |
| Load | Ripple and Noise |
| 10% | 8mV |
| 20% | 10mV |
| 50% | 15mV |
| 80% | 22mV |
| 100% | 22mV |
| 110% | 25mV |
| +5V Ripple Quality | |
| Load | Ripple and Noise |
| 10% | 9mV |
| 20% | 13mV |
| 50% | 18mV |
| 80% | 24mV |
| 100% | 25mV |
| 110% | 28mV |
| +12V Ripple Quality (Worst Rail) | |
| Load | Ripple and Noise |
| 10% | 26mV |
| 20% | 38mV |
| 50% | 53mV |
| 80% | 73mV |
| 100% | 89mV |
| 110% | 94mV |
A big problem for this PSU are the relatively high ripple and noise results. ATX spec is that ripple should be within 1% on 12V and 5V, and up to 50mV on +3.3V, so 25-28mV is acceptable for the smaller rails. However, "acceptable" isn't the same as "good", and these are not the best results we have seen. Similarly, +12V is very close to 100mV, which is very close to the 120mV limit. That might be within the ATX requirements but we should keep in mind that the Commander II is a high-end PSU for gamers; the other +12V rails show similar values.
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ckryan - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
There is a lot of focus on the 1000w+ category of power supplies, but how big could the market really be? Outside of the tri-and quad SLI/Crossfire market, there just isn't much need for these. I guess I'm glad they're there, but I wish there was more a focus on making higher quality, lower powered units. The good news is that it looks as though some of the newer higher end PSUs will be efficient at all loads -- which is good, since even Seasonic is headed towards more and more powerful units even as system power draw levels are trending down with the advent of Sandy Bridge.MrTeal - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
I agree, I'd much rather see a full review of the be quiet! supplies that we mentioned a few days ago than the continual reviews 800-1200W supplies. I'd love to see a thorough review of a high quality 300W supply.Martin Kaffei - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4069/huntkey-300w-80...And as already mentioned in the text we had some smaller PSUs before.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4343/antec-hcg-520-g...
ckryan - Saturday, June 11, 2011 - link
Martin,I hope you review every PSU you can possibly get your hands on. I don't have a problem with 1000w+ PSUs, and if I needed one, I'd buy two. If a PSU could be just as efficient at 4% or 5% loads as at 20% or 50% loads, I'd be using a kW unit too. At least this unit gets >80% at 10% loads. I'm guessing it's the most profitable slice of the PSU pie, a brand prestige product as well. Undoubtedly, more attention to quality is usually given to these big units.
I've already have lamented in the past that my last PSU purchase was for a 650w unit -- a good all around unit but still way overpowered. At least when my computer idles at 56w (at the wall), my PSU is still pretty efficient. The huntkey jumper still isn't here in America, and the closest competitor is the FSP Aurum 400w, which is either really popular or hard to find since it's been out of stock at the Egg for quite some time. So I know some people want to see more 300w - 500w quality units -- at least some manufacturers have decided to go in that direction too -- now, they just need to get them to North America and to AnandTech's fortress of PSU reviews.
A5 - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
They can only review what PSU makers send them, and these are the units they get sent since they make the PSU makers the most money.esSJae - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
Maybe 5 1000W+ reviews in the last year is a lot of focus?I thought this was supposed to be an enthusiast's site?
brucek2 - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
Thanks for an excellent review. Specifically, I love that:1) you provided details on what is inside the box and the quality/impact of each component
2) the review is clearly aimed directly at the readers (hardware enthusiasts), vs. trying to strike some sort of diplomatic balance between readers and marketers (note the absence of marketing fluff and willingness to call the product out on its weaknesses).
3) the conclusion provides a comparison to other options in the market with specific strengths/weaknesses of each called out.
I'm getting so spoiled here that I'm finding it increasingly hard to read "reviews" in the mainstream press. For instance, I just read a few reviews of A/V components that didn't even bother to tell you what chips were on the board. Maybe there's an opening for AnandTech to expand into?
amf66 - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
I really enjoyed reading this review. It did a good job of explaining the weaknesses of the connector choices and I doubt many others would have noticed the 10A power cable for a PSU that pull more than this. I always like seeing the internals of power supplies and having the components explained and this did a great job at that. The only small problem is the typo in the first paragraph of the last page. Other than that it was great.Martin Kaffei - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
Thanks for the correction, "definetly " helpful.krumme - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
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