In Win Glacier 900 Watt PSU Test Drive

Posted by Gilgamesh on February 7th, 2012

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Looking to expand their power supply offerings beyond the popular 80+ Bronze certified commander series, In Win has released their new Glacier 900 Watt 80+ Gold certified unit. With the pending development and release of a new 80+ Platinum certification power supplies just around the corner, In Win seems content for now to offer an 80+ Gold certified PSU and not rush to market with 80+ Platinum units. Even with today’s most demanding gaming and work station computers, an 80+ Gold rated power supply at the 900 watts the Glacier provides is more than adequate to meet the power needs required. Follow along as we take a quick test drive of the In Win Glacier 900 Watt PSU and see what it is made of!

About In Win

As an innovator and multiple red dot design winner, In-Win is committed to the PC gaming and PC enthusiast scene. In Win continues to provide PC gaming chassis’ and high performance power supplies to meet the needs of the most demanding user.

Headquartered in Taoyuan, Taiwan, In Win also has locations in the USA, Russia and is represented within the EMEA countries.

In Win has become a leading, top-notch manufacturer of core technology in order to meet market and consumer needs and demands. Our company’s management team has laid a strong foundation in terms of eight major elements: Innovation, Service, Speed, Value, Safety, Warmth, Faithfulness, and Diligence. These elements help In Win to remain a leader in the business realm and also help differentiate us from our competition.

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Given the “Glacier” name applied to this power supply, it’s no surprise the box color is a cool blue with a big snow flake printed on the upper left corner. The In Win Glacier 900 Watt PSU comes wrapped in thick cellophane, reassuring the end user that the product is new and factory sealed. The front of the box has three images proclaiming the 80+ Gold certification, the Nvidia SLI Ready and the 7 year warranty. Yes, you read correctly, a 7 year warranty which is an industry leading warranty period. The box sides give the specifications and features of the Glacier 900 Watt PSU and a graph showing the efficiency and noise levels. On the back of the box there are a multitude of images showing the included cable leads and a few of the internal components.

Once the box is opened you are greeted with the main power unit securely nestled between two heavy foam blocks and the users manual sitting on top. The PSU is wrapped in a plastic bag to even further protect it from blemishes during transit. To the right side is the accessory box which included all the included modular cable leads, the power cord and a bag with black mounting screws and a couple wire ties. See the features and specifications below for a more detailed list of the included modular cables included.

Features

Modularized Cable Management
80+ Gold Certified Delivering 90% Efficiency at 50% Load
Dual Primary Japanese Solid Capacitors
Single +12v Rail Delivers Maximum Power to CPU and GPU
DC to DC Voltage Regulation Modules for added stability and Efficiency
Ultra-Silent 135mm Double Ball Bearing Fan
Smart Thermal Control
Compatibility With The Latest Motherboards and Components

Connectors

20+4 Motherboard Connector X 1
8-Pin (4+4) ATX/EPS + 12v CPU Connector X 1
8-Pin +12v CPU Connector X 1
4-Pin Molex Easy Swap Peripheral Connector X *
SATA Connector X 8
4-Pin Floppy Connector X 2
8-Pin (6+2) PCI-Express Connector X 6

Specifications

Model	IRP-GOL900
Type	Full Range Active PFC
Fan	13.5cm Silent Double Ball Bearing
Efficiency	Up To 90%
MTBF	120,000 Hours
Full Protection	OVP / OPP / SCP
Dimension (WXLXH)	150X165X86mm
Safety	CB / CE / FCC / UL / TUV / CCC / BSMI / WEEE
AC Input	115 – 240v, 47HZ-63HZ, 15A/7.5A
Max 1 Output Current	+3.3v = 24A +5v = 30A +12v = 66A 879 Watt
Max 2 Output Current	-12v = 0.5A +5v VSB = 3A 21 Watt

Next up is a more detailed look at the exterior and interior of the In Win Glacier 900 Watt PSU…….

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The outside appearance of the Glacier 900 Watt PSU is quite good looking with the black and gold theme applied to it. The 135mm fan has a black grill over it which adds to both the safety and looks.

The rear is made up of a honeycomb mesh and is also where you find the power cord connection and the on/off rocker switch. One side of the Glacier 900 Watt PSU is solid black with no venting but the other side has a very sharp looking black and gold label applied to it. The label is protected with a plastic cover to protect it during transit and also has some branding printed on it.

The top side of the Glacier 900 Watt PSU is printed with detailed information on the amperage outputs, wattage capabilities and AC input requirements.

The In Win Glacier 900 Watt power supply is a modular unit, but it does have some power leads hard wired to it. The hard wired leads are comprised of the 20+4 Motherboard, 8-Pin AUX CPU, 8-Pin (4+4) AUX CPU, and two 8-Pin (6+2) PCI-e leads. If your motherboard has two 8-Pin AUX CPU power connections and your video card needs two power leads, then you have just the right amount of hard wired leads. We would like to see only one of the 8-Pin CPU AUX leads hardwired because a lot of motherboards only use one, and the motherboards that have two 8-pin headers do not require them to be used unless extreme overclocking is being performed.

Both the hard wired cables and the modular cables are of excellent quality and nicely sleeved, the attention to detail and the quality craftsmanship really show through.

The front of the power supply is home for all the modular cables to plug into. The red connection points are for the PCI-e cables and the black for peripheral and SATA power cables.

Next we removed four screws to separate the housing so we could have a look inside. The included 135mm fan is made by Globe Fan, Model#RL4Z-B1352512H. The fan features eleven blades and is capable of 1500rpm, 106.86 CFM at 29.2dBA. Globe fans are a popular choice for many power supply manufacturers because of their design, quality and longevity.

Our first look at the interior of the In Win Glacier 900 Watt power supply reveals ATNG Power Co. as the OEM manufacturer. If the inside of a power supply can be considered pleasing to the eye, this would be the one. Everything inside is neat and orderly.

The two 400v, 270μF Japanese primary capacitors are Nichicon branded and certified for up to 105c. The remaining capacitors in the Glacier are both CapXon and Nippon Chemi-Con branded and are also rated at 105c.

The In Win Glacier 900 Watt power supply features a modern DC to DC design for the minor rails which is fed by the +12v.

All of the soldering work seemed to be of good quality and the internal wiring was properly secured to prevent unwanted tension at the solder points.

Next up is some voltage readings under different uses…….

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The first thing I like to do to with a new power supply is hook it up to to a basic tester to make sure all of the rails and power leads do indeed have current to them. Using my trusty Thermaltake Dr. Power II tester I plugged in all the leads and started it up. Look at the bottom of each picture below to see what power leads the test is referring to. Everything showed as “Live” and producing power so we are off to a good start!

Next while in an idle state I hooked up a digital voltage meter and checked on the +12v and +5v rails, a strong reading was produced by each, which leaves a lot of head room for when the system is put under a heavy load.

Short of having thousands of dollars in stand alone testing equipment about the only way to test a power supply is to put it under as much load as you can using software and measuring the voltage rail outputs. Using an EVGA P67 FTW loaded with an i7 2600K clocked at 5.0 Ghz and a pair of overclocked GTX 260 (SLI) video cards, we fired up the system and let it sit idle for 15 minutes for our idle readings. Once the idle reading were noted we ran simultaneous instances of LinX using the max memory option and Furmark. LinX will put a massive load on the CPU and memory while Furmark will load up the graphics cards. Below are the results of the idle and load testing (click on image for large view).

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The In Win Glacier 900 Watt Power Supply is listed for USD $230.00 at the In Win eStore USA but I’m sure it will be much less than that once it is widely available from other eTailers. At that price it falls right in line with comparable units from other manufacturers.

The Glacier showed rock solid stability, steady and stable voltage rails and took everything we could throw at it. I personally prefer a large single +12v rail for multiple graphics card systems, and this unit provides a stout 66 amps there. The Glacier 900 Watt PSU should provide ample power for even the most demanding enthusiast or gaming system. The overall appearance of the Glacier is quite appealing and will match nicely with any gaming or enthusiast case that features a black interior.

If you are looking for a great looking, Modular and excellent performing PSU for your next system build or upgrade, you need to take a good hard look at the In Win Glacier 900 Watt PSU.

Pros