In Win GreenMe 650W

In Win sent us their newest model GreenMe rated at 650W. Billed as an eco-friendly alternative to the usual PSUs, In Win boasts about the reduced energy costs associated with the high efficiency design. Given the eco emphasis, we'll examine how the PSU does in those areas along with the usual tests.

In Win uses an environmental friendly packaging composed of recycled materials. There's also a sticker stating that the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) gets one dollar for every GreenMe sold. However, there is some debate over how WWF is funded, with allegations that they have questionable industry ties. Regardless of whether that's true or not, we do like the idea of helping environmental associations.

The real question of course is how environmentally friends the GreenMe PSU line is in practice. Is 80 Plus Bronzer efficient enough for energy conservationists? And where are the lower power models, as a "green PC" probably doesn't need 650W? We'll leave the debate on those areas up to the reader; for now, let's see what you get with the GreenMe and how it performs.

Delivery Contents, Power Rating and Fan

The unit we are reviewing today is manufactured by In Win itself. It comes in a unique green package (100% recyclable) with all the extras a power supply should have. There is a power cord, manual, screws, and some cable ties in the box. Features include the 80Plus Bronze certification ("Up to 85%" efficiency), various protective functions and a 3-year warranty.

The four 12V outputs are each rated at 25 amps, although In Win has almost certainly set the OCP a little higher. The label shows the 3.3V and 5V rails at 25A as well. Together these two outputs provide 120W. This might seem a little low, but most systems don't need much power from the lower voltage rails anymore. The power rating on 12V is very high.

In Win uses a fan from ADDA with the model number AD1212LB-A70GL. ADDA is an often used company that delivers decent fans for power supplies. This double ball bearing type fan has a peak power consumption of 2,88W. It can spin at up to 1400RPM, which is not much. It shouldn't get too loud during operation, taking into account, that ADDA fans are prone to bearing noises.

Appearance and Cable Configuration

The white finish is pretty uncommon these days, and the red In Win logo adds a nice touch. The fan grille and ventilation holes at the back correspond to what we are used to see. There is a small power switch beside the AC inlet. At 140mm in length, this is a very small case and will work well in smaller enclosures.

All cables are fixed and there is even more bad news: Some cables are quite short and the number of HDD plugs is pretty unsatisfying as well. In addition six SATA connectors on two cables is just so-so for a 650W PSU. We'd like to see eight plugs here. Anyway, the cable sleeving is upscale and all peripheral harnesses reach 80cm length or more. Moreover even a low number of peripheral connectors should be enough to support most common PCs. Only for SLI and CrossFire setups with high-end graphics cards customers will need more PCIe connectors.

Internals and Electronics

Inside we find a two heatsink design and the usual two-transistor forward converter. The primary heatsink is a little larger in volume than the other since it needs to dissipate more heat from the hotter components attached to it. On secondary side only the +12 V rectifiers are connected to the heatsink as there are DC-to-DC converters for the smaller outputs. The main cap is made by Panasonic and rated at 105°C. In Win uses different suppliers for their caps, a few from Samxon (GK) can be found at the outputs. Both the PFC transistors as well as the half-bridge transistors (K15J50D) got a large semiconductor case to improve cooling. Moreoever the EMI filtering consists of all necessary components including a MOV.

Voltage Regulation

Noise Levels

Efficiency and PFC

This time we measured the sound pressure level and found out, that this PSU has a common fan speed regulation. The RPMs are tolerable up to 50-80% load. Beyond that point, this PSU is no more silent than competing solutions, but we should keep in mind that most GPUs are louder while gaming so the results are fine. Note the difference the power grid makes in terms of efficiency. 115VAC means higher current and more stress for all power supplies, while 230VAC shows a worse power factor at all loads. Nevertheless, 0.823-0.988 PFC is still good and most users will find 87% efficiency more than sufficient.

All the rails fall clearly within ATX specifications. They start slightly over the target voltage and end with results close to -2%. Since this PSU has four 12V outputs, we selected the worst rail for the tables (which is our standard procedure). +12V shows the best regulation, and will have no trouble with higher voltages. Both smaller rails have less than 30mV ripple and noise, while +12V reached 75mV.

Conclusion

The In Win GreenMe 650W is a power supply which is not as green as it could be. For sure the environmental friendly packaging is a welcome change, but we should keep in mind that we can't protect the environment by buying a new PSU. If you're really looking to help the environment, it's better to keep your current PSU as long as possible and avoid contributing to landfills. In addition some of those extras in the package won't help to make the product much greener. Customers don't need a coloured user manual or various cable ties in a plastic bag, and these days even 80 Plus Bronze is often not enough to satisfy "green" customers.

Another point of criticism is the cable configuration. In Win provides not more than three HDD and six SATA plugs. Moreoever two connectors for graphics cards are not as much as we would like to see. As if this were not deficient enough, the GreenMe products have short cables (such as the one with 24 pins at 45cm). Even so all peripheral harnesses reach 80cm length or more and the cable sleeving is upscale.

From a purely technical viewpoint In Win didn't do anything wrong. The extensive EMI filtering including a MOV is just one out of many welcome features. Furthermore, the case has a good shielding. The PSU provides active PFC, all the important safety functions, and not least DC-to-DC VRM with all solid capacitors. All other parts have components from reliable sources except the caps. In Win has chosen capacitors from Samxon for the output filtering. We would like to see a better solution here. The GreenMe doesn't need active rectifying with modern transistors to reach 80 Plus Bronze. They still use Schottky diodes.

Currently we can't rate the market price. Let us assume, that the price will be about $80-90. For midrange systems (that won't be heavily overclocked or run two high-end GPUs with two connectors each) the GreenMe 650W is a good offer. However, the cable lengths are not suitable for larger cases, there are not enough connectors for the target market and some caps on the secondary side are very cheap. Build quality, voltage regulation, and efficiency are very good anyway.

The efficiency is relatively high with 87% at 115VAC and even better 88% with 230VAC.  Considering the good efficiency, the fan could be quieter, particularly at high loads. 32 dBA is too high for a silent product when other manufacturers are able to stay under 30dBA with low temperatures. The ripple and noise results with more than 70mV on +12V are relatively high but still within ATX specifications.

The In Win GreenMe 650 may not be the greatest in all areas, but it does have some advantages such as the voltage regulation, even with all the opponents it has to face. However, Antec's EarthWatts EA-650 Green 650W shows a great performance as well and the current price is low. Only the missing power cord is too much of a good thing. The Corsair Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W is another strong competitor, but the price is somewhat higher ($89.99 after rebate; $119.99 otherwise). The design is almost the same as well, since they use a two-transistor forward converter and DC-to-DC modules for the smaller outputs. In summary, it can be stated that In Win is not able to deliver the "greenest" product ever, but an average offer. In terms of quality the GreenMe series is a common product like most power supplies are.