Introduction

We would like to thank In Win and CaseKing.de for supplying the review sample.

At times when almost everyone jumps on the platinum efficiency wagon, In Win decided to release a new PSU series with 80 PLUS Gold certification. This may sound odd but on the other hand the recently released platinum units feature a price similar to their high efficiency level and on top of that some recent reviews proved that high capacity platinum units actually do not meet the tough 80 PLUS Platinum requirements, at least at 10-20°C higher operating temperatures than the highly unrealistic 23°C that ECOS (the testing firm that actually measures all PSUs on behalf of 80 PLUS) uses.

The Glacier series, at least for the moment, has only one member, with 900W capacity. The IRP-GOL900 features a semi-modular cabling design, a 135 mm double ball bearing fan, utilizes a modern platform with DC-DC converters for the minor rails generation, is equipped with six PCIe connectors and finally is backed up by seven years warranty. Its specifications, except the max operating temperature which is only 40°C, look very good and with an MSRP of $215, which as usual will be much lower when the product hits the store shelves, the IRP-GOL900 looks very promising. However we should not forget that this unit will play in a very tough category with opponents like the Corsair AX850 and the Antec HCP-850 so it has to perform really well in our tests to get a recommendation or even an editor’s choice.

Specifications

Only up to 40°C, unfortunately, operating temperature and no OTP (Over Temperature Protection). Normally units that do not follow ATX spec recommendation for 50°C max operating temperature should have OTP in order to protect themselves from high temperatures that could be fatal. In a chassis with bad airflow and if the system stresses the PSU a lot is very easy for its internal temperature to become dangerous. Finally, without any doubt, the most impressive of all above characteristics is the extra long warranty period which clearly shows that In Win is very confident about the reliability of this unit.


Only one +12V rail and strangely its max rated power is not close to the total capacity of the PSU. We usually see the opposite in PSUs that utilize DC-DC converters. Also the minor rails are unnecessarily strong for current systems, with 170W total combined power.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The unit is equipped with a huge amount of cables/connectors and currently it's very hard to find a PSU, with less than 1 kW capacity, which provides support for up to six PCIe connectors and two EPS ones, with all being available at the same time. Furthermore the IRP-GOL900 has eight SATA and eight peripheral connectors and still one modular socket is left empty, so if you purchase one more SATA modular cable you can have up to twelve SATA connectors. Without any doubt this PSU has the same amount of connectors that we usually meet in a 1200W unit. Regarding cable length, we would like the 24 pin ATX and the PCIe/EPS to be a little longer, reaching 600 mm. Thankfully the distance among the connectors is long enough. Finally the 24 pin ATX and all PCIe/EPS connectors use thicker 16 AWG wires while the SATA and peripheral connectors use 18 AWG. Very good choice to equip the cables that transfer the biggest amount of power with thicker cables, since this way voltage drops are significantly reduced in higher loads.

Since this PSU features a single +12V rail we do not have anything to comment about its power distribution.

Packaging

The package does not feature any extreme graphics on the front. Only a snow crystal in the top left corner is a reference to the Glacier naming scheme of the series. In the front bottom right corner we find three badges, namely the 80PLUS Gold badge, the one for the NVIDIA SLI ready certification and the badge for the seven year warranty. If you want to read more comprehensive details about the unit then you should take a look at the rear side of the package. There you will find various info about the characteristics, features and the power specifications along with a description of the available cables/connectors. On one of the sides of the box there are also two charts showing the efficiency and the noise level the PSU outputs at various loads.