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.

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  • araczynski - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link

    another 'non profit' cause of the hour. wouldn't be surprised if this WWF and InWin have some family connection.

    i'd be more impressed if each $1 got split by the employees inhaling all those production fumes created during manufacturing of these things.
  • effingee - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link

    "However, the WWF is discredited as they are industry-related in some way. They got donations from the energy industry and tolerated genetically changed soy."

    Did you forget your journalistic integrity in your other pants or something?
  • Martin Kaffei - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link

    (Not exactly.)
    I sold my integrity for an ecofriendly Porsche Cayenne Turbo !

    Oh, I said the loud part soft and the soft part loud.
  • Rorrr - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link

    Is this an attempt at a joke?
  • ggathagan - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link

    No, it IS a joke!

    Thank you, Martin.
  • Rorrr - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link

    More like a bad attempt at snark. Anandtech should stick to tech, which is what it does best; leave the political and scientific commentary to other sites like Ars.
  • effingee - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link

    Oh, wow! Tell me all about your Porche, but don't forget to throw in a random line about your opinion on collective bargaining for public service unions, too, so I'll know which Porsche to buy and who to vote for in my state primary election.

    If you're going to write a tech review, cool, write a tech review. If you're going to write a review of the World Wildlife Foundation, do it on your blog or something. Those two sentences about what you think about the WWF, factual or not, have no business in a review of a power supply. Let your readers think for themselves.
  • LordOfTheBoired - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link

    Actually, I think they do when the supply's big "feature" is that a portion of all sales go to the WWF.

    I've got no idea on how credible the WWF is(though they apparently funded the hiring of mercenaries to hunt poachers, which is awesome), but I really hate this sort of feel-good marketing.
    At best it's a band-aid for the end user's conscience that lets them pretend they care without actually doing anything. More aggressive forms can come off as emotional blackmail(buy our stuff or children will starve in Africa!).

    If they were really worried about the environment, they'd just say "In Win donates 10% of their net profit each year to the WWF" or some such.
    And, you know, ship power supplies that are 80 Plus Platinum instead of 80 Plus Bronze.
  • jontech - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link

    Wrong WWF?
  • jontech - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link

    Or could have gone with

    MEAN.... WOOOO.... GREEN

    O i digress

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