INTRODUCTION

   The arrival of PCIe 5.0 compatible motherboards and graphics cards was obviously going to usher a new age in power supply units as well, not just with the addition of the new 16-pin 12VHPWR connectors (which are also available in some previous generation models) but also the introduction of the latest ATX 3.0 standard. The new ATX 3.0 standard was basically introduced to handle the latest graphics cards (among other things) which is why it was developed to handle power spikes of up to 2600W. Of course, that couldn't be all and so the ATX 3.0 standard also features improved efficiency (higher than 60% for loads as low as 10W), optimal power delivery/consumption (thanks to the built-in Alternative Low Power Mode - ALPM), higher slew rates on the +12V rail (2.5-5X), improved durability (175.200 power cycles minimum) and up to 200% peak power for up to 100ms (microseconds). Be quiet! just released their very first ATX 3.0 line of power supply units the Dark Power 13 and on my test bench for over a week now I’ve had the 1000W (1KW) model.

   be quiet! is a premium brand of power supplies, PC cases and cooling solutions for desktop PCs. The products of be quiet! offer legendary quiet operation and first-class performance thanks the passion for quality and precision. Attention to detail is the key to perfection. Which is why our very own experts lead product conception, design and quality control from our headquarters in Germany. be quiet! sticks to its name: More than 15 years’ experience in the field of noise reduction and silence make be quiet! products probably the most silent ones on the market.

   Exactly like its predecessor the Dark Power 12 line released roughly 2 years ago (1KW model review here) the brand new Dark Power 13 line includes 750/850/1000W output fully modular models all of which feature the 80 Plus Titanium certification (up to 95.8% electrical efficiency) along with active rectifier and full bridge LLC technology for optimal performance across the board. The Dark Power 13 line by be quiet! fully supports both the latest ATX 3.0 and PCIe Gen 5 specifications (excursion tolerance) and as for the 1000W (1KW) model which i have here with me today it sports a total of up to 4 PCIe 6+2 connectors, single 12VHPWR (600W) connector, 4 strong +12V rails (2x32A/2x40A) capable of delivering over 99% of the units’ total power output (996W) and a peak power output of no less than 1142W (although according to ATX 3.0 specs peak should now be up to 2KW for 100ms - haven't tried it however). Be quiet! has once again bundled an overclocking key which allows the end user to combine all four +12V rails into a single one with high power output (83A) making ideal for overclocked processors and/or graphics cards. Secondary features include strong minor rails with a total output of 146W, wire-free interior, sleeved cables, high-speed frameless 135mm Silent Wings fan and long-lasting Japanese capacitors certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius. Of course, the new Dark Power 13 line is Energy Star v8.0 compliant, has a projected lifetime of well over 100.000 hours and is secured with a full array of electrical protections including over-current (OCP), over-voltage (OVP), under-voltage (UVP), short-circuit (SCP), over-temperature (OTP) and over-power (OPP). Typically, be quiet! covers the brand new Dark Power 13 line with a very generous 10-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

At the front of the black box, we find a large product picture, the company logo, output and the model tier on the left.

The electrical table is printed at the rear of the box alongside several certifications.

As with previous lines the unit is placed between two thick foam spacers whereas the cables are all placed in another cardboard box.

Along with the Dark Power 13 1000W unit, its sleeved modular cables and its power cord inside the box you'll also find the multi to single 12V rail PCI switch (OC key), 6 cable ties, 5 cable straps, 5 thumb screws, 5 regular screws and the user manual.

THE DARK POWER 13 1000W EXTERIOR

The OC key is a good and rare feature for a PSU so it's nice to always have with be quiet! top tier models.

Be quiet! has once again used reinforced sleeved cables with their latest model.

Measuring 175mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height the Dark Power 13 is a medium-sized power supply unit.

At the top (or bottom once mounted) we find an 135mm SilentWings fan just under a large grille.

The company and model names are located on the left side whereas on the right we find the electrical table.

All of the modular connectors are tagged and different in shape.

Most of the rear is as usual perforated and also has the on/off power switch and the power port.

THE DARK POWER 13 1000W INTERIOR

Once again to access the interior you will need to remove the top cover and two plastic air inlets.

Just like with past Dark Power models the fan is attached onto the chassis directly so you'll need to also remove it (the fan used is the same model found in the Dark Power 12 1000W model, 2100RPM/25.8dBA).

Interior layout is almost identical with that of the Dark Power 12 model and yes, FSP is also the OEM behind it.

Primary capacitors are manufactured by the Japanese Nippon Chemi-Con and are certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are also manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con and Rubycon and are all rated for use up to 105 degrees.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

     Using a dedicated measurement instrument such as a Chroma or a SunMoon to test power supply units is without doubt the most ideal and accurate way (not to mention the fastest) to do that currently. However, it's certainly not the only way there is and so pretty much anyone can test a power supply unit just by using a test rig. Certainly, limitations do apply and so you can't really push a 1000W power supply to its limits if your system only uses 500W at peak loads and that's why over the years we saved certain hardware components for the purpose of building a dedicated PSU test rig. True it may not be as accurate as the above mentioned solutions but it comes really close and is in fact much closer to real world usage. So as always, we ran several games with maximum graphic options enabled at a resolution of 2560x1600 in order to stress every hardware component and increase the overall power demands of the system. The Passmark BurnIn Test was also used to overstress the components in an effort to provide the most accurate results possible. As a final test we also used the latest OCCT 4.4 software and its dedicated PSU testing suite since it can really bring a power supply to its knees after inside a few minutes.

   Rail stability was checked/measured with the CPUID Hardware monitor and a Metex multimeter which also recorded the system load in idle and in load. As always try to remember that the power consumption numbers listed in the graph are the highest (Peak) ones recorded during the entire duration of the tests and not the average ones. Noise levels coming from the fan were recorded using the high precision HD600 ExTech Sound dBA Meter from the rear of the unit and at a range of no more than 5-10cm. Readings under load are recorded the exact moment we manually switch the fans of all graphics cards from full speed to almost zero, that way the fan of the power supply does not have enough time to slow its RPM and so by doing this we get very accurate noise level readings. Needless to say, in order to get 100% accurate readings, you need to have a noise isolated room for that exact purpose, something which is quite impossible unless you are working inside a real lab (some people use very small noise insulated boxes but due to their size both heat and noise exceed normal levels and so the results can't really be considered to be 100% accurate, nor realistic for that matter). Also do take into account that since all noise measurements take place from just 5-10cm away the final noise levels to reach your ears will be considerably less.

* After well over 10 years of testing PSUs the Intel Core i7-920 CPU of this rig failed and so we replaced it with a Xeon X5660 (we also swapped the GA-X58A-UD7 for the G1. Assassin).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   One of the top improvements the latest ATX 3.0 certification offers is optimal power delivery/efficiency which means that your system will be drawing less power from an ATX 3.0 unit compared to an ATX 2.4/2.5 unit. Now this is somewhat evident in the charts (especially at load) but the difference is a bit less than what I was expecting (still with electricity being what it is today whatever we can save is welcome). Rail stability is also excellent and even though I can’t really attribute this to the ATX 3.0 certification (I’ve seen such numbers many times before) do keep in mind that my tests are done with PCIe 3.0 cards and not 5.0 ones (and certainly not with the latest GeForce RTX 4xxx line). Noise levels is once again another area where the Dark Power line of PSUs by be quiet! shines and with them just surpassing 38dBA even at load things couldn’t get any better. Build quality is pretty much excellent as well not only in terms of interior layout but also materials including top end capacitors by Nippon Chemi-Con and Rubycon. Finally, the OC key is a good feature to have if you’re into manual overclocking but it needs to be pointed out that it doesn’t work well with every system out there so if you turn it on and you have random system restarts or bootup issues that could be the reason (this happened with my EVGA Z590 DARK motherboard and the Dark Power Pro 12).

   The brand new Dark Power 13 1000W PCIe 5.0 and ATX 3.0 power supply unit by be quiet! currently retails for 305.57Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) and is expected to retail for around USD290 inside the USA, a price tag which is more or less the same as that of the Dark Power 12 1000W at launch (which is a good thing). Now some people may wonder why the Dark Power 13 is not available at higher outputs but with the Dark Power Pro 13 just around the corner it really doesn’t need to be. Overall, the Dark Power 13 1000W is clearly one of the best power supply units out there and for that it gets the Platinum Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Solid Rail Stability
- ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0
- 80 Plus Titanium Certified
- Electrical Protections (OCP/OVP/SSP/OPP/UVP/OTP)
- Low Noise Levels
- Frameless Silent Wings 135mm Fan
- Multi & Single Rail Mode (32A/40A & 83A)
- 10 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Current Availability (USA)