INTRODUCTION

     With both NVIDIA and AMD already working on their next GPU lines power supply units both PCIe 5.0 and ATX 3.0 compliant are sure to skyrocket in popularity sooner rather than later. Yes, even today's graphics cards (especially the latest GeForce RTX 40xx series) can benefit by such power supply units (clean and stable power is always welcome) but i imagine things will become even more demanding as time goes by and higher-performance GPUs get released. be quiet! recently updated their PSU lines to include several PCIe 5.0 and ATX 3.0 compliant models and the flagship of their entire range is the Dark Power Pro 1600W model announced a couple of weeks ago and officially released today.

   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.

   The Dark Power Pro 12 line was released in late 2020 by be quiet! (1.5KW model review here) and so today marks roughly 32 months since then. Of course, the brand new Dark Power Pro 13 line is further improved compared to previous ones and so aside the fact that it’s just available in 2 fully modular output models currently (1300/1600W) it’s also 80 Plus Titanium certified (up to 94.5% electrical efficiency) and both PCIe 5.0 (two +12VHPWR 600W power cables – 1000W combined output) and ATX 3.0 compliant (excursion tolerance). Of course, the brand new Dark Power Pro 13 line also sports a total of six +12V rails (2x40A/2x45A/2x55A) capable of delivering 100% of the units’ total power output (1600W), overclocking key which allows the end user to combine all six +12V rails into a single one with high power output, peak power output of no less than 1773W (although according to ATX 3.0 specs peak should now be up to 3.2KW for 100ms – can’t try it however), six PCIe 6+2 connectors, high-speed frameless Silent Wings fan, 100% Japanese capacitors, wire-free interior, and individually sleeved cables. As for available technologies the fully digital Dark Power Pro 13 line features full bridge LLC technology, 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), over-power (OPP) and Surge & Inrush (SIP). As always, be quiet! covers the brand new Dark Power Pro 13 line with a very generous 10-year limited warranty.