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.

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.

Aside the Dark Power Pro 13 1600W 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), 5 cable ties, 10 cable straps, several plastic cable holders 5 thumb screws, 5 regular screws and the user manual.

THE DARK POWER PRO 13 1600W EXTERIOR

As mentioned in previous reviews the OC key can be very helpful, especially in extreme overclocking scenarios.

Leaving out the two sleeved +12VHPWR power cables every other power cable that comes with the Dark Power Pro 13 features individually sleeved cables.

Measuring 200mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height the Dark Power Pro 13 1600W is a rather large power supply unit.

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

The company name with the PSU line is both located on the left side.

On the right side of the enclosure, we find the electrical table.

All 16 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 PRO 13 1600W INTERIOR

In order to access the interior, you’ll first need to remove the front plate and top grille.

Just like with past Dark Power models the Silent Wings fan is attached onto the chassis directly so you'll need to also remove it (this fan can reach speeds of up to 2600RPM).

Interior layout is as expected very clean (wire-free) and according to everything I see this should be an FSP unit once again.

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

Secondary capacitors are manufactured by the Japanese United 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

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CONCLUSION

   Before I continue with my conclusion, I feel I need to first address the “elephant” in the room. So, my test rig can hardly surpass 1000W at load and so i can’t quite push an 1600W power supply unit to its limit to showcase such results. Now, i seriously doubt anything will change in regards to rail stability (some of my colleagues should be able to showcase this with their dedicated measurement instruments) but what will certainly change is noise levels and according to my calculations based on its fan curve the Silent Wings model should easily surpass 52dBA at maximum load (from 5-10cm away that is). Of course, if you somehow manage to squeeze 1600W from a power supply unit (even two GeForce RTX 4090 cards wouldn't manage that, system included) chances are either your CPU cooler or your GPU cooler(s) will completely mask any noise coming from it. With that out of the way rail stability is rather impressive as were consumption levels (lowest to date with that configuration) and of course build quality (having 4 different Japanese capacitor manufacturers inside the same chassis did surprise me a bit but these are the top ones out there so no problems here). I’m also glad to see that unlike some manufacturers be quiet! is not trying to cut any corners (cost reduction) by ditching the well-established 80 Plus certification which both professionals and consumers alike have learned to trust over the years and that’s obviously a plus in my book. Finally, the 10-year limited warranty offered by be quiet! may not be something unique but it should help consumers with their choice.

   Availability for the Dark Power Pro 13 1600W power supply unit by be quiet! was officially announced 3 hours ago and so it currently retails for USD459.90 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and for 468.36Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). As every other 1.5KW+ model out in the market the Dark Power Pro 13 1600W may not be affordable but its target audience will probably be more than happy to “invest” money on it. Price aside however everything else about the latest Dark Power Pro 13 1600W is either excellent or almost excellent 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
- 1600W Output (2x +12VHPWR 600W / 1000W Combined)
- Electrical Protections (OCP/OVP/SSP/OPP/UVP/OTP/SIP)
- Noise Levels
- Frameless Silent Wings 135mm Fan
- Multi & Single Rail Mode (2x40A/2x45A/2x55A)
- 10 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Length (For Some)