INTRODUCTION

    With every graphics card manufacturer out there gearing up to unveil their latest models in a few months’ time (and with the Christmas holidays not that far off) this could be the time for you to grab a brand new power supply unit. Many brands have recently released new power supply models compliant with the latest ATX 3.1 & PCIe 5.1 standards and one of them is be quiet! with their Pure Power 13 M line the 1KW unit of which has been with me for the past month or so.

    We are the German premium brand manufacturer of quiet hardware components for gaming, workstations and desktop PCs. Since our foundation in 2001, we are proud to have more than 20 years of experience in the industry. Our goal from the very beginning has been to develop products of the highest quality that are not only quiet, but also extremely powerful. With a wide range of power supplies, PC cases, water and air coolers and fans, we have established ourselves as a leading manufacturer in this field.

    The latest Pure Power 13 M line of PCIe 5.1 & ATX 3.1 compliant power supply units by be quiet! currently includes 550/650/750/850/1000W output models all of which are modular and 80 PLUS Gold certified (up to 94.4% electrical efficiency). The 1000W unit I have here with me today it comes ready with a single 12V-2x6 power connector (600W),  4 PCIe 6+2 connectors, single strong +12V rail (83.4A) capable of delivering 100% of the units’ total power output (1000W) and a peak power output of no less than 11388W (according to the new ATX 3.0/1 specification peak should now be up to 2KW for up to 100ms - this however is something I’m unable to test with such high wattage models). The new Pure Power 13 M line also features Active PFC, half bridge LLC topology with DC to DC design and 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). Finally, once again be quiet! covers their entire Pure Power 13 M line with a very generous 10-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Typically, at the front of the black box we find a large product picture, the company and 80 PLUS logos and the power output.

As usual the unit's electrical table is printed at the rear of the box alongside several certifications.

Inside the box the PSU is placed between two thick pieces of cardboard.

Along with the Pure Power 13 M 1000W, its modular cables and its power cord inside the box you'll also find 5 cable ties, 5 mounting screws and the user manual.

THE PURE POWER 13M 1000W EXTERIOR

With the exception of the motherboard and 12V-2x6 connectors which are braided all else are low profile ones.

The Pure Power 13 M 1000W measures 160mm in length, 150mm in width and 86mm in height.

be quiet! has placed an 120mm rifle bearing fan under a nice looking grille.

On one side of the enclosure, we find the company logo whereas on the other a sticker with the unit's electrical table.

All 9 available modular ports are tagged and different in size.

At the rear we find the usual honeycomb perforation, power port and the power on/off switch.

THE PURE POWER 13M 1000W INTERIOR

The 120mm rifle bearing fan used by be quiet! for the Pure Power 13 M 1000W model can reach speeds of up to 2000RPM.

It was a nice surprise to see that the OEM behind the Pure Power 13 M 1000W model is FSP.

The 2 primary capacitors found in this model are manufactured by the Taiwanese Chinsan Electronic and are certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

Secondary capacitors are also manufactured by the Taiwanese Chinsan Electronic and are certified for use up to 105 degrees Celsius.

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 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

    Just like with most power supply units released by be quiet! to date the Pure Power 13M 1000W performed extremely well during my tests both in terms of rail stability and noise levels (be quiet! fans have always done well here). FSP is among the top power supply manufacturers around, so this wasn’t really a surprise. What was a surprise is that they used Taiwanese capacitors and even though Taiwan leads the electronics industry in many things when it comes to capacitors Japanese ones have always been the top choice for users all over the globe (Chinsan capacitors however have a very good track record).

    Retailing currently for USD149.90 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 144.90Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the Pure Power 13 M 1000W power supply unit by be quiet! is priced very well. From rail stability and electrical efficiency to noise levels and price the Pure Power 13 M 1000W has it all, yes it may not be perfect but it’s certainly more than enough for our Golden Award.

PROS

- Good Build Quality
- Solid Rail Stability
- ATX 3.1 & PCIe 5.1 Compliant
- Strong Single Rail (83.4A)
- 80 PLUS Gold Certified
- Electrical Protections (OCP/OVP/OPP/UVP/SCP/OTP)
- Noise Levels
- 10 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Taiwanese Capacitors (For Some)