The Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 13 1300W ATX 3.0 PSU Review: Flagship Quality, Flagship Price
by E. Fylladitakis on July 26, 2023 8:00 AM ESTCold Test Results (~26°C Ambient)
For the testing of PSUs, we are using high-precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox, and various other bits and parts. For a thorough explanation of our testing methodology and more details on our equipment, please refer to our How We Test PSUs - 2014 Pipeline post.
Be Quiet! managed to improve the overall efficiency of the new Dark Power Pro 13 series significantly. Although it does not reach the 80Plus Titanium certification requirements when the input voltage is 230 VAC, it easily met the certification requirements with an input voltage of 115 VAC (manufacturers commonly target their designs to meet the 80Plus certification requirements with an input voltage of 115 VAC due to the lower certification thresholds). The average nominal load range (20% to 100% of the unit's capacity) efficiency is 93.7% when powered from a 230 VAC source, which drops down to 93.3% with an input voltage of 115 VAC. The design of the Dark Power Pro 13 also makes it a little more efficient at low loads with a lower input voltage, but the tables turn when the load is greater than 600 Watts.
This design does not feature any complex semi-passive thermal design. Instead, Be Quiet! opted for a simplistic and reliable temperature/load driven speed controller. The fan does start immediately when the unit is powered on, regardless of the load, but the noise figures while the load is less than 800 Watts are extremely low. Only when the load goes beyond 1000 Watts will the fan speed up sharply, reaching figures that would be easily audible in a common room.
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Threska - Wednesday, July 26, 2023 - link
Sounds like a lot but amortized over that ten years it's quite reasonable.ballsystemlord - Thursday, July 27, 2023 - link
I have to admit, it looks like a great PSU and is a bit quieter, even at full fan speeds, than some of the competition.mm0zct - Friday, July 28, 2023 - link
Would you not expect a "normal" PSU to last 10 years? My old XFX Pro Core 550W is going on 11+ years now happily running my main rig several CPU generations on.ballsystemlord - Friday, July 28, 2023 - link
My "normal" PSU didn't...Samus - Friday, July 28, 2023 - link
I've been running a PC Power & Cooling 750 quad since 2006. It's been through 4 motherboards, 8 videocards (including two SLI setups) and is in its third case. The cables were internally modified by PCP&C in 2010 for EPS+ (8+4 pin) from the standard EPS (4+4) it came with, and I recently modified it for dual 6+2 pin direct from the PCB instead of using transformers to run my RTX 4080.Total draw at the wall is according to my APC UPS is 650 watts at maximum load on my 12700k during CPU burn, with furmark running at 4k, so under its 'rated' spec though like most high end PSU's the rating is quite conservative. The later silencer III 850 was based on the 750 quad design, released under OCZ.
Sure if I had a 4090 on some insane overclock going on my 12700k, I'd eclipse the 732-watt save zone of the 12v rail (as indicated by AT's review in 2007) but considering how much stress I've given this thing over nearly 20 years, with ~150,000 hours, it doesn't owe me anything and has been one of the best tech investments of my lifetime.
TL;dr if something has a 10+ year warranty and the company has been in business long enough to endorse a repair claim, you can safely assume the product is solid.
Itlotus - Thursday, October 12, 2023 - link
Last Corsair ax1200i top notch of the line lasted only 9 months, Thermaltakes are loud as f1 cars. So BeQuite sits in range where it's really quiet, delivers good power and is reliable. I hope Dark Power Pro 13 series to last at least 3 years operational, not like most corsairs which didn't lived a year.Sivar - Wednesday, July 26, 2023 - link
It is not ideal to buy a power supply now when nVidia is already shipping cards that use the replacement for the quickly-obsoleted 12VHPWR connector.PSU manufacturers that supply the video card via two standard 6-pin connectors can just replace the cable, but when the PSU has 12VHPWR on the board itself, you're stuck with it.
meacupla - Wednesday, July 26, 2023 - link
I thought 12VHPWR and 12V-2x6 were backwards compatible?Ryan Smith - Wednesday, July 26, 2023 - link
There are no official specifications on the latter yet. But yes, that is expected to be the case.Sivar - Sunday, July 30, 2023 - link
Backwards compatible yes, but you do not get the safety benefits of the new connector using the old connector. The only PSUs that can provide the benefits of the new connector are those that use two 6-pin connectors rather than a special 12VHPWR connector. These include Corsair, Seasonic, and a few other vendors.Even with those you will need a new cable, but at least not a new PSU.