be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W PSU Review

1. Introduction2. be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W (Bundle & Cables)3. be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W (External)4. be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W (Internal)5. Super High Res Gallery6. Testing Methodology7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

The be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W is a fantastic power supply, built to the highest standards. The class leading SilentWings 3 fan emits very little noise, and due to the Platinum efficiency of the power supply it never has to work that hard – even when delivering 850 watts.

This means the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W is ideal not only for a high specification gaming rig, but for the audience who want a close to silent system for a living room, or bedroom environment.

FSP are not a company I would immediately associate with a high end unit, but the Dark Power Pro 11 is a design clearly not accepting any compromises. They are using high grade components throughout, supplemented by 105c rated Nippon Chemi Con capacitors in the primary stage –  a Japanese brand we rate highly.

There are a total of 39 aluminum solid capacitors in the unit and we couldn't force the supply to generate any noise related to coil whine. This is a Full Bridge + LLC + SR + DC/DC design and it didn't exhibit any weaknesses during several days of stress testing. It actually managed to deliver close to 950watts (+100 watts) before shutting down safely.

The inclusion of an ‘Overclocking Key' is an interesting decision. The end user can decide whether to run the supply in single rail, or the factory default four rail mode. We would run the supply in single rail all the time, as we expect many users will also.

The modular design will be welcomed by appearance driven system builders, and while this Dark Power Pro 11 is not a ‘pure modular design' there is only one hard wired cable running from the chassis – the primary ATX connector … which is always needed.

Technically, the Dark Power Pro 11 850W delivers the goods. Ripple suppression passed all the tests, and load regulation could be classed as very close to class leading. Efficiency rated at just over 94 percent at close to 50 percent load, which is magnificent.

Right now we have no links to buy, but we have been told that the price will be around the £160 inc vat mark. This is pretty much as we would expect, considering the Corsair AX860i Platinum power supply is available for £174.95 inc vat.

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Pros:

• close to silent.
• built to very high standards, inside and out.
• achieved 94% efficiency – 80 Plus Platinum.
• high grade 105c Japanese capacitors inside.
• excellent load regulation.
• ripple suppression is strong.
• delivered close to 950Watts before shutting down.
• competitively priced.
• no coil whine.

Cons:

• Stiff competition between £150 and £200.

Kitguru Says: The be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W is a fantastic power supply well suited for a new high end system build.

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