be quiet! Dark Power 12 ATX 2.52

Das be quiet Dark Power 12 verzichtet zwar auf das extravagante Aluminium-Gehäuse der Pro-Variante, kann dafür aber trotzdem mit dem robusten Stahlgehäuse und der eleganten Integration des Lüfters bestechen. In unserem Leistungstest konnte das Dark Power 12 mit einer guten Performance bei einem angenehmen Geräuschpegel überzeugen. Mit einer Effizienz von bis zu 95,9 % (laut Hersteller) wird sogar das Pro-Modell um wenige Prozentpunkte geschlagen.

Having reviewed the top of the line Dark Power Pro 1500W a couple of months ago (review here) means I had high hopes for the Dark Power 12 1000W and as you can tell from my charts it didn’t disappoint. Build quality is also almost as high as that of the Dark Power Pro 12 line so nothing less here either.

be quiet! hat kürzlich sein Flaggschiffserie Dark Power um weitere Modelle erweitert, welche die beiden im Herbst 2020 vorgestellten Dark Power Pro um Varianten im mittleren Leistungsbereich ergänzt. Die neuen Dark Power 12 mit 750, 850 und 1.000 W bieten ebenfalls 80 PLUS Titanium, eine exzellente Ausstattung und natürlich auch einen sehr leisen Lüfter. Wir haben uns mit dem Dark Power 12 850W einmal das mittlere der "kleinen" Dark Power 12 näher angeschaut.

The be quiet! Dark Power 12 850 W uses a modern FSP platform of ultra-high efficiency in all load regions. On top of that, it keeps noise output low under even harsh conditions. I had to fully load the PSU at 46 °C to force its fan to spin at high RPM and exceed 40 dBA. At up to 70% of its maximum-rated capacity, noise output is very low, even at over 40 °C ambient. If you want to build a quiet system, this is the ideal power supply; that is, if you can afford it, of course, since it's expensive.

We embrace Titanium-rated power supplies, yes we do. However recommending them to the avid gamer is just not completely appropriate as a recommendation, as really these PSUs are all about energy efficiency. If you game a few hours a day on your PC, you'll have gained a few bucks per year in energy saving compared to say a Silver or Gold certified model. However, if you are that guy that has a 24/7 rig active all the time, here's where efficiency matters the most and where we can recommend it, as at that point this PSU can even save and make you money over time. That's the honest answer and the conundrum you are facing. We'll plea one more thing in favor of titanium certified PSUs though, the more efficient often means the cleaner and more stable the power delivery is, they also run less warm (heat lost in a PSU is energy being wasted). Most platinum and Titanium PSUs are passive up to say 40% load, this feature however is a miss on this PSU series, as it's not passive in the sense of being a hybrid or something. So the fan will spin at all times, it's silent though, matching the brand name. While writing this I realized I do have one last point to make or better yet, a question to ask; be quiet!, where is the 12-pin power connector for the new GeForce RTX 30xx cards? Pricing aside, of course, this is an excellent power supply, we can find little that bothers us. You also receive a 10-year warranty with this product so to that extent it is guaranteed to be long-lasting as an investment. The Dark Power 12 is at a feature level that will appeal to many and from what we observe, quality hardware. Bulletproof, nothing to lose, I am Titanium.

If there’s one thing we constantly recommend to our community regarding power supplies, it’s never to go cheap and nasty! – Yes, unfortunately, good PSUs do cost more, but at the end of the day, a good model can not only save you money from the wall socket, but it can also last you several PC builds. Well, depending on how often you get the urge or finances to upgrade. Therefore, when it comes to be quiet! In all honestly, their power supplies are not often cheap, but in terms of build quality and features, they’re undoubtedly one of the best brands around! As such, when the newly released Dark Power 12 (850W) arrived, you can be more than sure we were anxious to check it out and see what they’d managed to cook up this time!

You are probably sick to the back teeth about stock shortages and high prices for many tech products. Very few have been unscathed from the pandemic's effects. PSUs, for instance, face the double threat of internal component scarcity and vastly inflated shipping costs out of China. Unperturbed, cooling specialist be quiet! is today releasing a premium line of 80 PLUS Titanium-rated supplies known as Dark Power 12. Available in 750W, 850W and 1,000W capacities, the trio fits in below the Dark Power Pro 12.