Price: £109 exc vat
Supplier: be quiet!
Manufacturer: be quiet!

be quiet! are making a name for themselves as manufacturers of quality, high performance power supplies. The Straightpower series really impressed us with solid rails and quiet performance. Today, we are looking at the 600w Dark Power Pro power supply - be quiet's high end power supply for enthusiasts who demand the best.


The unit boasts a number of key features including dual 12 volt rails with 20 amps per rail. Enough for even the most extreme SLI or Crossfire system. When you consider a 7900GTX graphics card can peak at over 10 amps, it's good to know that your power supply is up to the job.

A high efficiency of up to 83% takes care of the power consumption and all electronic components used in the unit conform to the current RoHS Guideline. The Dark Power has built in ECASO (Enhanced Cooling After System Off) technology to protect your hardware from overheating, even after you have switched off your PC.
Sound levels are kept to a minimum with thermal electronic components integrated in to the power supply controls to keep the noise level in the power supply and any connected system fans to an absolute minimum. For the amount of power this unit kicks out, it really is remarkably quiet even under full load.

The power supply is capable of a PF of up to 0.99 for stablising and enhancing output voltage values. Active PFC power supplies cost a lot more to produce than passive PFC power supplies but the benefits in terms of performance and power regulation more than make up for the increased costs. Connectivity and the rest of the specs for this unit are equally impressive.

• Flexible cable management
• Up to 19 cable bundles, of which 17 are removable
• High-quality finish, including cable sleeves made of nylon braiding.
• Highest possible compatibility to available mainboard technologies
• Up to four 12V rails assure an independent power supply to the CPU.
• ATX12V 2.2 and EPS12V 2.91
• The connection of PCIe and ATI CrossFire graphic cards is possible by way of up to four 6-pin VGA connectors
• Future-proof connectors for the upcoming generations of graphic cards
• P8 connector for dual-server mainboards
• Up to 12 SATA connectors
• The connection to the mainboard is made by 24-pin connector; an included 20-pin makes operation with older mainboards also possible.
• 2 x 50 cm cable for desktop computers

With so many connectivity options on offer, modularized cable management is a must. The ability to add in cables as needed helps keep the clutter to a minimum and is becoming a most have feature of modern power supplies.

So how does this power supply perform under pressure? Let's find out.