Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 650W & 850W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on February 2, 2015 11:40 AM ESTDark Power Pro 10 850W Hot Test Results
The tables below depict the superiority of the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W PSU compared to the 650W version of the same series. The output power quality is exceptional, with the maximum voltage ripple recorded on the 12V line being just 20mV with the unit running at maximum capacity – less than a third of the ripple we recorded with the 650W version at a lower power output. Cross-loading does not affect the power quality significantly either. Voltage regulation on the 12V line is at just 0.9%, but the minor lines are less tightly regulated, at 1.6% and 1.7% for the 3.3V and 5V lines respectively.
| Main Output | ||||||||
| Load (Watts) | 171.83 W | 428.51 W | 638.14 W | 849.97 W | ||||
| Load (Percent) | 20.22% | 50.41% | 75.08% | 100% | ||||
| Line | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts |
| 3.3 V | 4.06 | 3.35 | 10.14 | 3.34 | 15.21 | 3.32 | 20.29 | 3.3 |
| 5 V | 4.06 | 5.06 | 10.14 | 5.03 | 15.21 | 4.97 | 20.29 | 4.97 |
| 12 V | 11.36 | 12.12 | 28.4 | 12.1 | 42.6 | 12.02 | 56.8 | 12.01 |
| Line | Regulation (20% to 100% load) |
Voltage Ripple (mV) | |||||
| 20% Load | 50% Load | 75% Load | 100% Load | CL1 12V |
CL2 3.3V + 5V |
||
| 3.3V | 1.6% | 6 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 14 |
| 5V | 1.7% | 6 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 16 |
| 12V | 0.9% | 10 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 12 |
High ambient temperatures have virtually no impact on the electrical performance of the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W PSU. The average nominal load (20-100%) efficiency drops by just 0.2% for an ambient temperature increase of about 23°C and the peak efficiency is 94.3% at half load. These figures are well above the 80 Plus Platinum certification limits and at a far higher ambient temperature than required, as 80 Plus testing takes place with an ambient temperature of 25°C.
The high efficiency of the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W PSU allows for a less aggressive cooling profile, with the unit maintaining comfortable noise levels across most of the load range. Only if the load is greater than 700 Watts will the fan of the unit reach levels uncomfortable for continuous use; however, a computer that draws that much power is not performing a casual tasks and its cooling systems are bound to be generating significant levels of noise as well.
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Mondozai - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
Terrible prices. The EVGA G2 850W is an awesome PSU. It has a whopping 10 year guarantee and for half the price at that.Skip, skip, skip.
Samus - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
I feel sorry for the people in Europe where this is one of the best options they have, when North American market has so much competition from EVGA, Corsair, Coolermaster and Antec, making be cool! pretty irrelevant here.If I were going to recommend a PSU in this price class I'd go for a pure-breed Seasonic unit or a PC Power and Cooling unit while you can still find them...
But EVGA's 10-year warranty is killer, especially since the only PSU failure I've had was after 5 years.
E.Fyll - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
Actually, you should not be. All those brands are readily available in Europe as well.Samus - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Actually, on the whole, the only thing European Consumers have more choice in is cell phones and possible automobiles. Electronic choices reign supreme in North America, especially computer component selection. Corsair only markets three of their eight models in the EU because only 3 were certified by the restrictive regulatory requirements.SmokingCrop - Thursday, February 5, 2015 - link
One can buy all the Corsair series in Belgium/Netherlands: CX, CXM, RM, CSM, HXi, AX, AXi, VSOxford Guy - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
The G2 is noisy and its temperature performance is worse than the Corsair RM 850.tabascosauz - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
I own a G2 750 and it's perfectly quiet under heavy OC.Temperature performance is worse than the RM? How so? In cooling? I don't believe that, considering the extremely agressive passive fan profile of the RM. Performance at temperature? Perhaps. The RM does feature good vreg on some rails and efficiency is not bad. Not that I'd spend even a second of my time looking at the RM750 though, with those horrible electrolytics.
Antronman - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
Except the RM has had terrible user ratings because of generally terrible quality on that line of PSUs. Whereas the EVGA G2 PSUs and P2s are Superflower made.SmokingCrop - Thursday, February 5, 2015 - link
Depends what wattage you take, the 750W is excellent.No fan till about 375W as well, without having to worry that your cheap ass capacitors will fail after 5 years because of the heat..
darkfalz - Monday, February 16, 2015 - link
I've had 4 of 5 Antec supplies eventually die on me (2 SmartPower 350, 2 Earthwatts 380). All died gracefully (usually the standby voltage ie. failing to turn on or resume from standby the first symptom). I think the shortest lived one was maybe a year and the longest lived about 4 years. My Earthwatts 500 still works and powering my E8500 based system. I'm not convinced they are a quality brand, especially at the lower end (the kind that are bundled with their cases). They are a rebrander too, so you really don't know what you're getting. TBH I don't expect power supplies to last forever, you just hope when they go they go peacefully.