The be quiet! Straight Power 12 750W PSU Review: Proficient Platinum Power
by E. Fylladitakis on April 5, 2024 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- 750W
- be quiet!
- 80Plus Platinum
Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient Temperature)
In our elevated ambient temperature test, the Be quiet! Straight Power 12 750W PSU experiences a notable dip in efficiency, dropping to an average of 90.6% under a 115 VAC input and 92% with a 230 VAC input. Despite this marked decrease from its optimal performance levels, the PSU remarkably exhibits no thermal stress indicators, even when operating at its maximum capacity.
The Be quiet! Straight Power 12 750W PSU's fan operates with a controlled strategy, ramping up as needed to manage thermal output. Despite the very high ambient temperature, the speed of the fan is fairly low when the unit is lightly loaded, maintaining comfortable noise figures. This is achieved via the PSU's large heatsinks and its efficiency levels that surpass the norm for its category, leading to superior thermal management. Despite the fan's increased speed under heavy loads, the noise remains manageable with a constant load of up to 600 Watts, striking a fine balance between cooling effectiveness and noise control across most of its operating spectrum. While the fan becomes more audible with heavier loads, the internal temperatures remain remarkably low, evidencing the unit's adept balance between thermal regulation and acoustic performance.
As the fan accelerates under the thermal control system's command in the Be quiet! Straight Power 12 750W PSU, the unit adeptly regulates its internal temperatures, keeping them commendably low for its category. Still, the low internal temperatures would suggest that the designer had more headroom to lean towards low-noise operation at the expense of some thermal performance. In situations where the load exceeds 90%, the thermal control circuitry prompts the fan to reach its highest speeds, while the internal temperatures are far from the OTP trigger point. This is adeptly calculated for a top-tier performance PSU, where the designer wants to make sure that there will be no thermal stress reducing the performance of the active components while the PSU is heavily loaded, especially with a design that is likely to have to combat heavy power excursions from a gaming GPU.
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ballsystemlord - Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - link
I'll take you up on that. What exactly is holding AT back from being the most popular tech site on the Internet with the best scientific takes on all the HW that gets reviewed?PS: I did try to PM you in the forum, but that function appears to not be implemented and I don't have an email for you. Reply
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - link
My email address is listed on my author page. Replyballsystemlord - Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - link
@Ryan , Going to the "about" page, we find a link: http://www.anandtech.com/Author/85 for you. Clicking it we get a list of articles you authored, no info about you is present.Maybe you could give me a hint as to where to find your author page? Reply
Ryan Smith - Thursday, April 11, 2024 - link
The link on my author page is titled "Email Ryan Smith" Replyballsystemlord - Friday, April 12, 2024 - link
I found it and sent an email. Replyballsystemlord - Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - link
Not to be a pest, but maybe you could respond to my email? Or did you not receive it? It's been 5 days. ReplyGeoffreyA - Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - link
Agreed. I think we all want to see AT back at the top, where it belongs. Threadbare, lesser sites are doing so well. Replyballsystemlord - Tuesday, April 9, 2024 - link
The comment section isn't what draws views. The content is. Or so I would think. Replywrkingclass_hero - Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - link
Let's be honest, Ryan just stopped reviewing GPUs. It was not like they weren't getting sent, the reviews just didn't come out. After like a year of delayed reviews, there was a fire which destroyed whatever work was or was not done on those missing reviews. It's understandable why GPUs would no longer be sent by manufacturers or purchased by the publisher.It's not like E. Fylladitakis is in a position to change the present fate or future direction of Anandtech, he's nobly continuing to produce the kind of articles that he always has. Reply
Oxford Guy - Monday, April 8, 2024 - link
'Despite this conservative approach to fan speed, the thermal control circuitry manages to keep internal temperatures surprisingly low, even at full load. This indicates high energy conversion efficiency paired with a somewhat oversized cooling system, designed to be capable of achieving top performance at minimal noise levels.'In other words, correct PSU design. Reply