be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 review: The titanium standard of PC power supplies

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

be tranquillity! is no stranger to power supply units (PSU), and the company has been making them for many years. The latest release is the new Dark Ability Pro 12 series, which includes the 1200W and 1500W variants. Commonly, nosotros'd recommend around 500W for most PC builds, even with capable processors and the best graphics cards. Nevertheless, these days you can expect your rig to pull a little more, especially with NVIDIA'due south upcoming GPUs.

That'southward what exist quiet! promises with the new Night Power Pro 12 serial of PSUs. These monstrous power supplies are lxxx Plus Titanium rated, pregnant they're incredibly efficient. At just 20% load, the 1200W and 1500W models should be able to run across 90% efficiency, 50% load should result in an efficiency of 92%, and finally, 100% load should see 94%, on paper at least.

So not only do these new PSUs offer a tremendous amount of headroom for even more enthusiast PC builds, but exist quiet! promises fantabulous efficiency and cooling for a whisper-quiet rig. That'south what'southward promised on the side of the box, so how does the 1200W Nighttime Ability Pro 12 PSU really perform in the real world? This is what this review volition showcase to you earlier buying 1.

Unlimited Ability

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12

be serenity! Night Power Pro 12 (1200W)

Bottom line: If you need to build a PC capable of harnessing the power of the most capable CPU around, also as NVIDIA's upcoming RTX xxx series GPUs, y'all'll want to install a decent PSU. The be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 is more than a decent PSU. This series of power supplies offers incredible performance.

Pros

Sleek design
Massive chapters
80 Plus Titanium efficiency
Digital with multiple 12V rails
Tranquility
Loftier-quality components

Cons

Overkill for about PCs
Expensive

exist quiet! Night Power Pro 12 tech specs

Capacity: 1200W, 1500W
Dimensions: 200 ten 150 ten 86 mm
Type: Modular
Fan: 135 mm, fluid bearing
Efficiency rating: 80 Plus Titanium
Operating temp: Upwards to 50C (122F)
Warranty: 10 years
Manufacturer: be serenity!

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 is a seriously powerful PSU

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

The Dark Ability Pro 12 has plenty going for it as a PSU. Firstly, there are six 12V runway, which not everyone volition appreciate or recommend you utilize, only information technology'due south often viewed as a prophylactic characteristic. Think of it similar circuit breakers within your home. It's better for you to channel ability to specific circuits, so if 1 trips, you don't burn out everything else.

be tranquillity! made a PSU perfectly suited for an AMD Ryzen Threadripper and NVIDIA RTX 30 serial PC.

It's a similar story for multiple 12V runway, and while this doesn't improve performance per se, information technology does provide better protection against damage should annihilation go wrong. Yous're not forced into using all rails, nonetheless, since there's a handy switch that allows yous to switch betwixt unmarried- and multi-runway performance.

Following on from the 12V rail is the bodily certification be quiet! managed to get applied to the side of this PSU. 80 Plus Titanium means this PSU is incredibly energy efficient. As with most electronics, y'all're going to lose a little energy within the PSU to heat and other waste material, but more than expensive power supplies are far better at delivering equally much electricity as is taken from the wall.

Digital PSUs are becoming a thing now, and we took a wait at the excellent NZXT E series of power supplies that allow you to connect the PSU to your motherboard for accurate data and improve power management. But that's not every bit good equally it can get with digital PSU. The Dark Power Pro 12 from be quiet! takes it farther still with full command over power factor correction (PFC), two coils, one capacitor (LLC), 12V synchronous rectifier, Full Bridge MOSFETs, and more.

Load	80 Plus Bronze	eighty Plus Argent	80 Plus Aureate	lxxx Plus Platinum	lxxx Plus Titanium
20%	85%	87%	xc%	92%	94%
50%	88%	ninety%	92%	94%	96%
100%	85%	87%	89%	90%	94%

The goal with your power supply is to catechumen electricity from AC to DC for your internal components to operate stably. This requires some clever electronics to take the power from your wall, mess around with it and make sure it's stable for your CPU, GPU, storage drives, and other accessories to use. exist quiet! ensured the Nighttime Power Pro 12 series is upward to that task.

exist tranquillity! Nighttime Power Pro 12 delivers enough of stable power

The unit itself is made of metal, as is the case with all power supplies, merely it's an accented brick. Not just does it feel hefty to handle, just information technology's as well sleek-looking. The all-black paint task will expect skillful in all PC builds. Since the PSU is fully modular, it's easy to create a clean result with but the cables you require.

exist repose! include the post-obit cables inside the box:

24-pin ATX
2x 12v P8 (1 with 2x P4)
5x PCIe half-dozen+2-pin
5x SATA (16x SATA, 2x MOLEX)
2x Peripherals (6x MOLEX)

But past looking at the above list, you tin tell from the offset this PSU is designed for some serious performance. Interestingly, you'll need to use the included C19 cable to power everything as it's not compatible with standard iii-pin connectors. be quiet! even bundled some cable combs with the PSU, which is excellent for keeping everything looking neat and tidy within the PC chassis.

To encounter what this power supply tin do in terms of efficiency in a real-world scenario, I installed information technology inside a modest exam bench, running an AMD Ryzen nine 3900X CPU, ZOTAC RTX 2060 GPU, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, and two 1000.2 SSDs.

The Night Power Pro 12 tin supply incredibly efficient power for serious PC builds.

The single 135mm fan is more than capable to keep the internals of the Dark Power Pro 12 absurd, even when put under considerable load. Information technology's a exist quiet! Silent Wings three and I'chiliad sure past now you already know I'm a large fan of it, much like some of the blades offered past Noctua. Measuring in at merely 30dBA (of a load around 600W), just shy of your refrigerator running in the kitchen, yous won't notice this PSU at all.

This is the sweet spot for PSUs, around the 50% load mark. Looking at how much was beingness pulled at the wall and comparison that to what was being used by the PC as a whole, we're looking at an efficiency of betwixt 95% and 96%, which is within the error margin of what the 80 Plus certification should encounter.

What yous might dislike about the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

There'southward not really annihilation to dislike nigh the Dark Power Pro 12. be quiet! got pretty much everything right here with an enthusiast PSU. You likely don't need a 1200W or 1500W ability supply. I don't recommend anyone purchase i for a standard PC build, merely these aren't your ordinary PSUs.

If you plan on picking up a new AMD Ryzen Threadripper and NVIDIA's upcoming RTX thirty series GPUs, you'll easily get into the high 3 figures for watt power draw, possibly fifty-fifty crossing 1000W. That'south when these 1200W and 1500W models smooth. They're expensive, only if yous can afford one and happen to have enough power inside your PC instance to hit 600W and beyond regularly, information technology'south a expert option.

Should y'all purchase the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12?

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

Yes, but only if you require the headroom correct now. 1000W+ power supplies are a little niche simply because no ane actually needs that amount of power. Still, NVIDIA is showing that to take PC gaming to the next level, its new GPUs will crave considerably more electricity, which is where something higher than a 500W PSU will be required.

The 1200W Nighttime Power Pro 12 is a fantastic PSU. It supplies stable, clean, and reliable ability without much of a whisper from the 135mm fan. Even pushing the arrangement with an overclocked RTX 20 serial GPU and AMD Ryzen 9 processor did little to paring the available chapters this unit offers. That's okay with me when nosotros're talking fourscore Plus Titanium as the draw from the wall isn't much higher than what yous're actually using.

As well as outstanding efficiency and high capacities, the Dark Power Pro 12 ticks all the right boxes, existence fully modular, digital in that there are plenty of safeguards with six 12V rails, and information technology's a sleek-looking package. If yous demand a new PSU, accept the available budget, and wish to build the PC for the longterm, this is a peachy choice. Take full advantage of the included ten-yr warranty.

Unlimited Ability

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12

be repose! Dark Power Pro 12 (1200W)

Incredible ability commitment with no racket

You likely don't need the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 series PSUs, especially the 1200W and 1500W models, merely they're incredibly well-made ability supplies. be repose! did an amazing task here.

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