be quiet! Dark Power Pro 13 1600W ATX 3.0 PSU Review

Voltage Ripple and Efficiency Testing

When reviewing new power supplies at OC3D, we use our dedicated SunMoon PSU Tester, one of the most expensive (if not the most expensive) tools in the company’s arsenal. Here we can see exactly how well a unit functions. We look at both a PSU’s efficiency and power stability. To do this, we utilise bespoke PSU testing equipment to give us an in-depth look at each power supply’s performance. This kind of data collection is not possible when using a PSU with standard PC components. 

Testing Limitations – 1200W

While our SunMoon power supply tester is a powerful piece of equipment, it is not all powerful. Our unit can only safely draw up to 1200W of power from PSUs, which is more than enough for most PSU testing, but too little to test the fullest capabilities of be quiet’s insane 1600W Dark Power Pro 13. This means that the 100% load setting of this review will be limited to the maximum power that our SunMoon PSU tester can draw, not the maximum power than the Dark Power Pro 13 can deliver. 

Power Efficiency

As an 80+ Titanium rated power supply, be quiet’s Dark Power Pro 13 1600W was always going to be towards the top of our efficiency charts. Your PSU doesn’t receive an 80+ Titanium rating without offering 92+% efficiency levels. This is a highly efficient power supply, which is great news for anyone who plans to making use of this PSU’s full power delivery capabilities.    

Voltage Ripple

Voltage ripple is often underlooked by consumers, being best described as the stability of specific voltages that the PSU delivers. A PSU with bad ripple will see voltages vary a lot more, which can damage components or shorten their lifespan in extreme cases. Voltage ripple stability is one of the many reasons why you should buy a high-quality power supply and avoid anything that isn’t 80+ certified.

An important thing to note here is that none of the PSUs in this graph are “bad”, even bottom of the chart units like the original Corsair RM1000 (2014) bring usable within your system without any issues. Even so, having low ripple is an important factor to consider when purchasing a new PSU. Cleaner power will help extend your PC’s components’ lifespan by placing each product’s power circuitry under less strain. Even if the RM1000 is usable in a modern system, though, we would expect all new high-end power supplies to perform better than this unit in terms of ripple. A lot has changed since the days of the RM1000.

In terms of voltage ripple, be quiet’s Dark Power Pro 13 1600W unit is one of the better power supplies in the chart below, though its placement in our graph would vary significantly depending on how we order our data. Suffice it to say that Voltage ripple is below 15mV at all times, which is a great result. 

  

Conclusion