Test – be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850 Watts: Review | Specs | Price | CPU Performances | Hasrate| Setup | Config | Advantage (Pros) and Disadvantages (Cons) and other important features that will help you make better decision.
be quiet! that we no longer present, and after their last 80Plus Gold power supply (the Straigh Power 10 tested here) returns with an update of their high-end model, I named Dark Power Pro but in version 11 this time- this! The program includes an 80Plus Platinum certification, a Silent Wings 3 fan, 100% Japanese certified 105 ° capacitors, almost total modularity (except the 24-pin cable), control of 4 external fans, the possibility of switching from mode multi-rail with single rail etc. In short, you will understand that we are in the presence of a very high-end model, and which has a price besides with 229 € for the 850 Watts version (259 € and 289 € for the 1000W and 1200W models), let’s see if it keeps its promises!
We do not change a winning team at be quiet !, the front of the box is very sober, black with a photo of the beast in profile accompanied by the exact model, the logo of the 80Plus Platinum certification and a listing of main strengths (silent fan Silent Wings 3, efficiency up to 94% etc.).
At the back a detailed listing of the cables present as well as their exact lengths, which is ultimately rather useful for those who do not always know if they will be long enough. In addition to that the dimensions of the beast are present as well as a table of the distribution of the power.
From the opening of the box we know that we are in a high-end product, on the left a box containing the bundle (cables and accessories) and on the right 2 large foams responsible for protecting the power supply itself. even.
The bundle consists of:
- 1 be quiet power supply! Dark Power Pro 11 850 Watts
- Modular cables
- 1 power cord
- 5 “scratch” cable ties
- 6 plastic cable ties
- 4 cables to control fans via the power supply
- 2 sets of 5 screws to secure the power supply (“classic” and hand-held)
- 1 bracket equipped with a switch from multi rail mode to single rail mode
- 1 bridge leaving the power supply in single rail mode
As you can see be quiet! was not stingy with regard to the bundle, everything is there to be able to use the dark power pro 11 without the slightest problem, cables to connect additional fans (molex or 3-pin only), the famous “OCKey »Which is no other than a switch from single rail mode to multi rail mode and vice versa, as well as the necessary screws and bolts.
Now on to the beast itself! The grid is always made up of parallel lines which makes it much better than a honeycomb (matter of taste!), The SilentWings 3 (which also equips the Straight power 10 of the brand) opts for a hexagonal fairing rather than the Eternal circle, there is certainly an improvement in both noise level and airflow behind this change. On the sides we can see 2 rubber bands which will serve to dampen any vibrations coming from the power supply, a plus which is always good to take even if there should not be more vibrations than that coming from the Silent Wings 3.
Below we are entitled to a sticker presenting the power distribution table, we see here that it is possible to have either a 4-rail 12V mode (2 of 30A so 360W and 2 of 35A so 420W) or a single 70A rail (840W).
On both sides a metal plate announcing the color, the model of the power supply, the brand, the 80Plus Platinum certification as well as the power! Suffice to say that this changes stickers that generally do not honor the quality of the internal electronics, even if in the end it is useless it will at least have “class” once the beast is installed in the PC.
At the back, a honeycomb grille, all the more classic, the air will have no trouble escaping through here. We notice that be quiet! pushed the vice to put rubber over the screw holes in contact with the case so as not to have vibrations here either, which is once again good to take.
Well, it’s well populated around here! In addition to the fixed cable (the 24-pin) we have a whole bunch of connectors to connect a maximum of peripherals and graphics cards, 2 connectors for processor (so a dual-processor configuration is possible, which is always interesting) , 4 PCIe connectors (which each refer to 2 6 + 2-pin connectors) for graphics cards, 5 connectors for Sata / Molex peripherals as well as 4 connectors for fans and the famous OCKey connector.
Let us quickly come back to the OCKey connector and the fan connectors, if we leave the connector like that, the power supply will work in multi-rail mode, if the bridge is installed then it will work in single-rail and of course if the “OCKey” is installed it will be possible to switch from one to the other (by switching off the PC before changing).
Connectors for fans on the other hand can regulate 4 fans (Molex or 3-pin only, no 4-pin PWM), but how do you regulate? Well, the power supply varies the speed of the latter in relation to its internal temperature. This could have been a big plus for all those who use a rheobus, but in the end and given the heat release of the beast with the 80Plus Platinum certification, the internal temperature will only rise very little, which may not be in line with the temperatures of the processor and the graphics card for example and therefore the fans will not ventilate sufficiently.
The fan as I have already said is a Silent Wings 3 running at a maximum speed of 1500 RPM for a maximum consumption of 6.72W, it goes without saying that it will never reach this value in practice but in case it will still be able to stir a lot of air.
As often be quiet! used FSP, Japanese 105 ° capacitors and all the shaking, we are clearly in the high end here.
Modular cables
| be quiet! dark rock pro 11 850 | |
|---|---|
| 24-pin (fixe) | 60 cm |
| 4 + 4-pin (Processor) | 70 cm |
| 8-pin (Processor) | 70 cm |
| 8-pin (6+2) PCIe + 8-pin (6+2) PCIe | 60 cm |
| 8-pin (6+2) PCIe + 8-pin (6+2) PCIe | 60 cm |
| 8-pin (6+2) PCIe + 8-pin (6+2) PCIe | 60 cm |
| 6-pin PCIe | 60 cm |
| Sata + Sata + Molex + Molex + FDD | 60 + 15 + 15 + 15 + 15 cm |
| Sata + Sata + Sata | 60 + 15 + 15 cm |
| Sata + Sata + Sata | 60 + 15 + 15 cm |
| Molex + Molex + Molex | 60 + 15 + 15 cm |
| Molex + Molex + FDD | 60 + 15 + 15 cm |
As we can see the dark power pro 11 850 is clearly not badly endowed in terms of connectors, no less than 2 connectors for processors (1 x 4 + 4-pin and 1 x 8-pin), 6 x 6+ 2-pin PCIe and 1 x 6-pin PCIe, plenty of Molex and Sata and even 2 slots for floppy drives. In short, no need to draw yourself a picture if you manage to saturate the beast, you are very strong!
Specification: Hashrate – Dark Power Pro 11 850
| be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850 | |
|---|---|
| Power | 840 Watts for the + 12V 140 Watts for the + 3.3V and +5 V combined 15 Watts on the + 5Vsb 6 Watts on the -12V |
| Certification |  |
| Maximum yield | 90% / 94% / 91% at 20% / 50% / 100% load |
| Fan | Silent Wings 3 135mm 1500 RPM max |
| Sound level | 10.4 dB at 20% load 10.4 dB at 50% load 20.1 dB at 100% load |
| Modular | Everything except 24-pin |
| Protections | OCP, OVP, UVP, SCP, OPP, OTP |
| Number of 12v rails | 1 of 70A or 4 of respectively 30A, 30A, 35A, 35A |
| Dimensions | 193 x 150 x 86 mm |
| Format | ATX |
| Weight | 2.39 kg |
| MTBF | 100,000 hours at 40 ° |
| Guarantee | 5 years (including 1 year on site) |
| Price | ~ 225€ |
As you can see be quiet! gives her baby a good bundle of Watts on 12V, with 840 Watts whether in single-rail mode (70A) or multi-rail mode (30A, 30A, 35A, 35A), the 3.3V and 5V combined as for them can deliver up to 140 Watts which quite honestly has very little chance of arriving since the majority of the components of the PC use the 12V nowadays.
High-end food requires be quiet! grants its Dark Power Pro 11 an 80Plus Platinum certification guaranteeing excellent performance (up to 94% at 50% load on our European outlets), this will clearly help the power supply to remain at a very low noise level being given the little heat to evacuate. Ventilation is provided by the brand’s Silent Wings 3 fan as you have seen previously, and which will undoubtedly be inaudible at rest and perhaps even under load depending on the components connected, be quiet! shows that the power supply is as quiet at rest as when charging at 50% (ie 425 Watts consumed).
The beast weighs its weight with 2.39 Kg on the scale counting only the 24-pin cable attached, moreover the dimensions exceed what we usually see on “standard” power supplies, going from 16 cm to 19.3 cm in length, as much to say that Madame be quiet! must have had a hard time getting the baby out!
The warranty is as usual for 5 years for the top of the range be quiet! and always with the first year on site.
The test platform
Food be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850 has been tested on the configuration below:
- Processor : Intel Core i7 875K @ 3.2 Ghz
- Motherboard : Asus P7P55D
- Mémoire: Kingston HyperX 4 x 2 Go 1600Mhz
- Disque dur: WD Raptor 150 Go
- Graphics card : Sapphire Toxic 5850
The test protocol
The core i7 875K has been slightly overclocked to 3.2Ghz. The readings in charge were taken during an OCCT Power Supply test, the readings at rest were taken after 15mins on the desk.
The power supply has been tested against:
- Antec Edge 650 (tested here)
- be quiet! E9 580CM (tested here)
- be quiet! L8 Pure Power 500 (tested here)
- be quiet! Straight Power 10 500 CM (tested here)
- Corsair CS450M (tested here)
- Seasonic S12 600 (de 2006)
- Seasonic G550 (tested here)
- Seasonic X650 (v1 de 2010)
- Seasonic X650 KM3 (tested here)
- Seasonic P660 (tested here)
- Seasonic Platinum 460FL (tested here)
- Silverstone NightJar 520 (tested here)
- Silverstone SX500-LG (tested here)
- Silverstone SFX SX600-G (tested here)
- Silverstone Strider Essential 600 (tested here)
- Silverstone Strider Plus 600 (tested here)
- Silverstone Strider S 1500 (tested here)
- Silverstone SX-600 G (tested here)
- XFX TS-550 Bronze (tested here)
The consumption
Before we begin, let’s take a look at how the power supplies perform compared to the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850, indeed the various 80Plus certifications will directly influence consumption, so this will be a good way to have concrete results. Only the S12 600 does not have an 80Plus certification because it did not yet exist at the time of purchase (but the following versions of this power supply had the classic 80Plus certification, so 80% / 80% / 80% to 20% respectively / 50% / 100% load).
As you can see the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 and its 80Plus Platinum certification work wonders here, we are at the level of other power supplies equipped with the same certification of this comparison (Antec HCP850, Seasonic P660 P460FL and the Silverstone Nightjar 520) namely 75 Watts with the configuration at rest on the desktop and 345 Watts in OCCT load. It goes without saying that a configuration like that of the tests is not at all a problem for the big beast from be quiet !.
Note that the consumption has been recorded at the socket for the complete configuration , in load for example and on the 345 Watts “drawn” at the socket, the components only consume about 324 Watts of the 850 Watts available.
The tensions
Okay so to say it right away it is a faultless for the Dark Power Pro 11, the voltages do not move a bit between rest and charging, the 12V remains at 12.03V, the 5V remains at 5.04V and the 3.3V for its part remains at 3.36V, as I said above the power supply is very far from being in its last entrenchments, but the 345 Watts represent rather well the consumption of a “gamer” configuration. high-end nowadays (equipped with a GTX970 or 980 for example).
For the moment it is flawless for the be quiet !, at the same time considering the price it would have been deplorable if this was not the case! Now let’s tackle a sensitive subject which is normally a priority for the German brand (given the name!), Noise!
Noise pollution
Warning: Part to be taken with a grain of salt, unfortunately not having access to the appropriate equipment and using an android application to take the readings The measurements below are only indicative! The readings were taken 15cm from the feed.
be quiet! showed on their website that the Dark Power Pro 11 850 would not be noisier at 50% load than at 20%, and it shows with the readings! Indeed, whether at rest or at full load, the power supply does not make the slightest noise (compared to the ambient sound level of 31 dB of course), it does not emit the slightest electronic noise, not the slightest engine noise. from the fan, it’s really dead calm and we must admit that it’s nice!
Here we are at the end of this test, what can we say about be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850?
First of all, you have to realize that this power supply is not for everyone, in fact the 850 Watts will only be necessary for a very few people, perhaps 0.5% of PC owners, and again! If you have a gamer configuration with a single graphics card, you might as well say right away that this monster will clearly not be suited to your needs!
That being said be quiet! Signs here a high-level power supply, an irreproachable quality of manufacture, rubbers on both sides so as not to transmit vibrations to the case, a sound level very clearly inaudible for ordinary people, voltages of exemplary stability and a lowest consumption thanks to the 80Plus Platinum certification.
On the other hand, nothing is ever rosy and this level of services comes at a premium with 225 € for the 850 Watts version, which is very clearly at the top of the basket (even for a high-end model). On top of that be quiet! to stand out a little from the competition offers an “OC Key” allowing you to switch from multi-rail to single-rail operation, you really need to have the utility of this kind of thing so as not to simply stay on a single rail which will suit all uses. To finish a quick word on the little extra that is the management of external fans, they are regulated in relation to the internal temperature of the power supply and therefore only offer an approximate control of these which could not really be very proof in use,
Of course these little points in no way affect the undeniable quality of the all new Dark Power Pro 11, if you ever want to take the plunge and you have the means you can very clearly go with your eyes closed 🙂
Advantages
- Silence
- Stability
- Build quality
- Japanese capacitors
- Bundle
- Switch Multi / Simple rail…
Disadvantages
- … even if a little gadget
- Price
- Limited interest in connectors for integrated fans
Many thanks to Armelle from be quiet! which allowed me to do this test.
Where to find be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11?
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