Overall

As I mentioned at the start, we are only taking a look at the features of the new be quiet! Dark power 13 850-watt power supply, I’m not testing its performance. So I still recommend that you check out a full review that puts it to the test. But as far as features go the Dark Power 13 does have a few things going on. Starting for the basics, the Dark Power 13 line being be quiets! Higher-end models the 80 Plus Titanium efficiency is nice to see and they are claiming up to 95.4% efficiency. It isn’t listed on the clearresult website yet, however. The Dark Power 13 lineup as of right now has three wattages available, the 850-watt that I have here today, a 750-watt model, and a 1000-watt model. This covers the range that most single GPU users would need given today's CPU and GPU power usage. With this being an ATX 3.0 design you get the 600-watt 12VHPWR cable which means if you have a current-generation Nvidia card you can also avoid the ugly power adapters. But they did also include four traditional PICe 6+2 cables so you aren’t locked into just one connection type. This is great for future compatibility as well.

For styling, the blacked-out design is your typical be quiet! design. It has a traditional housing but the mesh design over the fan looks great and rather than going with RGB lighting or anything fancy the chromed branding on the side that faces out looks good and should go with anything. They also used a Silent Wing fan for cooling which should keep the noise down and adds to the overall quality compared to a basic off the shelf fan. Be quiet! packed alongside of the power supply a wide variety of cable management options with zip ties, branded Velcro straps, and the Velcro straps that the cables come within the first place. You also get both regular screws and large black thumbscrews for mounting. It's not a big thing, but having the option is nice.

As for the wiring, all of the modular wiring comes sleeved with a single black sleeve. This looks good, but I personally still prefer the flat sleeveless cables that most power supplies have been using, they are easier to fit in tight spaces and to clean up. Be quiet! did change things up on the wiring connections by dropping the number of Molex plugs down on the accessory cables and the floppy power plug is FINALLY not included, I have no idea why we have been seeing those still 12 years after floppy disks stopped being made and years before when people stopped using them.  I like that the PCIe cables aren’t the daisy-chained cables that most power supplies have, the Dark Power 13 has Y cables which give dedicated wires to each cable and also give better/cleaner power to your video cards. Then for storage, while the Dark Power 13 doesn’t come with a bag to store the cables, you do get a nice shoebox-like box. I also really like that the modular cable connections have great legends on each plug, even letting you know which rail it runs off of. Speaking of rails, the Dark Power 13 does have the option to switch from a multi-rail configuration to a single rail when using the included jumper or PCI mountable bracket with a switch. I’m not sure why that wasn’t just put on the power supply itself though, even if hidden away on the modular cable plug side.

As for pricing, the recently introduced Dark Power 13 850 watt that we have here has an MSRP of $249.99. There currently aren’t many ATX 3.0 power supplies available with the 12VHPWR cable so there isn’t much to compare the Dark Power 13 against. Of the ATX 3.0 PSUs for sale right now on Newegg with the same wattage, both are 80 Plus Gold rated which is a few steps down, and are $159.99. But even without the new cable, as far as Titanium rated 850-watt power supplies they range from $220 to $310 and are all a longer design whereas the Dark Power 13 is more compact. So it isn’t cheap, but also isn’t priced out of the competition when it comes to high-efficiency power supplies.

Live Pricing: HERE

Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

Log in to comment

We have 1718 guests and no members online

supportus