Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W

Shhhh!!

It picks up fingerprints better than a CSI forensics expert. Every time we moved it for photography required another wipe down, even when we were trying not to touch it much!

Be Quiet!'s design is minimalist with no flashy stickers and tat - merely a stamped logo on both sides, the 12cm fan in the top with a gold grill protecting pinkies and the standard information label on the back. We appreciate the clean design, and the mirror reflective gunmetal casing is something different to the typical black everyone else defaults to, although it might not blend into all builds.

The Dark Power Pro 850W output is split between six 12V rails with an equal maximum of 20A and an overall maximum output of 68A. This affords some element of variation between the use of rails and you don't need to load every individual rail fully to achieve receive the full beans. It also means that no wiring or pair of wires gets too much power drawn down it, potentially causing fires, however this is highly unlikely and internal protections on single rail PSUs would cut out in much the same way.

The 816W out of the full 850W dedicated to 12V use equates to 96 percent of total - a very high figure that benefits modern PCs, which are mostly powered by 12V. The CPU and graphics in particular rely heavily on the 12V rails these days.


Like the 650W, the modular connectors at the back are not only colour coordinated, but size varied and very well labelled as well. It does look a bit Mickey Mouse but it's very helpful, the plugs are secure with a good fit - although it's a little stiff - and the modular plug clips are easy to get to as they are either on the outside or the side, depending on the connector's location on the unit.

The only cables protruding from the case are the ATX 12V and a fan cable to measure the fan speed, however we'd be tempted to lop off the fan one because it's as good as useless. The braid is tight and goes right into the casing, which looks neater.