Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W

Comparative Efficiency

In the table above, the Be Quiet! sits reasonably high, but compared to the premium 850 to 900W models it's on the underside by fractions of a percent to one percent at most. That difference is unlikely to change the world as it equates to all of 9W between the Seasonic M12D and the Dark Power Pro for example, but then again, that's 9W more heat expelled into your case or your room.

The idle 20 percent efficiency is surprisingly good for a non DC-DC unit too - hitting a respectable upper 84 percent affording it easily into the 80Plus Bronze certification, compared to the Antec Signature or Cooler Master UCP which are both slightly lower for example. That said, the Seasonic with its DC-DC hardware is over 86 percent though, which actually only equals a measly 1.3W at ~170W load. Throw in another fan or a three platter hard drive instead of two platter one and that advantage is gone.

Value

Comparatively the £140 you'd pay for a Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W is good value against the slightly better Seasonic M12D 850W that retails for £158 - down £8 since we reviewed it, and close by is the Antec Signature Continuous Power 850W (Antec marketing at work there) for £160.

For a more competitive option up there in the premium 850 to 900W area, the Cooler Master UCP 900W is cheaper, at a nose under £138 - but it's non modular though, as is the 860W TurboCool from PC Power and Cooling - we've tested that too and can vouch for its appreciable awesomeness. In addition, we also recently tested the non-modular TX850W from Corsair and, for £114, we feel it's actually louder than most of these but clearly cheaper.

Final Thoughts

The Dark Power Pro 850W is an attractive price here in the UK for a quality modular PSU. The aesthetic design works very well, the modular plugs and cables are excellent and it's quieter than a flea's fart. The efficiency has dropped slightly compared to the 650W model, but it's still very good.

Does it need to be super-duper quiet though? Not really, we think. To need 850W, this will be powering a high end system with plenty of graphics cards with fans and hard drives whirring anyway. We feel it also runs respectively hotter than the direct competition, but that shouldn't be a worry unless it's drawing air directly off a very hot component or it sits in an (abnormally) hot case.

The bottom line is that the Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W is a very good product at a great price, but with very strong competition it's not the be all, end all answer to the 850W question. To buy one would come with no regrets and even though it's not as quality driven as a Seasonic M12D or Antec Signature, you'll still be nearly £30 better off.

• Efficiency/Voltages
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Noise/Heat
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• 9/10

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• 9/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

Score Guide