Epilogue
Was it a good idea to switch from FSP to CWT for manufacturing the new Dark Power 14 line? As it seems, there is a tremendous difference in almost all aspects, including noise output, so be quiet! seems to choose wisely. Although FSP has one of the best 1000W PSUs on the market, the Hydro Ti 1000, I don’t know why it didn’t offer this platform quiet! to make its flagship line. Was it too expensive? Couldn’t it be modified to deliver 1200W while maintaining the same performance levels? I cannot know.
The be quiet! Dark Power 14 is a flagship Titanium-class line aimed at users who demand ultra-quiet operation and top-tier efficiency. The 1000W model delivers tight load regulation, outstanding ripple suppression, strong transient performance on the 12V and 5V rails, high power factor, and excellent efficiency across the entire load range. It also features an efficient 5VSB rail.
Similar to the 1200W model, its main shortcomings lie in the 3.3V rail, which would benefit from tuning to improve transient response. At least, load regulation was way better on this rail than on the 1200W model. The platform’s lower capacity helped in this. Although the 3.3V rail is only lightly used in modern systems, a product in this price range should excel across the board. Lastly, vampire power could also be lower.
Overall, CWT did a good job with this unit’s protection features, but I noticed a slight discrepancy on the 5V rail: it should have a lower OCP triggering point at high temperatures than standard ones. This is not a serious issue, but a while ago, I set a rule not to provide a recommendation badge to any unit that doesn’t have properly configured protection features. Unfortunately, this affects the Dark Power 14 1000W.
The unit’s overall performance is competitive, it offers sky-high efficiency on all load ranges, and it is dead silent. For those of you who find it expensive, pray that AI systems NOT start using desktop PSUs extensively; otherwise, you will redefine the meaning of “expensive”. See what happened with RAM modules!
It would be ideal if CWT implemented fan-failure protection on this platform. I know it isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it’s achievable with capable engineers. And CWT has many of them!
About the multi-12V rail setup of this PSU. If you combine it with a “strong” graphics card, (e.g. RTX 5090) make sure to use the OCK button to convert the PSU to a single 12V rail one, else you might encounter issues (sudden restarts). I haven’t tried the PSU on a real system with an RTX 5090 to know if and when any problems can occur with the multi-12V rail enabled, but this also depends on the usage scenario and the VRMs of the RTX 5090 model, how high will be the power spikes. So why risk it? Just enable the single +12V rail mode and forget about it!
Before investing in a new power supply, read my article on the Best ATX v3.x PSUs to compare all alternative PSU offerings. You help me a lot by using my affiliate links, which don’t increase the price of the product. I receive a commission from Amazon every time you do it, which can make a significant difference for me, especially now that I am working independently, exclusively for my media, rather than for someone else.
- Delivered full power at 46°C
- ATX v3.1 and PCIe CEM 5.1 compliant
- Cybenetics Titanium rated
- Silent operation
- Vast improvement in all areas over its predecessor
- High overall performance
- Properly set OCP (12V, 3.3V) and OPP triggering points
- High build quality
- High efficiency on all load ranges
- High enough PF readings
- Within 1% load regulation on all rails
- Good transient response at 12V and 5V
- Good ripple suppression
- Efficient 5VSB rail
- Alternative Low Power Mode (ALPM) compatible
- 135mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan of high quality
- 12+4-pin PCIe connector set at 600W
- 5V hot OCP triggering point needs to be lower than the “cold” one
- Mediocre transient response at 3.3V
- No fan failure protection
Aris, when you ill add the certification of husky 1200w on database?!