Protection Features
Before I proceed to the protection features table, here is the 12V rails distribution on the PSU’s modular board. As I can figure from the scheme above, PCIe A gets power from both 12V3 and 12V4, while the PCIe B sockets get power independently by 12V3 and 12V4.
| OCP (Cold @ 27°C) | 12V1: 55.6A (139%), 11.845V 12V2: 58.4A (146%), 11.77V 12V3: 94.5A (210%), 11.723V 12V4: 98.1A (218%), 11.718V 12V5: 62.8A (114.18%), 11.75V 12V6: 70.7A (128.55%), 11.689V 5V: 33.2A (132.8%), 5.028V 3.3V: 34A (136%), 3.3V 5VSB: 4.8A (137.14%), 4.836V |
| OCP (Hot @ 39°C) | 12V1: 55.5A (138.75%), 11.832V 12V2: 58.2A (145.5%), 11.771V 12V3: 93.6A (208%), 11.742V 12V4: 98.1A (218%), 11.716V 12V5: 62.6A (113.82%), 11.742V 12V6: 70.7A (128.55%), 11.694V 5V: 32.6A (130.4%), 5.03V 3.3V: 33.2A (132.8%), 3.301V 5VSB: 4.8A (137.14%), 4.821V |
| OPP (Cold @ 32°C) | 1945.19W (121.57%) |
| OPP (Hot @ 42°C) | 1945.18W (121.57%) |
| OTP | ✓ (120°C @ secondary side) |
| SCP | 12V to Earth: ✓ 5V to Earth: ✓ 3.3V to Earth: ✓ 5VSB to Earth: ✓ -12V to Earth: ✓ |
| PWR_OK | Proper Operation |
| NLO | ✓ |
| SIP | Surge: MOV Inrush: NTC Thermistor & Bypass Relay |
Measuring OCP on multi-12V rail PSUs is a huge pain since you need to isolate each rail on the testing fixture, run all tests, and repeat the procedure for the next rail. It seems that 12V3 and 12V4 have very high OCP triggering points, which requires further investigation. After talking to the engineer who conducted these tests, I will look at this and update the review if something went wrong during these measurements.
OPP is correctly set, not allowing the PSU to exceed 1950W under hot and cold conditions. The rest of the protection features are present and work well.
I have gone through two Dark Power Pro 13 1600W PSUs in the last 15 months.
The first unit, which was purchased in June 2023 when the listings in the UK went live, had problems POSTing reliably after doing a BIOS update, changing BIOS settings, restoring BIOS defaults, using BIOS flashback etc… I initially assumed this was a motherboard or BIOS issue, but after doing extensive testing with a Dark Power Pro 12 1200W and EVGA SuperNOVA 550 GS PSU, it turned out to be an issue which was unique to the Dark Power Pro 13 1600W PSU. I could not replicate these issues once with the Dark Power Pro 12 or EVGA PSU.
I returned this unit with the retailer (AWD-IT) and they sent me a second unit in December 2023, which still exhibited the same issue, but to a much lesser degree. I chalked it up to some weird edge-case compatibility issue between the MSI Z790 ACE motherboard and the Dark Power Pro 13 PSU.
However a few days ago my system shut down unexpectedly and upon attempting to start the system back up, I heard a loud bang the PSU started smoking. I have swapped back to the Dark Power Pro 12 1200W PSU and the CPU, GPU, RAM, Motherboard and SSD all appear to be working fine and don’t show any signs of damage at this stage.
In reading online, this doesn’t seem to be an uncommon problem, there are reviews on Scan, CaseKing and others that mention exploding PSUs, knocking out fuses and general poor quality control issues for these Dark Power Pro 13 units.
https://www.galaxus.at/en/s1/questionandanswer/die-dark-power-pro-13-hat-massenhaft-ausfaelle-gibt-einen-ganzen-reddit-thread-dazu-bei-mir-ist-nun–648236
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/9vw47y87
https://www.digitec.ch/en/s1/product/be-quiet-dark-power-pro-13-1300-w-power-supply-pc-32987592
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/1300w-be-quiet!-dark-power-pro-13-fully-modular-pcie-5080plus-titanium260asilent-135mm-fdb-fanatx-30
https://www.caseking.de/en/be-quiet-dark-power-pro-13-power-supply-80-plus-titanium-atx-3.0-pcie-5.0-1600-watt/NEBE-233.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1azk72a/3_times_exploded_psu_be_quiet_dark_power_pro_13/
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/17dy06b/be_quiet_dark_power_pro_13_knocked_out_fuses/
https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooling/comments/16xilci/beware_bequiet_dark_power_13_psus/
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/PSUBQT900500/be-quiet-Dark-Power-Pro-13-1300W-ATX-30-Power-Supp
I do not believe these Dark Power Pro 13 units have very good quality control.
there was an issue indeed with these units, which be quiet! informed me that it fixed.I think I was confused with the Dark Power 12, since our Dark Power 13 1600W unit is fine. I will look though at what you mention in your post, with both be quiet! and CWT.Interesting, when I messaged be quiet back in September and December 2023, they said there were no known issues.
Is there anyway of verifying which units are fixed via serial number?
Hi, very good article! Thank you very much, it must have taken you a lot of work to do it xD.
Would you consider the be quiet! BN517 Straight Power 12-1200w as a good purchase option?
I just received an Be quiet! 12v-2×6 90 degree cable, I tested it with multimeter, the pinouts are NOT pin to pin like other 12vhpwr cables.
So does Be quiet! have their own 12vhpwr pinouts?
they could yes, but it sounds weird.
I also bought the angled 12V-2×6 – 12V-2×6 cable from be quiet! and tested the pinout on the included 12VHPWR – 12VHPWR cable, and the paths do seem really weird.
But if it works I guess there’s not really anything for me to worry about?
be quiet! is a big and respectful brand. It wouldn’t offer something that could harm its good reputation.
Just received the 1300w version.
I have no idea what connectors are inside. I shall email them and ask them I guess.
I will reply add a comment when I get confirmation.
After contact through messaging the BeQuiet people told me there is no change of the connector on the PSU side and that the change is only on the GPU side.
I would not feel fair by saying that they just try to hide that their newer serials do have the new conenctor. I could bluff and tell them that a friend of a friend got one with the new connector but apart from Aris’ mention of it I have not seen it anywhere else.
After spending 1000s of hard earned euros on BeQuiet products, I feel a bit cheated on how they address themselves regarding this, since it could potentially be a hazard as well, knowing nothing about future compatibility with newer hardware in the future. They insisted that we cannot and should not speculate as customers and just buy whatever is available now. Which I found rather rude to be fair. A 450eu PSU is not something that belongs to your open market shopping list, but something you research about and hope to have for at least 8 years. So speculation plays a huge part in such a purchase.
Seriously thinking about returning it and getting either the PX or TX 1300 atx3.0 Seasonic one.
Their execs should change the company name to “be loud!”. Company employee which market quiet as their slogan, should deliver quiet even at > 1000 watts.
31 dBa is very audible (like a conversation), and for me with my bat-ears, loud and annoying (commented on the Cooler Master V750i Gold PSU review).
I got myself the fsp hydro ti pro 1000 watts you tested here, and I can hear the “dead low” 13 dBa from 2.5 meters away at evenings or night, but not the fan, only the shoveled air circulating; the psu delivering maybe 100 watts.
Though (obviously) I must say this is very silent, like a very quiet whisper, no problem at all, and the noise is drowned out the moment any cpu- or graphics card fan kicks even at 600 rpm.
It’s less than half as loud as my previous seasonic tx 650 watts. The psu is even smaller than the seasonic; very laudable achievement!
So whoever has bat-ears as myself, and wants a super silent or inaudible build, I recommend the fsp hydro ti pro.
Users should be aware that my dark power (non pro) 13 1000w exhausted an oil/chemical like smell for over a week. Eventually did burn off. Also made me sick half a week later. Or could of been something else. Interesting timing though. Mo other issues than that. Has been rock solid for my gpu can cpu and system in general.
As always Aries, very nice review and thank God it is a decent PSU given its price (even in Euros).
It’s a very quality PSU, from packing to accessories, and it works well.
I bought it a few days before you released this review, believing it would be good enough considering its low (for a 1600W PSU) street price, and your post was such a relief.
Alternatively, the GF3 1650W is really affordable for those who won’t push the PSU to its limits (working around 40-60% load) and can withstand the increased noise output. You can’t have it all in most situations, it a fact in all aspects in life.
Of course, with this lower cost, some things aren’t perfect compared to the completion, but it’s a very affordable and performant PSU.
Thank you once again for the detailed and quality review, and may God bless you all in your new endeavors in the biggest Greek island (Cyprus, of course!) and fully self-employed situation, Cyprus helps a lot new businesses to flourish compared to mainland Greece.
May the Lord bless all over there!
Thank you Xaris for your kind words!!!