be quiet! Power Zone 2 1000W Platinum Power Supply Review

be quiet! are a powerful force for high-end power supplies, with many of the absolute best units on the market today. Actually, they have such a strong history that they've had many of the best power supplies for many generations of PC hardware. Flashback to 2013 when the original Power Zone launched with its single-rail design and award-winning performance. Now after all these years, it's back again as the Power Zone 2! As be quiet! themselves say "it has taken over 10 years, but Power Zone 2 is again pushing the boundaries and is introducing new concepts to the world of be quiet! power supplies. And yes, it is also a single-rail PSU, but it is so much more than that." So, let's dive in and take a look at what it has to offer. be quiet Power Zone 2 The Power Zone 2 is the first be quiet! PSU with semi-passive cooling, but they always equip their units with such high-quality silence-focused fans, that it's rarely needed. The fan is a modified Pure Wings 3 140mm, one of the best fans on the market today. be quiet! say they've given it a relatively flat fan curve too, so you don't hear any sudden spikes in fan noise. They also claim to have put a focus on reducing coil while, through their component choices, manufacturing and even some simple things like adding glue to reduce unwanted vibrations. What be quiet! Had to Say "We would love to say that our Power Zone 2 is completely silent in zero RPM mode, but that is simply physically not possible. So, we settle for the next best thing, which is "so quiet that it is not measurable in an anechoic chamber with a noise floor of 6.5 dB(A)". To certify the low noise, we worked with Cybenetics and achieved the best possible Lambda rating of A++ for all Power Zone 2 models, which means their average noise over the whole load range is less than 15 dB(A). Cybenetics also grants a Platinum efficiency rating, which is matched by an 80 PLUS Platinum certification. Power Zone 2 Design As an ATX 3.1 power supply, the Power Zone 2 features 12VPWR support, for current and next-gen graphics cards. The topology is based on a half-bridge LLC with synchronous rectification and DC/DC conversion. For power outputs, you can choose from a 1000W, 850W or 750W variant to suit your needs. This range covers the most popular wattages for high-end gaming PCs and leaves enough headroom for future upgrades. Backed by a 10-year warranty, Power Zone 2 is the ideal and future-proof PSU for anyone who is looking for a highly efficient and silent power supply. be quiet Power Zone 2 Features 80 PLUS® Platinum and Cybenetics Platinum efficiency rating (up to 94%) Semi-passive zero-RPM cooling Pure Wings 3 140mm fan for quiet and efficient cooling 90° angled 12V-2x6 connector and PCIe 5.1/ATX 3.1 compatibility Advanced voltage regulation and stability thanks to LLC technology One massive high-performance 12V-rail Unique look with an unmistakable mesh design 10-year manufacturer's warranty Product conception, design and quality control in Germany Packaging The box is pretty simple, keeping the same black theme we've seen throughout the be quiet! range for many years now. There's a a nice photo of the PSU right on the front, as well as badges to show us the 80 Plus Platinum and Cybernetics Platinum certifications. Around the back, we can see the PSU is PCIe 5.1 compatible, and the various power outputs that are supported, but otherwise, it's kept pretty simple. Packaging is kept pretty basic too, but the PSU is located in the middle, providing significant gapping from the side of the box to keep it protected. All of the cables are tucked down the sides, and any materials used here are fully recyclable too. The cables come in a couple of bundles, held together by Velcro strips, and while this is pretty basic, it's effective. This isn't a glitzy gamer PSU with a rich unboxing experience, it's an enthusiast PSU that's all business, so no money has been wasted on other bits and bobs. A Closer Look The Power Zone 2 comes out swinging when it comes to design. Sure, it's just a power supply, but there's an air of style and quality about it. The semi-gloss black finish looks amazing, and even more so with that Power Zone 2 badge on the side. It features a large 140mm fan, which takes up nearly the entire top of the PSU. There's also plenty of ventilation, allowing for both passive cooling and significant airflow. Of course, using a 140mm fan means more airflow at a lower RPM compared to a 120mm model, making it quieter overall. Down the side of the PSU, the branding is embossed rather than just a sticker, which looks more premium. The [describe texture, e.g., " subtly textured"] embossing adds a touch of sophistication. Plus, pressing a shape into the metal tends to make it less prone to flex or vibration, something I'm sure be quiet! is well aware of. The back of the PSU features ventilation for heat exhaust, but interestingly, it's not present along the top edge. I trust be quiet! knows what they're doing; this design likely benefits overall airflow and acoustics. Finally, at the back, you'll find all the power connectors in a vertical arrangement. This is common on be quiet! designs, and I don't recall seeing it from other brands. The clear benefit is that this arrangement makes it easy to strap the cables together once they're all inserted. A Closer Look - Interior One of the biggest features of this PSU is the Silent Wings 3 fan. We know this is one of the best-performing fans on the market, super quiet, big airflow, but that's why they're often around £27 each to buy. There's no hybrid cooling switch on this PSU, the fan will be off in low-load and low-temperature usage regardless. be quiet! say that the main issue with hybrid PSU cooling is the fans rev and ramp on and off all the time. Not here, it has a slow curve, so the fan comes on nearly silently, and will operate for 2-5 minutes, even if the PSU temperature and load drop, to ensure a smooth transition and sufficient cooling that the fan doesn't need to immediately come back on. The interior design is superb, with nothing but high-quality components throughout. be quiet! put a focus on premium here, in a bid to not only improve power output and efficiency but also to ensure acoustic performance is exceptional and there's minimal risk of coil whine. It's the little details, like all of the wire and coils being glued together to prevent the risk of electrical noise and vibrations. As you can see, be quiet! has used premium quality capacitors throughout, and while this PSU is rated at 1000W, I wouldn't be surprised if it was able to easily exceed that rating in our testing. It uses a fully DC to DC topology too, which will result in less heat generation and less power wasted. This, as well as all the other quality components, are what allowed this PSU to reach an impressive Cybernetic Platinum efficiency rating, while many similarly priced rivals top out at Gold. Methodology & Testing At eTeknix we take the power supply testing procedure very seriously and have invested a lot of resources into acquiring the appropriate testing equipment. For all power supply reviews, we test the power supplies with dedicated power supply testing equipment. This means we can get the most accurate results from our testing as opposed to using software benchmarks (such as OCCT) or multi-meter readouts which are broadly inaccurate. Testing Hardware Sunmoon SM-8800 Active Load Tester Stingray DS1M12 USB Oscilloscope Voltcraft DT-10L laser tachometer What the eTeknix Test Procedure Involves Testing each power supply at 20/40/60/80/100% load (with load balanced across all rails) and measuring PFC (power factor correction), efficiency (actual power divided by power "pulled at the wall") which also uses a 50% load test, and voltage regulation (deviance from expected voltages of 3.3/5/12 on the main rails). Measuring ripple with an oscilloscope at 20/40/60/80/100% load. Transient loads taken with an oscilloscope are taken from 0% to 100% on the 12v raid, 3.3v rail, and then both combined. Measuring fan speed after a stabilisation period of five minutes at each loading scenario using the Voltcraft DT-10L laser tachometer and a reflective strip on the fan. Testing each power supply's OPP (Over Power Protection) mechanism and seeing how many watts each power supply can deliver before shutting down. Any deviation from this will be explained per review as appropriate on the respective testing pages, but this methodology page will remain unchanged. Other Things to Consider We recognise that a single 12-volt cable can provide only 6 Amps before overheating (which corrupts voltage regulation and efficiency) so we used an adequate number of cables for each power supply to ensure there is no efficiency loss from poor cable selection. If there is more than one 12VHPWR on a PSU, all will be used to test their combined loads. We use the same time scale and horizontal millivolt scale on our oscilloscope for all ripple tests, that is a 20ms T/DIV (horizontal) and a 0.02 V/DIV (vertical) meaning the scale is from -80mV to +80mV, ATX spec dictates that the 12v rail must fall within 150mv of ripple and the 3.3/5 within 50mv so that scale allows us to include both 150 and 50mV peaks. (Some older PSU reviews use different scales which were later ditched as the visual representation they give is inadequate, in these reviews written measurements are provided only). Deviance is the terminology used to represent the way voltages diverge from the expected values Voltage Regulation To test voltage regulation we load the power supply to five different load scenarios that give an equal spread of load across every single rail. So that means 20% on all rails, 40% on all rails and so on. We then calculate the average deviation of each rail from its expected voltage. Ideally, anything of +/- 2% regulation is seen as a very good result. Power Efficiency Power efficiency is measured by calculating the supplied wattage divided by the wattage drawn at the wall/plug, multiplied by 100 to give a percentage. We then compare that to the particular 80 Plus certification the company claims to see if it meets that. You can see the 80 Plus certifications below, we always test power supplies at 230v. Transient Loads Power Factor Correction Power Factor Correction is the ratio of the real power flowing to the load, to the apparent power in the circuit. PFC aims to make the load circuitry that is power factor corrected appear purely resistive (apparent power equal to real power). In this case, the voltage and current are in phase and the reactive power consumption is zero. The closer the number to one the better as this allows the most efficient delivery of electrical power (Source - Wikipedia). Ripple An oscilloscope can easily measure noise and Ripple. These show how much voltage fluctuation there is on a particular rail. We tested the rail stability of the 3.3-volt, 5-volt and 12-volt rails using an identical time and millivolt scale for all graphs. millivolt ripple is measured by the peak-to-peak size of the voltage curve. The latest ATX 12-volt version 2.3 specifications state that ripple from peak to peak must be no higher than 50 millivolts for the 3.3-volt and 5-volt rails, while the 12-volt rail is allowed up to 120 millivolts peak to peak to stay within specifications. Millivolt figures are stated to the closest increment of 5 given their variability. OPP Power supplies are often quoted as having various protection mechanisms and the most important of these is Over Power Protection. In our testing, we crank up the power draw until the power supply either shuts down (meaning the OPP mechanism is present and working) or blows up (meaning it is either not present or not working). We then note the maximum power consumption before the power supply shut down, or before it blew up. Fan Speed When testing in a power supply laboratory it is difficult to take fan noise readings as the noise from the Sunmoon test equipment and air conditioning corrupts everything. The next best thing in our circumstances was reading off the fan speed with a tachometer to get an idea of the noise. The ambient temperature during testing is held constant at 22 degrees, with 1 degree of variation. Each power supply had a consistent period of 5 minutes to stabilise between each load scenario. In my experience, the following general relationships apply between noise levels and fan speeds, though it can vary greatly between the type of fan used. Below 800 RPM - Inaudible/Silent 800 to 1000 RPM - Barely audible 1000 - 1200 RPM - Audible but still quiet 1200 - 1400 RPM - Moderately noisy 1400 - 1800 RPM - Noisy 1800 - 2000 RPM or above - Intolerable Internal Components This is just an example of what you can expect to see on a PSU interior. Efficiency Obviously, efficiency isn't much of an issue for be quiet! as this unit runs with a strong 80 Plus/Cybernetics Platinum efficiency rating, scoring extremely high throughout with excellent PFC. Less power is needed to be put in to get the required output, resulting in less waste, less heat generation, and more money saved over time. PFC (Power Factor Correction) Voltage Regulation Voltage regulation is, without a doubt, as good as we've ever seen, and I'm honestly not surprised given the overall quality of the components and construction of this power supply. Crossload Regulation We hope to see results within 3%-5% of the targets here, and these are barely a fraction of that, they're extremely accurate throughout all loads. Ripple The ripple results, as you might expect, are also really fantastic, on par with any of the best PSUs I've tested over the years and the Power Zone 2 can deliver clean and accurate voltages at all load levels. 3.3V 5V 12V Over Power Protection and Max Wattage While the unit is rated for 1000W, it's heavily over engineered and can be pushed much, much further. While this isn't really how you should operate it, it's great to see that you can easily handle any power spikes without fear of complications for your system. Fan Speed Given that this is a be quiet! power supply, with a premium be quiet! fan, you would expect it to be very quiet by design. Of course, you would be right to think so, the fan is completely off at low loads, and even at full load, it was barely more than a whisper. Now, admittedly the fan can go twice this speed, but after being under load on our test bench, it didn't get hot enough to require it. How Much Does it Cost? the be quiet! Power Zone 2 is hitting the market at just $189.90, putting it in line with other 1000W units such as the Corsair RM1000X and the Thermaltake GF A3. However, be quiet! offer their PSU with Platinum efficiency for the same price as their rival's Gold efficiency units, with full ATX 3.1 support, true semi-passive cooling, and a competitive 10-year warranty. Honestly, I'd be shocked if there was a better power supply on the market for equal or less money, this one is going to be extremely hard to beat. Available in 600, 750 and 1000W capacities. All models come with the same single-rail design, fully modular cables, and premium aesthetic. Overview The be quiet! Power Zone 2 delivers on all fronts, proving itself a triumph of engineering and design. It's a testament to be quiet!'s commitment to delivering high-quality, reliable, and quiet performing products, not just power supplies, but throughout their entire range we see this focus on quality and performance. Ease of Use The fully modular design simplifies cable management, making installation a breeze, a significant advantage for any system builder, and there's native 12VHPR too, which is much nicer than those silly adaptors that come with newer GPUs. The vertical connector arrangement further streamlines the cable routing, leading to fewer awkward cable bends. Performance The Power Zone 2 excels in its performance, as seen throughout the testing. The voltage regulation, ripple suppression, crossloads, efficiency, and everything else are exceptional and among the best we've seen. The unit handles over-power conditions with ease, showcasing its robust build quality and components, pushing way above the rated 1000W thanks to its massive single 12V rail design. Overall, this makes it ideal for demanding systems, such as gaming PCs. Efficiency and Safety Achieving 80 PLUS Platinum and Cybenetics Platinum certifications is a testament to the Power Zone 2's efficiency. It operates with minimal power waste, reducing heat generation and saving on electricity bills, a significant plus for long-term use. While this level of efficiency used to cost more than you would realistically save, the price of this PSU is proof that Platinum rated units are coming down in price. be quiet! has incorporated robust protection mechanisms, including OPP, ensuring the safety of your components. The high-quality components and meticulous construction further enhance reliability, allowing users to build with confidence. Aesthetics The Power Zone 2 boasts a sleek and understated design. The semi-gloss black finish, embossed branding, and unique mesh design exude quality. The focus on functionality doesn't compromise on aesthetics, resulting in a premium look and feel throughout, despite the main focus clearly being on performance. Should I Buy One? For anyone building a high-end PC, the Power Zone 2 is an outstanding choice. Its competitive pricing, Platinum efficiency, and 10-year warranty make it pretty much impossible to ignore. If you're in the market for a high-end power supply that delivers exceptional performance, whisper-quiet operation, and future-proof features, the be quiet! Power Zone 2 is a worthy investment that will provide years of dependable performance. If I were to throw money down on a power supply today, it would be this one, it's as simple as that.