be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 1200W Power Supply Review

A Closer Look – Exterior

Power Supply Unit

The overall design of the Dark Power Pro 11 is really nice, with the top housing the gorgeous 135mm SilentWings 3 fan.

The shape of the fan blades, the rails above them and the fan opening have all been crafted to help reduce noise and improve airflow; with the added bonus that the design looks cool.

Again, you can see that this is an 80Plus Platinum unit, promising 1200 watts of power. What I do love however, is that the side lettering is embossed; it’s a little touch, but it gives the whole thing a nice premium finish.

As you can see below, the Dark Power Pro 11 has multiple 12v rails, although there’s the external switch which can be used to switch it to a single rail, giving you the option of load balancing or single, the latter will no doubt appeal to the overclocking crowd.

Down the left side of the PSU, we’ve got four fan connectors which come with their own extension adaptor cables. This allows you to power up to four fans, which will be electrically independent of your system, this again could prove useful for overclockers, especially if all the motherboard connections are covered to protect them from LN2. One more nice touch is the rubber grommet around the 24-pin connection, it looks a lot cleaner than the often circular cut-out with the cable simply passing through it we see on most PSUs.

Good ventilation around the back of the PSU will help move heat from the back of your system. Obviously, you can also see that this PSU is rated to work from 110 to 240Vac and comes with a master power switch at the back.

Cabling

The 24-pin cable is sleeved but does show a lot of coloured cable at the end. It’s not the end of the world, but I would have liked all black cables or a more extensive braiding up to the connectors. Although, admittedly, the market this PSU is intended for, if you’re doing a high-end build, you’re likely to apply after market cable sleeves.

All the cables are of a high quality, again there’s a lot of colour on show, but the cables are all pretty durable, with good quality plastic connectors and of a good length to suit large high-end chassis.