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

Introduction & Packaging

be quiet! are regarded as one of the best brands in the business, from their high-end CPU coolers, system fans and of course their power supplies, many of which are regarded as some of the coolest, quietest and best make products available today. Obviously, the quiet part is a given, with a name like be quiet!, if they made noisy products, it would be quite a disappointment. To achieve quiet performance, be quiet! uses high-quality components, premium grade build quality and design, so it’s no surprise that they’ve won many awards in the past; will we see a repeat performance today?

The Dark Power Pro 11 is the latest entry in their popular Dark Power Pro series. There are a few notable features to this power supply that make it stand out from the competition. First we’ve got the new SilentWings 3 135mm fan which features the new 6-pole motor, a redesigned bearing, the lowest startup rotational speed in the market (under 250FPM) and more; promising virtually inaudible performance and improved cooling. Of course, power delivery is improved too, with high-quality PFC capacitors, higher efficiency, improved voltage stability, regulation and more!

Packaging and Contents

As you can see, the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 comes in the usual packaging design of any other be quiet! product. Down the left side of the box, it’s marked “high-end”, although the words “80 Plus Platinum” and “1200w” are also strong indicators that this is a high-end/enthusiast focused product.

The Dark Power Pro 11 is semi-modular and comes with a hard-wired 24-pin, not big deal since literally all systems will need this cable and making it modular would only add to the cost. There are two CPU power cables, an 8-pin and a 4+4, Four SATA/Molex cables with FDD options. One of the more important cables, there are four PCIe cables, three with dual 6+2 connectors and a single 6pin PCIe cable. Finally, you’ll also find external fan connector cables, more on those in a moment, and the Overclocking Key add-on.

In the box, we found two power cables, one for EU and one for UK, although we expect this will differ based on region.

Included extras from left to right, are the fan adaptor cables, OC jumper, Overclocking Key switch, screws, cable ties, thumb screws and two Velcro cable ties.