be quiet Dark Power Pro 13 1300W Power Supply Review

The Dark Power Pro is a long-standing line of PSUs designed for the high-end PC market.  While that does not exclude every day budget-oriented system builders and gamers from picking one up there is a point of diminishing returns if you don’t plan to take advantage of the special features.

Before we jump into the review, I wanted to point out that the packaging for the Dark Power Pro 13 is quite amazing.  Not only is the box HUGE but the packaging is extremely well built with extremely tight tolerances.    To provide a size comparison here we have the Dark Power Pro 13 box with a standard screwdriver sized bottle opener in front.  (Which also happens to have the be quiet logo on it)

Inside you will find the main power supply on the left wrapped in a nice felt while the larger box on the right contains the cable bundle, accessories and excellent user manual.

Unlike most power supplies that are constructed from a stamped steel chassis the Dark Power Pro 13 features a brushed aluminum frame that has been anodized black.  As such many of the common stamped features are absent and replaced by elegant vertical bars and carefully machined angled corners.

Under the aluminum panels you’ll find metal mesh, likely to prevent grasshoppers from feasting on the premium quality Japanese capacitors rated at 105c for maximum reliability and longevity.

You’ll also find the massively sturdy power switch followed by the high amperage power socket which almost looks like a sleeping Ghast.

A metal mesh can be found on the bottom of the PSU covering the entire panel and cooling fan.  This fan is a frameless design with a silent wings blade profile.  By removing the frame, they can install a much larger fan to improve cooling with quieter operation.

 The Dark Power Pro 13 features a fully modular cable design allowing you to use only the cables you need for your system.  Unlike other modular PSUs you’ll find a different power plug for each cable type.  Along the left you will find size plugs dedicated to drives and accessories.  To the right you’ll find motherboard specific power connections for the main 24pin power plug and two 8-pin CPU plugs.  A total of three PCI Express specific power connections are available followed by two dedicated PCI Express 5.0 12VHPWR power connections.

You’ll find a special connection called “OCK” in the upper left.  This is a dedicated Overclocking Key port allowing the user to decide how they want their 12v rails to be configured.  With the key removed the Dark Power Pro offers six (6) independent 12v power rails and good for low power systems.  By installing the OCK key you will bind all six 12v rails together into a high-performance single-rail operation. 

Overclockers prefer the single rail option as it will deliver more stable power under extreme loads similar to why high-performance motherboards feature more power phases around the CPU, this reduces voltage ripple and delivers more consistent power.

The OC key comes in two configurations.  The first is a simple jumper that you can use when the power supply will be used on a test bench or during an overclocking session.  For systems where the PSU will be inaccessible there is a remote option that includes mounting a switch into an expansion slot.  When the LED is active you are in full Overclocking mode.