Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W BN603 PSU Review

Testing results (Efficiency, Noise & Thermal)

The 80Plus Platinum is the highest efficiency certification of any commercial power supply available today and the Dark Power Pro 10 850W unit honors it by reaching an efficiency of 94.2% at 50% load while powered from a 230V A/C source. When the power source voltage drops to 110V A/C, the efficiency drops by about 1% across the entire load range, which is expected from all modern commercial switching PSU designs. This level of efficiency, albeit extremely high, was to be expected from a high quality power supply which bears the 80Plus Platinum certification.

It would appear that the company has programmed a “step-up” cooling profile in the 850W version of the Dark Power Pro 10. The power supply remains entirely silent at low loads, with the fan speeding up once the load exceeds 55% of the unit’s capacity. In between 60% and 85% load the fan is audible, even though barely. Only under maximum stress the fan of this power supply becomes clearly audible from a typical distance of 1m; however, a system capable of inducing such a load will probably be much louder than the power supply at this point.

For a power supply capable of running this quiet, the thermal performance of the Dark Power Pro 10 850W is remarkable. The temperature delta begins at 2.4°C and reaches only up to 5.2°C under maximum load, testament of the extremely high efficiency and good design of the power supply.