Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 650W & 850W PSU Review
by E. Fylladitakis on February 2, 2015 11:40 AM ESTDark Power Pro 10 650W Cold Test Results
For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox, and various other bits and parts. For a thorough explanation of our testing methodology and more details on our equipment, please refer to our How We Test PSUs – 2014 Pipeline post.
Considering its 80 Plus Gold certification, the performance of the Dark Power Pro 10 650W unit at room temperature is good yet not extraordinary. The average conversion efficiency of the power supply within the nominal load range (20% to 100%) is 90.9%, peaking at 92.3% at 50% load, meeting its 80 Plus Gold certification. It is however worth noting that the efficiency of this PSU plummets when the load is lower than 80 Watts. All PSUs generally are inefficient if the load is below 20% of their rated capacity, but the Dark Power Pro 10 650W is less efficient than most similar products, with its efficiency taking a dive down to 72.5% at 5% load.
The Dark Power Pro 10 650W is well balanced between cooling performance and acoustics. The SilentWings fan remains quiet at low to medium loads and becomes clearly audible only if the load is greater than 300 Watts. After that point, each increase of the load sacrifices some acoustic comfort, as the fan will gradually speed up in order to cope with the increasing cooling demands.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
25 Comments
View All Comments
maeda_toshiie - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
"CapXon is a reputable company and their polymer capacitors are among the best worldwide"????? You do know CapXon's reputation and its position in the cap quality rankings...?!
Tator Tot - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
There's a large difference between Polymer Capacitors & Electrolytic capacitors; CapXon's reputation comes from the quality of their electrolytic capacitors, not their polymers. Polymer capacitors, in general, are pretty hard to mess up though. You'd really have to try to make bad poly's.E.Fyll - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
Perfectly so. CapXon is one of the ten largest and most reputable companies worldwide. They do have a mediocre reputation, half due to a couple of bad series and half because their products were used in horrible designs, but claiming that they are bad when therea re three dozen worse companies, or trying to suggest that only Japanese companies make good capacitors (in Taiwan), is...not useful.dishayu - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
I can't objectively comment on the quality CapXon capacitors, but i've personally had a poor experience with them in the past and if you google for CapXon you see nothing but criticism and poor reviews. They are very commonly called crapxon on the internet. I don't see how any of that equates to being reputable.4745454b - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
I sort of learned this lesson with my Antec Smart Power 450W. (If you know caps, you know what was in that.) Once I figured out there was a possible problem with my PSU I did what I could to prevent it. I blew the dust out every three months, and kept the tower as a whole as cool as possible. Then I after a year or so I bought a better PSU, the EA500. I don't remember the system it powered back then, probably my E6600 and 7750. My roommate needed a PSU after I upgraded it and I stuck that in there telling her to be gentle with it. Her system was an old P4 with a 9800 I think. (ATI 9800, not Nvidia 9800.) She didn't listen and stuck her case in that sweat box some/most desks come with because "that's where the computer goes right?" Needless to say the PSU didn't last long.The point I'm trying to make is even bad caps can do their job if you are nice to them. And just because a cap doesn't come from X region doesn't mean it's bad.
shadowjk - Friday, February 6, 2015 - link
I'm not familiar with the reputation of individual manufacturers, but even assuming that every capacitor make and model meet their manufacturer's specifications, you can still end up with capacitor death.Capacitors have a defined expected lifetime, at a specific temperature, voltage, and ripple current. The "headline" ratings usually put you in the ballpark of a few thousand hours life expectancy, which is only slightly better than how long a classic light bulb lasts before burning out.
In a poor design, the voltage and temperature limits are usually met by the design, but ripple current spec is exceeded (if we presume the designer aimed for half decent usable life). Temp and V can be checked by average Joe user, ripple current is trickier.
I wonder if the "reputable" jp manufacturers have strings attached to sales, to make sure nobody blows up their capacitors...
extide - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
Wow, that scope is pretty ancient and crappy! I mean, at least go for the Rigol DS1054Z -- twice the sample rate (max) and tons of features for a really great price.E.Fyll - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
The scope is old but it is reliable and excels the required specifications....and I want a much better oscilloscope too, but things do tend to be more complicated when you actually have to pay for it.
jordanclock - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
As someone that isn't particularly well versed in oscilloscopes, would a "better" model make a difference in the results of an Anandtech review? I know you all strive for the highest quality in your reviews, but is this an example of little return on investment?E.Fyll - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
Not more accurate results on the current tests, but a better oscilloscope would allow for more tests. It will happen eventually but, with a price tag of nearly $9000, it will take a while.