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I've got the power ...

I already tried to make you aware of the importance of power consumption these days. It really is remarkable what a PC consumes (power wise). Manufacturers really need to take a good look at this problem as it is a growing concern. Let's do a little math with an average to high-end PC okay ? Take a dual core AMD64 Athlon X2 4400+ GHz based PC armed with the now mid-range Radeon x1800 GTO, three HDs, a DVD-writer and CD Writer. When windows boots it'll use up no more than ~150 Watts.

The minute you overclock your processor and graphics card, and use the HDs and optical drives, your wattage will rise easily to about 350-380 Watts and can, at very stressful points, peak even higher. That still leaves plenty of room to play around. However, for every additional HD or optical drive you need to add 10 Watts and that's where the problem nowadays is.

Do you choose the never ending Guru path of upgrades in the form of SLI or Crossfire graphics cards ? Add another 75-100 Watts to the margin we just set. Do you have a dual CPU based rig or Dual Core processor ? That'll cost you about an extra 80 Watts and then there is additional cooling to ventilate all these "hot" gadgets. Therefore always choose a PSU with plenty of 'breathing' space for future upgrades and devices.

At this time I suggest you get at least a 400 Watt PSU for any mediocre PC, where that number was 300 Watts two years ago. With a lot of HD's and extras like active fans and case-mods such as lights, or if simply powering a high-end gaming rig, go for something even higher than 420 Watts. Starting with a 520 Watt PSU today is not really that bad of a specification for today's high-end computers.

But obviously if you are a true Guru you go for Quad SLI, Physics acceleration, overclocking & a Conroe processor right ? We need some more powah !

Right, let's talk about that dark matter today, the Dark-Power Pro.

Listan released this power supply with the statement it will not only have a huge amount of power across all rails, but does so with very little noise. The BQT P6 PRO-850W has terrific aesthetics which we'll show you later on.

So there you have it, 850 Watts ready for Quad GFX solutions and multi-core (server) systems. The Dark Power Pro Series offers solutions for high-end gaming, video design, and server applications.

Features:

The Dark Power Pro offers sufficient performance for all high-end PCs and sets standards with respect to noise levels, quality, efficiency and voltage stability. Let's have a peek at the provided Features:
Efficiency

• high efficiency rate of up to 84%
• active PFC with PF of up to 0.99:
• stabilization and improvement of the output currents.
• the Dark Power Pro uses no power when it is switched off (0W)
• manufactured strictly according to RoHS guidelines

Also good to know is that fan follow-up control (ECASO) protects sensitive hardware such as graphic cards or hard drives effectively from overheating. The power supply fan and the fans connected to the power supply are supplied with power for 3 minutes after shutting down. The thermal electronics regulates the rotational speed of the power supply fan and of the 3 housing fans connected directly to the power supply. The speed indicator signal of the power supply fan can be read out over the mainboard.

Warranty

This is what Listan does very well. They offer you a 3 year warranty which is 1 year more than legally required. If you are German you are in luck (it's a German manufacturer) you get 1 year of free on-location replacement service: at the front door of the end customer within 48 hours (in Germany only).

It's modular alright:

• flexible cable management (up to 19 cable strands, 17 of them removable)
• high quality processing, with nylon weave cable sheath
• greatest compatibility with available mainboard technologies
• four separate 12V circuits ensure an independent power supply of the CPU
• the use of SLI, CrossFire systems and Quad SLI solutions is made possible by four 6-pin PCIe VGA connectors!
• P8 connection for dual server mainboards
• 12 x SATA connections
• Forward looking for the next generation of graphic cards

The PSU is is compatible with EPS12V v2.9, ATX12V v2.2, thus can handle all of your power needs. It can handle a power draw of 35A on the 5v and 24A on the 3.3v rails. Next to that it has four 12v rails that can each peak to 20A each, however combined you have 58 continuous amps at your disposal, which is a lot considering that one GeForce 8800 GTX draws 9A.

What's all the hype about multiple 12-volt rails ? As explained on PCPower: Two rails is better than one, five is better than four, etc, youd think it was a better design. We don't think it is. A large, single 12-volt rail can transfer 100% of the 12-volt output from the PSU to the computer, while a multi-rail 12-volt design has distribution losses of up to 30% of the power supplys rating. Those losses occur because power literally gets trapped on under-utilized rails. For example, if the 12-volt rail that powers the CPU is rated for 17 amps and the CPU only uses 7A, the remaining 10A is unusable, since it is isolated from the rest of the system.

Technical data

• 850 W Power
• ATX12V Version 2.2
• 24 Pin Mainboard Connector with adapter to 20 Pin
• 4x PCI-Express Connectors
• 12x SATA Connections on two wiring harnesses
• 11x 4 Pin Connectors (HDD)
• 1x 4 Pin Connectors (FDD)
• 1x 120mm Silent fans
• Active PFC with PF up to 0,99
• 2 separate 12V Connections
• P4 and P8 Connnector
• 3x 3 Pin Molex fan Connectors
• Specification: +3,3V: 24A, +5V: 30A, +12V1: 20A, +12V2: 20A, +12V3: 20A, +12V4: 20A, -12V: 0,8A, +5VSB: 3A

Yep, all that power offering modular design, quad PCIe connectors and bunch of other stuff, it's really a sexy power supply huh? Allow me to commence with both the beginning and the end results straight away. Ladies and gentlemen it's time to start the the sexy photo shoot.