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I've got the power!
As always, allow me to make you aware of the amount of current we use with today's PC's. Power consumption these days is getting to be a real issue. I'm very happy that manufacturers now try to take a good look at this problem as it is a growing concern. The new Intel Core 2 Duo processors are a great example of more performance with a lower power rating. Great stuff.
Let's do a little math with an average to high-end PC okay ? Take an AMD Athlon 4000+ 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 like 140-150 Watts.
The minute you overclock your processor and graphics card, and use the HDs and optical drives, your wattage will rise to about 350 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 Guru3D suggests you get at least a 420 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 400 Watt. Starting with a 520 Watt PSU today is not really that bad of a specification for today's high-end computers.
Right, the Dark-Power Pro.
So we recently had the chance of taking a closer look at the Dark Power P6 Pro-600W power supply unit from Be-Quiet, which is a company based in Germany.
The Dark Power Pro is actually a product series with three models, 430, 530 and 600 Watts. Yet they also offer a Blackline and "standard" Dark power product line.
Why then a Pro version in the segment you asks ? Well the Dark Power Pro line is not intended to replace that standard Dark Power P6 line; it's simply a progression of the former generation with new features. There are a number of differences between the two product series, with the main difference being the fact that the Dark Power Pro unit is modular, where the older P6 was not.
What's absolutely notable is that the Dark Power Pro is designed to be as silent as possible while delivering high power loads and reliable enough to be an assessable part in high end systems, so we'll definitely take a look at that.
Technical Data:
- MODEL - BQT P6-Pro-600W, ATX600 W Power
- ATX12V Version 2.2
- 24 Pin Mainboard Connector with adapter to 20 Pin
- 2x PCI-Express Connectors (SLI compatible)
- 6x SATA Connections on two wiring harnesses
- 2x protected VGA/HDD 4 Pin Connector (SLI compatible)
- 6x 4 Pin Connectors (HDD)
- 1x 4 Pin Connectors (FDD)
- 1x 120mm SilentWings fans
- Active PFC with PF up to 0,99
- 2 separate 12V Connections
- P4 and P8 Connnector
- 3x 3 Pin/4 Pin Molex fan Connectors
- Specification: 3,3V: 28A, 5V: 40A, 12V1: 20A, 12V2: 20A, -5V: 0,5A, -12V: 0,8A, 5VSB: 2,5
