Final Words & Conclusion

The be quiet! Straight Power 12 1500W (ATX 3.0) is a very good product. The size is relatively compact (180 mm long) for the wattage you get here. The exterior looks pleasant (in all black), but the thing is that most of the chassis nowadays have a PSU shroud, which would hide this piece of art behind a metal. You won’t find the fanless mode here. The unit comes with a 10-year warranty. It’s an 80 Plus Gold certified PSU, and that’s a typical choice for even the high-end systems (maybe a bit more) from the consumer’s point of view (in terms of efficiency/price of the unit). The 1500 W variant offers a massive power output that should be enough for most users, even the most elaborate gaming setups, with a single graphics card in their system. A PC like the one used in this test (i9 13900K + Geforce RTX 4090) rarely exceeds 650 W power draw.

On the quality side, all is great, and the stability tests also went well. Load regulation is very good for an upper-range PSU, and there was no noticeable droop on the +5V and +12V rails. Ripple suppression is safely within tolerance. The 120 mm fan does well when it’s supposed to spin. It becomes audible close to 75-80% load, so there’s no reason to complain. You get typical accessories in the package, including mounting screws, a power cord, cable ties, and a manual. The provided cables come in a solid, flexible braided casing to neatly and beautifully place inside the PC case. There’s a 12+4-pin Gen 5 PCIe-compatible cable (capable of delivering 600W; there are two pieces in 1200 and 1500 W variants). 

A word about efficiency

Like with any other power supply, 50% of the maximum load is where the device is most efficient. The sweet spot of the be quiet! Straight Power 12 1500W (ATX 3.0) is around 94% (at 230 Volts). In the case of this particular unit, half of the maximum wattage is 750 W. The average gaming PC with a single graphics card (at least those usually spotted in Steam hardware polls) won’t exceed this value under normal conditions. Don’t overestimate the savings (on your electricity bill) you can make by going from 80 Plus Bronze to even Titanium. You can assume that the build quality of more expensive PSUs will be higher, but the differences in efficiency are not that significant. So, summing it up, an 80 Plus Platinum PSU like the be quiet! Straight Power 12 1500W (ATX 3.0) is an excellent and ultimate solution. The price is €349.90 / $379.90 / £349.99 for the 1500 W variant, which is not so expensive for a high-wattage PSU. 

Stability

There isn't much to say about stability. The voltages hold, and this doesn't change under higher loads. The 1500 W version should be enough for a single GPU (who uses the dual-GPU these days, without SLI support?) like an RTX 4080/4090, even with an Intel Core i9 13900K.

Aesthetics

This be quiet! PSU looks nice with its all-black cabling. The be quiet! Straight Power 12 1500W (ATX 3.0) approach with modular cables lets you plug in only the leads you need, improving your build’s looks. The Straight Power 12(ATX 3.0) case looks nice; its finishing makes it look solid. Shiny silver struts sit above the floating fan. Still, the PSU shroud you’ll usually have or the compartment for the power supply at the back of the motherboard tray wouldn’t help. A few chassis will allow the appropriate presentation. 

Final words

The be quiet! Straight Power 12 1500W retails at €349.90 / $379.90 / £349.99, which is not steep for such a high-wattage PSU that is ATX 3.0 compliant. The unit looks attractive and has relatively compact dimensions (180x150x86 mm). There’s no fanless mode, but the noise operation is very low. Speaking of which, it’s a pity that you won’t even see the PSU in most of the chassis, as it would be hidden behind the shroud or at the back of the motherboard tray, so in most cases, that effort wasn’t so much needed. As for the power delivery itself – there’s no reason to be worried, be quiet! has made the platform, and the results are more than satisfactory. The be quiet! Straight Power 12(ATX 3.0) offers very good acoustics (as it becomes audible only above 75-80% load) and solid build quality. According to the standards, the efficiency is like it should be for the 80 Plus Platinum award. You also get a 10-year warranty, which you would expect in that price range. You also get not one but two 12+4-pin PCIe 5.0 compatible cables for powering up to 600 W GPUs. This PSU deserves the “Silver” award for the ATX 3.0 compatibility and low noise under typical operating temperatures (despite the lack of fanless mode operation).

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