Under the Hood

Be Quiet! is using Seasonic as the OEM for the Dark Power Pro 10 850W power supply and it is based on the Seasonic X-Series design.  Note: the Dark Power Pro 10 850W, 1000W and 1200W models are all manufactured by Seasonic (the others are apparently manufactured by Fortron Source – FSP). To review, one of the most obvious features is the +3.3V and +5V voltage regulators have been moved off of the main PCB (or daughter cards) and onto the modular DC connector board, which mounts to the front of the enclosure. The biggest advantage to moving the two VRMs onto the DC connector board is that it virtually eliminates the high current distribution wiring that previously had to route the +3.3V and +5V outputs to the connector panel.  This distribution wiring had to carry high currents and therefore was subject to line resistance and voltage losses.  With the new design, only +12V has to be delivered to the modular DC connector board, which can be distributed more efficiently with fewer and smaller wires (as voltage goes up, current goes down for the same power).     

Looking inside the Dark Power Pro 10 850W PSU, you will see the two main Japanese made capacitors (Nippon Chemi-Con) on the primary are rated at 390uF, 420V, and 105°C.  The secondary features predominantly solid polymer capacitors with a few Nippon Chemi-Con electrolytic caps thrown in for good measure.  Just like all previous Seasonic X-Series power supplies we have seen, the layout and component selection for the Dark Power Pro 10 850W appears to be excellent.


 

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