Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W

April 9, 2009 | 11:45

Tags: #12v #850w #be #dark #efficiency #load #modular #performance #power #pro #psu #quiet #rails #review #temperature

Companies: #be-quiet #test

Cables and Connectors

Affixed cables include:
  • One 60cm 20+4-pin ATX cable
Modular cables include:
  • Two SATA cables with connectors at 60cm, 75cm, 90cm and 105cm
  • One SATA cable with connectors at 60cm, 75cm, 90cm and a floppy power connector at 105cm
  • Two Molex cable with connectors at 60cm, 75cm, 90cm and 105cm
  • One mixed cable with SATA connectors at 60cm and 75cm, Molex connectors at 90cm and 105cm and finally a floppy power connector at 120cm
  • One 60cm 6-pin EPS 12V power connector
  • Four 60cm 6+2-pin PCI-Express power connectors
  • One 60cm 4-pin EPS 12V power connector
  • One 60cm 8-pin EPS 12V power connector
  • One 60cm Molex power connector (typically for motherboard)
  • One 50cm single Molex power connector
  • Two 50cm single SATA power connectors
  • Four fan power cables with a Molex connector at 60cm and 3-pin fan connector at 75cm
  • One PCI-Express 8-pin to two PCI-Express 8-pin power adapter
That's a fantastic array and variety of cables - single ones for the odd occasion if you have a hard drive on its own or have a fanbus that needs powering at the top of a case for example, and the mixed SATA and Molex cable is also an interesting and simple innovation. We do question the lengths though - 60cm is long and for some smaller cases it could equate to mess.

There are also some weird inclusions - we've never seen a 6-pin EPS power connector before, only 4-pin and 8-pin, and we don't understand the inclusion of the PCI-Express adapter cable when there are already four 6+2-pins included - enough for quad SLI or even CrossFire-X.

Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W Cables and Connectors Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W Cables and Connectors
Click to enlarge

Generally the braid quality is good, but it isn't tight enough on a few of the cables, like the PCI-Express below for example, and the cable ends are zip tied in - so held well, but it looks uglier than simply glued. The labels tied to every connector also make it clear for those new to self-builds, and can be easily clipped off if you don't need them and they get in the way.

The 4-pin EPS 12V connector is separate to a solid 8-pin, and both are of course modular offering the choice of either. Both the SATA and Molex connectors are mostly 90 degree with the end ones normal as shown below. This means they fit flusher when plugged in, but it also means the Molex forgo the useful push-release clips.

Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W Cables and Connectors Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W Cables and Connectors
Click to enlarge

Additionally there are fan power cables with both Molex and 3-pin fan connectors strung to thin black and white cables. Be Quiet! states only one fan can be used per cable, despite the two connectors, so it'll power up to a maximum of four. While a feature very few, if any, other companies employ, Be Quiet! is dropping it for its next generation P8 series because the cables look messy. It'll only supply 12V and most people either use motherboard pin-outs or a fanbus for power and fan speed monitoring.

Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W Cables and Connectors Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W Cables and Connectors
Click to enlarge

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