Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
The Dark Power 14 series is be quiet!'s flagship lineup, and the Dark Power Pro 14 1000W we are reviewing today is the latest and greatest from the company, superseding the be quiet! Dark Power 13 I reviewed in 2023. The latest model is ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 compliant. Interestingly, there is no Pro variant like the Dark Power Pro 13. The Dark Power 14 series have two other wattage models at 850W and 1200W. From our view above, you can see the branding is implemented on one side, where be quiet!'s logo and Dark Power Pro branding is embossed in shiny silver text. The other side is the specifications label, which we will examine in just a moment. The orientation of it is the same on both sides, so the side facing the user after installation will not be correct if you plan to install the PSU with the fan facing up. It will be correct if you plan to install it with the fan facing down, which is the traditional method. The rest of the Dark Power Pro 14 1000W uses standard SECC construction.
The 1000W variant I am reviewing today has a depth of 17.5cm, which is not necessarily long for its wattage and efficiency grade, but it is not short either. Most modular power supplies are longer than non-modular units by a centimeter or two, as the extra length is needed to accommodate its connector board at the back. We will take a look inside the PSU on the next page. For most ATX or eATX chassis, this length should not be too much of a problem. However, if you have a mATX or mITX case that takes standard power supplies, you should make sure this longer unit can fit in your enclosure and does not cause other incompatibilities.
At the top, a fixed mesh fan grille guards the primary and only cooling fan installed. The mesh does not look too different than the bug screen on your window, so it looks great and air resistance should be reasonable. The 135mm fan generates airflow by drawing air from the bottom of the power supply over its internal components to keep the temperatures in check. Exhaust heat is allowed to leave at the back of the power supply through the secondary honeycomb mesh opening. Meanwhile, four hex screws secure the power supply case together. One screw has a warranty seal over it, so you cannot open the be quiet! Dark Power 14 1000W without voiding its 10-year warranty.
Starting from the back part of the power supply, we have the same familiar honeycomb mesh design as most PSUs with a bottom mounted fan, but with additional vertical bars in front of the honeycomb mesh grille. I am not sure what the purpose of the additional vertical bars in front of the honeycomb mesh grille is. While it may improve the aesthetics to some people, these extra bars will reduce airflow and therefore increase air resistance. It is important for heat to leave the power supply as easily and efficiently as possible even though this design will probably not cause any overheating issues, because the Dark Power Pro 14 1000W incorporates only one 135mm fan at the bottom.
As always, there is a horizontally aligned C13 male connector for power input on the western edge along with an on/off switch above it. On top of the two is a sticker with be quiet!'s logo and the input voltage range. Near the bottom right corner are two additional rocker switches. 0 rpm keeps the fan off until it exceeds a designed load or heat threshold. Setting 0 rpm to off ensures the fan stays on at all times, but the be quiet! Dark Power 14 1000W is intelligently designed to keep it from overheating regardless of what the active setting is. The rear ventilation opening is implemented in a reasonably efficient manner, but the power input connector and switches take up a bit more room than average at the back. The be quiet! Dark Power 14 1000W has automatic full range 100V to 240V AC line voltage selection as with all active PFC power supplies, so the user does not have to worry about manually selecting input voltage.
Like many power supplies we cover here at APH Networks, the Dark Power 14 1000W is a fully modular power supply. This means all cables are completely detachable from the main unit. While it is somewhat questionable with regards to why this is necessary, since cables such as the ATX 24-pin and ATX 4-pin/EPS 8-pin have practically an 100% chance of being always connected, it may prove to be beneficial to an extent when building your computer initially.
The rear cable connection panel is done nicely. be quiet! has also made the labels right side up in standard orientation. Similar connectors are grouped together and are laid out in a very logical manner. To ensure you know what is going on, they are all clearly labeled for minimal ambiguity. The +12V rail the connectors draw from is also stated. Starting from the top and left side of our photo, we have four peripheral headers for Molex and SATA, motherboard 24-pin split into two blocks close to each other, two ATX/EPS 4+4 pin outputs, two PCI Express connectors, and one 16-pin 600W 12V-2x6 PCIe 5.1. Incompatible outputs will not physically fit into each other, so be quiet! has done a great job in this regard. This is a reasonable array of outputs in correspondence number of connectors on each modular cable, which should be sufficient for casual users and power enthusiasts alike.
The external build quality of be quiet!'s Dark Power 14 1000W power supply is excellent as always; a good indication the company is serious about the product they are selling. We will take it apart in just a moment. Fit is done well with minimal panel gaps, and all edges are nicely finished off. The level of refinement with regards to the external build quality is right up there with all the other high-quality PSUs I have used in the past. As aforementioned, we will crack open the power supply to see what components are inside in the following section.
The voltage specification label is located on the side of the be quiet! Dark Power 14 1000W. There are two main virtual rails. Up to 25A can be delivered via the +3.3V rail for a total of 82.5W, while the 24A on the +5V rail brings the output to 120W in this area. The total combined output for the +3.3V and +5V rail is 120W. In other words, your power allocation combination must fall within the limits of the listed specifications. Meanwhile, four +12V rails, with the first two up to 33A each and the last two up to 40A each, deliver up to 83A combined for a total of 996W. I have not seen a power supply with more than one +12V rail, never mind four, since 2011 save for other be quiet! models like the Dark Power 13 series, which I find very strange. Having a single +12V rail is important to maximize power delivery flexibility compared to multiple rails. Thankfully, you can combine all the +12V rails into one by flipping a switch at the back. According to the manual, it is recommended to only combine the rails if necessary, otherwise just leave it operating in separate rails instead. To be honest, I think there should only be one +12V rail like pretty much every power supply on the market today. I am not sure why this is a thing in 2026.
Overall, the combined power output for the whole be quiet! Dark Power 14 1000W is 1000W, as its name suggests. It does sound a bit confusing to understand how this works at first, but generally speaking, this configuration allows sufficiently flexible power demands and should be sufficient to accommodate most users. Interestingly, the power outputs in the +3.3V and 5V rails are a bit higher than the average, as most PSUs in this wattage range released since the late 2010s usually have them between 20A and 22A. This is because modern systems do not have a lot of need in this area.
The be quiet! Dark Power 14 1000W is 80 Plus Titanium and Cybenetics ETA Titanium certified. The 80 Plus Titanium certification means that it is at least 90%, 92%, 94%, 90% efficient at 10%, 20%, 50%, and 100% load, respectively. Cybenetics ETA Titanium means at 115V input, it is certified to be between 91% and 93% overall efficiency, power factor above 0.980, greater than 77% 5VSB efficiency, and less than 0.13W vampire power. There is no higher 80 Plus certification for power supplies of this type at press time, but Cybenetics ETA Diamond is available.
A total of ten modular power cables is included out of the box. All modular cables are sleeved and easy to bend, making them extremely easy to work with. 16 AWG wires are found on the ATX 20+4-pin, ATX 4+4 pin, EPS 8 pin, and 12VHPWR PCIe 12+4 pin bundles. Everything else is 18 AWG, which is standard and to be expected.
The following modular cables are included out of the box:
- 1x ATX 20+4 pin, 60.0cm
- 1x ATX 4+4 pin, 70.0cm
- 1x EPS 8 pin, 70.0cm
- 1x 12V-2x6 PCIe 12+4 pin, 60.0cm
- 2x PCIe 6+2 pin, 2 connectors each, 60.0cm to both connectors
- 2x SATA, 4 connectors each, 60.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA, 3 connectors, 60.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
- 1x SATA/Molex, 4 connectors, 60.0cm to first connector, 15.0cm spacing thereafter
These figures are provided by the manufacturer. Most users should have no problems with be quiet!'s Dark Power 14 1000W in modern cases. 50cm is the general standard, and the included cables met or exceeded this recommendation on all measurements. Peripheral cables with a shorter length to the first connector may be advantageous for cable routing and management though.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
