Performance, Performance Per Dollar And Noise Ratings
Performance Rating
The following graph shows the total performance rating of the PSU, comparing it to other units we have tested in the past. To be more specific, the tested unit is shown as 100 percent, and every other unit's performance is shown relative to that tested unit.
In this category, the Dark Power P11-1200 fails to match the performance of its competition. Without any doubt, it is a very good PSU, but the other high-end platforms in this category scored higher in our tests. Mostly, it was the unit's efficiency and load-regulation performance that prevented the Dark Power P11 unit from claiming a higher place in the above chart.
Performance Per Dollar
The following chart may be the most interesting to many of you, because it depicts the unit's performance-per-dollar score. We looked up the current price of each PSU on popular online shops and used those prices and all relative performance numbers to calculate the index. If the specific unit wasn't available in the United States, we searched for the PSU in popular European Union shops, converting the listed price to U.S. dollars (without value-added tax). Note that all of the numbers in the following graph are normalized by the rated power of each PSU.
The combination of high price and lower performance (by the standards of this category) dropped the unit's performance-per-dollar ratio. If be quiet! wants to make this PSU more competitive, the company should either increase performance or offer the unit at a lower price.
Noise Rating
The graph below depicts the cooling fan's average noise over the PSU's entire operating range, with an ambient temperature between 28 and 30 degrees C (82 to 86 degrees F).
This is the section where the high-capacity Dark Power Pro unit shines. It outperforms most of the competition, offering a very quiet overall operation without even utilizing a semipassive mode. The combination of the top-notch SilentWings 3 fan and the highly relaxed fan profile produced this result. If you need a PSU with 1.2-kW capacity, typically you are ready to pay for it. That means not only the high price, but also with the increased noise output, especially under tough conditions. However, with PSUs like the Dark Power Pro P11-1200, you only have to worry about the price tag, because the noise won't be a problem, at least on typical loads.