Honestly, with the be quiet! Straight Power 12 1200W, I got everything I expected. It’s now my main power supply on the test bench, allowing me to test even an RTX 4090 Ti with NVLink. The PSU is powerful, reliable, and comes fully equipped. The only downside turned out to be where I least expected it.
Video review of be quiet! Straight Power 12 1200W
Market positioning
The cost of the 1200W model is as expected – $280. There are competitors on the market, quite a few of them. Moreover, some online stores offer the predecessor – the Straight Power 11 – as an alternative. As one commentator expressed, there’s no need to pay attention to the 11th version when the 12th version with ATX 3.0 support is only $27 more expensive.
Package contents
In terms of equipment, everything is generously provided, and there’s a variety. The cables are modular, including PCIe 6+2, one 12VHPWR cable, SATA cable, single-use ties, reusable ties, screws, and even an instruction manual. As expected from a be quiet! PSU, the cable lengths and power specifications for different versions are clearly outlined in the manual.
The cable length, by the way, starts at 550 mm, and there are even MOLEX connectors. The manual also provides instructions on how to properly use the 12VHPWR, advising against bending it too forcefully, as it may get hot. First for your graphics card, and then for you.
By the way, make sure the cable is fully inserted into the connector until it clicks. Otherwise, things might not end well.
Appearance and characteristics
Visually, the power supply unit looks solid, just like all the older models from be quiet! It has a length of 180 mm, which is more than what you’d find in compact cases like the Cougar Dust 2 – but less than the 200 mm found in flagship models like the Dark Power Pro.
This model belongs to the Platinum efficiency class, specifically rated at 93+. It features support for protections against overvoltage (OVP) and undervoltage (UVP), with corresponding acronyms SCP and SIP for short-circuit and voltage spike protection, respectively.
Protection against overload for both power and current on each channel is present (OPP and OCP, respectively). Additionally, there is protection against overheating (OTP). The power factor correction (PFC) is active, as mentioned earlier.
The fan used here is the be quiet! Silent Wings 3 with the nomenclature BQ-SlW3-13525-HF-26, a high-quality 135 mm model. It operates at speeds ranging from 450 RPM to 600 RPM under a 600 W load. Unfortunately, there is no hybrid operating mode. Fortunately, the fan remains virtually silent even under a 1000 W load.
The input capacitors used here are Nippon Chemi-Con, three units up to 420 V with a total capacitance of 1270 µF. In all other locations, solid-state capacitors from Chemi-Con and Rubicon are employed. The rectifier is a TOSHIBA TPHR8504PL, and the PWM controller is the APW7159 model.
There is also an APFC (Active Power Factor Correction) with a separate coil. All of these components result in a deviation on the power line of around 2%. Peak efficiency is achieved at a load of 600 W, reaching almost 95%. If necessary, a load of up to 1400 W can be accommodated.
The main trouble is to be quiet! Straight Power 12
Now – about what inconvenience are we talking about? About the power cable. As you can see, it’s non-standard. Non-standard and incompatible with 99.99% of power cables from other PSUs. Why? Because it’s not a C13, but a C19 – a new international standard. In other words, be quiet! didn’t give birth to its own plug, for which I thank them.
This also means that C19 will likely be encountered in other manufacturers’ products. Why? Because, as I understand it, it’s part of the PCIe 5.0 standard, just like ATX 3.0. C19 is designed for power up to 1500W, while C13 is only rated for 1200W. So why did C19 only appear to me now, even though I’ve reviewed power supplies up to 1500W before?
Probably because C13 was sufficient. Why isn’t it enough now? For the same reason NVIDIA decided to use 12VHPWR, which stands for 12 Volt High Power cable. Future graphics cards will consume more power more often, with power spikes that will put significant loads on both the PSU and the cables.
And overall, this doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is that the be quiet! Straight Power 12 1200W doesn’t come with any C19 to C13 adapter or converter.
Read also: Cougar Dust 2 Review: Pushing the Boundaries of PC Design
So, if you, like me, lost the cable during a hasty move from the old studio to the new one, you’re in trouble because you can’t quickly buy it or borrow it from colleagues. Because at the time of receiving the PSU, it was almost nowhere to be found. This could be solved with an adapter, but it’s not included in the package either.
Why am I confidently sure that you can create such an adapter? Because the plugs are almost identical, with three contacts. In theory, I could even solder the adapter myself. Be quiet! could even attach a sticker saying that the adapter should not be used under heavy loads. But no, there’s nothing at all.
Conclusion
As you understood from the review, the power supply unit itself, apart from the unsettling trend, is quite good. With the exception of the lack of a hybrid fan mode, the be quiet! Straight Power 12 1200W is reliable, high-quality, versatile, and sufficiently powerful. It’s expensive, but the price is justified and expected.
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