be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 650 W Power Supply Review

Primary Analysis

On this page we will take an in-depth look at the primary stage of the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 650 W. For a better understanding, please read our “Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies” tutorial.

This power supply uses one GBJ25L06 rectifying bridge, which is attached to an individual heatsink. This bridge supports up to 25 A at 115° C. So, in theory, you would be able to pull up to 2,875 W from a 115 V power grid. Assuming 80% efficiency, the bridge would allow this unit to deliver up to 2,300 W without burning itself out (or 2,587.5 W if 90% efficiency). Of course, we are only talking about this particular component. The real limit will depend on all the components combined in this power supply.

Figure 11: Rectifying bridge

The active PFC circuit uses three STF26NM60N MOSFETs, each supporting up to 20 A at 25° C or 12.6 A at 100° C in continuous mode (see the difference temperature makes) or 80 A at 25° C in pulse mode. These transistors present a maximum 165 mΩ resistance when turned on, a characteristic called RDS(on). The lower the number the better, meaning that the transistor will waste less power, and the power supply will have a higher efficiency.

Figure 12: Active PFC diode and transistors

The active PFC circuit is controlled by an ICE2PCS02 integrated circuit.

Figure 13: Active PFC controller

The output of the active PFC circuit is filtered by two 270 µF x 450 V Japanese electrolytic capacitors, from Matsushita (Panasonic), labeled at 105° C and connected in parallel. This is the equivalent of a single 540 µF x 450 V capacitor.

In the switching section, another two STF26NM60N MOSFETs are employed using a resonant configuration. The specifications for these transistors were already discussed above.

Figure 14: The two switching transistors

The switching transistors are controlled by a CM6901 integrated circuit.

Figure 15: Resonant controller

Another interesting feature present in the primary of this power supply that is worth mentioning is the presence of a SENZero chip (SEN013DG), which reduces the amount of energy the power supply consumes when in standby mode.

Figure 16: The SENZero chip

Let’s now take a look at the secondary of this power supply.