be quiet! Straight Power 10 CM 600W Review

The Straight Power range has been a big seller for be quiet! over previous years. The '10' range looks likely to continue the success story for the German tech company.

As their name would suggest be quiet! are always primarily focused on reducing noise emissions as far as possible. The latest Silent Wings 3 fans are undoubtedly market leaders, alongside the Aerocool Dead Silence range which we reviewed several months ago.

be quiet! products are always beautifully finished, and the Straight Power 10 CM 600Watt power supply is no exception to the rule. The paint work is deep and very resilient to scratching, and the overall quality of finish outside is excellent.

I was a little surprised to see they hadn't opted for the thin ‘ribbon' style cables which are proving popular with the enthusiast audience thanks to routing benefits, however the sleeved cables are high grade.

Inside, we can see they have partnered up with FSP for the PSU implementation. FSP are well known for creating reasonably high quality units at competitive price points, which is indicative of this particular range from be quiet!

Technically the power supply performs well in all areas, delivering solid load regulation and coping well with the intensive cross load test. Ripple suppression is good, if not remarkable, and all rails fall well within rated industry tolerance levels. The power supply also delivered 688 watts before shutting down safely.

It was a little disappointing to see a Chinese ‘TEAPO' branded capacitor in the primary stage, even though it is 105c rated. We appreciate they are working to tight price points, but a 105c rated Japanese capacitor in the primary stage is always good to see, especially for long term reliability.

The be quiet! Straight Power 10 with Cable Management is likely to appeal to the audience building a powerful media system for use beside a high definition television within a living room or bedroom environment. The Silent Wings 3 fan is exceptionally quiet even when the power supply is delivering the full 600 watts. The modular design means you will only need to attach the cables you need. Granted this isn't a ‘pure' modular design, but the only hardwired cable contains the necessary main motherboard connector, so it will be needed in every system build.

Right now we have no confirmed UK pricing, but based on previous E9 price points we would expect this particular unit to be released for around £80 inc vat. The be quiet! Silent Wings 3 fans are expensive and go some way to justify the ‘higher than average' price point.

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Pros:

• exceptionally quiet.
• beautiful finish.
• modular design.
• technically solid.
• delivered close to 700 watts before shutting down.
• 80 Plus Gold efficiency.

Cons:

• Chinese capacitor in primary stage.
• a lot of competition at the price.
• not ‘pure' modular.

Kitguru says: Another high grade power supply from the German company. As we would expect from be quiet! you will be hard pressed to hear the Silent Wings 3 fan, even at full load.

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