be quiet! launched numerous new power supplies for 2024, including the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M. This value-centric power supply is available in a variety of capacities, but in this review, we'll be looking at the 850W unit. Replacing the well-received be quiet! Pure Power 11, I was a fan of the predecessor, which offered reliable power delivery at a reasonable price. I'm expecting the Pure Power 12 M to offer a similar experience, though this year's refresh includes full support for the Intel ATX 3.0 standard.

What this entails is the addition of a 12VHPWR high-power connection for graphics cards. This can provide up to 600W on the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 1000W, 850W, and 750W units. The 650W PSU can only provide up to 450W through the same 12VHPWR connection, and the 550W PSU drops to just 300W. All power supplies in this family also have multiple 6+2 connections for graphics cards with lower power demands. Regardless of which capacity you choose, you'll have a modern PSU with all the same protections and high-quality components.

After building a capable PC using the 850W be quiet! Pure Power 12 M, I found the power supply to be more than adequate for even more capable gaming rigs. It's quiet, cool, and reliable, everything you can ask for from a modern ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 PSU.

About this review: be quiet! supplied XDA with an 850W sample for this review, but had no inputs to its contents.

Price, specs, and availability

As aforementioned, the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M is available in a variety of capacities. You've got the choice of 550W, 650W, 750W, 850W, 1000W, and 1200W. This is a strong line-up of power supplies, allowing almost everyone to build a PC using the Pure Power 12 M. 550W would be better suited to low-power systems on a budget, while 850W and beyond will be a good choice for the latest and greatest processors and graphics cards. Prices start from $95 for the 550W model and top out at $210 for the 1200W model. The 850W PSU we're reviewing today costs $135.

An 850W Pure Power 12 M and beyond will be a good choice for the latest and greatest processors and graphics cards.

All models are available now and offer a similar experience, aside from differences in available connections, cabling, and the amount of power that can be sent through the 12VHPWR line. The 550W can only provide up to 300W through the 12VHPWR, whereas the 1200W can provide the full 600W for the hungriest of graphics cards. be quiet! does set the capacities of this connection accordingly with the 850W offering 600W of power, which also so happens to be the PSU capacity Nvidia recommends for the GeForce RTX 4090.

What I like

Impressive power delivery on a reliable platform

Built using HEC's PSU platform, the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M strikes a good balance between power delivery and affordability. With an 80 Plus Gold certification, the 850W PSU we're reviewing today is capable of achieving 92% efficiency (230V EU, 115V is 90%) with power conversion at a 50% load. be quiet! states the PSU will hit 93%, which should be even more helpful in reducing electricity waste and saving money. The design of the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M is a sleek all-black metal enclosure, matching that of other be quiet! PSU families.

Built using HEC's PSU platform, the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M strikes a good balance between power delivery and affordability.

You won't notice the power supply when using a modern ATX chassis as most PC cases have some form of PSU shrouding, which is a shame as some of these units look good and it prevents manufacturers from playing around with designs. The PSU itself is fully modular and the cables are not individually sleeved, though again with cable management and shrouding, you'll not notice them. The fan is a 120mm be quiet! Silent Wings and while there is no fanless mode, you can barely hear the motor spinning until the PSU hits a load level of around 70% with a maximum speed of 2,000 RPM.

Backed by a 10-year warranty, the power supply should last a long time and may even see through multiple system upgrades, depending on how often you swap components. The PSU and included cabling are packaged in a basic box with cardboard separators. The cabling isn't bundled inside a sleeve or box. This is to be expected at this price point, but it's strange to see from be quiet! as I'm used to its more premium packaging with compartments and other handy elements. The Pure Power 12 M is enclosed in standard bubble wrap protection.

Inside the PSU box, the following cables were included:

• 1x 24-pin ATX
• 1x 4+4-pin EPS
• 1x 8-pin EPS
• 2x 6+2-pin PCIe
• 1x 12+4-pin PCIe
• 2x SATA (4 SATA connectors, 4 Molex connectors)
• 2x SATA (4 SATA connectors)

Inside the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M, we can see some high-quality Japanese components. The entire setup is premium, which is great to see at this price point, and makes up for the rather basic packaging. Everything inside the PSU enables it to convert power smoothly for stable delivery to the motherboard, CPU, GPU, and other components. In terms of noise, the fan will spin up and hit 40 dBA when a sufficient load is placed upon the unit. I put the PSU to the test with some stress tests and gaming.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 are capable of pulling a considerable amount of power. Swapping out the RTX 4070 for the RTX 4090 saw a similar result. The power supply, with its two 12V rails, is capable of supplying stable power to the GPU, as well as all other parts of the PC.

What I don't like

The fan always spins, even at low loads

be quiet! doesn't provide a fanless mode for the range of Pure Power 12 M power supplies, even the largest 1200W capacity model. This isn't a major concern as the fan itself is a be quiet! Silent Wings blower that barely causes any noise until the PSU reaches 70% load. Still, it would have been good to see such a feature or mode as it's present on similarly priced power supplies. That said, the rest of the power supply is fantastic for the price, which makes this a minor complaint and one that could be ignored.

Should you buy the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M?

You should buy the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M if:

• You need a beefy, high-quality power supply with a good choice of capacities.
• You don't have unlimited funds to spend on a power supply.

You shouldn't buy the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M if:

• You want a PSU with a fanless mode.
• You don't need or care for the ATX 3.0 standard with PCIe 5.0 support.
• You're searching for the cheapest power supply.

be quiet! makes some of the best power supplies around. The company is now using HEC for manufacturing its units and the internals utilize high-quality components, including an LLC setup that essentially smooths out power conversion for better efficiency. The two 12V rails are great for powering the more advanced and power-hungry graphics cards, and be quiet! states all the units will be up to 93% efficient at a specific load. So long as you're hitting around the 50-60% marker in terms of demand, the Pure Power 12 M will happily supply power with little waste.

The be quiet! Pure Power 12 M is an excellent power supply and one of the best at its price.

Having the choice between 550W and 1200W allows just about anyone to use the be quiet! Pure Power 12 M for a PC build or upgrade. Whether you're planning an affordable system with a low-power GPU and CPU or an enthusiast-grade PC with overclocking in mind, there's a be quiet! Pure Power 12 M for you. The 850W model we had in for review is the sweet spot. It handled the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 and AMD Ryzen 7900 (with PBO enabled) without any problems. Power delivery was smooth and I encountered no issues stress testing the system and playing a few demanding games.

The be quiet! Pure Power 12 M is an excellent power supply and one of the best at its price.