Specifications

Efficiency is Bronze in an effort to restrict production costs, which allows Be Quiet! to offer a product for the mainstream market. The use of nothing but affixed cables was another such measure to keep costs down.

According to Be Quiet!, The L8-500W is Haswell ready, but our testing proved the opposite. We will discuss this issue further in the corresponding results. Also, the maximum operating temperature at which the PSU can deliver its full power continuously is restricted to 40°C, while the ATX spec recommends 50°C. The unit does do well in terms of protection features as it is equipped with all of them and has a cooling fan that uses a riffle-bearing, an enhanced version of a sleeve-bearing with increased lifespan and lower noise output.

The dimensions of the unit are compact, and one can glean that the unit supports the latest ATX spec, v.2.4, from the corresponding row of the above table. Finally, the warranty is long enough for a mainstream product, and the price looks good for what the PSU offers on papers.


There are two +12V rails with unequal power distribution. The first can deliver 8 A more than the second. +12V2's current output of 20A is relatively low; however, the unit's capacity is also low, making such a weak +12V rail nothing to worry about. The minor rails have high enough combined power, but the 5V rail is much weaker than the 3.3V one in an effort to have the unit pass the Haswell compatibility test successfully. Finally, the 5VSB rail has 3 A current output, which will suffice in all cases.

Cables & Connectors, Power Distribution

The number of available connectors looks good for the capacity of the unit; however, one or two more SATA connectors would be nice. Also, the ATX cable is quite short at 450 mm, but this unit will most likely be installed into a small/medium case where such a short length won't pose a problem. The same applies to the single EPS cable; it should ideally be at least 600 mm long. Both PCIe cables are of a normal length, and the distance amongst connectors on cables with more than one is adequate. Finally, all gauges are of 18AWG size, a size the ATX spec sets forth for most PSU cables.


Power distribution doesn't look optimal because the EPS and second PCIe connector are fed by the weaker +12V rail, and the EPS connector normally isn't mixed up with any of the PCIe ones. It would definitely be better for both PCIe connecters to be fed by the 12V2 rail, leaving the EPS to be fed by 12V1.