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As of today, the be quite! there are only three chassis options (if you do not take into account variations with a side window and different colors). Two of them – Silent Base 800 and Silent Base 600 have already visited our portal and left quite a positive impression of themselves. And in this review, we will consider the flagship model – be quite! Dark Base Pro 900, which can rightfully be considered a masterpiece of engineering, which has absorbed the most modern achievements of case designers. Before we get straight to the review, it should be noted that there is also a simplified version of the chassis called Dark Base 900 (without the Pro prefix). It has no glass instead of a side door, Qi wireless charging, LED lighting, and makes do with a simpler fan controller. But the conclusions of this article will be quite applicable to it, because in all other respects these two versions of the case are identical.
Characteristics
| Model | be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 |
|---|---|
| Product page | bequiet.com |
| Type of shell | Midi-Tower |
| Dimensions, mm | 586 (H) x 245 (W) x 590 (D) |
| Material | ABS plastic, steel, aluminum, glass |
| Weight, kg | 15,5 |
| Color | Black / Orange |
| Form Factor | XL-ATX, E-ATX, ATX, MicroATX, Mini-ITX |
| 5.25″ devices | 2 |
| Devices 3.5″ external | – |
| Devices 3.5″ / 2.5″ internal | 7 / 15 (2.5″ drives take up 3.5″ space) |
| Supported number of expansion slots | 8 |
| Fans | front – 3 x 120 / 140 mm (2 x 140 mm installed) top – 4 x 120 mm / 3 x 140 / 1 x 180 mm (optional) rear – 1 x 120 / 140 mm (1 x 140 mm installed) side – 2 x 120 mm (optional) lower – 2 x 120 / 140 mm (optional) |
| Interface connectors | 2 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, mic in and headphone out |
| Other | Tempered glass side panel, removable dust filters in front, bottom and side, noise isolation in front, side and top. Built-in seven-fan controller with PWM function, built-in backlight LEDs (5 color options), modular design of storage baskets. Removable motherboard tray with height adjustment, motherboard can be rotated to BTX standard. Expanded support for liquid cooling circuits. Qi inductive charging |
| Recommended cost, $ | 279 |
Packing and scope of delivery
The weighty black box of the case is decorated in rich color printing and text with a beautiful white font. The front side contains an image of the appearance of the chassis and its name. On the reverse side, the buyer will see what the complete system looks like and get acquainted with the main advantages of the chassis, described in photographic and textual form. Detailed technical characteristics of the product and a little more promotional information can be found on the sidewalls. Internal protection against damage during transport consists of two foam dampers and a black imitation fabric bag.
The delivery set is assembled in two small cardboard boxes. It includes:
- assembly instructions;
- two strips with colored LEDs 355 mm long;
- adapter for mounting fans on the front panel;
- adapter for mounting the CBO pump on the storage baskets;
- rubber curtain for laying wires (installed instead of a basket of disks);
- four rubber pads (spare, for the motherboard tray);
- eight small screws for 2.5″ drives;
- three E-ATX motherboard racks;
- four screws for the power supply;
- 28 screws for mounting 3.5″ drives;
- eight thumb screws for fixing 5.25″ devices;
- 12 motherboard screws;
- six Velcro cable ties for cable management (size 6 x 200 mm).
Appearance
Looks be quiet! The Dark Base Pro 900 is simply gorgeous and has a strong wow effect as soon as you take it out of the box. This is facilitated by the overall simplicity of the silhouette of the body, favorably emphasized by stylish contours and orange inserts on the side inserts. The aluminum coating of the front, top and bottom panels adds elegance and solidity here, and the tinted side glass makes the observer admiringly hold his breath for a couple of seconds. In a word, the company’s designers did their best and were able to give such a simple thing as a computer case a luxurious look.
The front panel of the chassis is a plastic base on which a brushed aluminum sheet is put on. If you don’t accidentally click on it, it’s hard to even guess that this is actually a door. On the sides, near the orange inserts, there are ventilation holes made in the form of a metal mesh with large-mesh perforations. The silver company logo is pasted on the bottom.
External ports are located on the top edge of the front panel. Among them are two USB 3.0, two 3.5 mm audio ports, a square orange-lit power button, a small round system reset button, a round drive activity indicator (also orange) and two USB 2.0 ports. All ports are placed at a sufficient distance from each other, distributed ergonomically and symmetrically, it will be convenient to use them from any position. In addition, there is a plastic panel on top, under which wireless induction charging for Qi standard mobile devices is hidden.
The front door is lined with a 3-mm layer of noise insulation, rests on a not very strong magnet and opens by default to the right side at an angle of up to 130 degrees. If desired, the hinges and locks can be repositioned so that it opens to the left. To open, you need to press on the upper left corner of the door, then the spring-loaded pin will press it away from the panel, making it possible to grab onto the edge. In fact, the magnets are so weak that the front panel can open spontaneously even with a slight tilt of the chassis. Behind the door, in the upper part, there is a fan speed adjustment slider and an LED backlight switch. A little lower are two slots for 5.25″ devices, covered with easily removable plugs. And the entire lower half is covered with a dust filter mesh. It is also easily dismantled for cleaning.
Pre-installed behind the filter are two quality 140mm blowers from the updated Silent Wings 3 series (which haven’t even hit retail yet). We will take a closer look at their characteristics in the next section.
From under the front filter, a special handle can be used to easily remove the lower dust filter, which covers the entire bottom of the case, including the location of the power supply. This is very convenient compared to previous models of housings, because now this chassis does not need to be moved from the wall or lifted to clean the filter.
And this is how the front and bottom pale yellow filters look like in comparison. Both are made from a good mesh with small cells glued to a plastic frame.
The real chic can be seen if you look at the Dark Base Pro 900 on the left side. Instead of the usual side door with a small window, there is a panel consisting entirely of tinted tempered glass through which the entire interior is viewed. The advantages of this solution are obvious – glass accumulates much less dust and scratches than acrylic and looks much more solid. It is more difficult to damage it with transverse loads. As for transportation, both acrylic and glass will break easily from a strong impact. Along the perimeter of the sidewall at the top, bottom and front are metal grilles of ventilation holes, decorated with an orange edging.
The glass is held on four studs with rubber tabs, to which it is pressed with thumb screws. Remove this panel carefully by unscrewing the screws, and then move the upper part, holding the lower one, so as not to drop or break the fragile thing.
The side panel, which is made of tempered tinted glass, is 4mm thick and quite heavy. Glass mounts can be removed and rearranged to the other side of the case by installing a regular metal door here.
On the right side of the case there is a familiar metal panel, provided with a handle for easy dismantling and held by two non-removable thumb screws. The door slides back. In the middle there is a plastic insert with the company logo – it closes the mounting holes for the fans.
The side steel panel is sufficiently strong in bending due to the thickness of the metal and the ribs of transverse stiffness. From the inside, a 2-mm layer of sound insulation is glued on it. The plastic plug also has a layer of noise and it can not be removed completely, but raised above the door surface to a height of up to 8 mm. Then it will muffle the noise from two 120mm fans that can be installed here. In case the propellers will work for blowing, a metal dust filter mesh is provided here. This door can be hung on both the left and right side of the chassis. In the case version without a window, there are identical panels on both sides.
The top panel of the case has virtually no openings, except for a few slotted slots on the back and on the rear beveled edge. The panel at the base is plastic, but on top it is covered with a solid sheet of brushed aluminum and continues the visual lines of the front panel. It looks just great, it does not collect fingerprints, and it is easy to wipe the dust from it.
On the back side, everything looks familiar at first glance. Landing grid for one 120- or 140-mm fan, eight expansion slots covered with reusable ventilated plugs, another ventilation grid to the right of them. However, there is no cutout for the power supply; instead, a modular metal grille is made, consisting of three parts. On the bottom of them there is a connector for the power cable, equipped with its own switch. Obviously, the PSU is mounted somewhere inside and connected via an extension cable to this connector. Why exactly this option of placing components is used – we will figure it out a little later.
The lower plastic panel is also covered with a sheet of aluminum. It has nothing but a pair of slotted holes in the back and legs. From my point of view, the use of aluminum here is certainly beautiful, but rather wasteful for the end user. After all, no one will ever see this part of the chassis anyway, and one could completely get by with plastic and not spend extra money. However, the designers decided otherwise.
The height of the figured plastic legs is 26 mm. From below they are glued with tenacious rubber. Since there are still no holes on the bottom of the case, the legs could be made smaller.
Let’s see what’s inside this beauty.
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