Be Quiet! might not be a widely known brand name in North America, but the German company is highly popular as a manufacturer of low-noise PC components in Europe. The company has been shyly making its way into the North American market and several of their products can now be found via North American e-tailers and retailers.

Introduction

As a company focused on providing low-noise solutions, Be Quiet! primarily became popular from producing and marketing fans, coolers and power supply units. Not so long ago however the company also diversified into one more segment of the market, that of PC cases. They currently have two different cases, the Silent Base 600 and the Silent Base 800, with each of them available in six variants.

It is their more popular and cost effective Silent Base 600 that we are going to have a closer look at this review. The Silent Base 600 is an ATX case of typical proportions, designed to provide good overall performance and flexibility combined with sound-dampening features. It is available in six different versions but they are all practically identical, with the end user having to choose between three faceplate trim colors (black, orange or silver) and a windowed or solid left side panel.  The sample that we received for the means of this review is the orange color variant with the windowed side panel.

Be Quiet! Silent Base 600
Motherboard Size ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays External 3 × 5.25"
Internal 3 × 3.5" (Front drives cage)
2 × 2.5" (Behind the motherboard tray)
1 × 2.5" (Front drives cage)
Cooling Front 2 x 140 mm (one included)
Rear 1 × 120 mm (included)
Top 2 × 120 mm / 140 mm (optional)
Side 1 × 120 mm (optional, solid panel version only)
Bottom 1 × 120 mm / 140 mm (optional)
Radiator Support Front Up to 120 mm or 240 mm
Rear Up to 120 mm
Top Up to 240 mm
Side -
Bottom -
I/O Port 2× USB 3.0, 2× USB 2.0, 1× Headphone, 1× Mic
Power Supply Size ATX
Clearances HSF 167 mm
PSU 160/290 mm (with/without a bottom fan)
GPU 295/410 mm (with/without a drive's cage)
Dimensions 495 mm × 230 mm × 493 mm
19.49 in × 9.06 in × 19.41 in
Prominent Features · Simple mounting and tool-free fitting of drives
· Air intake filters that are easily accessed for cleaning
· Space for water cooling radiators
· Two pre-installed Pure Wings 2 fans feature nine airflow-optimized fan blades and are decoupled from the case to circulate air with a minimum of vibration
· Side panel with adjustable vent that can be closed for silent operation, partially open for increased air intake or open with an additional fan for higher cooling performance
· Cable management is supported with space for organizing cables, silicone rubber grommets, and pass-throughs
Price $127

Packaging & Bundle

Be Quiet! Supplies the Silent Base 600 in a simple brown cardboard box. The artwork is monochromic and based on a simple schematic of the case itself. The box however is sturdy and the case inside it is well protected between thick Styrofoam slabs, providing excellent shipping protection.

The company kept the bundled items down to a minimum. Along with the case we received only the necessary mounting hardware and screws, the required silicone rails for the installation of 3.5" devices, just four cable ties and a very undetailed manual that could have been more detailed. 

The Exterior of the Be Quiet! Silent Base 600
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  • Pariah - Monday, November 21, 2016 - link

    That's the most recent video card they have done a full review of. No time for video card reviews when a new ssd or cell phone no one cares about is released every week.
  • arizzek - Monday, November 21, 2016 - link

    I think in this coumputer is only Radeon HD 5770

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  • Thrawn - Thursday, November 17, 2016 - link

    Looks like a nice case in a few ways especially of course for those that demand quiet.
    Is there some reason I am not aware of that none of the high end cases that get reviewed ever seem to have the new USB-C ports? Not really a complaint about this case specifically so much as of the industry in general. I figure if I get a case I want to use it for a very long time since it doesn't exactly die of old age like a lot of components so I want it to support new connection standards at least a little.
  • DanNeely - Thursday, November 17, 2016 - link

    Chicken and egg lag. Made worse by the same phenomena meaning that most cases only have 2 USB3 front panel ports and the mobos only have a single 3.0 header. And unfortunately, until the USB audio people sort out their problems with USB3 people with headsets are going to maintain a demand for 2.0 ports on the front.
  • eek2121 - Thursday, November 17, 2016 - link

    It's not just audio, some memory card readers have issues as well. I also own a keyboard that doesn't work.
  • Timur Born - Sunday, November 20, 2016 - link

    USB audio issues are mostly happening with non Intel based USB 3.0 ports (Asmedia), though, plus flaky cabling for those front case ports.
  • rocky12345 - Thursday, November 17, 2016 - link

    Very nice looking case for sure. Yes the flat front look has grown on me and I like it that they have tried to keep everyone happy by including 5.25 bays and 3.5 drive cages in a world that hates them. I would for sure tell a friend to get one if they wanted something quiet and look fairly good as well. Oh was nice to see they did not in close the power supply area as well.
  • ThaneDE - Thursday, November 17, 2016 - link

    "They currently have two different cases, the Silent Base 600 and the Silent Base 800"

    That statement is not true anymore - BeQuiet has recently released their 3rd case, the Dark Base 900, a very modable full-tower. See here: http://www.bequiet.com/de/case/699
  • mobutu - Friday, November 18, 2016 - link

    "Noise testing has been performed with a background noise level of 30.4dB(A)."

    I wonder how you'll test those cases that are (default or undervolted) below your background noise.
    And there are.
    So far it seems that you only had just turbine cases as samples ;)
  • E.Fyll - Monday, November 21, 2016 - link

    That is actually a misconception. You cannot have anything producing noise "below" your background noise. Sound energy is cumulative, meaning that every additional noise source is being logarithmically added to the whole. If something is producing even 0.1 dB(A), this will be logarithmically added to the base background noise of the room.

    That is how laboratory testing works. The instrumentation reads the base sound energy within the chamber, the sound energy that the tested sample produces, and then mathematically calculates the sound pressure of the tested sample assuming a baseline sound pressure of 0 dB(A). Although laboratories do have mechanically isolated rooms for such testing, the sound pressure in the chamber is never truly 0 dB; it is the equipment that has been tuned to take 0 dB as the calculation reference. You cannot truly have 0 dB anywhere in nature except in the void of space.

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