The latest entrant into be quiet!’s Silent Base chassis lineup is a mid-tower design intended for noise isolation and smooth air circulation.
The latest entrant into be quiet!’s Silent Base chassis lineup is a mid-tower design intended for noise isolation and smooth air circulation.
The Silent Base 600, be quiet!’s latest chassis
German cooling pioneers be quiet! unveiled their debut chassis – the monolithic Silent Base 800 – at Computex 2014, and this year they’re back for more. Following up their flagship full-tower, low-noise chassis is just the latest entrant to the Silent Base range, revealed to the public in pre-production prototype form.
The Silent Base 600 is a full tower ATX chassis which, at 509mm tall, stands only 5cm shorter than its sibling. Naturally (given its name) noise isolation is very much a central theme. The chassis is littered with design features intended to absorb or break up sound waves such that even high end components can be exploited without ruining any entertainment experience.
Silent Base 600’s interior, from the rear
As you might expect both side panels are coated with sound-absorbing material, but be quiet! have taken the additional step of giving the edge a U-shape, increasing the stability and eliminating any audible ‘rattle’ when closed. The door is also coated with sound-deadening material, a small quality feature which is often overlooked.
Cable management and rear SSD mounts
Furthermore be quiet! have attempted to de-clutter the interior for unrestricted air flow through the case, aiding in overall cooling and reducing the noise generated by turbulence. Augmenting your active CPU/GPU cooling are two bundled fans, a 140mm PureWings 2 in the front and 120mm PureWings 2 at the rear, with should provide good air flow even in stock configurations. Following feedback be quiet! have also incorporated a three-channel fan controller into the design; you’ll be able to ramp up your cooling depending on the needs of the situation.
Each fan position (there are seven total in the Silent Base 600) and the HDD cage makes use of rubber mounting grommets, ensuring that vibration transmission to the chassis is kept to a minimum. Fan intakes, including the PSU intake, are filtered to eliminate dust, and in a nod to de-cluttering the interior advanced cable management directs cables behind the motherboard tray, where 2.5″ SSDs can also be mounted.
Front, including I/O
Front Panel I/O is fairly standard. USB is catered for with two 2.0 and two 3.0 ports; it’s far too early to expect Type-C sockets to appear on chassis, even if the new standard is the talk of Computex. Headphone and microphone 3.5mm jacks are also present and easy to access, whilst the power button is accessible from the top of the chassis. None of the I/O requires that the door be open to use, which is a flaw you sometimes see on cases with doors.
A quick note on compatibility. The Silent Base 600 will fit motherboards up to ATX (including mATX and mini-ITX), discrete graphics cards up to 400mm in length, and CPU coolers up to 170mm tall. We’re not sure about the water cooling specifications but it’s likely the case is compatible with 120mm and 240mm, with 280mm radiators possible depending on clearance at the front.
Silent Base 600 Windowed
Double-glazed window design
Be quiet! are also releasing a version of the Silent Base 600 with a window. Although windowed versions of low-noise cases aren’t uncommon, they typically severely compromise the noise absorbing characteristics of the chassis. Aiming to buck the trend, be quiet! have created a unique dual-layer ‘double-glazed’ window design made from scratch proof polycarbonate with 9mm air gap; acting like a home or office window, it should greatly reduce audible noise.
In trade the case loses a fan mount position (probably the least popular position at that) and will gain a little weight compared to a single-glaze window, more than fair for the improved aesthetics and sound dampening.
Windowed and non-windowed side panels
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Set for a September 2015 launch date, the Silent Base 600 will have an MSRP of €110 / $100 (US), and so should come in well under £100 in the UK. Windowed versions weight in at €125 / $110 US, which isn’t too shabby if the new side panels can live up be quiet!’s claims. At first glance we have to say we’re impressed, and is very tempting as a case that’s more affordable than the Silent Base 800 yet still choc full of low noise features.
More detailed information on the chassis should be available closer to release.
