be quiet! Silent Base 800 Window Review

Introduction

Although initially not a brand new case or concept to the market, be quiet! launched a windowed version of their popular Silent Base 800 ATX PC case last year. With a unique styling and a clear focus on silence, the be quiet! Silent Base 800 looks to be a very formidable option. Today I will be taking a look at the orange version, although be quiet! do three versions in total; in addition to orange, there is a black version as well as a silver one.

So you may be confused in thinking that be quiet! have only incorporated a windowed side panel? Well it’s not just any type of Perspex that has been used in its construction. be quiet!’s Silent Base 800 windowed version consists of a double glazed polycarbonate material which is designed to ensure optimal scratch resistant surface, but it also acts as sound insulation too. I think it’s time we took a look and see what the Silent Base 800 windowed is all about…

Specifications

General Specifications

Form factor / Motherboard compatibility
ATX / ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
Case size with stands / without stands
(L x W x H), (mm)
495 x 266 x 559 / 495 x 230 x 542
Color options
Orange, Black, Silver
Material
0.7mm steel, ABS plastic, Nylon, Fiber, Polycarbonate
Weight incl. package / without package (kg)
11.3 / 9.31
I/O Panel
2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, HD Audio
(mic + headphone jacks)
Expansion slots (pcs.)
7

Drive Bay Capacity
5.25
3
3.5
7
2.5
4

Cooling System

Pre-installed fans (mm / rpm)
2x 140 / 1,000 @ front
1x 120 / 1,500 @ rear
Optional fans (mm)
2x 140 / 120 @ top
1x 140 / 120 @ bottom
Optional liquid cooling system
(radiator in mm)
2x 120 / 140 @ front
120 @ rear
120 / 140 / 240 / 280 @ top
Special cooling feature
2x air channels (top and bottom)

Maximum Dimensions
CPU cooler (mm)
170
PSU (without bottom fan)
290
Graphics card (standard)
290
Graphics card (w/o middle HDD cage)
400

Closer Look – Exterior

The be quiet! Silent Base 800 with window is an ATX mid-tower with lots of room for top end hardware, but without being “too big”. The overall dimensions of the Silent Base 800 with the stands is 495x266x599mm (WxDxH) which isn’t exactly massive, but it does sit quite tall thanks to the included stands. Not only do the stands add something unique to the Silent Base 800, but it also raises it off the floor which is pretty ideal for airflow and reduction of scratches to the chassis itself.

The window measures in at 460mm high and 438mm wide which is rather large. This is perfect for showing off all that good looking hardware, but without sacrificing acoustic performance thanks to the double glazed polycarbonate material I mentioned above.

On the top, be quiet! have put a large power button as well as the what is classed as the front I/O. The power button looks pretty good and the front I/O consists of 2 x USB 3.0 ports, 2 x USB 2.0 ports and 2 x 3.5mm audio jacks; these are your front panel audio jacks for a microphone and headphones or headset of course.

At the front of the case, here we can see more of the orange trim which looks great and given that this is common throughout the be quiet! product range, it’s not a surprise that it looks so good. The front panel is removable with a simple push/click mechanism. This reveals 2 x 140mm Pure Wings 2 fans which are rated at 1000rpm; these fans retail for around £9 each on Amazon and show that be quiet! mean business! The Pure Wings 2 range are famed for being near silent, but still with capabilities to push a fair amount of air too which makes them one of the most economical options on the market. A removable and cleanable dust filter separates the front panel and the fans; no-one likes dust inside their case…

The top section of the front comes with a hinged door attached which gives access to the 4 x 5.25” drive bays. Not only does this keep the case looking neat and tidy, but the door has sound deadening material on which reduces acoustic vibrations thus reducing overall noise.

On the rear, it’s pretty standard with a single 120mm Pure Wings 1500rpm fan exhausting the air from the chassis. We have 3 x rubber grommets for water cooling, as well as 7 PCI blanking plates which are held in place with thumb screws.

With the option of using the including removable feet, you can either have your Silent Base 800 off the ground (or desk) or on it. Personally, I would have the feet bars installed as it not only protects from scratches, but it also looks better.

The other side of the case has something interesting; an adjustable panel which can even be removed to allow for the installation of a single 120mm fan. The panel itself when removed is also ironclad with sound insulation which be quiet! has gone with throughout most of the panels.

Closer Look – Interior

Upon removing the new windowed side panel, here we have the interior in all its glory. The be quiet! Silent Base 800 has compatibility with ATX, M-ATX and M-ITX motherboards, although it would most probably look best with an ATX given the size. The first thing that drew me inside the interior was the orange be quiet! rubber grommets which I am absolutely delighted with; rubber grommets help massively in making cable management neat, tidy and usually trouble free. Each of the different sizes is clearly indicated on the motherboard tray in terms of location and positioning, so you shouldn’t have any issues installing your motherboard the wrong way. If in doubt, line up the I/O first and the screw holes should be visible through the holes on the motherboard.

Inside the case itself, be quiet! have tied the box which contains the screws and HDD holders; this is common with case manufacturers and it stops it from bouncing around during transit.

Inside of the box, we have the orange rubber HDD mounts and a bag of screws and cable ties.

The HDD drive cages allow for up to 7x 3.5” hard drives in total, although they can be removed very easily to fit in larger graphics cards, or of course for water cooling radiators to be installed for optimal cooling performance.

Not only does the top have room for up to 2 x 120/140mm fans, but there is plenty of room to install up to a 280mm radiator. Mid towers don’t tend to have great water cooling options, but the Silent Base 800 is certainly compatible for water cooling.

Taking a look at the other side, there are mounts for 2 x 2.5” storage drives, or as I like to call them, SSD mounts. There looks to be plenty of options for optimal cable management and plenty of rubber grommets and cut-outs, it looks a good option for those who want a case capable of being neat and tidy.

Closer Look – The Build

In terms of the final build inside the be quiet! Silent Base 800, everything was seamless and easy when installing components. The accessories box had all the screws needed for installation and every component that could be removed from the chassis, was easy to do so. Although I have the Corsair H80i cooler installed, the Silent Base 800 has support for CPU coolers up to 167mm in height; full tower air coolers shouldn’t have problems, but there may be a couple which may pass the limit. Make sure you check measurements before you buy this case as you don’t want to get caught short; we certainly don’t want you to be!

The full specifications of the build above are:

CPU – Intel Core i7 6700K
Motherboard – ASUS Z170 Maximus VIII Hero Alpha
GPU – ASUS RX480 STRIX 8GB
RAM – Crucial Ballistix 3000MHz 32GB (4x8GB)
Cooler – Corsair H80i
PSU – Cooler Master V1200
SSD – Crucial BX200 480GB

The be quiet! Silent Base 800 Window comes with 3 x Pure Wings 2 fans pre-installed; the 2 in the front are 140mm and the one at the rear is a 120mm. When installing my Corsair H80i, I decided to use the Pure Wings 2 due to the silent nature; no point having all this technology reducing noise and then going ahead and using one of the stock Corsair fans.

To fit our ASUS RX 480 STRIX graphics card in, I had to remove the top hard drive cage due to the length of the cooler.

There is ample room for the installation of even the largest ATX power supplies. Just look at how much room there is after installing our large Cooler Master V1200 Platinum rated power supply in. The grommets also work very well for cable management and with such large cuts in the rubber, I found it easy to position the cables the way I wanted them.

For the power supply, the Silent Base 800 has a removable dust filter which stops dust getting inside your power supply, as well as the case itself.

Behind the motherboard tray, there is the option to install up to 2 x 2.5” SSD/HDDs which really does work well. This is in addition to ample space for cable management, although the rear could do with more zip tie holders; I just felt there could be more, simple as that!

Here we have the finished build inside the Silent Base 800 Window and doesn’t it look magnificent?

Conclusion

I think it’s fair to say that be quiet! have improved an already good looking case with their new double glazed polycarbonate windowed side panel. With multiple colour options available including black/silver, black and the one I have reviewed today, black/orange, there is something to suit most peoples styling preferences. Looking at the overall design of the Silent Base 800, the case does feature a lot of plastic and maybe too much for my liking; it is a £125 mid tower offering after all! Although saying this, be quiet! do actually seem to do a good job of implementing this and nothing feels flimsy or under the grade of quality I would expect from a be quiet! product, especially for this price.

There is plenty of space available inside the case and although you are restricted to ATX motherboards, they could potentially have squeezed in E-ATX although it would have been very close. be quiet! have obviously gone the safer route here and in all honesty, I don’t blame them at all; better to be safe than sorry. There are ample options available for water cooling with space in the front (if you remove the HDD cages) for up to a 280mm radiator, space up top for up to a 280mm radiator and even space at the rear for a 120mm radiator, the most hard-core of enthusiast would be most likely satisfied. That being said, if you have quite a big graphics card or one from the latest NVIDIA/AMD line up such as the RX 480 or GTX 1070, you will need to remove the top HDD cage (or bottom depending on your set up).

For their first case offering, be quiet! have done a great job and the addition of a windowed version was a fantastic addition to the line-up; even if it took them a while to do so. be quiet! have pushed the boat out and included 3 x Pure Wing 2 fans which not only scream quality, but they are whisper quiet too; this fits in with the theme of the case as well as offering great acoustic performance without much sacrifice in thermal performance. If I had to do something to improve the Silent Base 800 Window, it would be to add an integrated fan controller into the top and maybe reduce the size of the power button to accommodate this. Not only would that further allow users to control the included fans, but it would add another feature too which would of course improve the overall appeal of the case.

The Silent Base 800 Window has lots of appeal and those wanting a mid-tower case that screams quality will be more than happy. Of course there are things which could be added to improve the overall product, but that could be said about literally anything. be quiet! have done an excellent job and with silent operation being the key focal point here , I would be happy to build a silent rig using this case and have no doubts about getting exactly what I wanted. Overall the be quiet! Silent Base 800 Window is certainly recommended!

Big thanks to be quiet! for sending the Silent Base 800 Window in for review.