Be Quiet! Silent Base 600 Review

Be Quiet! Silent Base 600 Review

Manufacturer: Be Quiet!
UK price (as reviewed): £94.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): TBC

Be Quiet! entered the case market just under a year ago with the Silent Base 800, and it's back now with a new chassis that's part of the same family: the Silent Base 600. In fact, the two cases are similar in many ways. This is still an ATX chassis, though the new one is shorter than before. It also costs a little less at £80 without a window or £95 with one, which is approximately £10 less than the equivalent Silent Base 800 and on par with current Fractal Design Define R5 prices. This is a highly competitive area of the case market. Like its predecessor, the Silent Base 600 comes in three different colours; black, black and orange and black and silver – we've been furnished with the all black windowed one.


Build quality on the whole is very good. In fact, it actually appears to have improved compared to the Silent Base 800. It's a solid unit and the steel panels are not too flexible, including the one that has a large window in it. This window is flush with the panel and there are no unsightly gaps where the panels all meet. Our only real complaint is that plastic on the front door is thin and too flexible for our liking.

The plastic front panel is coated in a brushed aluminium finish and there are vents down both sides to let air in. Up top we again find a magnetic door protecting the top section, and it's backed by sound deadening foam. With a bit of screwdriver work, this door can be re-hinged to open in the direction that suits you. Also, with the door open, you can pull up and remove the front dust filter for easy cleaning, although actually accessing the fan area here requires removal of the entire front panel.


As well as the optical drive covers, the last thing of note behind the door is a small, three-step fan controller. We're pleased to see this as we bemoaned its absence in the Silent Base 800 and it just makes sense to have one when your case is a low noise one. There is again room for dual 140mm/120mm fans up front, though Be Quiet! has opted only to include one 140mm this time rather than two. This is complemented by a single 120mm rear exhaust, and both fans come pre-connected to the fan controller, leaving users room to add one more of their own. The bundled fans have switched to the company's Pure Wings 2 range, worth £7 or £8 each on their own.

The Silent Base 600 has a well-equipped and easily accessed IO panel that straddles the section where the front and roof panels meet. Further back is a big, solid power button and the HDD LED in front of this doubles up as a tiny reset button.


On the roof there are some small slits to act as ventilation for the dual 140mm/120mm fan mounts below. There's no dust filter beneath them but the overlapping design should prevent most dust from entering through here.

The window is double-layered to help contain noise although it's not isolated from the side panel like it is in the Silent Base 800. Still, we didn't hear any vibrations coming from it at all so it's not really an issue. The right side panel, meanwhile, has a central 120mm fan mount covered by a plastic blanking plate and dust filter, although it's not actually possible to install a fan on this side (not that you'd want to). This is also the same panel you'll get on the left if you opt for the non-windowed version, in which case installing a side fan would be possible. Still, we're not really sure why Be Quiet! didn't just opt for a fully steel side panel on the right.


Protecting both the PSU and the lower 140mm/120mm fan mount is a slide out dust filter that's easy to get in and out when cleaning. There are also four large rubber feet to reduce vibration against solid floors and it has lots of grip on smoother surfaces too.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 230 x 495 x 493 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Plastic, steel, nylon
  
• Available colours All black, black and orange, black and silver
  
• Weight 8kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, stereo, microphone
  
• Drive bays 3 x external 5.25in, 3 x 3.5in, 3 x 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) ATX, micro-ATX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 2 x 140/120mm front fan mounts (1 x 140mm fan included), 1 x 120mm rear fan mount (fan included), 2 x 140/120mm roof fan mounts, 1 x 140/120mm bottom fan mount (fans not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 167mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 290mm (400mm without HDD cage)
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, noise dampening material