INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Aside looks and amount of interior space noise levels have always mattered to many consumers and that's also how several popular PC case manufacturers like be quiet!, Fractal Design and Nanoxia came to be. Of course, dressing the interior of a tower with noise-dampening materials may not seem very impressive today but back then when it all started it was actually quite the radical approach and although it did result in slightly increased temperatures for the system housed inside the significant reduction in noise levels was well worth that small downside. Now although be quiet! has yet to fully "embrace" RGB lighting they do continue to design and manufacture PC cases aimed towards people who care about low noise levels and since they just released the brand new and affordable Pure Base 500 Window Mid-Tower (luckily tempered glass is something they do like using) we just had to check it out.

   be quiet! is a premium brand of power supplies, PC cases and cooling solutions for desktop PCs. The products of be quiet! offer legendary quiet operation and first-class performance thanks the passion for quality and precision. Attention to detail is the key to perfection. Which is why our very own experts lead product conception, design and quality control from our headquarters in Germany. be quiet! sticks to its name: More than 15 years experience in the field of noise reduction and silence make be quiet! products probably the most silent ones on the market. Undoubtedly the fans are an integral factor in minimizing the noise levels of be quiet! power supplies, PC cases and cooling products. Specially developed Silent Wings and Pure Wings 2 fans are used throughout all product ranges. They are equipped with a variety of noise-reducing features, such as special bearings, smooth operation motors, optimized airflow and vibration decoupling. Thanks to these fans, be quiet! products attain a perfect balance of ideal cooling performance and virtually inaudible operation. Customers of be quiet! products are guaranteed to receive proven premium quality and the typically silent “be quiet!” operation.

   The brand new Pure Base 500 Mid-Tower is available in 3 different colors (black, white and metallic gray - strangely enough no orange) and in two versions, one with a tempered glass side panel and one with a steel panel instead (just like with the opposite side). Just like with previous models of the Pure Base line the right side panel, top and front of the brand new Pure Base 500 Window are dressed with noise-dampening material (the non-window version has on both side panels). In terms of interior space, the Pure Base 500 Window may be the most affordable mid-tower in the current be quiet! line-up but it still has enough room for up to two 3.5" and five 2.5" drives, up to six 120mm fans (or 4x140mm/1x120mm) and/or two 240/280/360mm radiators, 190mm tall CPU coolers, 369mm long graphics cards and 258mm long power supply units (225mm if you decide to mount an 360mm radiator at the front). Other features include two pre-installed Pure Wings 2 140mm fans (900RPM), removable drive cage and trays, interchangeable top magnetic covers (one dressed with noise-dampening material and another which is basically an air-filter thus allowing for improved airflow levels) and removable front and bottom air-filters.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKACING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A medium-sized product drawing is placed at the front of the box right over the product name and next to the company logo.

 

 

The specifications table is placed on the right side right above the color selection.

 

 

Some of the features are printed on the left side in 4 languages.

 

 

Moving at the rear of the box we find a small drawing of the Pure Base 500 Window (exposed) and its features in 5 languages.

 

 

As always, the tower is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two foam spacers.

 

 

Included in the bundle is the top mesh cover, 6 cable ties, user manual and 3 small plastic bags with screws and spacers.

 

 

THE PURE BASE 500 WINDOW EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 7.53Kg heavy Pure Base 500 Window measures 463mm in height, 450mm in length and 231mm in width.

 

 

Once again, the entire left side panel is made out of tempered glass.

 

 

The fascia is made out of hard plastic and is perforated on both sides.

 

 

You can remove the fascia just by pulling it outwards (most of the fascia features noise-dampening material inside).

 

 

Here be quiet! has placed one of the two Pure Wings 2 140mm fans and there's enough room for a second 140mm fan, three 120mm fans and/or a single 240/280/360mm radiator.

 

 

The I/O is placed on top of the fascia and includes two USB 3.0 ports, on/off power button and LED and the usual microphone and headphone ports.

 

 

At the top you can mount up to two 120/140mm fans or a single 240/280mm radiator (the 280mm radiator needs to be a slim one, as do the fans to avoid clearance issues).

 

 

As mentioned earlier you can use the mesh cover at the top (if you decide to mount fans or a radiator here).

 

 

Moving at the rear we see the second Pure Wings 2 140mm fan, 7 PCI expansion slots and the PSU area at the bottom.

 

 

The case sits on four tall feet and has a slide in/out air-filter that takes up the entire base of the case.

 

 

THE PURE BASE 500 WINDOW INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pure Base 500 Window features a dual-chamber design and seems to be doing well in terms of interior space.

 

 

Even though at the front you can mount a 240/280mm radiator without taking extra steps you will need to remove the drive cage at the bottom if you plan on mounting an 360mm radiator.

 

 

Be quiet! has placed their logo right between the steel tray that has enough room for two 2.5" drives.

 

 

The PSU area shroud is also made out of steel and is perforated at the top.

 

 

Looking at the mainboard tray the lack of rubber grommets may disappoint some people.

 

 

Turning the case around we see that the right side panel also features noise-dampening material on the inside.

 

 

On the other side of the mainboard tray we see the steel tray used to mount the two front 2.5" drives, steel bar used to mount two more 2.5" drives, the bottom drive cage which can accommodate one 2.5" and two 3.5" drives and of course the PSU area.

 

 

Both the tray and the bar are made out of steel and thus are very sturdy.

 

 

As mentioned before, you can remove the drive tray in order to install an 360mm radiator at the front.

 

 

What we didn't mention is that be quiet! has placed two mounting spots so you can install a 360mm radiator and keep the drive cage (this however reduces the maximum PSU area to 225mm from 258mm).

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always, the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Just like with past models the PSU is installed from the rear of the case so you will first need to mount the bracket as seen above.

 

 

Even with a 360mm radiator at the front and the drive cage there's still plenty of room for units up to 1KW.

 

 

We've seen roomier mid-towers in the past but even after placing an ATX mainboard inside the Pure Base 500 Window looks comfy.

 

 

We mounted an 280mm radiator at the front but as mentioned many times already you can easily mount an 360mm one (up to 40mm in thickness) if you remove the bottom drive cage.

 

 

At the top there's enough room for a 240mm radiator (even for a slim 280mm with slim fans) but even though be quiet! has allowed for more space than with similar mid-towers you may still have clearance issues with very tall memory modules.

 

 

I don't know of any CPU coolers with a height of 190mm but if there are any you can use them in the Pure Base 500 Window.

 

 

Without mounting a front radiator, you have enough room for up to 369mm long graphics cards (and with a radiator you have roughly 320-330mm).

 

 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically on top of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).

* For this review we recorded noise with both available top covers.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The Pure Base 500 Window is among the most affordable PC cases be quiet! has ever produced and thus we didn’t exactly know what to expect from it. Luckily much like all their other cases build quality is not only high but thanks to the tempered glass panel the Pure Base 500 Window isn’t half bad when it comes to looks. Also, the two pre-installed 140mm Pure Wings 2 fans ensure a good level of airflow right out of the box (without producing much noise in the process – largely thanks to the noise dampening material placed on the right side panel, the fascia and one of the two top covers) and as for the interchangeable magnetic top covers we think that it was a good move by be quiet! (even though the mesh top is basically an air-filter). Interior space is perhaps the strongest selling point of the Pure Base 500 Window since despite its size there’s still enough room for two 3.5" and five 2.5" drives, up to six 120mm fans (or 4x140mm/1x120mm) and/or two 240/280/360mm radiators, 190mm tall CPU coolers, 369mm long graphics cards and 258mm long power supply units (225mm with a front 360mm radiator). Of course, we’d welcome even a tiny amount of RGB lighting but it seems that be quiet! is still not ready or willing to jump on that wagon.

   The be quiet! Pure Base 500 Window Mid-Tower was officially released 4 days ago and currently carries a price tag of USD84.90 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and for 79.14Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). Granted the Pure Base 500 Window may not be the most affordable mid-tower in the market but it’s actually extremely well priced considering what you’re getting in return (including high build quality, tempered glass panel, noise dampening matts, interior space, top covers, removable air-filters and two Pure Wings 2 140mm fans) and that’s also why we give it our Golden Award.

PROS

- High Build Quality
- Tempered Glass Side Panel
- Noise Dampening Coating (Right/Top/Front)
- Radiator Space (Top 240/280mm & Front 240/280/360mm)
- Room For 2x3.5" and 4x2.5" Drives
- Removable Drive Cage
- Two Pure Wings 2 140mm Fans
- Space For 190mm Tall CPU Coolers, 258mm Long PSUs and 369mm Long Graphics Cards
- Interchangeable Top Covers
- Removable Air Filters

CONS

- No Fan Controller
- No Mainboard Rubber Grommets
- Lacks RGB Lighting (For Some)