CONCLUSION

   The Silent Base 800 is most likely a "test" product by be quiet! designed to see if they can also succeed in the PC case market as they have in the PSU and CPU cooler ones and as far as we are concerned they seem to be on the right track. We're not saying that the Silent Base 800 is perfect (i doubt even be quiet! thinks so) but for a first try it has almost every single thing going for it. It looks great, build quality is very good, comes complete with noise-dampening coating and dust-filters, has enough room for seven 3.5" drives, four 2.5" drives, three 5.25" drives, seven 120/140mm fans (or 5 fans and a 240/280mm radiator) and can fit virtually any card and CPU cooler in the market today. Now i say almost every single thing because we'd all like to see a more spacious interior used and a few extra features like perhaps a richer I/O panel (docking station, fan controller), the ability to swap all the 120mm fans for 140mm ones and also to have room for more than just one 240/280mm radiator. Noise levels may also seem quite high for a tower filled with noise dampening material but it's actually the rear fan that's audible and not the two found at the front.

   As i type these lines the Silent Base 800 Midi Tower by be quiet! currently retails for USD146.95 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and for 125Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) so it's not really what we'd call cheap although we do feel that it's priced just right. That however doesn't mean much since the competition at around the same price point is large and so there are larger towers one can find (some of which cheaper) if a spacious interior is what you're looking for. Overall we've seen more feature-rich and much larger PC towers in the past and thus we expect something equally great by be quiet! in the near future. For now however the Silent Base 800 with its excellent build quality, plenty of features and elegant design is well worth our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Noise-Dampening Coating
- Good Stock Airflow/Cooling Levels (3x120mm Fans)
- Door Orientation Can Change
- Radiator Space (Top 240/280mm)
- Room For 7x3.5" and 4x2.5" Drives
- Removable Drive Cages
- Space For 170mm Tall CPU Coolers and 400mm Long Graphics Cards
- Removable Feet

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Overall Interior Space