INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Price has always been the decisive factor for people looking to get a brand new PC case but required space has never been that far behind and so it's no wonder that mid-towers have enjoyed the first spot in sales for as long as i can remember. Now as I’ve pointed out numerous times already in this type of reviews we've always chosen to go with full towers not only because removing and adding hardware is far easier (than in a mid-tower) but also because we can fit any hardware component i could possible want inside without having to worry about available interior space. Unfortunately because of sales numbers nowadays most manufacturers seem to steer away from large full towers but the few that don't almost always impress us with their offerings. One such tower was the Dark Base Pro 900 XL-ATX model by be quiet! which was released roughly 2 years ago and since the Rev.2 model was recently released we just had to check it out.

   be quiet! is a premium brand of power supplies, PC cases and cooling solutions for desktop PCs. Consistently the leader in the German PC power supply market since 2007*, be quiet! is one of the most successful PSU brands in Europe. This enduring success is largely thanks to the typical German passion for quality and precision. All product conception, design and quality control is performed in Germany. German expertise is evident the moment an idea is born and throughout the entire design and production process. be quiet! never releases a product until it meets the highest expectations. All materials used – from the smallest screws to the metals in the cases – are tested to rigorous standards. That is why be quiet! power supplies, PC cases, CPU coolers and case fans are among the most silent, powerful and reliable on the market. Innovative engineering concepts coupled with an uncompromising choice of premium materials and world-class manufacturing quality make be quiet! second to none when it comes to noise reduction. With over ten years of experience, be quiet! are truly the quietness experts.

   The original Dark Base Pro 900 was an high quality XL-ATX tower which had pretty much everything enthusiasts, gamers and professionals could ever wish for including a modular design (you could invert the interior to face right inside of left), 4mm thick tinted tempered glass left side panel, sound insulating mats (front, top, bottom and right), two LED strips (5 LED colors), integrated wireless Qi charger, interior fan hub, removable air-filters (front/bottom), three pre-installed SilentWings 3 fluid-dynamic bearing 140mm PWM fans (6-pole motors) and enough interior space for up to seven 3.5" and/or fifteen 2.5" drives, eleven 120/140mm fans and/or three 240/280/360/420mm radiators, 185mm tall CPU coolers, 284mm long power supply units (150mm with a bottom fan installed) and 470mm long graphics cards (325mm with HDD cages). Honestly we never thought that be quiet! had room to change many things about the Dark Base Pro 900 and we were somewhat right since the new revision just adds an aluminum PSU area shroud/cover, front USB 3.1 type-C connector, front USB quick charge port, new fan hub with performance/silent modes, high speed SilentWings 3 FDB 140mm fans (1600RPM/77.57CFM/2.16mmH2O/28.1dBA instead of 1000RPM/59.5CFM/1.08mmH2O/15.5dBA), two magnetic clips for the front door and a total of 4 removable drive cages (for up to five 3.5" or nine 2.5" drives) instead of the 7 found in the original (for up to seven 3.5" or fourteen 2.5" drives).

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like with its predecessor the Dark Base Pro 900 Rev.2 is packed in a large black box that has a product picture at the front along with the company logo, color selection and of course its main features in 3 languages.

 

 

The technical specifications are placed on the left side right beneath a few words about be quiet! in two languages.

 

 

On the right side we see the main product features printed in 7 languages.

 

 

7 pictures located at the rear of the box are used to showcase the product features in 2 languages.

 

 

Once again the tower is wrapped inside a cloth cover and is placed between two foam spacers.

 

 

This time over the bundle includes three drive cages, fan mount (can replace the optical bays with it), reservoir mounting plate, dual drive cage area cover, six Velcro straps, four replacement silicon pads for the tempered glass panel, 4 plastic bags with screws and spacers, two RGB LED strips and the user manual.

 

 

 

THE DARK BASE PRO 900 REV.2 EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In terms of size the Dark Base Pro 900 Rev.2 is identical to its predecessor and so it weighs 15kg and measures 586mm in height, 577mm in length and 243mm in width.

 

 

Once again the entire left side panel is made out of 4mm thick tinted tempered glass.

 

 

Just like before we see several perforated sections on the top, bottom and front of the tower.

 

 

Just like with the Dark Base Pro 900 the Rev.2 model has a hard plastic fascia/door that features a brushed aluminum front cover.

 

 

Although the door opens up from left to right you can change that if you want (a thick piece of insulating mat is placed on the door).

 

 

Over the two 5.25" drive bays we see the same fan speed controller as we did in the past.

 

 

At the front we actually have access to two removable air-filters the front placed right in front of the two high-speed 140mm SilentWings 3 PWM fans and the bottom one.

 

 

The I/O is located at the top of the fascia and has two USB 3.0 ports, microphone and headphone ports, on/off power button/LED, reset button, HDD activity LED, USB 3.1 Type-C port and a USB quick charge port.

 

 

The integrated Qi wireless charger was one of the things that made the first Dark Base Pro 900 stand out from the competition so it makes sense that be quiet! would bring it back for the Rev.2 model.

 

 

At the rear end of the top cover (also made out of plastic with a brushed aluminum cover) we find 5 perforated sections.

 

 

At the rear we see a 140mm PWM exhaust fan, 8 PCI expansion slots and the same fixed PSU area at the base.

 

 

The right side panel has the be quiet! logo on a plastic cover (more on that on the next page).

 

 

The case sits on four tall feet and although there's no perforated area for the PSU the left and right perforated sections make up for that (a brushed aluminum cover is also placed at the base).

 

 

 

THE DARK BASE PRO 900 REV.2 INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two differences between the first Dark Base Pro 900 and the Rev.2 model once you remove the tempered glass panel the aluminum PSU shroud and the lack of any drive cages.

 

 

The PSU shroud extends from the front and all the way to the rear of the tower (thus effectively keeping all cables out of sight) and has 5 plastic covers on it.

 

 

By removing these covers you can add two 120mm fans over the PSU area and you can also mount thicker radiators at the front.

 

 

One of the things we liked about the Dark Base Pro 900 was its support for 5.25" drives and the Rev.2 model keeps that feature.

 

 

Right beneath the two 5.25" drive bays we find 5 drive cage mounting areas and the two high-speed SilentWings 3 fans.

 

 

The mainboard tray has three large rubber grommets and a very large hole underneath the CPU area for swapping of backplates.

 

 

All 8 PCI expansion slots are held in place with regular thumbscrews.

 

 

Once again the right side panel doesn't only feature a thick insulating mat but you can also equip it with two 120mm fans (you will need to remove the pads mounted in their place however).

 

 

On the other side we see the 5 single drive cage mounting areas, pre-mounted dual drive cage, 2-speed fan hub, 2.5" drive tray and the PSU area.

 

 

Both drive cages are made out of aluminum and are very sturdy.

 

 

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.

If you plan on mounting radiators inside the Dark Base Pro 900 Rev.2 you will need to remove both the top and front covers (both are held in place with several clips accessible from the interior).

 

 

We also mounted all three drive cages in the tower to have a more complete view of its interior space.

 

 

Of course to mount the power supply you will also need to remove the shroud/cover (2 front and 2 rear screws hold it in place).

 

 

Depending on the size of the PSU you choose to mount there's also room for two 120/140mm fans at the base of the tower (to install the right fan you may need to remove the dual drive cage).

 

 

To mount the PSU you will also need to remove this internal mounting bracket.

 

 

Regular ATX sized mainboards leave plenty of room on the mainboard tray and as you can see from the above picture you can also mount an 420mm long radiator at the top (you will need to remove the 5.25" cage however).

 

 

At the front there's enough room for a 240/280/360mm radiator up to 35mm thick (unless you remove all drive cages).

 

 

Of course let's not forget that you also have enough room for CPU air coolers up to 185mm in height.

 

 

As for graphics cards even with the drive cages mounted there's still room for 325mm long ones so the majority out there will have a problem with that (GeForce RTX 2080Ti cards are up to 327mm long but this is one of the few exceptions in the market).

 

 

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 ontop 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).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Be quiet! has always placed quality, performance and features before looks so the first Dark Base Pro 900 wasn’t really anything exciting in that area and since the Rev.2 model is more or less identical the same applies for that as well. That being said due to its high build quality and noise dampening materials the Dark Base Pro 900 Rev.2 is aimed towards professionals and enthusiasts rather than gamers so looks are not as important. Comparing the first Dark Base Pro 900 with the new Rev.2 model in unavoidable and although we did like the new aluminum shroud (although it makes things even harder when it comes to mounting a PSU – be quiet! also sells just the shroud for people with the first Dark Base Pro 900) with the new SilentWings 3 high-speed fans we still don’t know why be quiet! decided on reducing the number of drive cages from 7 capable of holding up to seven 3.5” drives or fourteen 2.5” drives to 4 capable of holding five 3.5” drives or ten 2.5” drives. Sure most people will not even use all 4 but there are certainly some who would so it doesn’t make much sense. We were also expecting something extra when it comes to the bundled RGB LED strips but like we mentioned earlier the Dark Base Pro 900 Rev.2 is not primarily aimed towards gamers. Also do keep in mind that while the fan hub is set at performance mode (that’s what we used in our tests) and the front fan controller is set at max noise levels can be very annoying with the front door open.

   Currently you can find the Dark Base Pro 900 Rev.2 XL-ATX Tower for USD269 inside the USA (Amazon) and for 214.99Euros inside the EU (Amazon DE) so its price tag is almost identical to that of the original at launch (even less in the EU). Overall we are happy with the changes be quiet! made to the Dark Base Pro 900 and although 2 years later we would had liked to see more it’s still one of the largest, highest quality and feature-rich towers in the market and for that it deserves our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- XL ATX Mainboard Compatible
- Modular Design (Inverted Mainboard Installation)
- Tempered Glass Side Panel
- Noise Dampening Coating (Right/Top/Front)
- Can Support Up To 11 Fans
- Radiator Space (Top & Front 240/280/360/420mm)
- Room For 5x3.5" & 11x2.5" Drives
- 4 Removable Drive Cages
- Space For 185mm Tall CPU Coolers, 284mm Long PSUs and 470mm Long Graphics Cards
- Aluminum PSU Shroud - 2 Speed Fan Controller
- Qi Wireless Charger
- Two RGB LED Strips

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Hard To Mount The PSU
- Noisier Than Its Predecessor