be quiet! Pure Base 500DX

[Darksaber]

The Pure Base 500DX takes all that has made the original Pure Base 500 so great and sets its sights at conquering the hearts of gamers and enthusiasts who want a bit more bling and cooling performance instead of understated looks and utter silence out of the box.

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[dirtyferret]

impressive case for the price

 

[Turmania]

I love the case. Always preferred 14cm rear fan as well. If the dimensions are right. Especially depth.it is too big for my taste. I prefer meshify c , icue220t dimensions.

I checked the product webpage they say dimensions are in order of ( L×W×H )450×232×463

 

[P4-630]

Space for 4 SSD's at the back of the motherboard and a 140mm exhaust fan, I like that.
However there is no built-in fan speed controller? How to control them? And what if I want 3x 120mm fans at the front, where to connect them?

Too bad, just a single USB 3.0 port on top, would have preferred 4 USB ports like my Silent base 600. And no reset button...

 

[E-curbi]

This is most definitely the time to extend momentous appreciation to the highly-skilled reviewer.

I don't know how you do it man.

I could not learn the selective intricacies advanced characteristics and subtle nuances which complete this case - and write it up given any amount of time. I get bugs in my tummy just thinking over the process.

These towers are like a blur to me, they all simply FEEL - the same. But that's not your fault man, you're doing the best with what the makers send you.

I don't know how you do it man.

My hat goes off to you Darksaber.

 

[QUANTUMPHYSICS]

If you want a quiet system, all you truly need is an AIO on your CPU and an AIO on your GPU.

I used a decibel meter to measure my PC and got 50 decibels.

Just to ensure my own personal hearing is adequate, I did a hearing test and got 100% Left and 100% Right

 

[KrazedOmega]

Nice looking case. Reminds me of my Meshify C, which I wish had a 140mm rear fan.

However there is no built-in fan speed controller? How to control them? And what if I want 3x 120mm fans at the front, where to connect them?

Connect and control them with your motherboard.

 

[Caring1]

If you want a quiet system, all you truly need is an AIO on your CPU and an AIO on your GPU.

I used a decibel meter to measure my PC and got 50 decibels.

Just to ensure my own personal hearing is adequate, I did a hearing test and got 100% Left and 100% Right

You know AIO's have fans too right?
50 Db IS LOUD.
That hearing test was 100% (deaf) right?

"gamers and enthusiasts who want a bit more bling and cooling performance instead of understated looks and utter silence out of the box. "

I'd look for more space between the top of the Motherboard and case if better cooling was required.
Room for a large Radiator and fans is a must without them overlapping the board or obscuring it in any way.
Rear fans aren't required in any of my builds.

 

[nikoya]

Space for 4 SSD's at the back of the motherboard and a 140mm exhaust fan, I like that.
However there is no built-in fan speed controller? How to control them? And what if I want 3x 120mm fans at the front, where to connect them?

Too bad, just a single USB 3.0 port on top, would have preferred 4 USB ports like my Silent base 600. And no reset button...

just connect the fans to your mobo and use the mobo software to control them. you can setup an accurate control this way.

 

[Sunny and 75]

Worthy of the Great Value mark indeed.

 

[QUANTUMPHYSICS]

You know AIO's have fans too right?
50 Db IS LOUD.
That hearing test was 100% (deaf) right?

"gamers and enthusiasts who want a bit more bling and cooling performance instead of understated looks and utter silence out of the box. "

I'd look for more space between the top of the Motherboard and case if better cooling was required.
Room for a large Radiator and fans is a must without them overlapping the board or obscuring it in any way.
Rear fans aren't required in any of my builds.

It's whisper quiet. I had the mic directly in front of the output fan.

 

[P4-630]

Connect and control them with your motherboard.

just connect the fans to your mobo

For some fans I still like using a 3 speed fan controller like i use now with my be quiet silent base 600.

 

[Cranky5150]

Watched a review of this case yesterday..not bad for what it is.

 

[John Naylor]

Space for 4 SSD's at the back of the motherboard and a 140mm exhaust fan, I like that.
However there is no built-in fan speed controller? How to control them? And what if I want 3x 120mm fans at the front, where to connect them?

Too bad, just a single USB 3.0 port on top, would have preferred 4 USB ports like my Silent base 600. And no reset button...

The MoBo provides superior control that is automatic, temperature responsive, can tun off fans when not needed and can ramp up fans, Most importantly it doesn't require me to do anything. Whiole I can't understand why someone would want to do this manually, and while I'm all for user options, it does however add cost to a budget level case where the money could be better spent on other non-redundant features like more external USB ports

1. Would have preferred an extra 60mm of depth to go 3 x 140mm
2. What is the bottom dust filter for ? No fan mounts there .... Could be thinking their fan mount arrangement guaranteed negative pressure ... but air will follow the path of least resistance and that's thru the vented slot covers ... where it will pull in hot GPU / PSU exhaust.

If you want a quiet system, all you truly need is an AIO on your CPU and an AIO on your GPU.

I used a decibel meter to measure my PC and got 50 decibels.

Just to ensure my own personal hearing is adequate, I did a hearing test and got 100% Left and 100% Right

If you want a quiet system, you must avoid an AIO. To get close to the acoustic performance of an air cooler, you will spend a fortune.

Quiet = 35 - 40 dbA ... AIOs don't exist here, Air coolers own this
Reasonably Quiet = 40 - 42.5 dbA .... Air coolers and copper AIOs w/ 140mm fans territory here
Moderately Loud = 42.5 - 45 dbA .... Small air coolers and aluminum AIOs w/ 140mm fans
Loud 45 - 47.5 dbA ... ITX air coolers and AIOs w/ 120mm rads
Very Loud = 47.5 - 50 .... Larger AIOs (360mm) w/ Alum rads
Unacceptable = 50+ ... Corsair H115i Platinum / Corsair H100i / Corsair H100 pro

Because of their cheap / inefficient aluminum radiators, AIOs typically require extreme speed fans ... and 50 dbA ? That is simply unacceptable.... 3.25 times as loud as a Noctua D15. AIOs typically hit 60 dbA under stress testing. Each 3 dbA represents a doubling of sound pressure; each 10 dbA represents a doubling of perceived sound level. If you meed help comparing sound levels, there are various on line calculators you can use

Loudness volume doubling sound level change factor of perceived loudness decibel scale log compare intensities formula calculate power level noise levels volume logarithm dependence three four fold loudness sound - by what factor does level decrease

Dependance sound levels change factor perceived loudness decibel scale log compare intensities calculate power level formula noise volume doubling loudness volume - logarithm decibel 3 dBSPL 6 dB 10 dB double voltage sound pressure acoustic power loudness sound audio formula relationship...

www.sengpielaudio.com

Start at 22:50 (lose the spaces in the link ... i didnt want to take up space putting the video in the post
https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYKdKVxbnp8
NH-D15 Air Cooler is at 33 dbA
Corrsair H100i AIO (Aluminum rad) is at 68 dbA

35 dbA difference means that at full overclocked load, the H100i us 11.3 times louder than the Noctua air cooler. So clearly, if ypou want a queit system, at more than 11 times as loud, an AIO is not the way to go. Sure it cools 3 C better but Id rather give up 3C than sit in a room with 68 dbA ... 70 dbA is a vacuum cleaner. Now look what happens when we replace thew AIO with aluminum rad with a set of all copper custom loop componentry pre-assembled at the factory . The Swiftech H220 is only 43 dbA ... a difference if 25 dbA ... that makes the H100i 5.7 times louder than H220 and it beats the Corsair by 3C.

But lets make them all equal, or as close as we can soundwise and see what happens. Move to 23:50 in the video:

NH-D15 Air Cooler is at 33 dbA at 70C
Corsair H100i AIO (Aluminum rad) is at 39 dbA and temps are at 76C ...

The H100i is 1.5 times louder while letting the CPU run 6C hotter.

There are reasons to do AIOs ... perhaps you don't care about sound because due to living arrangements, you only play games with headphones on or because you are more about RGB than actual acoustic performance. However, 99% of AIOs are incapable of getting close to the noise performance of a quality air cooler at anyqwhere near the cost. The Alphacool Eisbaer Extreme Black is the only one I can think of that TPU tested ...

Alphacool Eisbaer Extreme Black = 79C under AIDA 64 OC'd @ 41 dbA ... $283.49

https://tpucdn.com/review/alphacool-eisbaer-extreme/images/fan_noise_100.png

Scyther Fuma 2 = 80C under AIDA 64 OC'd @ 41 dbA ... $59.99

https://tpucdn.com/review/scythe-fuma-2-dual-tower-cpu-cooler/images/fan_noise_100.png

 

[KrazedOmega]

2. What is the bottom dust filter for ? No fan mounts there .... Could be thinking their fan mount arrangement guaranteed negative pressure ... but air will follow the path of least resistance and that's thru the vented slot covers ... where it will pull in hot GPU / PSU exhaust.

Intake for the PSU fan. They should have kept the top of the PSU shroud solid instead of having it vented to keep the two areas separate.

 

[wheresmycar]

nice!!

The be quiet! Pure Base 500DX and the Lian Li LANCOOL II are currently my 2 personal favourites in the ~£100 category (from an aesthetics point of view) but I wander how well these compare thermally/acoustically with the Fractal Design Mesh C or Phanteks P400A - anyone?



EDIT: thank you for the in-depth review!!

hold on a sec... am i reading this correctly... x3 140mm fans bundled in?