be quiet! Light Base 900 DX

[Darksaber]

The be quiet Light Base 900 DX provides three different layouts, with 172 beautifully embedded ARGB LEDs around three sides of the chassis. That alone should make it worthwhile to look into if illumination is your jam - especially if you want massive radiators and plenty of ARGB fans. Besides that, the Light Base 900 DX also provides plenty of interesting functionality for a unique build experience.

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[ymdhis]

Dear Be Quiet, please release a small form factor Silent Base case that can take mATX boards, wastes as little space on the inside as possible, and has great soundproofing. Thanks.

 

[Ruru]

What a hotbox. I wouldn't sacrifice the front mesh to a solid glass if the temps are something like in this case.

 

[Punkenjoy]

What a hotbox. I wouldn't sacrifice the front mesh to a solid glass if the temps are something like in this case.

Just remember that those temps are without fans since TechPowerUp test cases in stock configuration and the DC SKU come with 0 fan


The FX SKU come with 4 140mm and probably have much better temps and you probably have great temps when you install 10 140 mm fans

 

[Ruru]

Just remember that those temps are without fans since TechPowerUp test cases in stock configuration and the DC SKU come with 0 fan


The FX SKU come with 4 140mm and probably have much better temps and you probably have great temps when you install 10 140 mm fans

Good point, didn't even realize that. My bad.

 

[_roman_]

I do like no provided case fans.

I dislike seeing such pcb in any case. Cheap mounting with just one fuse. That fuse is also not user replaceable.

Please do it the proper way or leave that printed circuit board away from the case.

Myself I would give a negative point for that printed circuit board. I would keep it neutral for no case fans provided. Most likely most users will get their own fans with their own fan controllers and fan software.

I used myself a splitter cable. Usually you can use most likely 4 fans with a 1 amps PWM mainboard connector with such a splitter cable.

I expect a certain amount of quality in a new hardware purchase. This is a clear fail in quality.

Such a cable mess is. It seems that company never heard about something like cable management.

I want to see very high resolution of the printed circuit board from both sides. this includes the traces, the screw positions, which screws, and how it is mounted. When you know where to place a pcb before selling the case, I expect you also give plenty of cable, but not too much cable length, so there are no air wires, and everything is proper hidden and not disturbing the mounting. Also the place should be well thought off. One cable seems to go diagonally in the case. Others are going in bend radius. The pure base 500 case I build in was also some sort of low end case. Especially the build quality and the documentation from the manufacturer.

 

[Chaitanya]

For its asking price 2nd HDD tray should have been included and in a world where Antec's C8 exists its just inexcusible exclusion.

 

[PCL]

Now offer one without the RGB and PCBs. The world needs more horizontal ATX cases like this!

 

[usiname]

Just remember that those temps are without fans since TechPowerUp test cases in stock configuration and the DC SKU come with 0 fan


The FX SKU come with 4 140mm and probably have much better temps and you probably have great temps when you install 10 140 mm fans

Which make most of the reviews here useless, because nobody is going to use it without fans, or at least almost nobody. That is why there should be thermal results with both the included fans and all fan slots filled with some average fans.

 

[Readlight]

Doesn't PSU coils, chokes impacts radio signal, TV?

 

[Caring1]

For its asking price 2nd HDD tray should have been included and in a world where Antec's C8 exists its just inexcusible exclusion.

Different strokes.
I think they should do away with H.D. cages altogether as they are for a minority now as most would use multiple NVME drives.

 

[bug]

Which make most of the reviews here useless, because nobody is going to use it without fans, or at least almost nobody. That is why there should be thermal results with both the included fans and all fan slots filled with some average fans.

Nobody? I always run mid-range parts, I only install one case fan for them. And even then, it's mostly for peace of mind, not because anything runs hot.

 

[Degreco]

The floor and ceiling fan areas have too much plastic obstructions for the airflow. Why, be quiet?

The price seems way too high too, this case comes without fans. If you always have some fans lying around or if you are used to ditch the stock fans anyway, then ok. But otherwise it's not the best deal with halfway or fully loaded cases from Antec, Montech and others.

The Antec C8 ARGB costs under 90€ at Amazon Germany (homeland of be quiet). This price is stable for many weeks now (white version)! It comes with three quality fans, two of them being 160mm PWM fans. Two Silverstone Sharkforce 160mm PWM will cost you over 60$/€ and they are not compatible with most cases around!

I don't see how the fanless Light Base 900 DX can compete with that C8 ARGB offer, being almost twice as pricey. Obviously the market agrees, the retail price of the 900DX is dropping very fast.

 

[Icarus]

I just picked one of these up (the DX version with no fans in black.) It's a cool case overall but I have a few issues so far

The front panel where the power switch is located on the one side is loose vs the other side. I can't get in there to tighten the screw though. I'd have to take off all the arg strips and wiring for the whole front panel to get at this one screw

I installed 6x Noctua P14s 140mm fans in the side and end of it and when they are running there is a 'buzzing' resonance noise due to the fans being so close to that 'extension' lattice for the 120mm fans that literally blocks 1.25"+ of the fan. I have tried two different kinds of Noctua fans, and six Be Quiet! Pure Wings 140mm and some Lian Li 140mm fans as well and they ALL do this!
The only way it seems to get rid of this 'buzzing' resonance noise is to space the fans 10mm or more from the mounts, or modify the case by cutting it up so the mounting plates on the case are clear for the 140mm fans (which I don't want to do on a brand new case!)
I asked Be Quiet! if they sell 10mm+ 140mm fan spacers at all I could fix this with, or should I return the case and look for something different? I have priced out 10mm+ spacers and they seem to be about $120 CDN for 6, which is insanely high priced to fix an issue with this case.

Also, what does the RPM white hashed area on the one fan/argb splitter mean? There is no mention of this in the manual.

Thanks for the help

 

[Degreco]

Also, what does the RPM white hashed area on the one fan/argb splitter mean? There is no mention of this in the manual.

This is most likely the main connector of this splitter that connects to a case fan port on the mainboard. The hub/splitter gets the rpm information, sometimes also voltage from this port. The primary rgb connector sits right under it. Those signals are then passed to all connected fans.

 

[Punkenjoy]

I just picked one of these up (the DX version with no fans in black.) It's a cool case overall but I have a few issues so far

The front panel where the power switch is located on the one side is loose vs the other side. I can't get in there to tighten the screw though. I'd have to take off all the arg strips and wiring for the whole front panel to get at this one screw

I installed 6x Noctua P14s 140mm fans in the side and end of it and when they are running there is a 'buzzing' resonance noise due to the fans being so close to that 'extension' lattice for the 120mm fans that literally blocks 1.25"+ of the fan. I have tried two different kinds of Noctua fans, and six Be Quiet! Pure Wings 140mm and some Lian Li 140mm fans as well and they ALL do this!
The only way it seems to get rid of this 'buzzing' resonance noise is to space the fans 10mm or more from the mounts, or modify the case by cutting it up so the mounting plates on the case are clear for the 140mm fans (which I don't want to do on a brand new case!)
I asked Be Quiet! if they sell 10mm+ 140mm fan spacers at all I could fix this with, or should I return the case and look for something different? I have priced out 10mm+ spacers and they seem to be about $120 CDN for 6, which is insanely high priced to fix an issue with this case.

Also, what does the RPM white hashed area on the one fan/argb splitter mean? There is no mention of this in the manual.

Thanks for the help

If you look at the FX case, the side fans are on the opposite side. (On the main board cavity side.

The dust filter take most of the side panel so that doesn't seem to be an issue.

As for the loose part. Those are high end case, if it's not perfect, just RMA it

 

[Icarus]

This is most likely the main connector of this splitter that connects to a case fan port on the mainboard. The hub/splitter gets the rpm information, sometimes also voltage from this port. The primary rgb connector sits right under it. Those signals are then passed to all connected fans.

I think your very close. The case hub has a separate fan header lead for the fans to the MB, so I think this white port is what feeds the rpm info from what ever fan is attached to this port, and then the whole hub controls all the fans hooked up to it based off that one fan?! I'll have to muck around with it once I get it complete and hope I don't fry anything!

The hub has its own sata power on each hub, and the hubs are 'sync'd' via a wire it looks like. Kinda neat design.
Each port on the hubs is labelled I noticed (sync, logo, led_strip, etc,) but this white hashed one only says 'RPM' and no mention in the manual, so who knows, lol...