The be quiet! Pure Base 600 is an interesting beast. As the name suggests, the case aims to be the purest form of a chassis from the company with the Silent series occupying the middle segment and the Dark family of cases placed firmly on top. In essence, the Pure Base 600 comes really close to the Silent Base 600 not just in price but quality, which doesn't help undecided buyers. But even so, it is very clear that the Pure Base 600 is targeted at a different user. Those who want a clean, understated design will definitely steer towards the Pure series, so in the end, it makes sense for be quiet! to keep their quality standards as they innovate.

At first sight, the Pure Base 600 does so really well as there are individual 3.5" hard-drive bays, which are not only of very high quality, but function extremely well. Thanks to the design, you may even install two 2.5" drives into each bay instead of a single 3.5" drive. This means that one could fill the chassis with a total of eight such smaller storage devices.

Those who are into liquid cooling will find the Pure Base 600 to be a potent chassis with the ability to hold 360 mm radiators in the front and top, with the only downside being the sacrifice of the external drive bays. While this may sound bad, it is great that be quiet! has included such 5.25" slots as it gives the user the choice and flexibility - catering to both users perfectly.

The biggest issue arises with the lack of proper cable-management possibility due to the placement of the grommet-equipped openings. This could have been done a bit better even though the compact chassis offers a little less room to play with. There is also that - and this is no real drawback but noteworthy - the top cover is a bit fragile with its plastic clips, so be careful with these if using the cover in an elevated position.

Last but certainly not least are the fans. be quiet! includes retail-grade Pure Wings 2 fans which retail for a total of around €18, or US$22, as something you get for free. This also makes adding additional units of the exact same build easy. There is also the ability to control the speed of up to three of these fans thanks to the built-in controller, which is a very nice touch.

All this makes the be quiet! Pure Base 600 a very solid and functional chassis with a few little quirks. Just don't get caught eyeing the Silent Base 600 as they are both very different creatures even if price and size are similar. If you like the looks and compatibility of the Pure Base variant, go for it - you won't be disappointed.