A Closer Look - Inside

Before we dive into the interior of the be quiet! Shadow Base 800 FX, there is the solid panel that is also lined with sound-dampening material to keep things as quiet as possible.


The interior of the case utilizes a pretty traditional layout with a shroud on the bottom. There is an elongated cutout at the back of the shroud for cable management and a plastic cover towards the front with a grille. While the remaining opening towards the front is large enough to accommodate thick radiators or push/pull configurations with thin ones, the cover may be removed to allow for even bulkier setups.


On the backside of the motherboard, you will find a mounting tray for two SSDs. There is a cable management opening at the center of this plate which comes equipped with a removable cover, so you can make sure the interior of the Shadow Base 800 FX looks as undisturbed as possible. be quiet! takes the extra step to pre-route the wires within the chassis in a useful and clean manner, so that you don't have to. Four Velcro strips hold the majority of them in place allowing for easy changes in the wiring setup when you modify your system over time. Across the cutout for the CPU cooler backplate, there is another mounting bracket for two 2.5" or 3.5" drives. Be quiet has placed their ARGB controller & fan hub PCB here. You may connect up to eight ARGB elements and PWM fans to this, which should be more than enough for most users.


That mounting bracket across the opening of the CPU cutout may actually be moved down to the more classic position just above the PSU if you choose to do so. It is simply secured with hooks and a single thumb screw, making this adjustment both quick and easy.


In the front, underneath the shroud, there is just a lot of room and the ability to install a singular 120 or 140 mm fan on the floor of the case. However, this is where you could also install that aforementioned HDD cage frame. That said, since the Shadow Base 800 FX does not include any such cages, you will have to go out and buy your own separately if you want to use this type of configuration. And yes, be quiet! does sell those properly in their distribution channels. Above that are the four 140 mm fans in front of the frame.


To the left of those is a plastic cover with the brand logo on it so that you can hide your cable management as much as possible. It flexes quite easily, and as such any bulky, stiff cables will do the same. Ideally this could have been metal - something we have seen other brands opt for when it comes to these parts of a chassis.


In the rear the PSU bay comes equipped with rubber pads for the power supply to rest on. Above that, you will find the seven expansion slots, each protected by reusable covers and secured with a thumb screw. In the very top, you may feast your eyes on that fourth 140 mm ARGB equipped fan, set to push air out the back of the Shadow Base 800 FX.


The expansion slots of the case may be removed and then rotated 90° to allow for horizontal GPUs to easily fit. Naturally, this configuration will limit you to that single PCIe slot, but thanks to the fact that all seven expansion slots are available, you have all the flexibility possible to allow for the thickest GPUs while also keeping such pixel pushers as far away from the glass side panel as possible.


In the ceiling there is that one large vent so that you can easily fit your radiator of up to 420 mm size. This means you can fit up two of these units within the Shadow Base 800 FX, which is excellent. The only small downside is the fact that the brand's Pure Loop 2 AIO series maxes out at 360 mm at this time. Maybe be quiet! will end up expanding these to include 420 mm units in the future in case you want to build a be quiet! themed system and make the most of the case's capabilities.


All the cables within the be quiet! Shadow Base 800 FX are of the default variety and will fit any modern motherboard. As the case lacks both a reset button and HDD activity LED, you will not find any leads for those either. It would have been great to at least retain the activity LED, as it could be an indicator if your system is frozen or just working really hard.