INTRODUCTION
Most people i know look for four specific things when out to get a brand new PC case design, size, quality and of course price (not necessarily in that order). There are however many people out there (myself included when i had my primary system in my bedroom and had to leave it on some nights) who also place noise levels (silence) very high on that list and although there aren't that many cases out there right now that feature noise-dampening material inside (used mostly on side panels) we can always count on well-established manufacturers like be quiet!, fractal design and nanoxia to have some in their product lines. The brand new Pure Base 600 Window Mid-Tower is one such PC case and today we have it on our photo bench.
be quiet! is a premium brand manufacturer of power supplies and cooling solutions for your desktop PC. be quiet! products are convincing which is proved by reaching and defending the market leadership in PSU business in Germany since 2006 *. This is validated and accompanied by numerous awards for both power supplies and cooling solutions. be quiet! is awarded for nine times in a row as “Manufacturer of the Year” in the power supply category by the readers of the well-known German hardware magazine PC Games Hardware. In the category “fans”, be quiet! earns the first rank for five consecutive times and belongs to the Top 3 CPU cooler brands for more than three years in a row. The community of Hardwareluxx also voted be quiet! as “Manufacturer of the Year” in the PSU category for four consecutive years.
Be quiet! released the original Pure Base 600 Mid-Tower a while back and since it was primarily aimed towards people who place low noise levels above all else the sides, top and front were all dressed with noise-dampening material. Still the growing popularity enjoyed by cases that feature tempered glass side panels is not something major PC case manufacturers can ignore and so be quiet! decided to also make the Pure Base 600 with a tempered glass side panel (available in two versions all-black and black with orange). Of course the right side panel is still dressed with noise-dampening material as is the top and the front so although we don't expect it to be quite as "silent" as the regular version these should help reduce noise. In terms of interior space the Pure Base 600 Window features two 5.25" optical drive bays and has enough room for up to three 3.5" and/or eight 2.5" drives, up to seven 120mm fans and/or two 240/280/360mm radiators, 165mm tall CPU coolers, 280mm long graphics cards (425mm with the drive cages removed) and 210mm long power supply units. Other features include a three speed fan controller, removable drive cages, noise-dampening material on the interior, removable bottom air-filter and two pre-installed Pure Wings 2 fans (120/140mm).
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
PACKACING AND CONTENTS
A product drawing is placed at the front of the box right over the product name and next to the company logo.
The specifications table is placed on the right side right next to the color selection (the Pure Base 600 Window is also available in black and orange).
Some of the features are printed on the left side in 3 languages.
Moving at the rear of the box we find a small drawing of the Pure Base 600 Window (exposed) and its features in 5 languages.
As usual the tower is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two foam spacers.
The bundle is quite limited so aside the user manual you'll also get 4 Velcro straps and 4 small plastic bags with screws and spacers.
THE PURE BASE 600 WINDOW EXTERIOR
The Pure Base 600 Window may not be the most exciting mid-tower in the market today in terms of design but it's quite sturdy and thanks to the tempered glass side panel it looks a lot better than its "regular" brother.
As you can all see the entire left side is made out of tempered glass.
The fascia is made out of hard plastic and features two 5.25" drive bays (it's also perforated on both ends to allow air to reach the fan placed behind it).
From left to right the I/O which is located at the top of the fascia has the HDD activity LED, reset button, 3 speed fan controller (can be connected with up to 3 fans), power button with LED, two USB 3.0 ports and the typical headphones and microphone ports.
The top panel had four perforated sections this time to allow air to exit the chassis.
At the rear we see a 120mm exhaust fan, 7 PCI expansion slots and the PSU area at the bottom.
The case sits on four tall feet and has a removable air-filter right beneath the PSU area.
THE PURE BASE 600 WINDOW INTERIOR
As far as interior space goes the Pure Base 600 Window has plenty (always for a mid-tower).
Both 5.25" optical drive bays are removable and use regular screws.
Beneath the 5.25" drive bays we find three individual removable drive cages (each can hold either a single 3.5" drive or two 2.5" ones).
You can either remove one or more of these cages or move them to one of the two extra mounting areas located right next to the front 140mm Pure Wings 2 fan.
Worth pointing out is that all three 3.5" drive cages feature anti-vibration silicon pads.
The mainboard tray has a total of 6 holes for cable management purposes (all rubber dressed).
All 7 PCI expansion slots use thumbscrews and thus are completely tool-less.
The PSU area features four short rubber feet and a long perforated section (since you can use PSUs up to 210mm in length that was expected).
Just like the normal Pure Base 600 the right side panel of the window version is also dressed with a rather thick layer of noise-dampening material.
Taking a look from the right side of the chassis we see that each of the three 3.5" drive cages is held in place via three thumbscrews.
There are also two removable 2.5" drive trays placed on this side of the mainboard tray.
These are made out of aluminum and are very sturdy.
Once you remove both side panels you can also remove the fascia which also features a layer of noise-dampening material on its interior.
As mentioned earlier at the front be quiet! has placed a 140mm Pure Wings 2 fan which can be accompanies by another 140mm fan or replaced with a 240mm radiator (you can also place either three 120mm fans or a 360mm radiator if you remove the optical drive bays – using a 280mm radiator means you lose just the bottom bay).
By removing both panels you also gain access to the top panel which also features a layer of noise-dampening material (the plastic clips have 2 stages, one which the top panel is completely close and one which is slightly raised).
Just like the front here you can either mount two 140mm fans, three 120mm fans or a 240/280/360mm radiator.
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.
As it’s clear from the above picture mounting a regular size ATX mainboard inside the Pure Base 600 Window means you get to lose two of its cable management holes.
Here we mounted a 240mm at the front and a 280mm radiator at the top leaving plenty of room for even 360mm ones (you will need to remove the 5.25” bays for that to happen however).
With enough room for CPU coolers up to 165mm in height you may not be able to mount any model you wish.
Our GeForce GTX590 is 280mm in length and as you can all see it’s exactly what you will be able to use if you decide not to remove the drive cages.
You can use pretty much any PSU in the market with the Pure Base 600 Window but as you can see from the above picture even a 180mm long model will take one of the bottom holes used for cable routing.
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
Cases with tempered glass side and even front panels have taken the market by storm but as it’s quite evident from the Pure Base 600 Window they don’t go well with noise-dampening material so even though here we have 3 pieces dressed with it still noise levels are not that low. With that out of the way however there’s no doubt that the Pure Base 600 Window is much better looking compared to its “regular” brother and I truly believe that most people out there place looks over noise levels (especially gamers). As for interior space well with enough room for three 3.5” (or six 2.5”) and two 2.5”drives I think the majority of users is covered while being able to mount up to two 360mm radiators (providing of course you remove the 5.25” drive cage) is certainly something many people will like about this case. Also let’s not forget the removable drive cages, the 3-speed fan adapter, the two pre-installed Pure Wings 2 fans and that you can mount graphics cards up to 425mm long (without the 3.5” drive cages), power supplies up to 210mm long and CPU coolers up to 165mm tall. My sole problem with the Pure Base 600 Window is the hard to remove front and top panels since I believe it should be easier to access these two areas in order to clean the fans or radiators mounted inside the case (the lack of front and top air-filters is also something we didn’t expect).
Currently the Pure Base 600 Window Mid-Tower by be quiet! retails for USD109 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 106Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which is somewhat balanced for such a case. Of course if you’re out looking to buy an really impressive tower the Pure Base 600 Window may just fall short of that but if build quality is on top of your list along with plenty of interior space (especially for water cooling components) then you can’t really go wrong with the Pure Base 600 Window which is also why it gets our Golden Award.
PROS
- Build Quality
- Tempered Glass Side Panel
- Noise Dampening Coating (Right/Top/Front)
- Radiator Space (Top & Front 240/280/360mm)
- Room For 3x3.5" (or 6x2.5”) and 2x2.5" Drives
- Removable Drive Cages
- Space For 165mm Tall CPU Coolers, 210mm Long PSUs and 425mm Long Graphics Cards
- 3 Speed Fan Controller
CONS
- Hard To Remove Front & Top Panels
- Overall Noise Levels
- No Top & Front Air Filters