be quiet! Silent Base 800 Case Review

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Shneiky

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I am a big be quiet! fan (no pun intended). Been using their power supplies for years and I am using their fans wherever I can. But what turns off from this case is the lack of cuts in the tray for attaching cables with zip-ties. This is a big miss from be quiet!. Wonder how they forgot about it. It is a vital point for descent cable management in the back.
 

Anathemata

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Feb 16, 2011
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Considering the Fractal Design R5 already beats out the 760T in my own experience, I don't know how this case can be competitive unless you are specifically looking for a case that has colored trim and a completely black interior (that you can't see, because no window).
 

g-unit1111

Titan
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Huh, as an R4 owner I don't see the similarities between that and this case. It looks pretty nice for the price, the only thing that would make it better would be a clear side window. Not a fan of the orange color though.
 
I think the whole point of the silent base was the sound dampening and while some people prefer windows it would defeat the purpose of a padded side panel for noise dampening. Not a bad review but why so late? Everyone else reviewed this case back in nov/dec 2014. This review is nearly 5mo later than the ones from techspot, techpowerup, hexus. I know sometimes reviews get held up but surprised the silent base 900 or something hasn't released already. Five months is a long time in this industry.
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff

A copy of what though?
A case reviewer will notice that six cases are nearly identical except for stylistic treatments. A further investigation will reveal that all six are made by the same company, "Shenzhen Giant Sheet Manufacturing" or something, and that all six brands are relying on the same tooling to manufacture a case similar to the one they designed. Often they pick an existing metal chassis and design new plastic. So the word "copy" here is a little ironic when the "original" was just new plastic added to an old standardized part.
 

f-14

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what was the point of the testing? to compare it to average highly ventilated cases with front panel grille mesh and vs. a discontinued product.

Nanoxia NXDS1B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
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last 2 reviews were from march '15 and july '14

this is also a full tower/server tower

why not compare it to something mainstream that is still currently selling for years like:
NZXT H630 CA-H630F-W1 White Steel Ultra Tower Silent Case
Fractal Design Define XL R2
LIAN LI PC-A76 Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower
Phantom No Power Supply Atx Full Tower Case
Cooler Master Cosmos II - Ultra Tower Computer Case
CM Storm Stryker - White Full Tower
CM Storm Trooper
IN WIN GRone
ENERMAX ECA3270 ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Corsair Obsidian 750D Black Aluminum
Rosewill Throne
NZXT SWITCH 810
Thermaltake Urban T81 Extreme Full Tower

picking the first 2 of these and mixed with any of the latter would have been a better review.
 

xoham

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It's too bad that they needed to stamp branding on the front and sides of an otherwise nicely minimalist design. They should make those removable stickers or magnets, as should all other manufacturers.
 

d_kuhn

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I bought one of the inexpensive Azza Silentium cases with the foam lining when I built my budget i5 system... I think it's about $90. I'm pretty impressed at how much that layer of foam cuts the noise - the damn thing is basically silent in a normal home ambient noise environment when doing non-demanding tasks. When the fans spin up it's a bit louder but still not bad.
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
Better for whom? The Nanoxia NXDS1B was picked because it was the "quiet tower" that was still here, having been the baseline case for the 2014 round of CPU cooler testing. It was in-stock at Newegg when it was picked, so the lack of recent reviews might point to a lack of people still buying it (and might be the reason Newegg recently dropped it).

But you said "this is also a full tower/server tower", and I'd like to know of which case you're referring?

The CM case is the baseline for the 2015 closed build, so it "had to be" re-tested with the 2015 reference hardware anyway. At least now we have two cases with the new hardware for comparing the next case.


 

ykki

Honorable
I think that for all cases that you review which are above $100 you should include (at the end) = "Why will I buy this over an enthoo pro/r4? " = and then point out which things they do better(if they even exist :D).
 

Shneiky

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Neither the Enthoo Pro nor the R4 are a solution for everybody. I would pick this Silent Base to any of them any time of the day. Everyone has his needs and aesthetic preferences. R4 is rather dull, while the Enthoo comes only with a window which is a no-no for me. And performance wise there are a lot of better cases then EP and the R4.

 
I'd agree. I have the enthoo pro and I really like it. Nothing to say it's the end all be all for everyone. They do have a non windowed ep case though. R4 and ep are similar, for me one of the reasons I skipped the fractal define cases - the usb slots are on top which I don't care for. It limits where I can put the case if I want to use thumb drives and becomes a dust collector. In the end it was one of the reasons I went with the enthoo pro for the front mounted usb, just personal preference. The silent base lacks the side window (obviously) and instead concentrated their efforts on padding/baffling the interior to help cut down on noise. I think it fits a segment for quiet computing nicely and still manages decent air flow.

Just like performance exhaust on a car, you're not going to have a racecar that's super quiet. Either muffle it and sacrifice a little performance for noise control or rip all the mufflers and sound deadening material to improve exhaust flow and lighten the chassis for max performance. I was a little concerned since the ep was my first windowed case and everyone said how loud they can be. I'm sure a baffled case would be a tiny bit quieter but my large windowed case doesn't suffer from noise pollution thanks to quality fans and fan speed control. So long as people realize a 'quiet' case is icing on the cake and not a bandaid for loud fans.
 

tdshepard

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Apr 30, 2015
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By the way, the correct expression is "sound damping," not "sound dampening." Yes I know that if you look up the definition it will say both are correct, but that's just because people have been mis-using them for so long. "Damping" means to dissipate energy. "Dampening" means to make something moist.
 


Well, if we're going to go to this degree of being pedantic, everyone should know that the issue lies not with the attached suffixes, but with the root word itself.

English is lovely, with its words-of-many-meanings and constantly-evolving-living-form. When taken into the context of mining, damp has another meaning that we don't see often in use.
 
Not that it matters but since captain dictionary is on the crusade figured I'd chime in. According to merriam-webster:

dampening:
transitive verb
1
: to check or diminish the activity or vigor of : deaden <the heat dampened our spirits>

intransitive verb
2
: to become deadened or depressed

As in to 'deaden' or 'diminish' the activity of sound. Hence, sound dampening. It doesn't hold the single definition of 'to moisten' and maintains variable meanings according to context.

Just so you know tdshepard.
 

Crashman

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Former Staff

So that's like the pot calling the kettle coked?

Ahah! See what I did there?

So my above response was truly on the mark, with "coke" having so many definitions :)
 
Most clever!

Although, I want to point out that my objective wasn't to stifle or insult anyone, but to elaborate and correct. (I was "jumping into the pit," so to speak, not "putting a lid on it.")
 
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