Final Thoughts
I don’t think that I’ve reviewed a case lately that has had as many features as the Dark Base Pro 900 has. This case does sort of sit by itself it terms of both features and price, it is selling for $249 at our favorite online retailer. That makes it one of the more expensive cases currently available, but I think that if you really are going to make use of the features it could be worth it for you.
To start off with this is a very large case, one of the largest we’ve taken a look at all year. With that you have a ton of room inside for hardware. This case supports XL-ATX and E-ATX motherboards, has room for long graphics cards, and up to 14 SSDs or 7 normal hard drives. On top of that the cooling options are immense with support for 420 mm radiators in the front and top as well as a 280 mm radiator in the bottom. There is also room for a total of eight 140 mm fans. The case does come with three of be quiet’s Silent Wings 3 fans, which are their highest quality fans and run about $27 a piece. This is one of the first cases I’ve seen ship with really high quality fans.
One really cool feature of the Dark Base Pro 900 is the motherboard tray. It is completely removable, which is nice, but it also can be adjusted up or down to make room of larger radiators. You can also completely flip the motherboard tray over, making the case reverse-ATX, which is pretty cool as well.
The case has a very large tempered glass side panel. Tempered glass side panels are nothing new, and are actually becoming pretty standard these days, but be quiet! actually did the right thing, they included LED strips with their case. This way you can properly light up the inside of the case and show off your hardware. The LED strips are controlled from the front of the case and can be switched through a handful of colors.
Installation inside of this case was really easy and I did not run into any major issues, although after installation I did notice a few things. First there really is no where to hide any of the cables that connect to the bottom of your motherboard and just all of the cables the come off your power supply are exposed. It would have been really nice to see a power supply cover of some sort. Also I noticed that the door opens up very easily. If I pick up the case the door swings open 99% of the time which is not ideal. Another thing that I wanted to point out was the user’s guide, with all the complexity of this case I think the user guide could be better, especially when it comes to instructions on the motherboard tray, etc.
I think at the end of the day if this case has multiple features that you are going to make use of it could be the perfect case for you and worth be quiet’s asking price. Overall ThinkComputers gives the be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Lots of room inside
– Easy installation
– Truly modular design
– Tempered glass side panel and LED strips
– Can support up to 15 SSDs!
– Whisper quiet
– Fan / light hub included
Cons:
– User’s guide could be better
– A power supply cover would have been nice
– Front door swings open too easily
