Dark Base Pro 901 Overview
Taking a first look at the Dark Base Pro 901 the first thing you’ll notice is that it is quite big. It definitely is one of the larger cases we’ve taken a look at this year. The official dimensions are 604mm x 275mm x 569mm and it weights in at almost 40lbs without any hardware installed. As of right now be quiet! is only offering the case in black, but they did make a white version of the Dark Base 900, so maybe we’ll see a white version in the future.
Starting at the front of the case we have a bushed panel. This panel is separated about 80% down the panel by an RGB strip. There is a small be quiet! logo towards the bottom of the case. This bottom section is actually a compartment that opens up to reveal a 5.25-inch drive bay, something I haven’t seen on a case in a while.
Towards the top of the front panel you’ll find all of your connections, buttons, and controls. As far as connections go there are headphone and microphone jacks, four USB 3.2 Type-A ports, and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port. In the center of the control panel is a large power buttons. On either side of it are touch controls for the included fans and RGB lighting on the case. Right above this control panel on the top of the case is a wireless charger, which is capable of delivering 15W of power.
The front bezel of the case easily pulls off if you pull on it from the bottom. be quiet! is making use of sound dampening material on the inside of the front bezel. Remember if you want more of a high airflow design and not silent you can swap this panel out for the included mesh one. With the front bezel removed we can see a large filter on the front of the case. Removing this we find two Silent Wings 140mm cooling fans. This entire front cooling panel can be removed from the case for easy installation of fans or radiators. This cooling panel supports up to three 140mm fans or radiators up to 420mm.
The rest of the top of the case is a ventilated panel that has a built-in filter. You can press down on it for it to sort of pop off. Once removed we can see two separate sound dampening panels. I like that be quiet! has separated these panels as you may only have a single fan and you want the rest of the top of the case the be silent. These panels both easily come off as well to reveal a cooling bracket. This cooling bracket is removable as well as supports three 140mm fans and radiators up to 360mm.
The main side panel of the case is a tempered glass panel, which is going to show off your system nicely. The opposite side panel is a steel panel, but it does have a ventilated section towards the front as there is optional side-mount cooling inside the case.
Moving around to the back of the case towards the top we find our third included 140mm Silent Wings 4 fan. This cooling section will support a 120mm fan as well. Moving down we have our expansion slots covers and there are actually 8 so we could classify this case as a full tower. Finally at the bottom we have our power supply mount. There is also a filter the pulls out from the bottom of the case, but it actually pulls out from the front and in order to access it you do have to pop off the front bezel.