Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
The be quiet! Dark Base 701 I am reviewing today is dressed in a pure white color, although a black variant is also available. The first thing that catches my eye is the sheer size of this mid-tower. At 565mm long, 249mm wide, and 523mm tall, it is one of the largest mid-tower cases on the market. It also has substantial heft, weighing in at 12.8kg. It is constructed with a combination of steel, ABS plastic, and glass. The whole exterior of the case is white, aside from the screws on the back of the case and the be quiet! logo in front that is in silver.
On the left side, we have the 4mm tempered glass panel that allows for a full view of the internal components. It is affixed to a white metal border that secures it to the side of the case. It also doubles as a place to hold it with grubby grasping appendages to avoid fingerprints on the glass. The glass edges are chamfered and are smooth to the touch.
The Dark Base 701 supposedly maximizes air flow, and this is quite apparent with the number of openings in this case. The front panel of the case is a giant flat metal mesh grille, which is angled on each side and feels solid. The mesh allows for front air intake. Two large vertical translucent pieces of plastic flank the mesh on each side, diffusing the addressable RGB LED light strips. Near the bottom of the mesh is a small be quiet! logo embossed in silver on a white background.
At the very top angled lip are the front user-facing I/O ports. From left to right, we have a 3.5mm microphone jack, 3.5mm headphone jack, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and two USB 3.2 Type-A ports. Below the ports, from left to right, we find the fan control button, the power button in a downward trapezoidal shape, and the RGB LED control button. This bottom row of buttons is encircled by elegant illumination of white LEDs under the panel. Furthermore, the light around the fan control button increases in brightness depending on the setting of the fan speed intensity. Otherwise, the fan and RGB LED controls cycle through three different levels of their respective control, and are connected to the internal controller hub.
The top of the case features another large metal mesh, mounted on a plastic frame. Through this panel, we can see a hexagonal lattice structure of the plastic frame that helps with structural rigidity. There are six rubber dots sandwiched between the mesh and lattice to prevent rattling. Despite this reinforcement, the metal mesh still has a good amount of flex in it. The plastic frame has a brushed finish to it. While it looks nice, the edges of the plastic are quite rough and sharp, as I inadvertently scratched my forearm on it while moving the case around. The top panel is a good place to exhaust heat, as it can naturally rise out up top.
The right side panel is a solid piece of steel with no remarkable features. This was also the panel that had come partly loose or was not properly seated during shipping. There is damage to the bottom right hook as well as the rail it is secured onto. I was able to bend back the warped areas, but it still takes a bit of force to slide it on and off. The front section does not appear to have any damage, but the horizontal height is misaligned from the front panel, whereas the glass panel on the other side sits flush.
On the back side, we have our first hint of color due to the many black screws. There are two captive thumbscrews holding each of the side panels, four captive thumbscrews securing the power supply bracket at the bottom, and two non-captive thumbscrews keeping the top panel in place. A maximum sized 140mm fan exhaust is at the top, with an open, hexagonal-patterned mesh. A small label with the serial number is located under here. There are seven expansion bays below with removable plates. There is support for a triple slot vertical mounted GPU, but a riser cable is not included. There are also some oval cutouts to help access the fan screws.
On the bottom, we find four plastic trapezoidal feet that support the case. Each foot has a rubber pad to stop the case from sliding around and provides some vibration and sound dampening. The four case feet provide 28mm of elevation from the ground. The plastic feet are molded onto lengthwise plastic rails that are secured by several sliding hooks and a screw on the inside of the case. Once again, the plastic edges on the feet are on the sharper side. There are also four screw holes near the front to mount the optional HDD bracket that fits a separately purchased HDD cage. Finally, there is a removable fine mesh filter with a plastic hexagonal lattice frame. This cannot be removed without first removing the front panel though. Behind, there are hexagonal-patterned openings for air intake to the power supply and optional front-bottom air intake.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
