Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
The first time I laid my eyes on the be quiet! Light Base 600 LX, I caught myself saying, "Whoa, this is fat". And indeed it is, because it measures in at 305mm wide, 455mm tall, and 450mm deep in standard orientation for a total volume of 59.7L. For the Americans among us, the Light Base 600 LX is exactly one foot wide -- put your Subway Footlong on top to confirm. The mid-tower tips the scales at 26.67 lbs, which is quite hefty, but the "Light" in be quiet!'s Light Base series were never meant to be light, at least not in that context. The reason for its hefty weight is because of all the glass used, and the interior has a decent degree of complexity, which we will take a look at in this review.
The be quiet! Light Base 600 LX follows modern design trends of being an aquarium-style chassis, but adds many of the brand's flair. The front and left side panels are tempered glass for an unobstructed view inside. It is quite a looker in my opinion. The mid-tower even comes with its addressable RGB LED illumination system. I know I run my fair share of RGB jokes here at APH Networks, but one does not buy a chassis with tempered glass panels and not have advanced lighting effects. The four parallel translucent lines on the front right side of the chassis in standard orientation, shown in the photo above, continue through the top and bottom panels, and is a 1.33m-long strip that features seventy-seven ARGB LEDs. The ARGB LEDs, along with the ARGB LED internal fans, are controlled by an internal controller that can synchronize with your motherboard. The rest of the chassis is made out of quality steel panels. For those who swear by extremely clean looks combined with an intrinsic attention to detail and emphasis on silence, this is your mid-tower chassis.
The front panel connectors are located on the actual front panel of the Light Base 600 LX, and for a good reason. The chassis can be placed in any orientation with a simple relocation of the four feet at the bottom. For example, placing it flat will result in the old-school horizontal desktop layout, while turning it upside-down will give you an inverted setup. Since the external light strip runs along three sides, the Light Base 600 LX exhibits appropriate symmetry for use in any context. For the rest of this review, I will assume the standard orientation.
As shown in the above photo, the large power button placed nice and center with a white power LED in the center. The designers managed to create a level of symmetry in an asymmetric fashion. Above the power button, we have one USB 3.2 Type-A and one USB 3.2 Type-C port followed by an ARGB LED control button. Below the power button, we have another USB 3.2 Type-A port, combination 3.5mm audio jack for headphone out and microphone in, and a reset button. Although the reset and ARGB LED control buttons are different, neither of them are labeled, which can be very confusing. Furthermore, the reset button has an indent in the middle while the ARGB LED control button is flat, making the reset button even easier to press accidentally. In my opinion, be quiet! could have at least recessed the reset button to prevent it from being engaged unintentionally. There is no HDD activity LED.
Shifting our focus a little bit, let us take a look at the top of the be quiet! Light Base 600 LX. Traditionally, case designers install top mounted fans to efficiently draw heat away from the processor. This makes a lot of sense, since heat rises, so we are only adhering to the natural laws of physics. Unfortunately, this is a two-way street, as it is also very easy to get a lot of dust in the system that way when it is turned off. I am not a big fan of such a design, and I really dislike it when manufacturers force me to use that opening. In this case, be quiet! has made a reasonable compromise. The top panel is almost completely vented, but there is a large filter behind to keep the dust out. The dust filter will not keep everything out completely, but having three side intake fan and one exhaust fan from the factory -- more on this later -- will produce positive pressure to keep dust out during normal operation and prevent them from settling in when your PC is off. The top panel can also be removed by loosening a captive thumbscrew at the back to remove and clean the dust filter. You can install up to three 120mm or two 140mm fans in this location. Of course, it can accommodate a radiator of equivalent size.
If you decide to use the Light Base 600 LX in the horizontal desktop orientation, the top panel will now be the right panel of your PC. The be quiet! logo lights up along with the four parallel ARGB LED lines that run next to it.
Moving on, the right side panel is also completely vented with a full-size removable dust filter behind it. This is an air intake panel, as three Light Wings LX Reversed 120mm PWM fans are located near the front. If you decide to use the Light Base 600 LX in the horizontal desktop orientation, the right side panel will now be the bottom panel of your PC. Four feet are subtly integrated, which can be seen the photo above.
The back of be quiet!'s Light Base 600 LX is painted black to match the rest of the chassis. Compared to traditional cases with a bottom mounted power supply bay, the power supply is behind the motherboard, contributing to its width. Other than that, we can expectantly spot an included Light Wings LX 120mm PWM fan placed adjacent to the motherboard I/O backplate. Both side panels, along with the top and bottom panels, are held on using captive thumbscrews. There are fancier mechanisms out there for removing the side panels, but this is the simplest and most secure. The ventilated plates enclosing seven horizontal expansion card slots are painted black shown in our photo above. They can be converted and used with the included vertical GPU riser kit to show off your graphics hardware.
Four open plastic feet with rubber pads can be seen at the bottom of the be quiet! Light Base 600 LX. The legs provide the chassis about 1.75 cm rise over the surface it resides on. If you want to use the Light Base 600 LX in inverted orientation, simply twist the feet 90 degrees to remove and relocate them to the top. The top and bottom panels have the exact same design to support the multi-orientation design, meaning the bottom panel is almost completely vented with a large filter behind to keep the dust out. For those who want more fans in their systems, the bottom panel has room for up to three 120mm or two 140mm fans or a radiator of equivalent size.
Overall, the be quiet! Light Base 600 LX ATX case is a solid case with regards to build quality, as one would expect from be quiet!. All the panels fit together reasonably well with minimal panel gaps. The only noticeable gap I saw was the edge between the front and side glass panel, which seems to be there by design, since the company places a piece of cardboard there to separate them out of the box. In my opinion, adding an additional edge there will make it look nicer, since the gap is a bit unsightly. With that out of the way, nothing feels flimsy or cheap, and sharp edges are out of the question.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
