Page 4 - Installation and Conclusion
As always, I enjoy starting the build with the power supply. This is because I want to route all the cables to the necessary places before anything else in the case can obstruct my flow. In addition, these cables are generally the bulkiest ones, so it is a good idea to place your bulky cables before the thinner and smaller ones. Using the power supply bracket at the back, I installed the Seasonic FOCUS Plus 850 Gold 850W. As this unit is relatively compact at 150mm in length, this unit did not take up a whole lot in the basement. According to be quiet!, the case can hold units up to 258mm in length with no fan installed in the bottom area, but there are not too many PSUs that will reach this far. In addition, with the hard drive cage installed and the need for some cabling space, I would say any unit less than 200mm should have more than enough space. I personally ended up removing the hard drive cage at this point, because I do not have any 3.5" drives. The drive cage has two different positions that it can be installed in, but can also be removed. I like using the bottom area to stuff my excess cabling. Some might call me lazy, but I call it just good use of space, haha. Otherwise, the many Velcro straps in this area was quite helpful in keeping cable bundles in check. I also routed some of the front I/O cables and connected the necessary SATA cable for powering the lights.
One thing I was a bit excited to try is the front SSD bracket. One problem I find is I cannot use a single SATA power cable to power both drives. Often, when you mount a 2.5" drive vertically, you often need a flat SATA cable for both power and data or else you face uncomfortable bending in either of the cables. However, with this bracket and the way the drives are mounted, there is more than enough cable space to plug the SATA power plugs. At the back, there is also sufficient space to plug in 90-degree SATA cables without being bent too forcefully. In addition, the be quiet! logo may add some branding, but it also nicely hides any cables from showing on the inside. I installed my Patriot P200 512GB and OCZ Arc 100 240GB solid state drives here, and they look quite neatly installed. As previously mentioned, the bracket is held on with a thumbscrew on the back for quick removal.
From here, I installed my motherboard, an ASUS Prime X470-PRO, with the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X. On top of the processor, I mounted the Noctua NH-U12A. At a height of 158mm, this cooler is well under the maximum 190mm height specified by the manufacturer. Of course, you could also go the liquid cooling route with locations to install the radiator at the top and the front. I also plopped my MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Titanium, which measures at a length of 279mm. In the be quiet! Pure Base 500DX, you can use graphics cards as long as 369mm. I did notice the bottom of the card gets quite close to the front SSD bracket lip without touching it. This could be more of a concern for longer cards, but I would not be too worried.
At the back, you can see my finished cabling adventure. I ended up routing the 24-pin motherboard connector so that the braids would not show as tangled, which is why they are held between two Velcro tie points. Otherwise, I am quite happy with all of the included Velcro straps and cable tie points. The amount of space in the back is also quite good, assuming you put a bit of effort into managing your cables and cleaning up the result. You can also take the lazy path and stuff cables into your hidden basement. Overall, the installation process with the be quiet! Pure Base 500DX was an enjoyable one. Everything was in the right spots and there was a sense of refinement felt throughout. Components like the drive cages and sleds were all modular by nature, and could have been removed if you did not have a use for them. Thumbscrews were not over-tightened, and I felt like the manufacturer put thought into the layout of everything here. I finished everything off by plugging in the fans and powered on my machine.
With the power running through the system, the computer whirred to life, and I sat back admiring my work. With everything inside, I really like how clean the Pure Base 500DX is, being able to hide all my cables and presenting a straightforward build. Despite having three fans included with the be quiet! Pure Base 500DX, the case is surprisingly quiet in regular operation. According to the standard APH Networks sound scale, where 0 is silence and 10 is loud, the be quiet! Pure Base 500DX is around a 3.0/10, especially with the relatively low speeds the fans run at. The noise suppressing material on the side panel also helps in this regard to further reduce the sound. While I do not have a baseline to compare against other be quiet! products, I think the Pure Base 500DX does quite well at keeping a low noise output. In addition, the lighting implemented is clean on the exterior and bright enough to illuminate the interior. It cycles between multiple colors, different effects, and also offers a rainbow wave option.
-----------------------------------------
After taking a look at and installing in the Pure Base 500DX, it seems like be quiet! has covered their bases in almost all of the areas. Starting at the top, the case has a solid build with its sturdy panels and low amounts of flexing on the mounting areas and sides. The tempered glass side panel goes hand in hand with the interior and exterior addressable RGB lighting. In addition, you can see airflow was a pretty big focus with this case with the mesh filters and ventilation on the front and top. I am also happy to see the front panel USB Type-C port included here. Inside, the open interior allows for good flexibility when it comes to cooling options, expansion cards, and power supplies. The layout is intuitive with its cabling holes and good use of space. I like the drive mounting options, as you can install five 2.5" drives and two 3.5" drives in this mid-tower. However, it was not until the installation process when I really appreciated the attention to details in this chassis. This includes having thumbscrews on all of the drive cages, integrating a cover for the cables to the interior SSD bracket, and making the front panel easy to remove without cables despite having lights built in. Cable management options and the space behind the tray are sufficient, allowing users to route and keep excess cables in place without spilling into plain sight. When it comes to noise output, I think this case does live up to the manufacturer name. Even though there are three fans included, they run quietly in day-to-day operation and the rest of my system runs without too much noise emitted. If there is anything to ask for, it would be about adding a few more features. I would have liked to see two Type-A ports on the front instead of just the one. I also would have liked to see PWM fans here connected to a fan controller. Even so, I think the be quiet! Pure Base 500DX is an excellent case in both design and aesthetics. At review time, this chassis can be found for around $100 USD, which is a competitive price point considering what this product offers. For all the features and details done right, I think be quiet! has a real winner in the Pure Base 500DX.
be quiet! provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH:Renewal Award | APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.7/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The be quiet! Pure Base 500DX is a mid-tower case with many features, but small detailed aspects are what make this case shine.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
