be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 Case Review: Chunky But Funky
Final Thoughts
The be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 does not solely rely on its size to provide convenient installation, but it offers versatility that many other full-tower cases lack. The word ‘flexible’ and ‘versatile’ has been a common occurrence in many recent case reviews online with good reason; many are opting to design smarter rather than just throwing features against the wall and seeing what sticks. Adding features that are popular and trendy will never go away completely, but the ones that maintain a coherent through-line that transcends gimmicks across their product range usually succeeds. That is why despite the move to cater for high-end custom liquid cooling products and ‘gaming’ features, the be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900’s dedication to silence is commendable. For the uninitiated, certain design choices on the case might be perplexing or runs against convention, but these are all done in continuance with what be quiet! wants their products to be, which is to be quiet.
The doors are locked by magnets, but it is not powerful enough that it slams and holds it shut even when tilted. The magnets hold the door closed only with enough force that an optical drive can push it open when it is ejected from the OS (even the soft-clicking sound is not a latch, but rather a tiny spring-loaded piece of plastic that pushes the door open a few millimeters apart). Although, understandably, some users might find it annoying that the door does not secure in place as strongly as other cases, it makes sense from a design perspective since the giant and heavy case will be upright and stationary most of the time anyway.
The top, front and bottom are not littered with perforations for ventilations but a sizable gap underneath these panels allows for air to filter in from a single direction outside. The advantage of this is two-fold since the extra gap provides additional clearance for fan mounting for radiators and it also allows be quiet! to line the non-perforated areas with sound dampening material to minimize the noise.
Aside from the truly silent performance, the high quality of the build and the remarkably flexible feature set, puts the be quiet! Dark Base 900 Pro above the rest. Other manufacturers can claim that they have a modular chassis all they want, but be quiet! Has a movable motherboard tray as well as a movable PSU so the only limit is the builder’s creativity (and budget, since it is a flagship case after all).
