Stuart, when you clipped my review on KitGuru to show the rough installation of a 420mm rad in roof and front, you may have missed the later section when I installed a 420mm Corsair H170i and used it for thermal and noise testing. ruclips.net/video/_L32EqaIQKY/видео.html You seem to be suggesting that our views differ when in fact I gave the be quiet! Shadow Base 8 out of 10 and Worth Buying but gave the Lian Li Lancool III 9 out of 10 and KitGuru's Must Have top award. No doubt I will see you at CES in January. Leo
Eh, your views do kind of differ. This case is probably not worth buying in the US unless at a steep discount from MSRP. In Europe, the Be Quiet products are generally priced way more competitively than elsewhere. In the US, they are almost always priced way above where they should be compared to the competition. They usually aren't bad products or built as a bit of an afterthought as this case so clearly was. I watched your review and I think you kind of phoned it in personally. Or at the very least, you just didn't have the energy to provide fair criticism. It can take a lot out of a person to be critical even when it is fair so sometimes people just don't have it in them. You generally do awesome work. Everyone has a miss every now and then. This probably should have been in your "worth considering" tier.
Multiple 420 support, that was the issue. Single 420 not a problem, but dual 420 not possible. You can see that even dual 360 is tight. For its price tag, that case is very poor. No grommets, no new features, nothing really. And about the fans, if one doesn’t care about RGB, the Thermalright TL-B120 for £8.90 is an excellent fan. Used BeQuiet fans in the past and they’re quiet, but not top performers, even the Silent Wings 4 wasn’t as good as some reviewers made one believe. T30 is much better. The Thermalright alternative is very valid, and considering its price, my pick for non RGB fans. The P12 are good, but plagued with the 1k rpm humming. The Pro version of the P12 is very loud, as expected, because of the bearing used.
Once again a very detailed explanation and nice build! I am always amazed by your many thoughts and these clean and painstaking builds. I would love to see a video about a small "power house" mini-itx build since most of your builds are in a huge case. Thank you very much for all your content!
The level of detail in this review is something you'll only get from this channel. The vertical mount, and not very clear direction of the case overall in this price point, is definitely what hurts it most. I agree with your opinion on the fanless model and getting that price down, and that they need to fix that dang cable bar. More water-cooling support, and a consistent design flow. Everything mentioned in this review was spot on, and it's good to show those negatives, I know a company like Be Quiet would take this seriously and make some changes, just need a few more people taking indepth looks into this kind of stuff from the case industry. Well done Stuart.
No need for More water cooling support, anything that fits in this case will still cool any computer just fine. Only argument would be insane overclocking that will destroy a PC in a matter of time anyway, and is totally unnecessary to begin with.
Love your honesty about the downfalls of this case! My gf just picked up a SB 800 FX in white for $230. She was already committed to getting white Light Wings fans before we knew this case existed. Considering the included fans would’ve cost her $120, we’re basically looking at a $110 case. She also loves how this case looks and plans to modify/customize the front SSD tray, so in our particular situation it’s a pretty good pick. I can see why it’s less appealing to a lot of other people though!
While calling out other reviewers by name might not have been the best approach, I have to say that I agreed with your sentiments completely - when it comes to actual radiator support in many cases, relying on manufacturer specifications can often be useless, and reviewers that parrot those claims without actually testing it using a reasonable sized radiator (30mm) with fans (25mm) installed isn't much better. I have definitely been burned multiple times on cases that claim support for some size of radiator and then found that actually trying to use those sizes resulted in either the radiators not fitting at all, or being so tight as to make tube running nearly impossible (and often times also with no good spot for pump/res either), and they were on cases from well established manufacturers that really should know/be better.
This case has the only downside of it's price, beautiful design and fully functional with room to mod if desired. Beautiful cable management is only required if the back panel is glass or otherwise visible, aside from that, neat strapped cables will be just fine.
I agree with what you've said during this presentation. The price to option ratio just doesn't peek my interest. With cases like the NV7 and Evo XL it's a no brainer for me to go one of those two ways instead on the SB 800. Plus I'm so burnt out on the traditional full tower boxed PC case style. What I will say this though, I do really like the way they did the Front facing SD mounts.
Fans included in cases. I think that cases around a $100 dollars the people might use the fans included. Much above that price and I think people will purchase their own fans and toss any included fans. I think you do very detailed case reviews and thanks for all the small detail information.
The 500FX is very easy & nice to work with, good cable management possibilities plus enough room overall for a case in it's class. But it seems Be quiet! sort of fumbled this Shadow Base 800 up. I wanted to buy this case for a future build, but I think I'll spend a little more money on the case for that project and go for the Thermaltake CTE T750 Air instead...!
I had to return my 800 Black case because it was not able to accommodate a 420 x 54 radiator in the front. Although it is possible to fit the radiator, it requires cutting some metal away from the PSU, which I was not willing to do. I didn't want to undertake such a project at the moment, but I may consider it in the future. The BLACK version is nice, clean, and professional-looking. I agree with a LOT of the information shared about this case. As much as I wanted to love this case!! I feel like I was let down! I went through a LOT fo preplanning. As BeQuiet prepared to release the case, I did everything I could to ask the questions. Nice work!
@@GGFEvents - I planned to use a single RAD for cooling the entire system. I had several discussions with BeQuiet both before and after buying the case. However, they never disclosed any of the limitations of the 420 RAD in the front when I brought it up. I also saw a user who measured the front of the case and the RAD with a ruler, which helped me determine that a 54 rad would work. I watched several similar videos. From what I observed, removing the top of the case would make it easier to install the RAD. But if necessary, I could have used a Dremel tool to modify the PSU cover. However, I preferred not to go through that hassle. Thanks again.
@@GGFEvents - Thanks I appreciate it. I have now set up to return the PC case. And every thought you had about the case was confirmation of a lot of my own personal thoughts. Keep pushing and pressing. You do a great job in your reviews and customization.
Feels like they haven't dared to change enough for this new batch of cases. Then again this is supposed to be their lowest tier, feels expensive for not enough features. A step forward but also a step back in some areas. So a lateral move. Maybe for all airflow it'll be alright and big. But their higher tier cases have removable brackets and inverted motherboard tray setups. Regarding the the fan part, depends on the budget most likely. Back in 2020/21 when I was speccing a build for a client, I went with a 500DX from be quiet cause it had fans and they didn't want rgb just wanted a small tower that has a lot for the least money spent. So personally it's a good and a bad thing to have fans included. Really love the one big gap at the bottom for motherboard connections. If there were gaps all around might also work instead of adding grommets to the bill of materials cost at the end. But that may risk structural rigidity if there are too many hole punch cut outs. Finally, you can't really know a case in and out without making at least one build with it. Loved all the what ifs you take into consideration when making these reviews, subsequently the extra footage taken to showcase all of this properly.
I'm yet to find a case with the form factor and size of the G500A that actually beats it. The LanCool is at least a decent competitor but there isn't much else. This is getting ridiculous. I'm all for there being a fanless option, but still offering a version with fans. The G500A again comes to mind. At this point, I do have a ton of fans, but when I first bought the P500A, I didn't and wasn't really looking to have to buy any new fans, and even now I still have those two fans in my current build. Not everyone is out here looking to spend 150+ on a case, but to spend another 100 on fans.
I have the 901 which has very similar issues, the additional cable cover they supply for Eatx mb actual prevents my 4090 fitting. It really feels like the case has been cad designed but no one .tested hands on. The 802 had great side panel opening button which haas been disregarded on cases since which is disappointing.
Fantastic and precise review. Considering the price for a stand alone PCI-E cable, buying the cable and the bracket would make more sense. As most brackets wouldn’t allow such sagging/free movement. Nothing new to this case, despite the brilliant build you’ve put together, is just not worth. Sadly we’re at a point where case design is either stagnated or solely aiming at visuals. Recently tried the Jonsbo D41, and that was a change. Too bad my PSU and GPU are huge and cramping the cables is a no-no for my OCD. Would love to see a case with side/front PSU mount, where the PSU would feed from side intake, allowing for front intake fans to be installed next to it, or a torrent with side intake, where an AIO wouldn’t kill the main feature of the case: the huge front intake fans.
Can you get bequiet to send you a 901? I'm not to happy with the radiator compatibility regarding the included side rad mount & trying to fit a rad at top or at the front when trying to also have a side rad. I think the case is just suited for a thick 420mm at front and 360mm at top which makes me feel like the side rad wasn't really thought out properly. Kitgurus review they had to mod the side rad mount & every other review on this case no one talks about watercooling compatibility or if they do its just guest work.
Can any midtower case accommodate Arctic AIO 360 on top with fans? It is 38mm thick and fans add 25, so that is total of 63 clearance on top. I see this one cannot, are there any or just go with full tower?
Thanks for this really thorough review. As another commenter said the inability to use the liquid freezer 3 makes this case a no go for me. Just one bit of constructive criticism: slow down, I'm out of breath just listening to you talk so fast.
For typical users, not CLC enthusiast, it's just so much wanted bigger Pure Base 500 DX/FX with option to mount GPU vertically. The problem is, it's absurdally priced and rivals so much better alternatives like Meshify 2; Lancool 3 or Phanteks P600S. These ones just massacrate Shadow Base and are the strongest competitors, but generally cases priced similarly to SB800 offer more and this more in terms of features and ergonomics are just reasons convicing to pay such money for a case. I also was completely surprised with general reaction of reviewers, many praising this case - it's just completely nothing special or fresh, a little outdated (thumbscrews panels suck) when being awfully priced. From any angle it's hard to even percieve it positively, because even after whatever price cuts it will be just nothing special.
Friend, I liked your review of this case, I completely agree with your position, a renowned company doing some shit like that. I'm building a pc with a 13900ks cpu and so far I haven't found a case to have adequate air flow to help cool a 4090 that isn't blocked, I'm going to make a WCC with a 420mm/45mm radiator on top for the cpu, and use 3 140 fans at the front to have the flow to the GPU, between the GPU and the front fans, I don't know if I will have space to install a reservoir, could you tell me a case to carry out this configuration? Thanks.
still no custom water-cooling attention to detail on be-quiet! cases ... not many options left for me, as I want o use my 2 Hardware Labs black ice nemesis 420, I will go with Lian-Li O11 EVO XL (can't get phanteks where I live). It's a shame.
as always with be quiet those case are not really custom wattercooled oriented 1 of my client have asking me to do a custom loops in the Be quiet! purebase 500 DX and... it was nightmare to do (done anyway but theres a lot of better pc case for that custom wattercooling side)
This is a case released just to have a release. It's objectively not as good as the Silent Base 802 which costs even less than this case. Edit: Meant 802 not 801.
Your reviews focus too much on extreme custom water cooling which represent a tiny minority that will use this case. Your living in a different world with all the free expensive stuff that you get which most of us who will buy a case like this can't afford.
You would be surprised at how many people actually do custom water builds. GGF is one of a few channels that we can trust for info. Therefore we need to have channels that focus on extreme builds or we would be left in the dark.
Even for air is very poor, even worst considering its price point. The torrent comes ready to use, decent fans and cheaper than this. The Lancool 3 and the G500A are better options, look better and are cheaper. Price wise is close to the NV7, O11D Evo, H9 flow, all which, with bottom intake, will trash it for GPU temperature.
Stuart, when you clipped my review on KitGuru to show the rough installation of a 420mm rad in roof and front, you may have missed the later section when I installed a 420mm Corsair H170i and used it for thermal and noise testing.
ruclips.net/video/_L32EqaIQKY/видео.html
You seem to be suggesting that our views differ when in fact I gave the be quiet! Shadow Base 8 out of 10 and Worth Buying but gave the Lian Li Lancool III 9 out of 10 and KitGuru's Must Have top award. No doubt I will see you at CES in January.
Leo
I was wondering that, as I watched your review first !
Don't worry, I will bite him for ya.
Eh, your views do kind of differ. This case is probably not worth buying in the US unless at a steep discount from MSRP. In Europe, the Be Quiet products are generally priced way more competitively than elsewhere. In the US, they are almost always priced way above where they should be compared to the competition. They usually aren't bad products or built as a bit of an afterthought as this case so clearly was. I watched your review and I think you kind of phoned it in personally. Or at the very least, you just didn't have the energy to provide fair criticism. It can take a lot out of a person to be critical even when it is fair so sometimes people just don't have it in them. You generally do awesome work. Everyone has a miss every now and then. This probably should have been in your "worth considering" tier.
It had nothing to do with AIO support. Was more when it came to testing multiple radiators,.not just a single AIO.
Multiple 420 support, that was the issue. Single 420 not a problem, but dual 420 not possible. You can see that even dual 360 is tight. For its price tag, that case is very poor. No grommets, no new features, nothing really. And about the fans, if one doesn’t care about RGB, the Thermalright TL-B120 for £8.90 is an excellent fan. Used BeQuiet fans in the past and they’re quiet, but not top performers, even the Silent Wings 4 wasn’t as good as some reviewers made one believe. T30 is much better. The Thermalright alternative is very valid, and considering its price, my pick for non RGB fans. The P12 are good, but plagued with the 1k rpm humming. The Pro version of the P12 is very loud, as expected, because of the bearing used.
Once again a very detailed explanation and nice build! I am always amazed by your many thoughts and these clean and painstaking builds. I would love to see a video about a small "power house" mini-itx build since most of your builds are in a huge case. Thank you very much for all your content!
The level of detail in this review is something you'll only get from this channel.
The vertical mount, and not very clear direction of the case overall in this price point, is definitely what hurts it most. I agree with your opinion on the fanless model and getting that price down, and that they need to fix that dang cable bar. More water-cooling support, and a consistent design flow. Everything mentioned in this review was spot on, and it's good to show those negatives, I know a company like Be Quiet would take this seriously and make some changes, just need a few more people taking indepth looks into this kind of stuff from the case industry.
Well done Stuart.
No need for More water cooling support, anything that fits in this case will still cool any computer just fine. Only argument would be insane overclocking that will destroy a PC in a matter of time anyway, and is totally unnecessary to begin with.
You really do make some of the best content man!! Great vid as always
Love your honesty about the downfalls of this case! My gf just picked up a SB 800 FX in white for $230. She was already committed to getting white Light Wings fans before we knew this case existed. Considering the included fans would’ve cost her $120, we’re basically looking at a $110 case. She also loves how this case looks and plans to modify/customize the front SSD tray, so in our particular situation it’s a pretty good pick. I can see why it’s less appealing to a lot of other people though!
Thank you and good luck with the build!
While calling out other reviewers by name might not have been the best approach, I have to say that I agreed with your sentiments completely - when it comes to actual radiator support in many cases, relying on manufacturer specifications can often be useless, and reviewers that parrot those claims without actually testing it using a reasonable sized radiator (30mm) with fans (25mm) installed isn't much better. I have definitely been burned multiple times on cases that claim support for some size of radiator and then found that actually trying to use those sizes resulted in either the radiators not fitting at all, or being so tight as to make tube running nearly impossible (and often times also with no good spot for pump/res either), and they were on cases from well established manufacturers that really should know/be better.
This case has the only downside of it's price, beautiful design and fully functional with room to mod if desired. Beautiful cable management is only required if the back panel is glass or otherwise visible, aside from that, neat strapped cables will be just fine.
Honest content is the best content
great video, maybe just before the holidays you could list your top 5 or 10 cases or a few in each price range.. Just thinking out loud.
I agree with what you've said during this presentation. The price to option ratio just doesn't peek my interest. With cases like the NV7 and Evo XL it's a no brainer for me to go one of those two ways instead on the SB 800. Plus I'm so burnt out on the traditional full tower boxed PC case style. What I will say this though, I do really like the way they did the Front facing SD mounts.
Bought a new G500a with the 4 x 120mm fans for $130. Couldn't be happier.
Q much nicer case, excellent airflow, very good included fans and no such restrictions as this one.
Fans included in cases. I think that cases around a $100 dollars the people might use the fans included. Much above that price and I think people will purchase their own fans and toss any included fans. I think you do very detailed case reviews and thanks for all the small detail information.
The 500FX is very easy & nice to work with, good cable management possibilities plus enough room overall for a case in it's class. But it seems Be quiet! sort of fumbled this Shadow Base 800 up. I wanted to buy this case for a future build, but I think I'll spend a little more money on the case for that project and go for the Thermaltake CTE T750 Air instead...!
It seems that 800DX needs still soo much improvements.
I had to return my 800 Black case because it was not able to accommodate a 420 x 54 radiator in the front. Although it is possible to fit the radiator, it requires cutting some metal away from the PSU, which I was not willing to do. I didn't want to undertake such a project at the moment, but I may consider it in the future. The BLACK version is nice, clean, and professional-looking.
I agree with a LOT of the information shared about this case.
As much as I wanted to love this case!! I feel like I was let down! I went through a LOT fo preplanning. As BeQuiet prepared to release the case, I did everything I could to ask the questions.
Nice work!
Well that's a pretty thick radiator I wouldn't really say that's a huge issue
@@GGFEvents - I planned to use a single RAD for cooling the entire system. I had several discussions with BeQuiet both before and after buying the case. However, they never disclosed any of the limitations of the 420 RAD in the front when I brought it up. I also saw a user who measured the front of the case and the RAD with a ruler, which helped me determine that a 54 rad would work. I watched several similar videos. From what I observed, removing the top of the case would make it easier to install the RAD. But if necessary, I could have used a Dremel tool to modify the PSU cover. However, I preferred not to go through that hassle.
Thanks again.
@@lhbbq damn that sucks. Sorry to hear you went through all the trouble
@@GGFEvents - Thanks I appreciate it. I have now set up to return the PC case. And every thought you had about the case was confirmation of a lot of my own personal thoughts.
Keep pushing and pressing. You do a great job in your reviews and customization.
@@lhbbq thank you. Any ideas what the new case will be?
Definitely agree with the missed opportunity on the anti sag bracket!
Thanks for the video, was very useful.
Feels like they haven't dared to change enough for this new batch of cases. Then again this is supposed to be their lowest tier, feels expensive for not enough features. A step forward but also a step back in some areas. So a lateral move. Maybe for all airflow it'll be alright and big. But their higher tier cases have removable brackets and inverted motherboard tray setups.
Regarding the the fan part, depends on the budget most likely. Back in 2020/21 when I was speccing a build for a client, I went with a 500DX from be quiet cause it had fans and they didn't want rgb just wanted a small tower that has a lot for the least money spent. So personally it's a good and a bad thing to have fans included. Really love the one big gap at the bottom for motherboard connections. If there were gaps all around might also work instead of adding grommets to the bill of materials cost at the end. But that may risk structural rigidity if there are too many hole punch cut outs.
Finally, you can't really know a case in and out without making at least one build with it. Loved all the what ifs you take into consideration when making these reviews, subsequently the extra footage taken to showcase all of this properly.
I'm yet to find a case with the form factor and size of the G500A that actually beats it. The LanCool is at least a decent competitor but there isn't much else. This is getting ridiculous.
I'm all for there being a fanless option, but still offering a version with fans. The G500A again comes to mind. At this point, I do have a ton of fans, but when I first bought the P500A, I didn't and wasn't really looking to have to buy any new fans, and even now I still have those two fans in my current build. Not everyone is out here looking to spend 150+ on a case, but to spend another 100 on fans.
I have the 901 which has very similar issues, the additional cable cover they supply for Eatx mb actual prevents my 4090 fitting. It really feels like the case has been cad designed but no one .tested hands on. The 802 had great side panel opening button which haas been disregarded on cases since which is disappointing.
Fantastic and precise review. Considering the price for a stand alone PCI-E cable, buying the cable and the bracket would make more sense. As most brackets wouldn’t allow such sagging/free movement. Nothing new to this case, despite the brilliant build you’ve put together, is just not worth. Sadly we’re at a point where case design is either stagnated or solely aiming at visuals. Recently tried the Jonsbo D41, and that was a change. Too bad my PSU and GPU are huge and cramping the cables is a no-no for my OCD. Would love to see a case with side/front PSU mount, where the PSU would feed from side intake, allowing for front intake fans to be installed next to it, or a torrent with side intake, where an AIO wouldn’t kill the main feature of the case: the huge front intake fans.
Be quiet shadow base 800 fx vs dx black which is better spec for cooling??
Can you get bequiet to send you a 901? I'm not to happy with the radiator compatibility regarding the included side rad mount & trying to fit a rad at top or at the front when trying to also have a side rad. I think the case is just suited for a thick 420mm at front and 360mm at top which makes me feel like the side rad wasn't really thought out properly. Kitgurus review they had to mod the side rad mount & every other review on this case no one talks about watercooling compatibility or if they do its just guest work.
Yes that's the plan next
@@GGFEvents Great thanks. Look forward to that.
great review!
Can any midtower case accommodate Arctic AIO 360 on top with fans? It is 38mm thick and fans add 25, so that is total of 63 clearance on top. I see this one cannot, are there any or just go with full tower?
Can you upload a guide video of how you painted your case?
Does this version of the case comes with a Fan Controller ? Or is that only for the FX version?
I feel like the 802 model is more functional 🤔
Rear SSD mounts are about as well thought out as the pricing. For everything else, just buy a Lancool III.
Thanks for this really thorough review. As another commenter said the inability to use the liquid freezer 3 makes this case a no go for me.
Just one bit of constructive criticism: slow down, I'm out of breath just listening to you talk so fast.
It's on sale for $80. Still too high?
Which coolant is used dude ??
For typical users, not CLC enthusiast, it's just so much wanted bigger Pure Base 500 DX/FX with option to mount GPU vertically. The problem is, it's absurdally priced and rivals so much better alternatives like Meshify 2; Lancool 3 or Phanteks P600S. These ones just massacrate Shadow Base and are the strongest competitors, but generally cases priced similarly to SB800 offer more and this more in terms of features and ergonomics are just reasons convicing to pay such money for a case. I also was completely surprised with general reaction of reviewers, many praising this case - it's just completely nothing special or fresh, a little outdated (thumbscrews panels suck) when being awfully priced. From any angle it's hard to even percieve it positively, because even after whatever price cuts it will be just nothing special.
Friend, I liked your review of this case, I completely agree with your position, a renowned company doing some shit like that.
I'm building a pc with a 13900ks cpu and so far I haven't found a case to have adequate air flow to help cool a 4090 that isn't blocked, I'm going to make a WCC with a 420mm/45mm radiator on top for the cpu, and use 3 140 fans at the front to have the flow to the GPU, between the GPU and the front fans, I don't know if I will have space to install a reservoir, could you tell me a case to carry out this configuration?
Thanks.
thats a lot flaw for sub 200 dollars and no extras like velcro cable management kinda generic case. great review i'll stay away from this case.
I have installed a 420mm radiator in the roof, I bought it.
Never said you couldn't. Watch the rev8
The review mention it. It does fit. The manufacturer mention dual 420, which won’t fit. For dual 420, thick radiator, go with Corsair 7000d.
still no custom water-cooling attention to detail on be-quiet! cases ...
not many options left for me, as I want o use my 2 Hardware Labs black ice nemesis 420, I will go with Lian-Li O11 EVO XL (can't get phanteks where I live).
It's a shame.
WHAT RADIATOR TESTING USING ACTUAL RADIATORS? #tapemeasurebros
as always with be quiet those case are not really custom wattercooled oriented 1 of my client have asking me to do a custom loops in the Be quiet! purebase 500 DX and... it was nightmare to do (done anyway but theres a lot of better pc case for that custom wattercooling side)
Someone has a 14900K…
This is a case released just to have a release. It's objectively not as good as the Silent Base 802 which costs even less than this case.
Edit: Meant 802 not 801.
Your reviews focus too much on extreme custom water cooling which represent a tiny minority that will use this case.
Your living in a different world with all the free expensive stuff that you get which most of us who will buy a case like this can't afford.
Maybe watch the review then comment? I actually said this case probably isn't designed for custom watercooling at all....
@@GGFEvents ha... get em
You would be surprised at how many people actually do custom water builds. GGF is one of a few channels that we can trust for info. Therefore we need to have channels that focus on extreme builds or we would be left in the dark.
Even for air is very poor, even worst considering its price point. The torrent comes ready to use, decent fans and cheaper than this. The Lancool 3 and the G500A are better options, look better and are cheaper. Price wise is close to the NV7, O11D Evo, H9 flow, all which, with bottom intake, will trash it for GPU temperature.
@@geofftatesmate7748 Because we lose nothing! What would a viewer that does air cooling lose from seeing a loop in a build?
Man I got here for the case, but you really made an honest review, enough to make me a new follower🫡
Thank you