It’s been a long time since the German manufacturer be quiet! made the leap into the housing market. Since then numerous cases have been developed and published. The Pure Base 600 was so far the cheapest tower from be quiet! In order to appeal to buyers who want to spend a little less on a case, be quiet! presented the Pure Base 500 at Computex 2019. According to be quiet!, this midi tower convinces above all with its handy dimensions, the support for large graphics cards and CPU coolers, an exchangeable top cover to improve the airflow and, of course, the noise-absorbing elements in the side, front and lid.
In order to meet as many tastes as possible, the Pure Base 500 is available in three different colours (black, white, grey) and per colour in two variants (without glass window, with glass window). The version tested by us in black and without side window costs € 82.90 *. If the be quiet! Pure Base 500 convinced us, you can read in this review.
Technical Details
| Model: | be quiet! Pure Base 500 black |
| Housing type: | Midi Tower |
| Dimensions: | 231 x 443 x 450 mm (W x H x D) |
| Weight: | 6.95 kg |
| Material: | Steel, plastic |
| Color: | Black |
| Front connections | 2x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x loudspeaker, 1x microphone |
| Drive bays: | 2x 3.5 (internal) 5x 2,5″ (internal) |
| Extension slots: | 7 |
| Form factors: | ATX, mATX, mini-ITX |
| Ventilation: | Front: 3x 120 mm / 2x 140 mm (1x 140 mm pre-installed) Rear: 1x 120 mm / 1x 140 mm (1x 140 mm pre-installed) cover: 2x 120 mm / 2x 140 mm |
| Radiators: | Front: 1x 240 mm / 1x 280 mm / 1x 360 mm Rear: 1x 120 mm / 1x 140 mm cover: 1x 120 mm / 1x 240 mm |
| Max. CPU cooler height: | 190 mm |
| Max. Graphics card length: | 369 mm (without front radiator) |
| Max. Power supply length: | 225 mm (with HDD cage) |
| Cable management space: | 25 mm |
| Price: | € 82.90 * |
| Special features: | dust filter, cable management, sound insulation, exchangeable top panel |
Scope of Delivery
The be quiet! Pure Base 500 comes well and safely packed in a brown cardboard box with black writing and is wrapped in normal polystyrene and a plastic film. The included accessories are packed in a brown cardboard box inside the hard disk cage. The accessories include all important screws, cable ties, a very detailed instruction manual and a magnetic dust filter cover for the lid. In addition, the manufacturer pre-installed the spacers for the mainboard and equipped the Pure Base with two Pure Wings 2 series fans (frame width 140 mm) ex works.
Exterior Impression
In terms of design, the Pure Base 500 fits seamlessly into the existing product portfolio. The body is made of steel and the front element is made of plastic. In order to make the plastic look more elegant, it has a brushed aluminium structure and is lined from the inside with an insulating mat for noise insulation. In addition, be quiet! has rounded or flattened the four outer edges of the front. This makes the Midi Tower look less bulky despite its width of 231 millimetres. The left and right sides of the front panel have been fitted with large mesh grids. These allow the pre-installed front fan to draw cool air into the interior.
Also in the lid be quiet! tries itself out anew. The lid of all predecessors was almost always completely closed. In combination with the restrictively designed air tunnels in the front, this led to higher temperatures. To counteract this, be quiet! has now implemented a replaceable top cover in the lid. The silent cover only has numerous small openings in the triangular design at the rear end and is otherwise covered with insulating material. If this is not sufficient for cooling, the magnetically attached cover can be easily removed and replaced with the included mesh element. Regardless of the color of the case, the frame of the mesh filter is always black. Under the cover there are fan holes for two fans (120 mm or 140 mm).
Finally, the I/O panel is located in the front area of the lid. It has two USB 3.0 ports, one each for headphones and microphone and a power switch. Friends of the reset switch unfortunately get nothing from the Pure Base 500. Fortunately, the I/O panel is connected to the body and not to the front element. This prevents the completely black I/O cables from accidentally being torn off.
Both side parts of the Pure Base 500 are made of steel and lined with an insulating mat on the inside. They are attached to the body using knurled screws, which remain on the side panel when disassembled. Finally, of course, the obligatory recessed grips in the side panels must not be missing. All in all the side panels look a bit wobbly. Here be quiet! has definitely saved material.
The back of this midi tower corresponds to the usual standard. The power supply is placed at the bottom and above it there are seven reusable PCI slot covers. In order to remove the heated air from the case, the manufacturer has equipped the Pure Base 500 with a second case fan on the back.
The tower stands on four solid plastic feet, which are covered with rubber strips to further reduce noise. Furthermore, the huge dust filter catches the eye. It consists of a fine-meshed fabric and can be removed for cleaning. This saves a lot of conversion work, for example when the housing is placed in a cabinet.
The exterior finish and varnishing are, as usual from be quiet!, on a good level and leave no room for criticism. There is also almost nothing to complain about when it comes to the choice and quality of materials for the desired price range. Only the side parts could have tolerated somewhat thicker material.
Interior Impression
In the interior of the Pure Base 500, the manufacturer relies on a contemporary design and divides the interior by a cover in two areas. The upper room offers a lot of space for the mainboard, long graphics cards and large CPU coolers. The pre-mounted fan in the front is located at the same level as the first graphics card and can supply it with cool air without disturbing factors (such as a hard disk cage). The power supply cover and the mainboard tray have numerous openings through which the cables can be routed from the rear to the front in order to minimize the interference caused by power supply cables. The manufacturer has also thought about a cut-out in the mainboard tray for the backplate of a CPU cooler.
The power supply cover covers the entire lower area and thus hides the power supply, all connection cables and the hard disk cage. However, in order to ensure compatibility with large radiators in the front, a part of the front panel has been removed. In addition, fan openings (also in triangular design) were cut into the front panel. This allows the power supply to be mounted upside down if necessary.
Let’s now turn to the back of the mainboard tray. Besides a lot of space there are several fixing points for cable ties. In combination with the cable openings and the reusable Velcro strips, it should be very easy and clean to wire the system. In the lower right area, the power supply later rests on four foam rubber strips.
To the left of the power supply is an HDD cage for two 3.5″ hard drives. Mounting is decoupled using four screws. If the cage is not needed, it can easily be removed by removing two knurled screws. But of course the Pure Base 500 also supports other data carriers. A total of five possibilities are available to install 2.5″ SSDs. In addition, the case has a steel frame behind the mainboard tray and a large element to the left of the mainboard tray. Both elements are fastened with knurled screws. The SSDs are then locked in place using conventional screws.
System Construction in the be quiet! Pure Base 500
Now we come to system installation. As hardware we use a AMD Ryzen 5 1400 on a MSI B350 PC Mate with 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport LT grey DDR4-2666. The cooling of the processor is done by the Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure. For the image output a GTX 1060 6GB by Gigabte AORUS is responsible. The power supply does the non-modular Berlin Pro RGB 650W with RGB fan. In order to enhance the cabling optically a little bit, single sleeved cable extensions from Phanteks.
The installation of the components went smoothly. There was enough space to work and the wiring was done quickly. Only with the 24-pin ATX cable we had some trouble passing it under the cable cover of the mainboard tray. The assembly was accelerated by the pre-installed spacers in ATX format and the centrally mounted stand-off, which holds the mainboard in place even without a screw. On the back side, the 25 mm space between the mainboard tray and the side wall offers enough storage space for laying the cables. All unused connectors could easily be hidden under the power supply cover.
The Pure Base 500 also leaves nothing to be desired in terms of hardware compatibility. With a maximum supported height of 190 mm for CPU cooler and support for almost 370 mm long graphics cards, there is no GPU or air cooling solution that doesn’t fit into this midi tower. Also friends of water cooling should be happy with the Pure Base. Because this can accommodate radiators up to 360 mm in the front and up to 240 mm in the lid.
As already mentioned above, the Pure Base 500 supports a maximum of seven data carriers. The 3.5″ devices are accommodated in the cage below the power supply cover and are fastened with four screws. For decoupling, the cage also has rubber decouplers on both sides. 2.5″ SSDs can either be mounted directly behind the mainboard on a steel frame or to the right of the mainboard. The plate required for this is virtually an HDD frame and cable management panel in one. Two SSDs can be screwed together from the rear and thus presented on the front. In order to hide the cables of the SSDs, the plate was provided with a cover under which the cables can be led to the rear.
The pre-installed fans have a frame width of 140 millimetres and belong to the Pure Wings 2 series. Both fans rotate at approx. 900 rpm and are connected to the mainboard via a 3-pin connector. At full speed, the fans move enough air and are easy to hear out of the system at the same time.
Finally, we come to the temperatures reached in the Pure Base 500. During the load test, Prime95 and FurMark were run for 15 minutes at a room temperature of 19 °C. The system was tested at a temperature of 19 °C, and the temperature of the base was very low. Due to the modular design of the lid section, the test was carried out in three different scenarios. Once the case fans were operated at full speed and once throttled to 7V. With throttled fans, the almost closed cover element was replaced with the mesh element.
Scenario |
Temperature |
| CPU: 50% (950 rpm) GPU: 50% (1700 rpm) Housing fan: 12V Lid closed |
CPU: 48 °C GPU: 61 °C |
| CPU: 50% (950 rpm) GPU: 50% (1700 rpm) Housing fan: 7V Lid closed |
CPU: 52 °C GPU: 63 °C |
| CPU: 50% (900 rpm) GPU: 50% (1700 rpm) Housing fan: 7V Lid open |
CPU: 47 °C GPU: 63°C |
In the be quiet! the components do not reach critical temperatures even with throttled fans. Depending on which hardware is to be installed, it might be worthwhile to install a second fan in the front and replace the silent cover in the lid with the mesh element. The latter affects the maximum CPU temperatures in particular. Here it is very nice that the manufacturer leaves the choice to the buyer whether “Silent” or “Airflow” is in the first place.
Conclusion of the be quiet! Pure Base 500 Review
With the Pure Base 500, be quiet! has achieved a very good throw. For a price of € 82.90 * for the black version without side window the tower offers a lot of features. Inside there is a lot of space for hardware and cables, the workmanship is almost everywhere on a good level and the tower comes ex works with insulation and two good pre-installed case fans. In addition, the manufacturer finally leaves the choice between “Silent” and “Airflow” to the buyer with the Pure Base through the modular cover. Other be quiet! cases were so strongly optimized for noise minimization that the airflow and the temperatures suffered measurably.
But the Pure Base 500 doesn’t come without a flaw. We found the material of the side panels to be relatively thin. In addition, the mesh filter for the lid is always black, regardless of the housing color. This could possibly be an optical dealbreaker for some fans of the grey or white colour. But if you don’t mind these points, the Pure Base 500 is a solid midi tower that doesn’t have to hide from the competition.
be quiet! Pure Base 500
Workmanship
Structure
Features
Dampening
Cooling
Value for Money
Spacious and well-equipped Silent Midi Tower with modular lid.
