be quiet! has many enclosures on the market. Also included is the Silent range with particularly sophisticated and extra-insulated housings to keep noise levels as low as possible. With the Silent Base 601 in autumn 2018 another case was sent on the market that we have tested for you.
The Silent Base 601 is additionally insulated to minimize the volume of the computer as much as possible. Not only the insulation material used, but also the construction of the housing should ensure this. In addition, the housing has interesting features that simplify the cleaning and installation/removal of hardware. How the case, which is available in four colours, performs, you can find out here in our test.
Technical Details
| Model: | be quiet! Silent Base 601 |
| Housing type: | Midi Tower |
| Dimensions: | 240 mm (W) x 481 mm (H) x 532 mm (D) |
| Weight: | 6.9 kg |
| Material: | Steel, plastic, tempered glass |
| Color: | Black (accents in red, orange, gray, or black) |
| Front connections | 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, 1x Speaker, 1x Microphone |
| Drive bays: | 3x 3.5 inch (internal, without tools, 7 with additional accessories) 6x 2.5 inch (internal, no tools required, 14 with additional accessories) |
| Extension slots: | 7 + 2 |
| Form factors: | E-ATX, ATX, mATX, mini-ITX |
| Ventilation: | Front: 2x 120 / 140 mm Rear: 1x 120 / 140 mm Cover: 3x 120 /140 mm Power supply cover: 1 x 120 / 140 mm |
| Radiators: | Front: 1x 360 / 280 / 240 / 140 / 120 mm Cover: 1x 360 / 240 / 120 mm Rear: 1x 140 / 120 mm |
| Max. CPU cooler height: | 185 mm |
| Max. Graphics card length: | 287 mm (with HDD cage), 449 mm (without HDD cage) |
| Max. Power supply length: | 288 mm |
| Cable management space: | 25 mm |
| Place for front radiator: | 55 mm |
| Place for cover radiator: | 55 mm |
| Price: | € 150.00 * |
| Special features: | Dust filter, cable management, side panel can be removed at the touch of a button |
Scope of Delivery
Included in delivery is a bag with all important screws for mounting additional fans or the installation of the mainboard. In addition to ten cable ties, Velcro strips are also included for cable routing. The rubber dampers are intended to reduce the vibrations of the HDDs in the housing. If you want to install more than two 3.5 inch HDDs, an additional HDD cage for the interior is included. Two Pure Wings 3 with 140 mm are already pre-installed in the front as well as at the rear.
The Silent Base 601 is available in two different versions, one with a window and the other with a closed side panel. The buyer can choose between orange, black or silver trim. In the test we have the version with closed side part.
Exterior Impression
The most striking design feature on the housing are the air inlets with the decorative strips. Due to the otherwise closed front, the Silent Base 601 looks refreshingly modern. Sheet steel is used as the material for the front. Simply pulling up is enough to remove the front cover. A magnetic dust filter then appears behind the entire front. With the Silent Base 601 you have to do without drives.
The lid is also made of sheet steel. The I/O panel is also embedded there on the front side. On board are two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, a three-stage fan controller and the obligatory audio ports. Up to three 3-pin fans can be controlled with the fan controller. At the price of approx. 100 Euro, we would have wished for a USB 3.1 type C connection. The non-existent port is not a broken leg, but would have been the icing on the cake, the Silent Base 601 offers so many features anyway.
For installation or simple cleaning be quiet! has a nice feature built in. A button on the back unlocks the retaining lug of the side panels, which can then be simply taken to the side. The removal of screws is therefore not necessary. The case manufacturer collects one last plus point with the dust filter on the underside. He’s just pulled out to the front.
Internal Impression
As with many current models, the interior is spacious and tidy. A cover in the interior separates the drive cage and power supply from the rest of the hardware. If the available drive slots are not enough for you, you can mount another included cage – at the expense of the graphics card length. Need more drives? These can optionally be purchased from be quiet!
Each side part, the front and the lid are covered with an approximately 10 millimetre thick insulating mat. In addition to the specially adapted air inlets, they ensure that the housing absorbs as much noise as possible. And that also works wonderfully. Even at high load and high speed fans there is hardly anything to hear.
There are sufficient brackets for cable routing and the bushings are rubber-coated to protect the cables. Also underneath the mainboard enough space was left, so that the cables do not have to be led in from the side.
The cover for the power supply has ventilation openings to ensure good circulation. In the front part there is also an opening in the cover, which is closed from the house. If you wish to install a larger front radiator, this cover must be removed. The same applies if another fan is to find its place there. For the radiator you have 6 cm clearance, unlike in the lid you have no restriction here.
A radiator can be mounted in the lid, but the Silent Base 601 does not offer so much space. A beaten 3.4 cm distance between the radiator shield and the mainboard edge is provided for the radiator and fan. A large part of the radiators will fit without problem due to the slight displacement of the screw holes in the direction of the window, but you should still pay attention to this. The lid also has angled ventilation slots.
Two 2.5-inch data carriers can be mounted on the back of the mainboard tray. In addition, the tray is open so that a CPU cooler can be mounted directly and the system does not have to be completely disassembled.
A 140 mm fan can be found in the front, the second one at the back. Here be quiet! also offers you the possibility to mount a graphics card with two slots vertically – which would only have cosmetic advantages with the window version of the case. The power supply unit is mounted decoupled from the housing and is mounted over an extra frame, making it easy to insert.
Due to the more than sufficient space in the case, installation is easy and even proper cable management is no problem with the Silent Base 601 by be quiet! Our test system contains a PRIME X370-A motherboard from ASUS with aRyzen 7 1700* and 16 GB memory from Ballistix*. A GTX 1070 from ASUS is used as the graphics card.
Conclusion
The Silent Base 601 from be quiet! is more than just user-friendly. The side panels can be unlocked at the push of a button and removed easily. To clean the dust filter in the front, simply pull it out upwards.
As a buyer of the case you don’t have a big choice of colours, but you can choose different accents. And the case is also of high quality, the materials used make it very sturdy.
Another positive feature is the possibility of mounting either 120 or 140 mm fans on all six fan slots. The two factory-fitted Silent Wing 3 fans already perform good cooling work. Although a radiator can be mounted in the lid, the space there is relatively limited, but in the front the 360 mm radiator has enough space available.
With all its features, the Silent Base 601 from be quiet! makes an excellent impression and can clearly be recommended, even if a Type C connection would have raised the rating again. Would you like to have a user-friendly, quiet and comprehensive case? Then strike.
be quiet! Silent Base 601
Workmanship
Structure
Features
Dampening
Cooling
Value for Money
Good housing, could do more
The Silent Base 601 is certainly not a bad case. But it could definitely be more, for example a USB-C port would have been desirable.
