BeQuiet! Silent Base 800 review

The Be Quiet! Silent Base 800 is one of the biggest cases we’ve tested, so factor that in if you’re constrained for space. Its large size does mean there’s plenty of room inside to work comfortably and for even powerful components. You have 290mm of clearance to install a graphics card, which gives you enough room for even the most powerful models. If you still find space is tight, you can also remove one of the 3.5in drive cages to give you 400mm of graphics card clearance.  

As the name implies, the Silent Base 800 is designed to keep noise levels down. The case supports larger-than-average fans, which can generate more airflow at lower speeds, so reducing vibrations and noise. The front and two side panels also have sound-insulating material to absorb vibrations and noise. The hard disk cages have silicone rubber anti-vibration rails that help reduce the transmission of vibration to the case. These design features all help the Silent Base 800 to keep noise to an absolute minimum.

There are subtle airflow channels on each of the side panels, and we preferred these to the ugly exposed mesh vents we sometimes see on other cases. Sensibly, these channels have built-in dust filters to keep dirt away, and the cover panels pop out allowing you to clean the filters easily.  

The case has seven fan mounting points in total. The top of the case takes either two 120mm or two 140mm fans, there’s space for another 120mm or 140mm fan at the bottom, and one of the side panels will take an optional 120mm fan. The case comes with two 140mm fans installed in the front and a further 120mm model already fitted at the rear, so provides significant cooling out of the box. If you choose not to use a side panel fan, the case has plenty of space for a CPU cooler up to 170mm in height, which covers even the tallest models we’ve seen. The case makes it easy to tidy your cables, and we were particularly fond of the four rubber-lined holes complete with rubber grips for routing cables behind the motherboard tray.

There are three 5 1/4in external drive bays and the top front of the case opens on a hinge. With both hard disk cages in place you can fit up to seven 3.5in drives and four 2.5in drives, which is plenty for anyone.

The Be Quiet! Silent Base 800 is a great choice if you want a quiet case but still want to have powerful and large components and plenty of room for expansion. The two USB3 and two USB ports on the front are also useful if your motherboard has the corresponding headers. However, if you don’t need the capacity for quite so many fans, the SilverStone Quiet Precision PS11 is also a silent runner and is cheaper than Be Quiet!’s model.