be quiet! Light Base 500

Introduction

German case manufacturer be quiet! has officially rolled out its new Light Base 500 series, bringing the successful design concepts of the larger Light Base 600 and 900 models. be quiet! has now adopted this concept with the Light Base 500. Light Base 500 and LX version takes up the format and design of the original series, with an aquarium-style design and compartmentalized layout. Except that it’s also the smallest model in the series, with compact dimensions. Depending on the case version, you won’t have the same fans installed as standard. In fact, the LX version comes with four 120 mm Light Wings LX mills, three with inverted blades at the front, and a fourth standard one at the rear. The basic version of the case benefits from four Pure Wings fans, three of which have inverted blades at the front. But you can add up to six 120 mm fans to complete the ventilation: three at the top and three at the bottom. Let’s not forget to mention the presence of a hub for the LX version. The Light Base 500 is available exclusively in black – perfect for those who prefer understated design.

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The Light Base 500 has the following specifications:

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Packaging & Contents

As you can see in my photo below, be quiet!'s retail box design for the Light Base 500 comes from the same template as the Light Base 600 & 900, which is very similar to almost every product we have reviewed from the company. The environmentally friendly -- or economically friendly, depending on your perspective -- brown corrugated cardboard box has all the contents printed in black ink. On the box, you will find be quiet!'s logo, the text "Light Base 500", and a drawing of the case occupying majority of the real estate.

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An "About" section for the brand and a specifications table can be found on various sides. The color variant is also indicated. Both side panels sport cutouts to easily carry the package home from the shop or post office.

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Two thick Styrofoam spacers secure the Light Base 500 and protect it from damage during transport. A plastic bag also keeps away scratches and fingerprints.

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The very detailed manual is easily understandable even for those who do not speak English, given the extensive use of images.

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You will find a module for vertical mounting of graphics cards, an assortment of black screws alongside a good number of zip ties with the chassis.

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A Closer Look Outside

Once unpacked, the be quiet! Light Base 500 immediately struck us with the quality of the materials used. At first glance, the Light Base 500 and Light Base 600 could easily be confused. For the new model, be quiet! simply adopted the design of its larger sibling. The Light Base 500's glass front and side panels also provide a panoramic view of the motherboard compartment. The be quiet! Light Base 500 is noticeably more compact and also much lighter than the 600 variant, clocking in at just over 9.5 kg including the fans vs. at least 12.5 kg for its larger brethren. It has total dimensions of 432 mm x 305 mm x 436 mm, so we are looking at a mid-tower case that is not too large, and that stands out for having a wider depth than traditional cases to be able to house the power supply, storage and cables in the rear. The paint job is perfect, uniform, durable, and, unlike many other products, extremely intense—so much so that during our photo sessions, it was difficult to autofocus. The plastic parts are also nearly perfect and very durable. The distinctive design elements are, of course, the glass panels on the side and front. Unlike the two larger models, the 500 is not designed to be inverted, nor is it intended to be used in a horizontal position. The left side panel features light-tinted glass.

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It rests on the frame and is removed by pulling it towards you using the provided notches.

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The right panel is made of steel and is entirely characterised by a mesh grille.

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As you could already see in the picture, the front of the case is segmented into three parts. On the left is a 20-centimeter-wide tempered glass, next to which is a slot for air intake, and then a slanted metal vertical on which the front panel is located - placed somehow exactly in the middle. Through the glass front, you can practically see all the way to the back wall. However, the glass, at least in the black version, is quite tinted. This makes illuminated elements in the interior particularly noticeable. Glass elements fit together very well – perfect gap dimensions. The front glass panel is mounted similarly but secured with screws at the top. You likely won’t need to remove it when building. The standout feature here is the unique fan-mounting design.

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On the front, the front panel is located on the vertical stripe on the right with the following connections available:

2 x USB 3.2 Type-A
1 x USB Gen2 Type-C
1 x Microphone/Headset
1 x Power button (backlit in white)

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On the facade, at the bottom near the foot is the be quiet! logo.

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On top is a panel also perforated to improve the airflow.

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Below we will have the location for the radiator up to 360 mm and therefore necessarily the fans too.

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There is a slot on the top of the case that houses the cage for the three angled air intake fans. The cage is held in place by a single screw, which when removed, and of course the fan connectors unfastened, allows the cage to be removed for fan replacement or cleaning.

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A look at the back. On the left, we have two power supply slots. Since the case is compatible with motherboards with hidden connectors, it will be possible to install the power supply in a high position which is closed when shipped so as not to interfere with the connections. At the right, there is the hole for the I/O shield, flanked by a provision for 120/140mm fan and, finally, further down, seven PCI slot covers. The be quiet! Light Base 500 also features a vertical PCIe bracket positioning system. The process is simple: remove the brackets and mounting system, install the PCIe bracket included with the accessories, and reassemble the brackets according to the thickness of the graphics card. Note that a riser is not included to connect the graphics card to the motherboard. At the top of this rear wall, we have three notches allowing the side walls and the top wall to be separated from the chassis.

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On the underside, in the wider part, there is a perforation.

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The bottom has a dust filter under the main compartment which also acts as a support for the three fans 120 mm.

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Note the four feet with rubber coating to hold in place, placed on a desk or on the floor. The feet raise the case by about 26 millimeters in total, which ensures enough space for air intake.

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A Closer Look Inside

This is the main bedroom of the be quiet! Light Base 500. As you can see, there is quite a bit of space inside, which will allow for the installation of large graphics cards. We are talking about 400 mm of free space for your GPUs. We have this nice cutout for accessing the back of the CPU socket for cooling upgrades and maintenance. As for cable routing openings, there are numerous and they're located all around the motherboard tray. On the right, there are two long ones. Two other openings are located above the motherboard. Two more are also located at the bottom. It will be able to receive motherboards in ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX motherboards. be quiet! has already screwed the necessary spacers into the motherboard tray.

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At bottom of the case is the slightly recessed air intake, which allows for flush fan mounting. Here we have another location for three 120 mm fans. However, this limiting design does not replace all three fans with an AIO radiator.

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The seven expansion slot covers are held in place with humb screws. There is plenty of room below this area, so you should be fine installing fans or a radiator on the floor of the be quiet! Light Base 500. Above that, there is that fourth Pure Wings 3 120mm fan, set to push air out the back. It can be replaced by a 140 mm fan. Similarly, there is plenty of clearance above it for air or liquid cooling. Up, the be quiet! Light Base 500 is equipped with a non-removable bracket for three 120 mm fans or 140 mm fans, or else, and this is the only possible location for this housing, a 360 mm radiator.

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To the right of the mainboard tray, three Pure Wings 3 120mm fans with reverse impellers are pre-installed, so as to offer excellent airflow. Although the front fans are mounted in an unusual way: at a 45° angle to the motherboard, those fans remain accessible since they are mounted on a removable rail that can be unlocked by simply unscrewing a security screw. A dedicated magnetic filter is also included.

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Once the left side is removed, the Light Base 500's second chamber is revealed, displaying a spacious and well-structured layout designed to accommodate both the power supply and storage drives. This area is clearly separated from the main compartment, allowing for more organized cable management and contributing to better airflow around the main components, including the motherboard and graphics card.

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The connections and cables of the panel of the I/O on the front are visible here and continue in an unaesthetic way by a braided sheath that descends down the be quiet! Light Base 500. All the cables within the black to match the color of the chassis itself and the USB variants utilize flat-band cables which makes them easier to route. For the front panel, the case employs a single, unified plug in black as well to keep that color consistency. We see a filter protecting these fans from dust.

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For the organization of cables, the be quiet! Light Base 500 takes advantage of three velcro cable clamps.

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You will find a panel installed at the top of the power supply mounting area, which is used for mounting the hard drives.

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The mounting bracket, which accommodates up to two 2.5" and two 3.5" hard drives, can be attached to either the top or bottom power supply mounting location, allowing the installed power supply to be installed above or below the installed hard drives, depending on cable length or personal preference.

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By default, the power supply will be mounted vertically at the bottom of the case. It rests on small raised areas molded directly into the steel of the case. However, it will be possible to mount the power supply at the top of the case by moving the storage slots. These can be positioned at the bottom of the case, freeing up the top power supply slot. The power supply can be 200mm long, and with a little patience, it's also possible to use models with connectors on the side.

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Installation Process

Let's build a nice system into the be quiet! Light Base 500! Fortunately, the comprehensive and beautiful manual is also equipped with a clear step-by-step guide that should help you roughly through the installation process of your PC. Our assembly inside the be quiet! Light Base 500 began by removing both the front and side panel, allowing us to easily install both the motherboard including the CPU and RAM, and the liquid cooling system.

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At first glance, there's still plenty of room for mounting complex systems, even those with long cable harnesses running to the rear. The elements in this segment are systematically designed and can mostly be removed as a complete block, so assembling them doesn't put any strain on your fingers. CPU coolers can be up to 185 mm tall before hitting the side panel, and there is room for graphics cards up to 400 mm long.

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We then moved to the back of the mainboard, where we carried out the first wiring, which was completed after installing the power supply.

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We mounted our graphics card which, despite its size, was positioned extremely easily. Using the included mounting bracket and an optionally available BGA12 riser cable, the graphics card can also be mounted vertically if desired. Even with a large GPU installed in the Light Base 500, there is ample room.

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To get your cables to the front, you have this insert space at the bottom. Use the gap closest to the board for the cleanest look.

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By foregoing RGB, the Light Base 500 boasts a discreet and stylish design. It blends seamlessly into any environment, from a gaming desk to a creative studio. The installation of all parts was done very quickly and due to the generously designed interior also possible with large hands. All in all, the finished system can be seen well in our eyes.

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Performance

Hardware

Processor: Intel Core i7-13700K (5.7 GHz single core)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 FE
Cooler: NZXT Kraken Elite 280 RGB
Motherboard: Gigabyte B790 Aero G
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast DDR5 - 32GB / 6000 MHz / CL40
SSD Storage: Corsair MP700 PRO PCIe 5.0 2TB
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000x 1000W
Operating System: Windows 11 Pro

Software

Cinebench R23
Furmark
7-Zip 32 MB
Cyberpunk 2077 (4K without GPU upscaling)
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p with CPU upscaling)

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The be quiet! Light Base 500 isn’t just a showpiece, either. The angled front fans do a great job of pushing air deep into the case, and the bottom air intake does wonders in reducing hotspots around the GPU.

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The angled intake design proves its worth in real-world testing.

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As for noise, measured as usual at a distance of 20 centimeters, the be quiet! Light Base 500 is undoubtedly noticeable. But it's important to keep in mind that we're talking about a system with six active fans when the CPU is fully loaded, and eight when the GPU is also involved.


Final Thoughts

When be quiet! asked us to review one of their cases, we were confident that the quality would be excellent, and once we unboxed it, our expectations were met, as we found ourselves in the presence of a robust, high-quality, and very attractively designed dual-chamber case. The Light Base 500 is essentially be quiet!’s response to customer feedback about the Light Base 600 and E-ATX-capable 900. While the larger models were widely well-received, many wanted more compact versions without sacrificing the core design elements. Unlike the Light Base 600’s party trick of swapping between layouts in under 30 seconds, the 500 series sticks to a traditional orientation. But what it loses in configurability, it gains in a more manageable footprint that fits most gaming setups without looking bloated. The Light Base 500 solves the issue of dual-chamber chassis not having front airflow by actually giving front airflow with its angled side intake. It does come with its limitations but let’s talk about the good things first. As a dual-chamber chassis, it has a heavy emphasis on the internal components so if you’re building for show, this is a great choice. Cooling support is decent but not expansive and those who want to custom cool are limited by the choices they can use.By default, the case comes with four fans. At the front, there are three 120 mm fans with inverted blades, while at the rear, there's a 120 mm fan with standard blades. Note that this Light Base 500 LX benefits from four fans from the Light Wings LX range, while the non-LX Light Base 500 will benefit from four Pure Wings 3 fans. But if you want to complete the ventilation, you'll find:Top: 3x 120/2x 140 mm,Bottom: 3x 120 mm,Rear: 1x 120/140 mm,Front: 3x 120 mm. Dust protection grilles, which can be easily removed, have also been incorporated on the bottom and the side shaft. At Light Base 500, you will have two 3.5″ slots and two 2.5″ due to the absence of a hub. The clean design and high-quality materials make the be quiet! Light Base 500 an excellent product, but the surprises don't end there. The Light Base 500 stands out thanks to its unique angled fan layout, chopping off one corner of the case for both aesthetic and airflow benefits. be quiet’s design language and build quality are present here.The angled corner does reduce secondary chamber space slightly, but there’s still plenty to work with. Cooling is also strong: the raised feet provide excellent airflow for bottom intake fans. Overall, this is a very nice case. The Light Base 500 offers a modern interior with good capacity for our components. The equipment level is also interesting, with a GPU support and the necessary for vertical mounting of the graphics card, although the riser is not included. From a stock-cooled cooler to a tower cooler to a 240mm AIO all the way to 360mm, you can do all that and still have a room for modern fat GPUs that really push the boundary of conventional cooling. Some may dislike the angled front intake but take a moment to realize that perhaps a large majority of users of this case will have it up on the right-hand side which in regular usage, will obscure that slant.

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As for price, you’ll need to spend €144.90 for the black LX model and an additional €10 for the white version. The non-LX model with Pure Wings fans is available for €119.90. be quiet!’s pricing looks quite competitive. You’re paying a small premium over budget options for German engineering and some genuinely innovative cooling solutions. If you don't want to use RGB but don't want to compromise on performance, go for the Light Base 500. The Light Base 500 is available only in black – perfect for those who prefer understated design. The Light Base 500 LX is designed for those who appreciate subtle and sophisticated lighting. The Light Base 500 is therefore perfect for those looking for a case that is different from the usual, with a clear gaming vocation and already capable of representing an excellent starting point for a high-end configuration.

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