be quiet! Dark Base Pro 901

[testman78]

Introduction

The Dark Base Pro 901, a new top model weighing as much as 16.3 kg, has been added to the high-end computer case product line. With such dimensions, it is natural that there are virtually no limitations for components. Marketed as a successor to the popular Dark Base Pro 900, this new flagship is yet again representing the epitome of flexibility in be quiet!’s lineup thanks to an inverted layout that allows the motherboard to be installed upside down for those who prefer having a right-sided view of their hardware, all while reducing the number of required screws and small parts. The Pro 901 appears to cater for a cleaner and roomy airflow-friendly approach capable of housing up to E-ATX motherboards, 420mm radiators in the front plus 360mm in the side and top, a total of 11 120mm fans or 10 140mm ones, and two 3.5in plus six 2.5in drive spaces with the possibility for having more (5+10) using addon cages. Note that a solution for installing a 5.25 drive is also still available at the bottom, if needed. For starters, the Dark Base Pro 901 incorporates a noise-reducing and performance-enhancing approach for the top and front sections by including interchangeable panels. Out of the box, the case comes with three pre-installed 140mm Silent Wings 4 fans speed-adjustable via the frontal touch-sensitive fan controls. Those who like RGB lighting are not forgotten either as the Pro 901 includes ARGB LEDs with two dedicated touch buttons for choosing the colour and mode. A wireless smartphone charger with 15W and fast charging support is also present.



The Dark Base Pro 901 has the following specifications:




Packaging & Contents

The Dark Base Pro 901 comes packed in a large hard cardboard box thatweighs 20.9 kg in total. The primary front side of the packaging shows the Dark Base Pro 901 as a black line drawing showing a peek of internal detail. The chassis name is also present across the bottom.



At the back we see an "about Be Quiet! marketing paragraph, and it is in several languages. Below this, we find a blown up shot of the Dark Base Pro 901 with numbered components and a legend to the right to help identify the featured parts. At the bottom, we see several more languages explaining a few critical features via the marketing blurb listed above.



Rotating the package clockwise ninety degrees and we get a side shot with eleven languages. A QR code lead us to the product page on the be quiet! website.



The final spin of the package and we see the specification table for the chassis.



The chassis is held in place by thick and sturdy foam spacers, and a black cloth bag with the manufacturer's logo has been applied to keep fingerprint and scratches away.



We have a box identified as "Accessories" that includes replacements for increased airflow components either for the front and top panel.



A cover for the bottom with air redirection to the graphics card.



A panel for the front of case.



A bracket for mounting fans instead of hard drives in the case’s side panel.



A mesh for the front of case.



Naturally, you will find a manual inside the box, which is very detailed and showcases all the possibilities within the Dark Base Pro 901, and trust me, there are quite a few unique elements, but more on those later.



There is also included a Part Box secured with zip ties. This is what its included in the Part Box.



A plastic box (screws, velcro cable ties and rubber bumpers).




A magnetic GPU support with integrated cable management.



A 5.25″ bay for mounting an optical drive, a cable channel for inverted installation and a GPU support for inverted installation.



be quiet! also sell their own VGA Riser Cable (PCIe 4.0 cards certified) to have a vertical installation of the graphics card.




A Closer Look Outside

The case has, of course, black color, hence the name Dark Base Pro 901. The manufacturing finish is excellent. This case is even bigger than its predecessor (Dark Base Pro 900), especially in terms of depth – i.e. front-to-back dimension. On this axis, case measured up to 604 mm. In height (including the feet) it is then 569 mm and in width 275 mm. The left side is dominated by a huge slightly tinted tempered glass window that will allow us to see all the installed hardware.



The right side is completely plain except for a large vertical grill in case we want to install fans on the side.



The closed front is made of brushed aluminum on the surface, just like parts of the lid, which makes it look and feel very appealing. The ventilation is implemented via the side grilles and the front surface is insulated on the back. Since this silent structure is no longer very trendy, a grille for more airflow can also be used here, which means that be quiet! now serves both target groups. In the lower area, we simply have the manufacturer's decorative logo, as well as a translucent line of lighting.



Behind it is the first dust protection grille of many others on the case. It fits perfectly, is locked in place and not attached with cheap magnetic straps.



Removing it we can see two of the three included Silent Wings 4 PWM fans. The pre-installed fans are connected to a fan hub, which is connected to the integrated fan controller. The fan frame can be removed and the fans are mounted on small spacers, which are also included for an optional third front fan. In the lower right corner, in addition to the pre-installed dust filter, you will also find a small circuit board, which is used to generate the power supply for the ARGB lighting built into the front of the housing.



If you take a closer look at this two-part structure, you will quickly see that be quiet! has equipped the housing with a small flap in the lower area, behind which a 5.25″ drive can be installed if desired. That again shows that the manufacturer wants to appeal to as many users as possible.



The I/O panel, like previous models, is placed at a 45-degree angle towards the top of the case, and the comfort of use is improved by illuminated USB ports and touch control of fan speed or ARGB housing lighting. The fan control has five levels and an ARGB control on the left, with touch surfaces. The fan control ranges from 400 rpm to 1900 rpm. Of course, synchronization/control with the mainboard is also possible. We have a total of four USB 3.0 type A connectors and one USB 3.0 type C connector. There is also a 3.5 mm audio jack connection for headphones and a microphone. The on/off button is in the middle. There is no reset button. At the front, we also see a 15W inductive charger.



On the top of the case there is a ventilation grille in the form of a mesh.



The top of the case is completely removable, just press at the edge of the frame and we get inside, where by default we have two sound-dampening panels with noise-dampening material (of course we can disassemble them).




The case has been equipped with a fan bracket below these panels in case you need to get fans installed at the top or get more airflow. By unscrewing the quick-screws, we can also disassemble the fan or radiator grille, with a combined HUB for fans - an interesting solution to remove the front and top panels, we do not have to bother with additional cables. At the top of the 901, users can install up to three 140mm fans or three 120mm fans. This area has enough space to install up to a 360mm liquid cooling radiator with ease, making this area well suited for large all-in-one (AIO) CPU liquid cooling solutions.



Turning the Dark Base Pro 901 around reveals a traditional layout with a large number of necessary intricacies to allow for the modularity and ability for the motherboard to also be installed upside down. As with the predecessor, we find the area for the power supply in the lower part under a cover, but we can completely remove the mounting plate for the power supply so that we can easily slide in the power supply. The eight slots for expansion cards are also new, because the frame for the slots can be removed and turned 90° and reinserted. A graphics card can be installed vertically. If you plan to do this, you should order the manufacturer's riser cable. In the upper area we find the opening for the mainboard IO and next to it a slot for a 140 mm fan. An 140 fan is already pre-installed here.



At the bottom of the case we find four large massive feet made of 2 mm sheet metal with a piece of rubber glued on, which has anti-slip and anti-vibration properties. The openings under the power supply are covered by a mesh dust filter in a plastic frame that slides out from the front.



The full-length dust filter can be pulled out to the front, but only when the front is pulled off.




A Closer Look Inside

The interior of the housing is divided into two chambers, which improves the aesthetics and ventilation of the computer. On the edge of the "basement" we find a translucent line of lighting. The main compartment can accommodate not only a mini-ITX, mATX or ATX motherboard, but also larger E-ATX and XL-ATX models. The mainboard tray has a large opening so that you should be able to easily access the backplate of the CPU cooler later. In addition, the mainboard tray has numerous openings for routing cables. Although these are not provided with rubber protection, the edges are deburred accordingly, so that cables are not damaged here.



Inside the case, you can open the front plastic PSU shroud panel. We can remove it by pushing the central area down, in order to insert the power supply. This panel also includes more sound-dampening material and a cable for the side ARGB lighting.



One Silent Wings 4 PWM 140 mm fan is mounted on the back. At the back, if desired, you can change the orientation of the expansion slots. Originally, they are horizontal, but after a few screwdriver strokes, they can be tilted vertically!



With the inverted structure, the mainboard structure is turned upside down. The GPU mount can be attached to a rail on the top for this scenario. Individual parts such as the power supply cover, cable guides or the side panel elements (cover/rail) can be mounted on the other side in the inverted configuration.



In the front area, we find two of the pre-installed 140 mm fans. The controller allows you to control the rotation in five steps: (for Silent Wings 4 Pro models: 400/800/1200/1500/1900 RPM). Power is provided by the SATA plug. The entire side bracket next to the mainboard tray can be removed and replaced with the fan/radiator panel. While a maximum of 360/420 mm radiators can be installed in the front, there are a maximum of 360 mm models in the lid and on the side.



A plastic insert can be removed in the front area of the power supply cover. This is particularly important if a triple radiator is to be mounted behind the front. As an alternative to the closed insert, an insert with air slots can also be fitted. It is particularly useful when the optional 120/140 mm floor fan slot near the front is used.



At the top of case on lid you will find a small fan hub, which is also connected to the fan controller.



To access the back, the process is identical: we remove two screws, push back slightly and the metal plate that covers this area comes out easily. Here we can see that this side, with the exception of the grill area, has a noise insulation insert that covers the entire surface. Also behind the mainboard tray we find the be quiet! Dark Base Pro 901 a lot of space. On average we have 3 centimeters of space between the mainboard tray and the cover, which is very generous. We find the many cable ducts, which allow the cables to be routed neatly, to be great. There are also many attachment options for cable ties. Four metal plates can be used for cable management and routed around the back. The PSU area is rather big with around 35cm of free space to install big Power supplies. be quiet! has looked at small details as well, you will find dampening material where the PSU is placed.



In this area we have a small rack for two 2.5/3.5-inch storage units, a rack that by the way can be disassembled if we are not going to use it to have more space, cooling and less weight.



If you don't need them, you can remove them and create space for a floor fan, front radiator or a 5.25″ drive.



Above that you can see 5 removable bays (you need to get the extra HDD cage 2 to fit more HDD drives.



The plastic covers for the assembly openings can be easily removed. The individual cages are then attached to the mainboard tray with a knurled screw. Each cage can accommodate a single 3.5" drive or two 2.5" drives. 3.5-inch drives can be mounted without tools using small side flaps. They are decoupled by rubber rings. 2.5-inch drives, on the other hand, have to be screwed to the cage. They are placed inside the cage on the top and bottom.



Of course, two more 2.5"HDDs can be installed on the motherboard tray.




Installation Process and Finished looks

The installation process is quick since there are pre-installed motherboard tips in this case. Of course, you can install larger or small motherboards (E-ATX / XL-ATX / ATX / M-ATX / Mini-ATX). In order to place the first two wide formats, we must first remove the steel cover that covers the opening to pass cables. That is why a second cover adapted to this type of format is included.



Inside, there is room for a CPU cooler with a height of up to 190 mm, so even the largest tower structures can easily fit here.




Cable management is very easy in this case. As you can see there is a lot of space for easy cable management. The fact that both front and back panels can be removed gives you easy access to the PSU area for adding more cables or simply making better cable management around the bottom area.



The PSU area is very big and easy to get installed. The specification allows for the installation of units up to 288 mm long (in reality there is even more space - about 325 mm), so even the largest structures can easily fit here. After removing the cover, the power supply can be inserted from the rear, but it could also be placed on the buffers from the side. The included PSU bracket has also sound-dampening material around it and of course its metal. Remember to get all PSU cables installed before mounting the power supply.



We also get the GPU holder installed, this is a nice addition for those big VGA cards. It has a magnetic bottom, so it can be secured without any screws. The GPU holder and be adjusted up/down to match your system preferences.




After you finish securing all internal components at the motherboard cage you have simply to re-insert it into the main case. The process is again easy, just slide and slightly push it. Of course, you have to secure it with the four screws.



This is the final result of the Dark Base Pro 901 case.



Let's power up this system, the front and side ARGB lighting is distinctive. The front panel includes touch controls for fans and ARGB lighting. You can either sync ARGB/fans with the system or make them individually. All buttons are back illuminated and you cannot adjust the lighting.





Test System and Methology


Test System:

Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard:ASRock B550 Steel Legend
Cooler:Pure Loop 2 FX 360mm AIO(@ the top of case)
Memory: 16 Go HyperX Fury 3200 MHZ DDR4
Graphics Cards: Sapphire RX 5700 XT Pulse
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 11 FM 1000W
Boot Drive: SSD Samsung 970 EVO NVMe M.2 1 T
OS: Windows 10 64bit



To test the thermal performance of the be quiet! Dark Base Pro 901 i loaded my test system for 15 minutes using OCCT and Fire Strike Stress Test (3DMark) and recorded the maximum temperatures reached using CPUID Hardware Monitor. CrystalDiskMark 8.0.0 to measure SSD temperature under load and Rise of the Tomb Raider: 30 minutes of gameplay. The graphics card always in auto mode, Meterk MK09 placed 50 cm from the box to measure the sound level. The measurements are carried out in 2 situations: at rest and under load. Room temperature was maintained at 20 degrees C for the duration of my tests.


Performance

In terms of temperatures, with the fan speed set to auto, the CPU remains around 29°C at rest. Once solicited under OCCT, the processor displays a maximum temperature of 70°C. In game the Ryzen 5 3600 only rises to 47°C. At rest, the RX 5700 XT, with its semi-passive mode, runs at 40°C. After 20 passes of the Firestrike stress test, its temperature reached 63°C. In game, the map does not exceed 51°C after 30 minutes in Rise of the Tomb Raider. The SSD displays 30°C at rest, and 41°C after a CrystalDiskMark test.



In our case, with an AIO-cooled system, it shows that low temperatures can be achieved through a lot of space in the interior and many individual holes, through which more air comes into the interior. It is solid results that the Dark Base Pro 901 has achieved together with be quiet!’s Silent Wings 4 PWM 140mm fans.



The fans used inside the be quiet! Dark Base Pro 901 in auto and standard mode at the bios they are not audible at all. At maximum rotation speeds the fans get noisy.


Final Thoughts

With the Dark Base Pro 901, be quiet! has raised the bar not only within their cases, but perhaps overall. The overall build quality of the Dark Base Pro 901 is top and without any questions. Everything feels robust, nothing rattles, nothing squeaks and all this is very important as when you’re loading your rig up with 50KG of radiators and water equipment, you want it to be able to withstand the weight. I’m confident that the Dark Base Pro 901 would survive more than a few knocks and bumps without too much issue. Visually it looks impressive. The front panel design philosophy is completely new. Its design no longer includes a large door to the 5.25″ slots and to the dust filter, but is solid. Optionally, you have the choice between perforated and full panel, the same in the top position. If you don’t have fans in it and also want to seal the top from dust ingress, it can be fitted with a sealed panel. And although be quiet! seems to have dropped the option of installing an optical drive for now, it hasn’t. It’s easy to overlook the 5.25″, not least because it’s in an atypical location – behind the door at the bottom of the front panel. These are horizontally separated by a strip of ARGB LEDs. This is followed by a light guide line stretching along the interior of the case along the edge of the secondary chamber for installing the power supply and storage drives. Colors and lighting effects can also be controlled from the control panel, which features five USB ports (4× 3.2 gen.1 type A and 1× 3.2 gen.2 type C, the full lineup of faster standards that can be connected from motherboards) in addition to a multi-stage controller for changing fan speeds. be quiet! no longer uses a mechanical switch for this purpose, but a capacitance plate. Of course, everyone may have a different opinion on whether this is an improvement or a downgrade. The strong point of the Dark Base Pro 901 is the three pre-installed Silent Wings 4 fans in 140 mm format, no need to argue about that. “Pro” variants (Silent Wings Pro 4) with the same rotor achieve top-notch efficiency and the fact that “basic” Silent Wings 4 do not have tighter corners (than the SWP4) does not negatively affect the cooling performance in this application (as it happens on radiators). If would nag would be that they simply don't include RGB lighting. If you want to max out the fans in this case you can spend a lot of money since the case supports 11x total fans installed. Compared to its predecessor, there is also a significantly changed side panel. The door, while significantly changed, has remained on the case. At the left panel, there is a big mesh hole, where your system can get fresh air, or simply install a 360 radiator. There are two removable dust filters one at the front front and one at the bottom. be quiet! has its 1st priority sound dampening and for that reason has included insulation at the top, front panel, and right side panel, while also installing anti-vibration pads at HDDs, installed fans, PSU bay, and motherboard tray. This case has a serious airflow, either from the front sides. At the top area, you can see more airflow vends. With such dimensions, it is natural that there are virtually no limitations for components. Be it the length of the graphics card, the height of the tower cooler on the CPU or the format of the motherboard. Support also includes the XL-ATX format, which features a combination of above-standard width (up to 264 mm) with above-standard height (up to 345 mm). There are three different positions for a larger, 360-millimeter liquid cooler radiator – the front, side and ceiling of the case. It's possible also to install 420mm radiators at the top of the case if you wish to mod this case and remove the Qi wireless pad. At the bottom PSU area, there is a lot of space to get even big-sized PSUs, you have around 33cm of free space to make proper cable management. The Dark Base Pro 901 has been designed in mind with a flexible motherboard tray for an inverted layout. That means you can invert the motherboard orientation/VGA and have a not-very-usual internal view. The invert process does take time and needs some patience. When an (optional) HDD cage isn't installed, users can install up to 495mm of Graphics cards, while with an HDD cage installed, this is reduced to 370mm. Another neat feature is the included VGA holder that can keep your heavy 4090 graphics card in its place. This can be used in both normal/inverted cases to secure VGA cards. For standard drives, there are two mounting slots for 2.5-inch media and two slots for 3.5-inch media with the possibility of mounting four 2.5-inch media. Such a set should be enough for most users (after all, SSDs mounted in the M.2 slot on the motherboard are becoming more and more popular). However, additional 2.5"/3.5" drive cages can be purchased if required (up to 16 and 7 bays respectively).



The be quiet! Dark Base Pro 901 is available for 320 euros MSRP. Well, let’s not beat around the bush here, it’s a lot of money. OK, so this case is clearly not for everyone. It’s bloody expensive, it’s freaking massive, and it’s pretty darn heavy too. A case this size demands a big build too. You wouldn’t buy it for a low budget build, that’s for sure. However, if you’re looking for a case that can handle the latest enthusiast hardware, multiple graphics cards, huge fans, huge radiators and more, then it’s ticking all the right boxes. To have the choice to put a system together in such a beautiful chassis is great, and you get plenty for the money. Despite the high price, the case can convince with a high flexibility, features and many customization options. The case has 3 years of warranty.