Reviews Cases Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 900

The Nighttime Base Pro 900 Rev ii is, as the name implies, a minor revision of the Be Serenity Nighttime Base of operations Pro 900 that nosotros already reviewed way back in the blue mat era.The major difference is the improver of a ability supply shroud, similar to the one in the Night Base of operations 700 that we also reviewed, simply there are besides some other small changes. Since the rest of the case is the aforementioned, we're replacing our usual build and appearances department with a quick rundown of the updates nosotros noticed.

This review of the Be Serenity! Nighttime Base Pro 900 Rev 2 compares performance, build quality, and differences with the offset version. We besides examination versus several other leading cases, including other total-towers or big PC belfry cases.

Be Serenity! Dark Base Pro 900 Rev two Specs

Dimensions (Due west ten H x D in mm)	243 x 586 x 577
Case Blazon	Total Tower
Material	0.8mm – 1mm SECC, 0.8mm aluminum, ABS plastic, 4mm tinted and tempered drinking glass
Motherboard Back up	E-ATX, Xl-ATX, ATX, M-ATX, Mini-ITX
Front I/O	2x USB iii.0, 1x USB three.i Type C Gen. 2, 1x USB Quick Charging Option, HD audio (microphone + headphones), RGB command switch, HDD status display
Fan Speed Controller	8x PWM stepless command / PWM hub
Max. Cooler Height (mm)	185
Max. Graphics Card Length (mm)	325 / 470 (without HDD bracket)
PSU Length (mm)	150 - 284
PCI Slots	viii
v.25" Bay	2
three.5" Bay	seven (five ex works)
2.v" Bay	14 (10 ex works)
Cooling Fans (mm) / (rpm)	Front: 2x SilentWings 3 140mm / 1,600 Rear: 1x SilentWings 3 140mm / ane,600
Optional Cooling Fans (mm)	Front end: 1x 140 (without ODD cage, bracket included) Top: 3x 140 / 4x 120 / 1x 180 Lesser: 2x 140/120
PSU shroud:	1x 120
Radiator Support (mm)	Front: 120, 140, 240, 280, 360, 420 Top: 120, 240, 280, 360, 420 Rear: 120, 140
Boosted Features	Wireless charger for Qi enabled devices, switchable multi- fashion, multi-color and expandable RGB LED lightning (white, red, green, blue, orange, purple), supports motherboard LED control

Might also start with the changes. For full build notes and the quality/ease-of-installation review, check our original DBP 900 review.

Changes vs. Rev two

1. Shroud: The major difference in this revision is the addition of a PSU shroud. Someone asked for this, but it wasn't usa. The only mention of a power supply shroud in our original review was to signal out that there was enough room for cables elsewhere, so it was unnecessary. The shroud must be removed in order to install the power supply, and the process of replacing it is annoying enough that it'due south easier to just leave information technology out. However, it's optional to install, it tin can exist purchased separately and added to Rev 1 cases, and it's understandable that Be Quiet wants to offer as many features equally possible in their flagship case.
2. Fan/LED controller: The functionality is basically the same as in Rev one, but there are besides "performance-silent" toggles like the controller in the DB 700. It now supports upwardly to eight fans rather than four. LEDs are 12v now and tin exist continued and synced with other standard four-pin strips, and can be controlled via a button on the forepart panel (formerly the reset button).
3. Fans: The fans are still 140mm Silentwings 3s, simply they're 1600RPM rather than 1000RPM. That has implications for thermals and noise, which (forth with the controller) makes it worth retesting the example.
4. HDD trophy: The original DBP 900 had nine available ports for seven free-floating HDD bays, while the rev 2 has five ports for three bays. The lower two ports (and upper 2, since the example is invertible) have been converted to fit a two-drive HDD muzzle instead so that the PSU shroud will fit. To summarize: that'southward upwards to iii single-slot HDD bays above the shroud and ane two-slot HDD cage underneath the shroud.
5. USB: As with the Dark Base 700, Be Quiet has filled one of their USB 2.0 ports with USB 3.ane instead. The other USB 2.0 port has been replaced with a USB quick-accuse plug.
6. Panel attachment: The thumbscrews that hold on the glass console have a weird not-quite-flathead, not-quite-Phillips cantankerous on them, and they thread onto posts rather than screwing into holes (so perhaps they aren't technically screws). The front panel at present has two bound loaded magnet attachments, one at the acme and one at the bottom, rather than just one.

Owners of the original DBP 900 that want these upgrades tin can purchase them separately from Be Quiet. From their design doctor: "The new PSU shroud and HDD slot covers will be available for customers using the first Dark Base Pro 900 version. The windowed side panel and additional HDD cages will exist offered separately also."

Case Testing Methodology

GN Case Testing Bench (Sponsored past CableMod)

	Component	Courtesy Of
Video Carte du jour	MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X (OC Style)	MSI
CPU	Intel i7-6700K @ 4.4GHz	GamersNexus
CPU Cooler	MSI Core Frozr Fifty	MSI
Motherboard	MSI Z170A Gaming M7	MSI
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LED 32GB 3200MHz	Corsair
SSD	Samsung 850 EVO 120GB	Samsung
PSU	Corsair RM650x	Corsair
Cables	CableMod Pro Mesh Cables	CableMod
Case	This is what nosotros're testing!	-

The video carte du jour is configured to run at 55% fan speed at all times.

Prior to load testing, nosotros collect idle temperature results for ten minutes to make up one's mind the unloaded cooling operation of a case's fans and air channels. Thermal benchmarking is conducted for 1400 seconds (23 minutes), a period we've determined sufficient for achieving equilibrium. The over-time data is aggregated and will occasionally be compiled into charts, if interesting or relevant. The equilibrium performance is averaged to create the beneath charts.

Load testing is conducted using Prime95 LFFTs and Kombustor "FurMark" stress testing simultaneously. Testing is completely automatic using in-business firm scripting, and executes with perfect accurateness on every run.

We recently validated our exam methodology using a thermal chamber, finding our approach to be near perfectly accurate. Learn more than here.

Thermals & Noise - Be Quiet! Dark Base of operations Pro 900 Rev 2

The main comparison for the Dark Base of operations Pro 900 Rev 2 is apparently the Rev 1. The Rev ii has faster fans and a controller that works a trivial differently, then results between the 2 cases should be dissimilar, but the amount of improvement seen from (for case) opening the front panel would be approximately the aforementioned. Bank check our previous review to see temperature deltas from other scenarios like opening the forepart panel, opening the side panel vent, taping the mesh trim shut, and inverting the layout.

As for the Rev 2, we focused on testing the fan controller. We plugged the case fans into the motherboard and configured them to 100% speed for baseline testing. For boosted tests, we tried: setting the controller to functioning mode and the slider to maximum, operation mode and slider minimum, silent style/slider max, and performance mode/slider min. The fan speed slider in the front console is stepless, so maximum and minimum settings are the easiest to replicate.

Night Base Pro 900 Rev two - CPU Torture

CPU dT was 56C during the torture test, and 55C with the case fans plugged into the controller and maxed out in performance mode. Judging past the temperatures (since we can't log RPM using a controller), it seems like the controller really does allow the fans to spin at full speed. Results using the controller from all-time to worst were: performance way max, silent mode max, operation mode min, silent mode min. Even just in performance way, going from minimum to maximum brought CPU dT from 63.9C to 55C. Silent manner minimum RPM was by far the hottest test, and the but reason it didn't go higher than 71.7C dT was that the CPU was striking 100C and throttling.

CPU Torture (Comparative)

The original stock DBP 900 reached 58.6C dT, towards the warm terminate of our scale. With its  higher fan speeds, the Rev 2 places more towards the middle with the Define R6 and S340 Elite. For how closed-off the forepart panel is, that's fairly expert.

Dark Base of operations Pro 900 Rev 2 - GPU Torture

GPU dT averaged 47.6C during the torture exam with Furmark, and virtually exactly the same using the controller at max speed and performance way. The best to worst order of performance is the same equally for CPU temperatures: perf/max, silent/max, per/min, silent/min. The range of temperatures was smaller, however, and even the silent/min average dT was only 56.5C.

GPU Torture (Comparative)

It was a surprise how well the Rev 2 provided GPU cooling, specially since it added a PSU shroud to the case that could potentially restrict some airflow. A pocket-sized part of this could be that nosotros intentionally flipped the PSU over when reviewing the original because of restrictive ventilation on the lesser of the case, which may have caused the PSU to compete with the GPU for air. More importantly, at that place's the college RPM fans and the lack of preinstalled HDD trophy to block the airflow path from the forepart of the case. Whatever the reasons, the Rev 2 has some of the coolest GPU temperatures nosotros've logged, well below the original'south boilerplate of 54.9C dT.

3DMark

GPU temperatures were just slightly higher in the 3DMark stress test than in the torture test, averaging 48.8C dT. That's fifty-fifty farther below the original DBP 900'due south average of 57.5C dT, and impressively far below most other cases on our nautical chart as well. GPU cooling is genuinely good in the Rev 2, something we wouldn't have expected from a noise dampened example.

Blender

Rendering on the CPU, CPU dT was 38.4C in the blender exam. That's fairly average, and beneath but within margin of error of the original DBP 900.

When utilizing the GPU, GPU dT during the render was 24C, browbeaten by the PM01 and HAF X but cooler than everything else.

Noise

Even with all of Exist Serenity's noise damping, running the fans at full 1600RPM reached 43.2-43.4dBA, equally loud every bit Dark Base 700 was at max speed, or the Silverstone RL06. The quietest level we achieved using the fan controller was 32.4dBA, just slightly above the In Win 303 with no fans in information technology.

The main reward of having silent/performance toggles on the fan controller is that there are ii channels, so two different groups of case fans can be set to two different speeds while being controlled by a single input. The way we used it, with both toggles flipped the same way, it should simply exist set to performance mode. That'south considering silent/min was at finer the same noise level every bit functioning/min (about 33dBA), but functioning/min scored much amend in thermal testing, and fan RPM tin can be maxed out in performance mode.

Conclusion

The second revision of the Dark Base of operations Pro 900 boils down to a power supply shroud and nicer fans. If this was presented as a minor update without increasing the price, like the changes Cooler Master fabricated to the H500P, it would brand sense. The original DBP 900 that we reviewed was great and earned our Editor'south Choice and Quality Build awards, and we let the toll slide because it's clearly a luxury particular. Still, $250 was a lot of money, and Be Quiet is request $20 more than for a most-identical case.

In performance, the Rev two has much better GPU cooling results than the Rev 1, but that's because the Rev ii has faster fans. 140mm Silentwings iii fans sell for more than than $20 apiece on Newegg, and then upgrading an original DBP 900 to lucifer the Rev two's performance is an expensive proposition. Cooling operation  is the single best statement for purchasing the newer revision instead of the older, but it only applies if the fans are run to a higher place 1000RPM, which silence-focused Exist Quiet customers may never practise.

The Rev 2 is a amend-performing case with a few more features than its predecessor, which we already liked. If all that together is worth $twenty and making PSU installation even more annoying than information technology was, nosotros similar the rev 2 as well.

Editorial, Testing: Patrick Lathan
Host, Exam Lead: Steve Burke
Video: Andrew Coleman

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Source: https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3335-be-quiet-dark-base-pro-900-rev2-benchmarks-review

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