be quiet! Dark Base 701 Mid Tower PC Case | Mesh Front | Airflow Optimized | 3 Pre-Installed Silent Wings 4 Fans | ARGB Lighting with Controller | Tempered Glass | PWM and ARGB Hub | Black

Pros: I'm reviewing a little early. The rest of my components won't be in for a couple days but I had some minor anxiety about the case based on recurring review themes. However, I've spent some time playing with it, pulling the various components out and plopping them back in, etc, and I'm a little annoyed at the fussing.

=
Legit Yay-points that are likely to grow as I build this thing out with no big negatives assuming no electrical shenanigans:

* They've been taking notes. Lots of minor old complaints addressed.

* My first case (corsair carbide 400R) was an excellent mid-tower for cable management and ease of assembly. This one is mostly better in that regard from what I'm seeing.

* No quality complaints so far. If people weren't just reaching, be quiet! has attended to any/all things I was looking out for based on fairly old negative reviews.

* Build quality is very solid.

* Unholy doo-doo-butter (this was once a much simpler non-expletive) can you stuff a lot of parts and then even more super-quiet fans if you need the cooling into this thing.

If my review convinces you, wait about 3 days from the publish date, just in case I try to build and faceplant on all manner of bovine sacroth.

Cons: =
Now for the Unreasonable Complaints of Other Reviewers section

* Thumb screws are too tight and there's stripping! - Some were a little tight. Applying gentle pressure with a Phillips head to the phillips head slot on the occasional over-tightened thumbscrew resulted in no jolting or grinding. It just unscrewed with just a touch more torque than I could achieve with my thumb and forefinger alone. The screws and rubber washer thingies are quite nice. I've seen no thread stripping, heard no grinding whatsoever.

* It's hard! - This is a 250+ freaking dollar custom computer case. It's for nerds. That said, semi-patient geeks capable of using a screwdriver with access to both kinds, with some forethought, as-in, thinking before doing, totally qualify. The difference between nerd and geek, fyi, is not smarts. It's patience, dedication, and interest. If you have none of the three, or maybe just one and a half of the three, avoid. If somebody else is building the PC for you, kindly !@#$ off and do not review anything that went into the not-you-building-it of your custom PC. Review the builder in that case if you have strong feelings either way.

* The dreaded PSU shroud of terror! - It takes 4 screws. Seriously. I hit 5 total because I realized at screw #4 (which was wrong) that, no, this is an expensive case. No way would they charge this much and expect people to try and unscrew at a 45 degree angle twice (not even once, actually). All 4 screws are super-accessible with the side panels off. It's a 2-minute job if you already know how. I didn't spend enough minutes figuring it out to even try looking at the manual so many have complained about. There's two screw heads facing out on the glass side, one facing out on the not-glass side (double-hint: which you should remove in addition to the glass panel before removing the shroud). And one on the not-glass side that actually has its head facing the back of the case towards the left.

=
Unavoidable-Comes-With-the-Territory-Negatives

* It's built for quiet, not for best-possible airflow. I got the huge one hoping to off-set the heat penalty but I'm just running a 3700X and a 2070 Super so probably overkill but I plan on piecemeal upgrading every couple of years on this build with an eye towards discovering whether the absolute top of the line is actually worth it in the end. I suspect I won't run out of fan-space before the case itself is too obsolete to use but for optimal airflow, this is probably not the one.

* It really is big and heavy - It has to be. Three reasons. 1. It's about 25% bigger/roomier than a mid-size on every dimension. 2. It cancels noise. Thickness is helpful there. 3. It's modular as !@#$. That's a lot more screws/brackets, etc.

* It's a lot on many levels. If you just want a case that's just good enough for the parts you bought just now, it's too many $, too much space, and too much features for just-want-my-things-to-work-now-custom-PCer, which is where I was at on my first build. Agreed on other reviews saying don't get this if you're not sure if you need/want it. I almost got that fractal mesh case.

* I've never LAN-partied but this case is a horrible choice if that sort of thing is even still going on (it really is rather heavy - do people still LAN party?).

* It's a really silly brand name. But we're all good and bad at specific things. Germany... included.

Overall Review: I wanted it for the big-case-factor, quiet/quality fans, flexibility. No disappointments to date.

Pros: Ultra cutomizable, could not test other features so far

Cons: People already complaines about the screws, well, they are three screw I cannot remove. The small ones used for the PSU cage and the rear slot brackets.
So there's basically no way I can properly install the PSU

When you spend that much in a high end case such a lack of quality is inexcusable. What I am supposed to do, return the case half way being built ? How does such non quality (3 screws tighted so hard even an electric tool cannot remove them) cost the compagny ?

Overall Review: None