The Dark Base 701 series case from manufacturer be quiet! offers a beautiful, clean aesthetic, plenty of room for component installation and provides excellent airflow options for PC enthusiasts. Built to maximize airflow and performance, the 701 comes stock with three Silent Wings 4 140m PWM fans, a PWM and ARGB hub for easy installation, and both ARGB and Fan controls built into the chassis for easy system management. With smart design options and excellent accessories to accommodate a host of build options, the Dark Base 701 aims to be the perfect case for your next PC build.
Measuring 22.24” L x 9.8” W x 19.48” H and weighing an impressive 26.45 lbs, the 701 has an incredible amount of room to build in. Spec’d for E-ATX, ATX, M-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards, the Dark Base 701 offers plenty of options for builders to work with. More impressive still is the adaptability of the design which allows for hot-swapping for various panels to fit your needs. Adaptability is at the core of the case design with various mounting points allowing for an impressive amount of both air and liquid cooler options to be considered.
For this build, we opted to include the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 air cooler (look for that review soon), which stands at an impressive 6.6” off the CPU. Thanks to the aforementioned depth of the Dark Base 701, there was room to spare, allowing for plenty of airflow despite the Dark Rock Pros’ impressive height. For those looking for a liquid cooling option, the 701 has plenty of space on board, easily supporting up to a 360mm radiator with multiple mounting options available to work with. This allows for the ultimate layout customization.
The 3 pre-installed Silent Wings 4 140mm PWM fans are another impressive element of the Dark Base 701s build. Like many of the components in the be quiet! lineup the Silent Wings 4 live up to their name. Even when running at full RPM, the Silent Wings 4 are impressively quiet. As for cooling, they have no problem quickly and quietly pushing air through the system.
As mentioned in the promotional material, the Dark Base 701 is designed with cooling at the forefront of the design. Leveraging a full mesh design, air is easily pulled in through the system and exhausted exceptionally well. Even when running stress tests on the system, the overall airflow was efficient and worked in tandem with the cooler to keep the whole system running cool.
“With smart design options and excellent accessories to accommodate a host of build options, the Dark Base 701 aims to be the perfect case for your next PC build.”
The design philosophy of flexibility is carried over into every aspect of the 701 from GPU to SSD layouts. For example, the backplane of the 701 offers multiple mounting points for both SSD and HDD and is adaptable to fit your needs. Removable faceplates can cover any unused area, as well as most of the front-side cable management, leaving the user with a clean, sleek-looking layout.
Another impressive element to the design regarding SSD and HDD is that be quiet! offers a toolless install process. Thanks to rubberized inserts, the drives can be mounted easily without needing a screwdriver or extra brackets. Simply install the included ‘feet’ onto the drive via the traditional threaded screw holes and slide the drive into the predetermined location. The whole process is simple and easy to manage.
The whole case is designed this way. Many of the swappable elements, such as panels and mounting points, can be changed without the use of tools. It allows for quick swapping of elements without dealing with tiny screws and tools. It’s a smart, efficient design and a credit to the engineers over at be quiet!.
The 701 also features a fan and ARGB hub that makes management a breeze. Thanks to the onboard controller located near either side of the power button, fan speed and case RGB can be handled without ever needing to download a driver. As for access to the hub it is conveniently located on the backside of the backplane for easy connection and cable management.
Speaking of ARGB, the Dark Base 701 comes with two RGB strips on the front plate of the tower. These are managed by the ARGB hub and controller and can work in tandem with the rest of the RGB lighting you choose to install in the system. They function well and look sharp, adding a nice accent to the all-white case.
“The Dark Base 701 offers a sleek and incredibly versatile case that allows for maximum build diversity.”
On the note of cable management, be quiet! has worked in some fairly robust wire trays to help direct and clean up the cabling on the back of the system. Tying down cables is exceptionally easy, and with the inclusion of branded cable ties, it ends up looking great as well. I only have one small critique and one suggestion for the design.
The first is that the center wire way that houses MB cabling, GPU power and a host of Sata-related cables gets full quite quickly. Especially with the more robust cabling of the quiet PSU used for the build, it would be nice if the wireway was a bit deeper or wider to accommodate the sheer amount of cables used.
The second is more of a request than a critique. The Dark Base 901 Pro series case includes a nice face plate cover to hide all of the cable coming to the MB through that central wire way. It would be nice to see a similar plate introduced in the next iteration of the Dark Base 701 series. It would help add to the clean, sleek aesthetic of the case.
As for the PSU, be quiet! offers a nice mounting plate that holds the PSU in place once installed. The housing chamber for the PSU (located at the base of the case) provides plenty of room for cable connection and management. For this build, I was able to easily slide my hands into the chamber to connect cables without having to remove the PSU. This allowed for easier cable management overall.
The Dark Base 701 is an impressive case. be quiet! has done an excellent job at creating a case that appeals to both veterans and first-time builders alike. The Dark Base 701 offers a sleek and incredibly versatile case that allows for maximum build diversity. It offers everything a builder needs to create an amazing gaming rig. Priced at USD $229.99, the Dark Base 701 is an excellent case worth considering for your next build.
