Be Quiet Light Base 900 DX Case Review: Innovative design with lots of space

The latest fishbowl-style PC case on our test bench is Be Quiet’s Light Base 900 DX, a chassis that supports three layout configurations. It also features ARGB lighting strips along the side, back-connect motherboard support, and includes two pre-installed ARGB and PWM hardware hubs. In many ways, the Light Base 900 DX is simply a larger version of the Light Base 600 LX. The other difference is the DX model we’re looking at today doesn’t come with pre-installed fans, so we’ll be testing the case with a standardized set of fans.

Will the Light Base 900 DX make our list of best PC cases? Let’s take a look at the specifications of the case, straight from Be Quiet, then we’ll go over the features and wrap up our review with thermal testing.

Specifications

Features of Be Quiet’s Light Base 900 DX Computer Case

▶ Build Quality

As this is a Be Quiet case, one thing you can be assured about is the quality of the construction. The build quality is strong and sturdy, with no readily apparent weaknesses.

▶ Side view and customization options

When looking inside the case in its default configuration, you might notice the motherboard tray has more holes than normal – that’s to support back connect motherboards like MSI’s Project Zero. There are four openings with rubber covers for cable management. You might also notice the integrated GPU support bracket sitting next to the cable management openings. This is becoming pretty common, but it’s still nice to see here.

▶ Radiator and fan support

This case can be equipped with up to 10 fans. There’s support for one exhaust fan, and up to 9 fans from the top, side, or bottom of the unit. 360mm radiators can be installed at the top, front, or side of the unit. However, 420mm radiators can only be installed at the top and bottom of the case.

▶ Dust filters

There are dust filters built into the top, side, and bottom of the unit. However, cleaning them will be a minor pain because it requires disassembly of the unit – they aren’t easily removable.

▶ Front view

Like other fishbowl designs, most of the front of the case is see-through glass, but you also have the IO panel in the center, flanked by three ARGB lighting stripes.

▶ IO Panel

Starting from the top (or left if configured horizontally) the first button allows a user to quickly change the ARGB settings of any devices connected to the pre-installed ARGB/PWM hubs. Next up is a USB-C port, followed by 2 USB-A ports, flanking the power button. Lastly there are audio and microphone jacks at the bottom.

▶ Rear side view, Hardware ARGB and PWM fan hub, storage, and cable management features

The default view shown above obscures most cables. You’ll have to swing open the middle plate to see them, and they can be organized with velcro straps behind the middle plate, which also supports two 2.5-inch drives.

You can also install two additional 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch drives in the drive bay located in the bottom-right corner.

Pre-installed on the top and bottom of the case are two hardware hubs, each supporting up to six PWM fans and six ARGB lighting connections (for a total of up to 12 devices). Lighting settings can be adjusted on the fly by pressing a button on the IO panel.

▶ Rear view

▶ Bottom View (Default configuration) and Three Layout Options

At the bottom of the case, you have your ventilation slots and four removable feet.

The feet are removable to support one of this case’s most interesting features:support for three different layout configurations, as shown below.

Image Source: Be Quiet

▶ Included GPU holder

There is also an included adjustable GPU support with this case, which comes in handy to combat GPU sag.

Thermal Tests, Test Setup, and testing methodology

Our thermal tests are presented to give you more information about the product’s performance, but aren’t intended as the sole judgment of the chassis. The style, price, features, and noise levels of a case should also be considered – and we all have different preferences. What I might like in a case, you might not – and that’s OK. My goal with these reviews is to give everyone, no matter their preferences, enough information to decide whether or not a product is right for them.

Today’s case can be configured in multiple configurations. The thermal results below were taken from the case’s default configuration, as shown in the photo below. Thermal performance may vary if configured in another orientation.

These thermal tests are presented to give you more information about the product’s performance, but aren’t intended as the sole judgment of the chassis. The style, price, features, and noise levels of a case should also be considered – and we all have different preferences. What I might like in a case, you might not – and that’s OK. My goal with these reviews is to give everyone, no matter their preferences, enough information to decide whether or not a product is right for them.

Today’s case lacks pre-installed fans, so I’ve set up the cases shown in the benchmarks below with the same set of standardized fans. The ways I’ve tested the cases are as follows:

• A “worst case scenario” stress test with a full load on the CPU and the GPU.
• A “heavy gaming scenario” stress test with a full load on the GPU and partial load on the CPU
• A CPU-only stress test, measuring the CPU and VRM thermals

MORE: Best PC Cases

MORE: Best Mini-ITX Cases