Here it is, the new successor of the Silent Base model, the Silent Base 802, a high-end mid tower case that aims to be as efficient as possible when it comes to noise and cooling performance. I got mine in the white color and tempered glass-side panel version, and just to get it right out of the way, beside this color, you can also choose a black one, and there’s also a version with the metal left side panel, so a total of four variations. With that out of the way, let’s put some components into this puppy.
The main difference between the Silent Base 802 and its predecessor from the outside comes from the fact that you now have an option to choose between airflow and complete silence when it comes to the top and front panel. You’ll get two different covers, ones that are just one-piece plastic covers, and ones that are meshed. Both can be switched in the matter of second, especially the top one which is magnetic, while the have very thick layer of sound insulation on them, 10 millimeters on the front and 3 mm on the top panel. They did separate the top panel into two pieces, one longer and one shorter, with the latter one having some level of breathability though these horizontal cutouts, because hot air needs to come out somewhere, although they do have these small vents on the side.
Be Quiet! Silent Base 802 – familiar face
The overall design is pretty the same for the Be Quiet Silent Base 802 with these cut off corners where the panels meet each other, big handle like feet raising the whole chassis for better airflow for bottom’s intake point, for which you can easily access its dust filter on the front, while they moved away from the orange accents and kept the same build quality and rigid look. Another change is seen on the I/O’s, where now beside two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, separate audio in and out ports, also have one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, which sort of feels like it was forced there looking like this, just slotted in, instead of that top frame being made, but I assume it was easier just to cut that part out and put it like this, instead of making a new tooling to create that part of the frame. You still have different level of fan speed control using this switch, and of course power on, reset switch and LED’s.
To pull the side panels off we still have those button on the back that you just press and top edge of the panel just pops out and you just pull it upwards and that’s it, you’re in, while the right side panel here again reveals the application of the 10 mm sound insulation foam. Striping the front of its dust filter reveals two 140 mm Pure Wings 2 fans, and another one you’ll find on the back side for the exhaust. Up here you can fit up to 420 mm radiator, while on the top that’s 360 mm, with plenty of space between it and the motherboard and this sliding installation bracket which makes installing anything up there that much easier. Speaking of the liquid cooling, be sure to check my review of BeQuiet’s of their latest Pure Loop cooling, an all-in-one watercooler that has a very interesting placement of the pump. You’ve also probably noticed the white Shadow Rock 3 air CPU cooler, which is a first one for Be Quiet in terms of color, and fits awesomely with this chassis, it didn’t have any problems housing it as it accepts air coolers up to 185 mm tall. I already did a review on its black counterpart, but this will be put against a couple of budget options, like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 and its brother Pure Rock 2, so be sure to subscribe for that one, I’ll put a link in the comments down below and in the cards for all of that.
On the right side we have basically the same layout – a carrying plate behind for two 2,5” drives, SATA powered fan hub with 6 3-pin connection and PWM control, at the bottom we have a separate cage with two spots for drives, next to that a place for a power supply with nice thick rubber padding and separate installation frame. Here you’ll again see spot for the optional slotted drive cages, these ones don’t have those plastic covers since it’s they won’t be visible from the outside. Be Quiet for some reason significantly reduces the number of one, you’ll get just one instead of that. Other than that, there’s plenty of room for doing cable management, there’s plenty of cable routes and space, as well as the tie down points, and you can strap everything in with their Velcro ties.
More air for the Silent Base 802
Although the inner main side feels a bit dated due to everything being so to speak broken in different visible sections and not being more streamlined like in some newer examples, one which is Fractal Meshify 2 which I just recently reviewed, the BeQuiet Silent Base 802 still offers the same level of flexibility when it comes to building it, it’s essentially the same as it’s brother. We have a big power supply shroud that has plastic top covers which can easily be removed for more airflow and / or position of water-cooling components, a lot of pass-through whole and rubber grommets for the cables, an option to put the graphics card vertically with these added expansions slots.
Enough about that, let’s check out of how this chassis performs where it matters the most, airflow and cooling of the components housed inside it, as well as how well it keeps the noise out, with which I’ll start off first. Here are few different scenarios, with mesh and regular panels, and different chassis fan speed configuration, everything will be.
As for the temperatures, as you can see here an obvious difference between each of the fan speed and panel setup scenario that I’ve just showcased. The GPU sees a pretty substantial temperature gain if everything is closed off, but in the grand scheme of things it’s still OK, especially when it comes to CPU, that in this case being the Ryzen 7 3700X. I don’t think it will be a problem finding a good balance between these scenarios that will fit your particular need, because there is a lot of them to begin with, plus there’s a lot more that can be additionally configured if you go for a different cooling route and more chassis fans.
Worth upgrading?
Although not a lot has changed in its core design, BeQuiet did make a few changes that made the Silent Base 802 that much overall better, an evolution of it if you will, which still makes it a great chassis, and now also a tad more appealing on a count of having basically two different airflow and noise configurations to choose from. This is something which they in a way had to do as competition is getting fierce, specially in the airflow department, as well as the growing tendency of this price segments offering. Speaking of that, the launch price is a bit higher, 160$ instead of 150$, but you do get that panel flexibility, but then again, it also lacks those extra 3,5” bays from before.
That’s it for this time, thanks for checking out my Be Quiet! Silent Base 802 review, if you have any question feel free to hit me in the comments section of my YouTube video listed above, you can contact me via my social media channels!
