A relatively small PC case with the potential to attract the masses. That is, if you care at least a little about colorful lighting. Otherwise, we’re still in the “midi-tower” class, where price accessibility also plays a role. Within BeQuiet!’s product lines, this case still belongs to the lowest (Pure Base), although it keeps a “higher” standard throughout. There’s nothing that would suggest excessive cuts or visible flaws.
Results: Low noise level (36 dBA)
What about the system fans?: We tested the BeQuiet! Pure Base 501 DX with the factory-default fan configuration. In the charts, it’s labeled as “1+2,” which means one intake fan and two exhaust fans. Since all the fans are controlled simultaneously via the same PWM signal, the airflow inside the case is set up for negative pressure.
On vibration: With intake fans in use, we observed only minimal vibrations at the front and rear parts of the case’s top panel. These are unlikely to cause secondary noise through vibration transfer to the surface underneath the case. The vibration levels were too low to be of concern – virtually negligible.
Why is there a missing value in the chart for a case? One possible reason is that the fans couldn’t be set to the required mode – either because the minimum RPM was too high or the maximum RPM was too low. Another reason could be that the available cooling performance was insufficient for one of the test components, which led to thermal throttling. Temperature values are always recorded (and compared) at comparable performance levels.
