be quiet! has announced the Dark Base 701 computer chassis for gamers and enthusiasts looking for advanced usability and high performance.
First spotted at Computex 2023, the Dark Base 701 is a mid-tower chassis measuring 565mm x 249mm x 523mm and featuring a sleek all-black design, elevated by two ARGB LED strips running down the front panel for some settle lighting effects.
The Dark Base 701 supports up to E-ATX (305mm x 275mm) motherboards, 185mm-height CPU coolers, 430mm-long graphics cards, and 250mm PSUs. The former can also be rotated 180° for a view from the chassis’ right side, putting the graphics card up top for a clear sight over its fans. Talking of which, the GPU can otherwise be positioned vertically for those who like that aesthetic using an optional riser cable.
The front mesh can be easily removed to access the dust filter hidden behind for cleaning or installing more fans, with the front and top fan/radiator brackets easily removable to further facilitate maintenance and upgrades. It’s worth mentioning the PSU can simply slide from the outside in. The frontal portion of the PSU compartment can be swapped with an open section directing air toward the GPU to improve its access to fresh air.
While we are on the subject of fresh air, the Dark Base 701 comes equipped with three 140mm Silent Wings 4 High-Speed fans, connected to a hub out of the box, which is located behind the motherboard tray and connected to the front I/O panel’s controls that can manage up to eight PWM fans plus two additional ARGB devices. The front panel also includes one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, two USB 3.2 Type-A, and 3.5mm mic plus headphone jacks.
Alongside the three pre-installed fans, this chassis can still hold another five 120mm or 140mm fans, plus two 360mm radiators on the top and front, for those into liquid cooling.
Storage-wise, we find room for three 2.5in drives or two 3.5in HDDs, respectively upgradable to five and three using the optional HDD Cage 2 which adds more drive spaces.
Backed by a three-year warranty, the Dark Base 701 will be available starting November 14 at $229.90/€229.00/£229.99 MSRP, alongside optional HDD Cage 2 drive cages and a Riser Cable for vertical GPU installation at €9.90/$9.90/£9.99 and €59.90/$54.90/£59.99, respectively. A white version of the Dark Base 701 is also planned for next year. Perhaps we’ll see it at CES.
