be quiet! Shadow Base 800 FX PC Case Review
Meet the Shadow Base 800 FX and all of its flashy lights
Today we are looking at the Shadow Base 800 FX Black, one of the most expensive models in be quiet’s new Shadow Base 800 case lineup, with the white model being slightly more expensive. This model ships with four Light Wings 140mm fans and two RGB lighting strips along the front of the case and contains a hub for both fan and RGB lighting control. Internally, this case is the same as be quiet’s other Shadow Base models.
The Shadow Base 800 series is designed to accommodate large motherboards and graphics cards, supporting up to EATX motherboards and up to two 420mm liquid cooling radiators. This case is also more than large enough to accommodate graphics cards like Nvidia’s RTX 4090, and even support vertical GPU mounting thanks to this case’s adjustable PCIe slot covers.
The Shadow Base 800’s top IO features a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port and two USB 3.0 Type-A ports. This case also supports separate microphone and headset inputs and features an additional button that can be used to control the case’s RGB lighting, if users don’t want to connect this case’s fan controller to their motherboard.
The top of the Shadow Base 800 features offset fan mounts that support up to three 120mm fans or three 140mm fans. The top and front of this case can support up to 360mm or 420mm liquid cooling radiators, which is great news for water cooling enthusiasts.
The front of the Shadow Base 800 has plenty of mesh to enable airflow, giving the case easy access to external air for cooling.
The bottom of the Shadow Base 800 included the below bracket, which is removable to accommodate thick front mounted liquid cooling radiators and push/pull fan setups. This plate is also designed to allow airflow from a bottom mounted 120mm or 140mm fan if users choose to install one.
At the front of the Shadow Base 800 we can see two mounts for 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs. Since most PC builders now use NVMe SSDs, these mounts are likely to be bare on most Shadow base 800 cases, so we would recommend covering these mounts with some plasticard or something else to clean up this area of the case.
At the top of the Shadow Base 800 we have plenty of space for a large liquid cooling radiator, and large cutouts for cable management. There is a neat cutout that extends near motherboards to enable easier 8-pin CPU power cable mounting, which is great news for users of high-end motherboards with multiple 8-pin CPU power connections.
At the bottom of the case we also have a long cutout for I/O connectors, allowing these cables to be easiy routed to the other side of the enclosure.
Below you can see one of the Shadow Base 800 FX’s four 140mm Light Wings fans. If you decide that you don’t like RGB lighting, know that these fans look great with their lights turned off.
Below you can see the included fan controller on the Shadow Base 800 FX, which occupies what would be a mounting position for a 3.5-inch or a 2.5-inch drive.
The Shadow Base 800 has plenty of room for cable management, so much so that this system was extremely easy to build. You don’t need to worry about bulging side panels with this case.
At the bottom of the Shadow Base 800 is space for an additional 120mm or 140mm intake fan, which can be used to add airflow to this case. This space could also be used to mount a pump or reservoir for a liquid cooling setup.
Overall, the Shadow Base 800 FX is a case that is easy to build in and offers users all the space that they need to create a large gaming PC or a high performance workstation. Rumour has it that AMD has new Threadripper CPUs on the horizon, and this case appears to be perfect for a large EATX Ryzen Threadripper motherboard.
