A Closer Look – Exterior
First impressions go a long way, and the Shadow Base 800 makes a great one! It’s a big case, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s pretty heavy too, which I like, as it tells me there’s a lot of chunky hardware in its construction, with thicker steel, and of course, that full-height tempered glass window down the left side; the glass is mounted flush into the side of the case, and lightly tinted too.
The front panel is stunning, with a massive amount of ventilation that will promote excellent airflow throughout the case. Furthermore, behind it lurks three of their awesome Light Wings 140mm fans, and that’s going to pull a huge amount of air through the case even at lower RPM, giving you a nice mixture of airflow and low noise; not that I’d expect anything less from a brand like be quiet!.
The front of the case features those ARGB fans, but also two vertical light bars on the side of the panel, which look OK now, but I’m sure they’ll look more dramatic later when we turn on the power.
There’s a nice I/O panel on the front too, with all the usual stuff, including Type-C, but also a small button that controls the built-in ARGB lighting hub, allowing quick and software-free control of your case lights.
Down the right side, a solid panel covers the full side and is held in place by two thumbscrews towards the rear, making it pretty easy to open the case up and tinker with your hardware and cables.
The rear of the case really helps demonstrate just how big this case is, as you can see, the expansion slots barely take up half of the width of the case, so there’s certainly no issue with extra-wide graphics cards, that’s for sure.
All of the expansion slots are reusable, made from metal, and feature some ventilation too, which is always good to see.
Up at the top, there’s room to mount either a 120mm or 140mm fan or cooler, with elongated screw holes to allow for some height adjustment to ensure compatibility.
Lower down, you’ll find an ATX PSU mount, but what’s interesting is that it’s pushed over to one side, so it’s nearer the side with the tempered glass. This is clever, as it’s going to give you a much larger space in the back of the case for cable routing.
Finally, up on the top of the case, you’ll find another massive section of ventilation, with a flush-mounted dust filter snugged into it that looks pretty slick, so with the massive vents on the front too, you shouldn’t have any issues with airflow in the Shadow Base.
The filter lifts out easily enough, giving you access to the top fan/radiator mounts.
