German PC cooling and power supply specialist be quiet! had a bountiful range of new goodies to show off in the erm… PC cooling and power supply segments. As per our news story title, the headlining Pure Base 500DX high airflow PC chassis with ARGB LEDs made its debut in Las Vegas too.
Pure Base 500DX
One of the most recent reviews of a be quiet! PC chassis by HEXUS featured the Pure Base 500. You can read more about be quiet!'s foray into the sub-£100 (actually now £69.98) mid-tower chassis market via the link. The chassis won a HEXUS recommended award with many great qualities but wasn't without some niggles.
Now be quiet! has delivered some significant changes to the design to expand on the concept while ironing out some of the wrinkles we highlighted. The main thrust of the redesign is increased airflow. It is described as "an advanced version of the Pure Base 500… optimised for a very high cooling performance thanks to a strong airflow". What practical changes have been made to boost airflow are as follows:
- Added a third Pure Wings 2 140mm fan
- Implemented air-permeable mesh front
Other changes in the design include a front panel USB 3.1 Type C Gen. 2 connector - the lack of this modern port was one of the wrinkles noted in the HEXUS review. Elsewhere just from frills, be quiet! has added "a lighting concept with separately addressable RGB LEDs inside and outside the case." This ARGB LED system can be controlled via the motherboard connection and accessory software. However if you wish you can simply toggle through six different colours and four predefined lighting modes using a new front I/O panel button.
be quiet! told us that the new Pure Base 500DX comes in black or white coating, with a side panel window, and it will start to become available at retailers from March.
Dark Power Pro 12
Be quiet! is happy to inform us that the new Dark Power Pro 12 is its first power supply with 80 PLUS Titanium certification and up to 94.9 per cent efficiency. The PSU features fully digital power regulation - again a first for the firm. Inside the all-aluminium case you will find a patented frameless Silent Wings 135mm fan and funnel-shaped air intake for cool and quiet operation.
The new Dark Power Pro 12 with 1200 and 1500 watts SKUs, is scheduled for a launch in February 2020. Buyers get a 10 year warranty.
Coolers
With regard to its new CPU coolers, be quiet! asserts that the Shadow Rock 3 and Pure Rock 2 CPU coolers "offer significant improvements over their predecessors". The former packs a large heat sink, five 6mm high-performance nickel-plated copper heat pipes with direct touch (HDT), and a Shadow Wings 2 120mm PWM high-speed fan, to deliver up to 190W heat dissipation.
The be quiet! Pure Rock 2 features four high-performance 6mm heat pipes and a Pure Wings 2 120mm PWM fan and certified for cooling up to 150W. This cooler is claimed to offer an "excellent price-to-performance ratio," and low noise operation, for mainstream processors. Both new cooler iterations feature asymmetrical construction to avoid blocking memory slots on mainstream motherboards. They are both due to become available in April 2020.
