be quiet! Light Base 500 LX Black Review: A Compact Case with Big Cooling Potential

Tech2Geek continues its exploration of be quiet!’s “Aquarium” cases. After testing the Light Base 900 FX and Light Base 600 LX, we now bring you a full review of the latest addition — the Light Base 500 LX.

Available in a standard or LX version, this mid-tower case stands out with a unique cooling design featuring an angled, sliding fan mount. Inside, there’s plenty of room for a large graphics card, a 360 mm AIO cooler, two 2.5-inch SSDs, and one 3.5-inch HDD. It also supports motherboards with rear connectors and includes multiple dust filters.

In this review, we take a closer look at the Light Base 500 LX Black, priced at $156 compared to $135 for the standard Light Base 500. This LX model adds aRGB lighting, an integrated HUB, and reversed-blade fans.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Buy on Amazon: be quiet! Light Base 500 LX Black PC case ($156)

Design and Build Quality

As mentioned, the Light Base 500 series comes in two variants — the standard Light Base 500 and the Light Base 500 LX, available in black or white. The black model sports a clean, understated design, distinguished by its dual tempered glass panels offering a 270° view of the internal components.

Despite its compact height of 301 mm, the case has a solid, chunky profile. It measures 430 x 436 mm and weighs almost 11 kg.

The front panel is strikingly original. It features a large, full-height opening fitted with a magnetically attached mesh filter, allowing three vertically aligned fans to draw in fresh air.

This design isn’t just aesthetic — it also directs airflow straight toward the GPU, improving cooling efficiency.

The right side panel has a large metal mesh intake, while the top also features similar mesh ventilation. The metal top cover is removable, giving easy access to the fan bracket and simplifying cable management.

At the rear, the layout is fairly standard, with seven PCIe slots featuring removable perforated brackets. Interestingly, the power supply unit (PSU) can be installed in two different positions, both vertically, with its fan facing the metal side panel.

Front I/O ports are located on the right front edge and include:

• 2 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports
• 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port
• 1 × audio combo jack (mic/headphone)
• Power and RGB buttons (the latter cycles through lighting effects and colors).

Inside, the layout is divided into two chambers. The main chamber supports Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, and ATX motherboards, including rear-connector models like ASUS BTF (Back to the Future), MSI Project Zero, and Gigabyte Project Stealth. By inverting the PSU and drive bay positions, the case maintains compatibility without losing mounting space.

It supports CPU coolers up to 170 mm tall, PSUs up to 200 mm, and GPUs up to 410 mm long. A vertical GPU mount bracket is included in the box.

Out of the box, the LX Black comes preinstalled with four 120 mm Light Wings LX fans — three PWM Reverse fans on the side intake and one PWM fan for rear exhaust. All fans connect to a central HUB that synchronizes both PWM and aRGB control, leaving four extra connectors for additional devices.

Each fan includes 16 aRGB LEDs on its rotor. The reversed-blade side fans ensure that the more attractive fan side faces outward for a cleaner aesthetic. The three intake fans are positioned on an angled bracket, while the lower fans sit within the chassis — hiding their mounts from view.

Overall, airflow is well thought-out: three angled intake fans bring in cool air, while the rear fan expels hot air. The setup is also expandable — you can add:

• 3 × 120 mm or 2 × 140 mm fans at the top
• 3 × 120 mm fans at the bottom (with a removable front-access dust filter for easy cleaning).

At the back, Velcro straps and cable tie points help keep cables neatly managed.

The PSU compartment is at the bottom by default but can be moved to the top if you relocate the drive cage (which holds up to 2 × 2.5” SSDs and 1 × 3.5” HDD). Moving the cage takes a bit of work but isn’t too complicated.

Test Setup

Hardware configuration:

• Motherboard: ROG Strix Z590-E Gaming Wi-Fi
• CPU: Intel Core i9-11900K
• Cooler: Noctua NH-D12L
• Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4 × 4 GB DDR4-2666 MHz (CL16-17-17-36)
• GPU: ROG Strix Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER OC
• PSU: Corsair RM850
• Storage: 2 TB HDD (7200 rpm), IronWolf 510 1.92 TB SSD

Temperatures were measured using HWMonitor under full load — stressing CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage. Noise levels were recorded using an SL-200 sound meter placed 25 cm from the front panel, calibrated with an SLC-100 device.

The CPU cooler operated in PWM mode using the “Standard” profile from ASUS Fan Xpert 4.

Assembly Experience

Building inside the Light Base 500 LX is straightforward. The main chamber easily accommodates the ROG Strix Z590-E motherboard and the Noctua NH-D12L cooler. The large ROG Strix RTX 4070 Ti SUPER OC GPU fits comfortably, leaving extra clearance at the front.

The three side-mounted fans come pre-wired to the HUB along with the rear exhaust fan, simplifying installation — only a single 4-pin PWM and 3-pin aRGB connection to the motherboard are required.

The PSU mounts vertically in the second chamber, with ample space for cable routing. Velcro straps and rubber grommets make management tidy and efficient.

The only real drawback is the 3.5-inch drive cage: installing a hard drive requires removing the entire bracket (secured by four screws and one thumbscrew). Since this bracket also holds the HUB and several cables, it’s not the easiest to handle.

Cooling Performance

Out of the box, the Light Base 500 LX includes three intake and one exhaust fan. We compared its cooling to the Corsair Frame 4500X.

At idle, the Light Base 500 LX showed superior airflow, keeping several components — GPU, RAM, chipset, and HDD — cooler.

Under load, it maintained this advantage, outperforming the Frame 4500X across most components, with a 1°C edge on the GPU and even larger margins for RAM and chipset temperatures.

Noise Levels

Despite housing four fans, the Light Base 500 LX remains quieter than the Corsair Frame 4500X RS-R ARGB.

At idle, it’s nearly silent, and under heavy load, while airflow is audible, it’s noticeably less noisy than its rival.

The only mixed result concerns HDD vibration — the Light Base 500 LX performs better at idle, but the Corsair case slightly dampens mechanical noise more effectively during load.

Conclusion

The be quiet! Light Base 500 LX Black is a case that doesn’t go unnoticed. With its sturdy form factor, dual-glass panels, and carefully engineered airflow, it strikes a balance between style and substance. The angled side intake with reversed fans is both clever and effective, while the PWM/aRGB HUB keeps management seamless.

Thermal performance is excellent, especially for the GPU, RAM, and chipset, and it achieves this without excessive noise. Assembly is user-friendly overall, though installing a 3.5” HDD could be easier.

Add to that compatibility with reversed-connector motherboards (ASUS BTF, MSI Project Zero, Gigabyte Stealth) and a competitive $156 price tag, and the Light Base 500 LX stands out as a powerful, well-designed mid-tower built for modern gaming setups.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Buy on Amazon: be quiet! Light Base 500 LX Black PC case ($156)