Twice as huge and the identical top as the common Prolonged ATX (EATX) full tower, Tower 500’s dimensions focus extra on part visibility than part depend. For instance, there isn’t any room for a second energy provide or different uncommon extras, however the house it has is as a substitute dedicated to offering a full entrance view of a single motherboard as much as 13 x 13 inches. PC circumstances that provide this stage of part visibility sometimes run at a premium worth level, however the Tower 500’s $169.99 checklist worth places it extra in keeping with the common fanatic chassis.
Design: Generally, Extra is Extra
On the rear we discover a big magnetic filter layer masking an infinite rear panel vent, a full ATX energy provide bay with a dual-mount sample that enables energy provide reversal if desired, and a slide-out mud filter for the ability provide bays. air consumption. Loosening the 2 screws on the rear panel permits it to be lifted, whereas having a spot above it permits the highest panel to be pulled out. Greater than a deal with, the highest panel cavity can be designed to permit cable exit.
The front-panel ports embody 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind-A ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-C port, and a pair of basic stereo jacks for headphones and microphone. The facility button is sort of surrounded by a glowing (blue) power-on indicator ring, apart from a small part close to the highest that flashes crimson to point onerous drive exercise.
The highest panels of the entrance and sides, held down by the highest panel, slide up via the mounting slots to offer inner entry. The perimeters could be swapped and rotated to place the vents on the entrance or again of the motherboard compartment.
Decrease entrance and aspect panels mounted underneath edge with thumbscrews and their removing reveals three sides of the ability provide bay.
Eradicating your entire outer shell provides to the proportional perspective: The motherboard mounts a couple of inches under the highest of the chassis, with the rear finish pointing upwards, putting it on the focal middle of a completed construct.
The 2 detachable panels separating the motherboard from the ability provide bays can every maintain a single 3.5-inch drive, two 2.5-inch drives, a single 120mm fan, or each ends of the included triple-fan radiator bracket. Two screws on the entrance and two tabs on the again connect every cowl plate to the entrance radiator bracket and motherboard tray, respectively.
The choices grow to be rather less decisive once we think about the chances, because the removing of a canopy plate offers customers entry to a multi-model water pump mounting level. Built-in chamber pumps will protrude from the appropriate cowl plate’s place, stopping it from being fitted. Since these cowl plates are the underside mounting level of the included triple fan radiator bracket, eradicating the appropriate cowl prevents radiators from being put in on the appropriate aspect of the chassis.
Turning the sprint radiator bracket attracts air from the decrease panel vent as a substitute of the sprint. It additionally prevents the ability chamber cowl plates from being reattached, because the prime of the bracket was beforehand the entrance mounting level for these, and whereas it additionally partially hides the water pump mounting level, it is nonetheless probably uncovered sufficient to slot in. most pump brackets.
A detachable drive tray behind the motherboard tray holds two 120mm exhaust followers, whereas beneath is a detachable energy provide bracket. Because the chassis default configuration gives 13 inches of clearance between this mounting flange and the entrance radiator help, full-size energy provides of just about any size will match.
Two 120mm/140mm mounts within the drive tray, every redesignable to carry a single 3.5-inch drive, two sub-cages every holding one 3.5-inch drive, and as much as two 2.5-inch drives every It has two detachable prime cages that maintain inch drivers. The highest cages are additionally interchangeable with 3.5-inch drives, for a complete of six 3.5-inch drives or 4 3.5-inch drives and 4 2.5-inch drives or two 3.5-inch drives plus 4 2.5-inch drives and two followers, behind the motherboard.
{Hardware} Set up
The Tower 500 affords its builders a way more versatile configuration than most chassis, however utilizing our simplified part set at the very least permits us to check its efficiency with less-equipped chassis fashions. Two of our parts had been provided by their producers particularly for these assessments: Corsair’s iCue H100i RGB PRO XT CPU cooler serves each the CPU and voltage regulator near the latter, whereas the lengthy cables and PS2 adapter plate of FSP’s SFX-based Dagger The Professional 850W energy provide (mannequin SDA2-850) permits us to make use of the identical part in chassis of varied sizes. Here’s a full accounting of all of the elements and software program we use…
The Tower 500 is a set of radiator brackets designed to carry three 120mm followers (or so-called 360mm radiators), a beep code speaker for motherboard headers, a #6-32 (UNC) screw bag for 3.5-inch drives, and a bag of M3 screws for numerous gadgets, 2.5-inch drives and motherboard standoffs, a set of 4 screws for attaching an influence provide, three further spacers to help the entrance fringe of 13-inch-deep full-featured EATX motherboards, a information, a information, 2.5-inch drive bays a layer of adhesive foam flakes to dampen vibrations round it (when you’re nonetheless utilizing onerous drives versus SSDs right here), a bag of froth grommets to dampen the vibrations of three.5-inch drives, and a pack of cable ties.
Entrance panel cables are divided into two sections on the manufacturing facility to scrub the motherboard gap…
The cable meeting on the appropriate of the Tower 500 features a USB 3 Gen 1 feeding two Kind-A ports and an HD Audio cable that connects the headphone and microphone jacks.
With the wires linked, we are able to lastly consider how our ATX parts look inside the confines of the Tower 500: We see sufficient room underneath the entrance fringe of our motherboard that we are able to set up a 12.8-inch motherboard, however simply sufficient for us to put in a 13-inch-deep motherboard. requested us to surrender the compartment covers of the ability provide. By the best way, there’s sufficient house to the left of the board for a basic XL-ATX motherboard to slot in, however placing one in there would complicate cable administration.
Now, remember that our check construct would higher mirror the use case of The Tower 500 if the elements had been RGB-lit. Designed to showcase parts, the Tower 500 would have carried out this activity significantly better if we had used parts with extra LEDs. However check rig is check rig!
Testing the Thermaltake Tower 500: A Stand-Up Man
By way of design and execution, we’d anticipate the Tower 500 to carry out considerably near Lian Li’s O11 Dynamic EVO. Whereas solely separating the 2 by about two levels, the Fractal Design Pop XL Silent wedges itself between them at CPU temperature. Though the Tower 500 suffers a slight loss right here, it maintains a suitable temperature.
The Tower 500 lags even additional behind in voltage regulator temperature and this in all probability as a result of the followers of our AIO CPU cooler are fairly removed from it. Having famous this, it might even be protected to lose its temperature in environments a lot hotter than ours.
As for video card cooling, what the Tower 500 most certainly wants is a couple of enter followers on the backside simply to compete, however at the very least our GPU by no means will get sizzling.
Our SPL meter confirmed the Tower 500 to be the second noisiest case in at present’s comparability group, however the 1.6db delta between it and the Pop XL Silent can be barely noticeable to most individuals.
In truth, whereas the efficiency delivered wasn’t thrilling, it was widespread sufficient that we in all probability added a couple of quiet followers to the consumption to boost the steadiness of any subsequent construct.
Verdict: Strictly for Present?
Nonetheless, all of the efficiency discuss begs the query: would you employ The Tower 500 for any type of common PC construct? Exhibit, Tower 500’s purpose for existenceand we aren’t constructing an indication system within the close to future with elements like we utilized in our check construct; They’d be stuffed with RGB and could be chosen for seems to be in addition to good thermal efficiency.
Present system builders will probably do way more than add a couple of consumption followers and usually tend to see Thermaltake’s pattern construct right here. aspect minimal effortminimal effort What is that this case designed for? We think about pumps with particular liquid cooling loops, specifically bent strong pipes and big prime reservoirs as representatives of the true nature of the market. Nonetheless, even when all you need to do is max out the pre-illuminated RGB bits like within the hyperlink, the Tower 500 affords a ravishing, ready-to-use palette to your painterly PC endeavors.
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