Cooler Master H500P Review
Up Close & Video Â
Out of the box, this chassis comes with three fans, two large 200mm RGB fans at the front and a single 140mm (non-RGB) fan in the rear of the chassis. The RGB fans inside this chassis can be controlled using a button on the case itself, or it can be integrated into your system’s integrated RGB lighting solution (using standard 4-pin RGB headers).
The top of this chassis also supports two 200mm fans or three 120/140mm fans. Thankfully Cooler Master has taken feedback from their recent cases to hear and has updated the H500P to support up to a 55mm radiator at the top of the chassis, which is a huge tick for any water cooling enthusiast. Â
On the front I/O, this chassis supports two USB 3.0 headers as well as two USB 2.0 headers as well as other standard connections like Audio in/out ports. Sadly this chassis does lack USB Type-C support, but to be honest USB type-C is rarely used today and is unlikely to achieve mainstream adoption for quite some time.  Â
One other piece of feedback that Cooler Master has taken to heart is the removal of their tempered glass window key, replacing it with a simple screw mount that anyone with a flat head screwdriver can unscrew. While those as LAN events may have appreciated the key system, we know a lot of CM users that lost their case keys over the years, making hardware replacement highly problematic, so we are happy to see this change. Â
We can also see here that the chassis features a PSU shroud, which is something that is commonplace in modern PC cases, with two 2.5″ drive mounts sitting on the top of the shroud and two 3.5/2.5″ drive mounts hidden under it. This chassis supports any modern ATX power supplies.Â
Cooler Master has also attached steel sections to their tempered glass side panel, giving it some extra rigidity while also making the installation process easier. The Window does come slightly smoked, though this allows your hardware to have a more stealthy look inside the chassis and allows the case’s RGB lighting to be a much greater highlight.Â
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One feature that this case’s PSU shroud offers is the ability for the front section of it to slide back, giving users more room for a 360mm front radiator.Â
Users of EATX motherboards should know that this case’s rubber grommets will be covered slightly or fully depending on the size of your motherboard.Â
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Conclusion
The best thing that we can say about this chassis is that Cooler Master listened to feedback, looking into the criticisms that we have had with their cases over the years and addressing them to create a chassis that offers nothing that is worth complaining about.Â
It is clear with both this chassis and with the Cosmos C700P that Cooler Master has started designing their cases with PC enthusiasts in mind, offering a lot of small features that go a long way to deliver the company onto a new era of case design.Â
This is not a chassis that is designed to tick boxes in spec sheets, this is a case that has been designed with the help of world-class modders to create something that deserves nothing but the highest praise.Â
With this chassis costing £134.99 it delivers a lot, a solid tempered glass side panel, well thought out water cooling support, RGB illumination and vertical GPU mount support out of the box. To say the least, there isn’t much else that we can ask for here, so much so that we are willing to give this chassis the OC3D Ultimate Award.
When we initially looked at this chassis we thought that this case was going to sell for around £200, leaving us gobsmacked when we were given the case’s official MSRP of £134.99. There isn’t much else to say here, we love it. Thank you, Cooler Master, for gracing our offices with such a well designed chassis. Â
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You can join the discussion on Cooler Master’s H500P on the OC3D Forums.Â