ASUS TUF Gaming GT501 E-ATX Gaming Chassis Review

ASUS TUF Gaming GT501

We see a few ASUS branded chassis every now and then. However, they’re usually just another brands chassis with a few RoG colours thrown on them. This time, however, ASUS has gone all out, with their own fully custom design and TUF branding. As part of their TUF, as in literally tough and durable hardware range. Furthermore, it fits with their TUF Gaming Alliance range, which is designed to offer maximum compatibility with all other TUF Alliance Hardware.

It’s easy to see what makes it TUF too, with metal exterior panels, 4mm tempered glass, and two giant handles that can handle 30 KG with ease. Packed with high-end air cooling, water cooling capable, an extremely modular design, and so much more. It seems then, that ASUS are onto a real winner here, but how does it hold up in the real world? Let’s jump in for a close look.

Features

• Designed to be noticed: Metal front panel with custom TUF Gaming spatter pattern, and 4mm-thick, smoked, tempered-glass side panel to showcase your build’s internals.
• Mobile battle station: Ergonomic, woven-cotton carry handles enable easy and safe transport up to 30Kg.
• Efficient cooling: Equipped with three 120mm Aura Sync RGB-illuminated fans and one 140mm rear PWM fan, plus up to seven fan-mounting points for targeted airflow.
• Space reserved for both front- and top-mounted 360mm water-cooling radiators plus a 140mm radiator at the rear.
• Perfect for TUF Gaming motherboards: Fan and cable placement optimised for TUF Gaming gear, and ready for perfect cooling control via our Fan Xpert 4 software.

Specifications

For in-depth specifications, please visit the official product page here.

What ASUS Had to Say

“TUF Gaming GT501 is crafted from up to 1.5mm-thick galvanized steel for enhanced durability in understated industrial style, and has a special coating that resists scuffs and scratches. It’s fitted with two ergonomic, woven-cotton handles, rigorously tested to support up to 30kg – so it’s both easy and safe to transport your completed build. With a full-height, smoked-glass side panel, TUF Gaming GT501 lets you show off your build from top to bottom – so your components, customizations and Aura illuminations are all clearly visible. This panel is tempered for strength, and hinged at the bottom for opening ease.”

A Closer Look – Exterior

This is certainly a bold looking chassis, finished in dark colours, with smoked glass, and two massive handles stuck on the top. It’s obviously aggressive and quite gaming focused. Of course, that’s not a bad thing, if you have a massive PC you want to build, but you also need it to look epic and be somewhat portable, the TUF has both bases covered.

The side panels are mounted with two thumbscrews at the top, while the bottom edge uses a lipped edge to hold it in place. Here you can see the strap mountings too. They’re very thick velcro, so they can be removed if you really need to do so.

TUF Handles

The straps say TUF Gaming on them, which should look tacky, but honestly, I think it looks really cool.

I don’t doubt their 30KG capabilities either, they’re pretty robust. They have a little padding too, not much, but enough to make it more comfortable when dragging your PC from the boot of your car to the LAN gaming hall.

The magnetic dust filter is massive on the top panel too. It’s hard to see, but in the right light, it has the TUF Gaming Alliance digital camo effect, but it’s really subtle here.

The paint has some detail to it too, it’s more of a dark great with a darker grey metal flake. You can feel the texture to it too, it feels like the kind of armour paint you would put on off-road vehicles. However, the metal flake gives it a great look too, breaking up what would otherwise be a big grey slab of metal.

TUF Cooling

Remove the top filter, and you’ll find a plethora of fan and radiator mounts. You can fit 120 and 140mm fans and up to 360mm radiators depending on your requirements.

The front panel is drop dead gorgeous too. No big chunk of nasty plastic here either, those huge fins are all metal like the rest of the chassis. They’re perforated for massive airflow too. More than anything though, I love the aggressive angles, it really gives the front panel some presence.

Towards the top, you’ll find the I/O panel, which comes with audio jacks, USB 3.0 ports, and a massive power button. No USB Type-C though, which is a shame, but hardly a deal breaker.

The right side panel is just a thick slab of metal, but mounts in the same way as the tempered glass panel on the left side.

Around the back, it’s business as usual, with all the usual mounts.

There’s a 140mm fan pre-installed, but it’ll also support 120mm fittings too. Most importantly, the screw holes are elongated, allowing for height adjustment of your fan or radiator to improve compatibility.

Vertical GPU Mount

The chassis supports ATX motherboards, so you’ll find the usual seven expansion slots. Each are fitted with reusable metal covers too. If you want to use a riser cable, you can also use the two vertical expansion slots to show off your GPU through the window too.

There’s even a slide out dust filter in the base, allowing you to keep your PSU airflow nice and clean.

The ground clearance for the TUF is pretty impressive too, ensuring that PSU filter gets plenty of cool air.

A Closer Look – Interior

Opening up the chassis is easy enough. You undo the two screws on the side panel, and it’ll pop open a little bit, allowing you to lift the panel out the way. What’s cool is that the thumbscrews stay on the panel, so you’re unlikely to drop and lose them in the process.

The massive interior is a huge benefit too, and you’ll struggle to find any hardware that doesn’t fit with ease. Not only that, but there is a huge CPU cooler mounting cut-out, as well as a wide range of cable routing holes and grommets dotted around the motherboard.

PSU Shroud

In the base, there’s a massive PSU shroud, allowing you to hide all your cables out of sight. I like that they’ve added some vertical pass-through too, as it’ll make routing GPU power cables so much easier. There’s a huge cut-out towards the front, allowing access to the HDD bays, and freeing up space for the front panel cooling mounts. However, there’s a cover included in the box to patch up that hole.

The pre-installed fans are all TUF branded also. There’s a non-LED 140mm fitted in the rear for the main exhaust.

In the front, however, we have three lovely TUF RGB fans that are paired up to a built-in RGB controller. However, you can, of course, link it to a standard RGB header for AURA Sync control of the lighting. Lighting or not, they’re set up to deliver huge airflow to this huge chassis, and that’s awesome! To the left of the fans, you’ll also find three dedicated 2.5″ drive mounts, so you can flex your storage.

Around the Back

There’s plenty going on around the back too. Firstly, there’s loads of cable routing space, ensuring you can keep things neat and tidy. Of course, with that massive PSU shroud, hiding cables isn’t going to be an issue anyway.

Any cables you do need to route can benefit from plentiful cable tie loops, as well as the pre-fitted Velcro straps.

Behind the motherboard, there is another drive mount, which supports both 3.5″ or 2.5″ drivers.

Below that, another one, giving us five removable drive brackets in total.

Even More Storage

Finally, two more drive trays in the base, giving us seven in total. These can be removed though, allowing you to use the water cooling pump/reservoir mounts on the bottom of the chassis.

Complete System

It’s a massive chassis, there’s no getting around that fact. Even that lovely ASUS RoG Ryzen ATX motherboard in there manages to look rather small. The Radeon RX Vega 56 takes up about half the length of the chassis. I mean, that’s not a bad thing, but it’s certainly a larger chassis that a lot of people may actually require. That being said though, the build does look drop dead gorgeous and super clean overall.

The RGB LED fans in the front are great too, bathing the interior of the chassis is rich and warm colours easily enough. They have a built-in controller if you don’t have Aura Sync too, so you can change effects and colours at the touch of a button.

I like the default orange colour, but again, it’s RGB, so set it however you like!

Cooling

When it comes to air cooling, the TUF has you covered. With four pre-installed fans, the stock airflow is superb for air cooled builds. however, there’s a huge amount of space on all mounts for thick radiators, and loads of custom loop hardware if that’s what you’re wanting.

The PSU shroud, as well as the cable routing holes, all work fantastic too. There’s barely any cable on show in this build, with minimal effort to get it this clean too. The vertical GPU cable pass-through is a welcome addition too.

Overall, this is one of the cleanest looking builds I’ve done for a while. Which is interesting, given the rest of the chassis looks so damn aggressive, it almost feels like it should have wires sticking out of it just to give it a more aggressive look.

Last Piece of the Puzzel

With all the panels back in place, the build is complete. The tint on the window hides the boring bits, showing off your LED lights and brighter sections of your hardware. Plus, the way the light shows through the front panel is really subtle, and not as disco-esque as some front panels tend to be. That’s right, in the end, the TUF did something subtle.

Final Thoughts

How Much Does it Cost?

The ASUS TUF GT501 Tempered Glass RGB Chassis is available now from most major retailers. It’s priced between £130-150 depending on where you look. However, it’s not hard to find good deals. I saw it at Scan for just £135.98, which I think is pretty reasonable given the features, specifications, and quality on offer.

Overview

I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised by this chassis in so many ways. So often we see “ROG” branded chassis that are simply a few bits of logo printed on other brands successful models. Sure, that’s absolutely fine and they look great. However, the TUF GT501 pushes the boat out to do something unique, and I love that even more.

Build Quality

This is a robust chassis, make no mistake. From those chunky 30 KG supporting handles to the hard-wearing rubber feel, it’s certainly well made. I like that they made the front panel metal too, rather than opting for tempered glass or plastic like so many do these days. If you stub your toe on this thing you’ll be cursing for days. The interior gets lots of love too, with a large PSU shroud, and modular brackets throughout. It’s certainly well thought out and engineered in general.

Features

ASUS has crammed a lot into… well, into a big space, so that’s not hard. However, with good cable routing, loads of storage bays and four high-quality pre-installed fans. Furthermore, it’ll support quite a bit of custom-loop cooling, or even just huge AIO coolers if that’s what you desire. The addition of some nicely done RGB lighting from the fans. That smoked tempered glass. The metal flake paint. It all adds up to a premium product throughout.

Should I Buy One?

I am awash with amazing PC cases this year it seems. Of course, the TUF GT501 is another welcome addition to a great lineup so far. You don’t have to be an ASUS fan and you don’t’ have to have TUF Alliance hardware to enjoy it. This is a great chassis throughout, it looks great, performs great, and I think the price is competitive for what it is too. Now, the real question is are you strong enough to carry it when it’s fully loaded?

ASUS TUF Gaming GT501 E-ATX Gaming Chassis Review