Thermaltake A500 Aluminium and Glass Edition Chassis Review

A Closer Look – Exterior

Now that I’ve got the chassis out of the box, it’s immediately apparent that it’s built to a very high standard. There are lashings of silky smooth aluminium wrapped around it to make the outer shell, with two huge tempered glass side panels giving fantastic views of the interior.

The side panel is mounted on a lift-off hinge at the rear of the chassis, allowing it to open out like a door. It uses a single lock at the front panel. Turn it to lock/unlock, allowing quick and easy tool-free access.

Ventilation

Airflow make look limited with a closed up front and top panel. However, there’s ventilation at the top, as well as at the front of the panel. It’s all tightly air filtered too, so your system should be kept perfectly clean throughout. Furthermore, this indirect airflow design works wonders for reducing unwanted fan noises will still allowing for loads of airflow.

The little details are what really stand out though, even if they’re not all immediately apparent. The glass is custom cut with a cut-out at the top and front to make room for those air vents. However, it even steps down at the base to fill the two feet. The feet themselves are actually formed from a single aluminium panel that bends around to give the chassis a sleek one-piece look. They could have stuck on a rectangle bit of glass, and some plastic feet, but this is engineered with so much more love and attention.

Slick Curves

The same at the front, where the front panel wraps down under the chassis for that flowing look. The top, front and bottom panels aren’t a single piece. However, the panel gaps are minimal and well placed to keep the look nice and uniform. Again, I love that glass, notice how it has some square edges and some curved to fit the chassis; that must be a nightmare to manufacture.

The front panel is super sleek and frames the tempered glass windows beautifully. There’s a slight roll on the edges that catch the light, although it’s not actually polished, it’s all the same flat grey metal finish. I love a clean front panel look, no big mesh vents, no bright RGB fans. You could put this in your office or your home and it wouldn’t look out of place.

The top panel keeps the clean look also, just a simple flowing design, with only a tiny panel gap between the front and top panels.

The front I/O is nice and clean also, with all the usual power controls and audio jacks. There are two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports, as well as a Type-C. I think Thermaltake missed a trick by not making the USB 3.0 black also, keeping things uniform. However, I’m seriously being petty here, this thing is gorgeous.

Dual Windows

Around the other side, another funky shaped chunk of glass. This one is also mounted with the same door hinge design for easy access. You’ll have to be on point with your cable routing though, as it’ll all be on show here!

Around the rear of the chassis, things continue to look neat and tidy. Well, as tidy as a rear panel can look I guess.

There’s a 120mm fan mount at the top, with elongated screw mounts for easy height adjustment. As you can see, there’s also a 120mm Thermaltake fan pre-installed.

Vertical GPU?

Those wanting to install multiple graphics cards or similar expansion cards aren’t left short either. There are eight expansion slots, plus an additional two vertical ones for those using a riser cable. All are fitted with reusable metal covers too, not that I would expect break-off covers at this price range.

Thermaltake designed the chassis that when looking from the side, the underside looks like a clean flowing panel of aluminium. However, tucked into a huge recess, you’ll find a full-length slide-out dust filter. This chassis has more airflow than you would think, and it’s great to see every bit of it is filtered.