Thermaltake CTE T500 Air Black Case Review

A Closer Look – Exterior

First things first, this case is big, REALLY big, but it is a full-tower and honestly, they’re a lot less common than they used to be. That being said, many mid-towers do seem to be a bit on the larger side these days, but still, bigger is better when you want E-ATX motherboards and the latest graphics cards aren’t exactly getting any smaller.

One thing is for certain, this case is too big to live up on my desktop, it’ll have to go on the floor if I were to use it daily. That being said, there’s a huge tempered glass window, and loads of ventilation on that thick steel external front panel and top panel, so it’ll look great wherever you put it.

The side panel window stops just short of the bottom of the case, but otherwise, it is flush mounted to the remaining edges (yes, the plastic is still on it to keep it safe while I work).

Now, this is where it gets more interesting. Rather than a motherboard backplate, there are even more fan mounts at the back here. You can get up to a 360mm radiator, or even 3 x 140mm fans back here, which are going to be blowing right at your GPU!

The PSU mount is still down here though, which makes dealing with the power cable much easier.

But as I said, front or back, the case largely looks pretty cool with lots of ventilation. You can get up to a 420mm radiator in the front too, so if you need a high TDP cooler, this is perfect for you.

Up on the top, it looks like another radiator mount, but in fact, this is the “back” of the system and the rear I/O and exhaust fan are hidden under here; more on that shortly.

The front panel is well equipped, featuring power and reset controls, HD audio jacks, two USB 3 ports, and a Type-C port too. Also, it’s a good indication of just how wide this case is. Corner to corner it is 275mm wide… yikes!