Thermaltake S500 Steel TG Case Review

Interior

The side panel is easily removed using the two thumbscrews at the rear. It’s a close-fitting panel too, which will prevent dust being pulled in through any panel gaps. This will also help keep the noise isolation in check; plus it looks smarter when things fit tightly on the case.

Huge Interior

The space inside this case is impressive, especially for a mid-tower. Not that Thermaltake has worked any magic here, it’s simply a pretty big PC case for a mid-tower. There are perks to that, of course, as it means you’ll have little trouble fitting high-end hardware in here. There’s a huge cut-out for the CPU cooler mounting behind the motherboard. There are some massive rubber grommets for routing cables too, as well as a small PSU shroud to help keep things looking neat and tidy.

There are some modular HDD bays in the bottom, although these can be removed of height-adjusted as required. That’s a handy feature for those fitting huge radiators in the front panel, but that’s really up to you. The shroud for the PSU also acts as a vertical GPU mounting bracket if you rotate the rear panel covers. Albeit, you’ll need to provide your own riser cable to take full advantage of this.

Fans or Radiators?

The cooling support in the S500 Steel TG is impressive. There are only two fans pre-installed, just standard black Thermaltake 120mm models for a basic airflow design. However, you can fit up to 3 x 120mm, 3 x 140mm or 2 x 200mm in the front, and the same again in the top. Of course, that includes up to 360mm and 420mm radiators in the front, or 280mm and 360mm radiators in the top. Furthermore, an extra 120mm radiator can be mounted in the rear, and if you remove the HDD bay, a 360mm radiator on the right-side panel mount.

Cable Routing and More

The Thermaltake S500 Steel TG comes with plenty of cable routing space behind the motherboard. Plus, with built-in cable ties, you can route the bulk of your cables neatly enough. However, there are a few additional cable tie points should you require them. My favourite features though is the HDD mounting plate behind the motherboard, so you’re not left short of extra storage should you remove the front bays.