A Closer Look - Outside

Taking a first look at the Cooler Master HAF 500 out of the box, it does manage to stay pretty true to the core design language of the HAF series. Its bulky front with the 45° angles and straight lines coupled with the large metal mesh front and two 200 mm fans have always been at the core of the HAF case family.


To go with the times, the metal mesh is now incredibly fine, and the case taller—the top is flush with the front and not as bulky as on the H500. You may pull the front cover off to easily access the front fans. If you are having déjà-vu—yes, the HAF 500 has a lot in common with the nearly three-year-old H500, including these fans. At the top, Cooler Master let their designers add more visual details, including a uniquely designed "HAF" branding oddly enough not found anywhere in Cooler Master's marketing materials. The I/O consists of two USB 3.0, a USB-C, an audio combo jack, and the signature CM-shaped power button. Lastly, the unlabeled square button is actually used to cycle through the fan ARGB settings, but would otherwise be for resetting the system.


Looking at the rear, it becomes apparent that Cooler Master is actually using a modified H500 frame. They simply added a cap to the tooling to grow the case for additional AIO support. While there is nothing wrong with that, this is quite the unique approach to modernizing the tooling of a frame that is three years old. Otherwise, the layout of the HAF 500 is pretty standard by today's measures, with the PSU bay at the bottom.


The side panel on the HAF 500 is nice and clean, firmly held in place by clips and further secured with a single thumb screw in the rear of the chassis. On top of that, the black framing, or gray if the white HAF 500 variant, has a unique shape to it as well. On the other side, it becomes apparent that Cooler Master has added that extension to the top of the chassis. Again, this is fine, but a one-piece re-tooling of this metal side panel could have had it fit the new height for a cleaner look.


At the bottom is the ATX PSU bay with two sets of mounting holes for the utmost flexibility. That said, the PSU fan is meant to face down as there is an internal shroud covering the unit. Above that are the seven expansion slots. Cooler Master has done away with the vertical slot the H500 featured, thus simplifying the case. This is fine and done because you will need unrestricted access to the PSU shroud anyway. In the very top is that 120 mm fan, and just like three years ago, it only comes with fixed mounting holes even though elongated ones for flexible vertical height placement have become far more common.


On the other hand, things do look quite modern on top, with a large magnetic metal mesh covering the whole area. Removing it reveals mounting holes for three 120 mm, two 120 mm or even two 200 mm fans. Alternatively, the HAF 500 can also easily hold a 280 or 360 mm radiator setup here.


Looking at the floor, there is a small dust filter in the rear for the PSU bay and a set of mounting holes for a single 3.5" drive should you have to remove the internal HDD cage to make room for a long PSU or thick liquid-cooling setup. The dust filter may be pulled out the back of the chassis for easy cleaning.