Test System

Assembly

Installing the motherboard takes classic screws. The bottom edge of the board doesn't leave much of a gap, which makes the routing holes in the shroud quite important for cable management.


As mentioned previously, you may install 2.5" drives on either the shroud or out of sight behind the motherboard by placing rubber rings where appropriate. The drives are then pushed into them with the metal pins that are screwed into the SSD housing.


This is simple but actually works quite well. Again, eight more of each of these pieces would mean you could have two more drives within your system!


The 3.5" drive trays may also hold SSDs, but if you want to install a traditional storage drive, you may just pull it apart, place the drive into it, and squeeze it back together, which has the plastic pins secure the whole drive nicely.


Lastly, simply slide the filled tray into place until it snaps down to hold everything within the metal cage.


Adding a power supply simply means sliding it through the side underneath the shroud and securing it in place with four screws.


With everything installed, the Cooler Master TD500 Mesh makes a great, clean impression because of well-placed grommets. On top of that, the thoughtful zip-tie hooks on the motherboard tray allow for clean cable-routing behind the scenes as well.

Finished Looks

Once the side panels are back in place and the system is turned on, you will see a while LED light up around the power switch. The RGB fans in the front emit a nice, gentle glow because of the hub-mounted LEDs.


From a visual perspective, the Cooler Master TD500 Mesh is a beautiful chassis with the fans and mesh in the front and the "sliced" glass on the side of the chassis. Naturally, the rear looks pretty traditional—no surprises there.

You may also cycle through various color modes, but interestingly enough, the controller doesn't allow you to trigger a solid color. The closest I could get was a gentle pulsating of a single hue. Naturally, controlling the RGB elements through the motherboard will give you all the usual flexibility.