Test System

Assembly

Installing a motherboard inside the Mastercase H500 is done by traditional means, with the use of spacers and screws. There is loads of space alongside the top and front edges, which should make connecting everything possible.


Cooler Master has done away with the simple SSD trays found in the P variant and Cosmos C700P. Instead, you are now meant to use thin pins that are screwed into the drives. Once installed, you may simply push them into one of six available spots. This is a very convenient way of installing these, and the sandwiched location between motherboard tray and side panel means you should not have to worry about them coming loose during transport.


To install the 3.5" drives, simply pull any of the trays out and fill them with the storage device—no screws or tools needed.


Once filled, just push the tray into place and swing the front cover closed until it snaps into place on to the cage. This setup pretty much hides the whole drive from view, which makes the lack of a shroud in this area is quite alright.


Installing a power supply is done by traditional means as soon as you have removed the shroud. Simply screw it down and route the cables before putting the cover back on. As you can see, there is plenty of space, so you should not have to worry when utilizing longer PSUs of higher capacity.


With everything installed, the Cooler Master Mastercase H500 makes an incredibly clean impression. The interior of the case essentially has no visible cables with the exception of the necessary GPU PCIe leads. In the rear, everything can be secured quite well due to the numerous cable hooks. As you can see, I have installed the in-line RGB controller in a way that at least allows me to press the button easily once the side panel is removed. Cooler Master mentions that you can opt to re-purpose the reset button to switch through the RGB LEDs as well.

Finished Looks

With the included RGB controller, you are able to manually switch between five color options alongside some animations. As the fan uses a standard 4-pin connector for the lighting effects, it should be universally compatible with motherboards that offer software control. I feel like Cooler Master has missed an opportunity to use aRGB, but considering none of the classic H-Series enclosures offer that type of lightning, I was not really expecting it. You will have to spring for a fancy version to get that feature.


In the rear, everything is where you would expect it to be, and thanks to the very light tint on the glass panel, you are clearly able to show nicely off your hardware to curious onlookers.