Test System

Assembly

Installing the motherboard is done by traditional means, with the included spacers and screws. As you can see, there is plenty of space above the board for liquid cooling and easy access to connectors like the 8-pin CPU plug, while the bottom edge is right on the metal shroud.


To install an SSD, simply screw it down on to the chassis. With the golden spacers, you get a little bit of clearance, which helps with connecting the SATA power plugs, for example. Once the spacers are in place, simply screw the drive down.


Adding a 3.5" drive is tool-less because of the plastic trays. Just pop them in and slide the filled tray back into the cage underneath the shroud until it clicks into position securely.


Placing a PSU within the Sharkhan X500 is pretty traditional too, using the included black screws. There is plenty of space, 190 mm to be exact, for you to use larger, higher-capacity units if you like.


Once everything is installed, the interior looks alright, but the cables should not be as visible by today's pretty high standards. This is simply due to the missing grommets and the lack of well-placed hooks for zip ties. I hid every cable I could behind the SSD or motherboard. That said, I could have probably hidden the 24-pin ATX cable between the two sets of holes in the motherboard tray better. I did, however, reroute all the wiring for the fans from view perfectly. Overall, the result is fine, but requires a bit of extra work.

Finished Looks

Once turned on, the rainbow effect with the built-in RGBs is still the coolest aspect in my opinion, and the Sharkhan X500 runs a good compromise between the brightness vs. effectiveness of the lighting element in the front of the chassis. On top of that, Sharkhan has done a good job with the diffusion, so the individual LEDs don't pop out too much. However, due to the heavy tint of the side panel, the glow of the rear fan is essentially lost overall.


Looking at the X500 straight from the front, you can still see a bit of a glow from the front panel, with more visible through the air vents on the sides of the front panel. As expected, your hardware is essentially not visible, and you would have to place a lot of lighting elements inside to really make anything out, which is too bad as it essentially negates the benefits of the glass panel. In the rear, you can see the glow of the rear fan, and everything is where you would expect it to be with a chassis of this layout.


You may toggle through various single and multi-colored animations with the button on top of the case. There are seven solid colors to toggle through to match your interior, or simply your current mood.