A Closer Look - Inside

To access the interior, simply unscrew the thumb screws of the steel parts and pull off the glass panels. Thermaltake says it employs 3-mm-thick glass, but it actually clocks in just under that. The interior of the Divider 500 Air is essentially identical to that of the Divider 300. Thermaltake added additional parts to make the whole frame slightly taller, so you will have more vertical space, and the opening of the shroud in front for liquid-cooling setups is larger to allow for push/pull configurations. Thermaltake also added further routing holes on the plate covering the side fan/radiator mounting position.


From behind the motherboard tray, you can clearly see the added metal plate in the top with an otherwise identical layout of the chassis compared to its smaller brethren.


That fan mount is specifically meant for a 240 or two 120 mm fans. A 120 mm radiator setup would not fit as the mounting holes on the outer corners are L-shaped for a slight radiator offset, which keeps it from colliding with the front fans. Lastly, there are two separate SSD brackets underneath the large opening for the motherboard CPU area.


The PSU bay on the bottom of the rear is pretty standard, but Thermaltake added two little guides to the 500 TG Air for PSU installation. There is plenty of space for you to go for a potent mainstream PSU, so you are free to install beefy components. The seven expansion slots above that are protected by individual, reusable covers in the same color as the rest of the case, each secured by a black thumb screw. In the very top, the black exhaust fan feels and looks sturdy. It comes with a 3-pin header and nicely sleeved cable.


Underneath the shroud is a cage with two hard-drive trays for either 3.5 or 2.5-inch drives. It is all about cooling in the front above that with the pre-installed fan mounted on the bracket. A solid metal cover on the side mount may hold three more 2.5-inch drives should you opt not to use this area for cooling. This is a nice touch and allows you to show off your drives nicely in such a build scenario. You may remove the cover by detaching a single thumb screw, which reveals the cutout for cooling purposes.


Looking at the ceiling, you can see the fine dust filter on the top panel cover and the fan or radiator bracket clearly. Thanks to the vented top panel, you may actually flip this bracket around to give you more room inside the case, which should really come in handy for AIO clearance in the ceiling.


All the leads within the Thermaltake Divider 500 TG Air are of the standard variety, while all the plugs are traditional as well.