A Closer Look - Inside

To take off the glass panels, first pop off the plastic top cover. It being plastic is a bit unfortunate as the rest of the Tower 500 employs steel. All metal vents around the case are covered by removable dust filters, which is a nice touch. Lastly, to get the case all bare for the assembly process, you may remove the remaining metal vents around the base of the Tower 500.


In terms of layout, the Tower 500 mimics that of the Tower 100 with the connectors of the motherboard facing upward. Two separate covers hide the contents of the base. You may install a pair of SSDs or a 3.5" drive on each of these plates, or 120 or 140 mm fans. Alternatively, the one to the right may hold the radiator brackets instead. The motherboard area provides three long, grommet-covered main openings for clean cable routing. On top of that, there are plenty of uniquely "plus" shaped cutouts for zip ties, so keeping things tidy shouldn't be a problem.


Removing these two covers reveals what the space in the base is utilized for. You have some cable-routing possibilities and the PSU bay. Looking closely, there are several mounting holes for pumps or reservoirs on the floor.


In the front of the base is a mounting bracket for two 120 mm fans or a 240 mm radiator. You may flip it down, which is where that magnetic dust filter on the floor comes into play. That way, any cooling pulls air in through the floor instead of the front of the chassis.


Looking at either side of the chassis, things look quite similar and provide unobstructed access to wire up your build.


In the rear, a removable plate may serve as a combination of cooling or storage. On the bottom is that PSU mounting frame held in place by two thumb screws.


Thermaltake allows for up to a massive 12 installed drives inside the Tower 500. The rear plate may hold four 2.5" and two 3.5" drives while retaining the two pre-installed 120 mm fans, or for up to four 3.5" drives here by forgoing any 2.5" variants or fans.


Looking at the ceiling, you will find nine expansion slots, each protected by a reusable, thumbscrew-equipped cover. There is a fan/radiator mounting plate you may remove for easier assembly. It can hold two fans of up to 120 mm or a radiator of up to 280 mm.


All the cables within the Thermaltake Tower 500 are sleeved black and of the default variety. If you are lucky enough to have a board with two USB 3.0 headers, you may connect both. However, even our brand-new ASUS ROG Strix Z690-E only provides one such connector.