Thermaltake A500 TG evaluation: probably the most fashionable PC case it’s ever made

Thermaltake has been steadily working away to enhance the appears of its PC chassis, and the most recent Thermaltake A500 TG case is among the prettiest I’ve ever seen the corporate create. Though calling the A500 ‘pretty’ is possibly doing the fashionable case a disservice contemplating its sturdy, clear, nearly Power Mac aesthetic.

Where earlier Thermaltake chassis have erred on the extra aggressive, ‘gamer’ styling – all uncovered followers, vents, and sharp, angular design – the A500 TG is a much more easy, understated case… and all the higher for it. But, regardless of that straightforward brushed metallic exterior, this dear chassis has every part you could possibly probably wish to customise the inside of your excellent gaming PC.

The completely modular design of the A500 implies that it may be utterly stripped again to fundamentals, permitting you to drag it aside and configure it nevertheless you want. Whether that and the polished beauty are sufficient to justify the $239 (£218) price ticket, nevertheless, is the primary query we have to deal with for Thermaltake’s beautiful chassis.

Yes, that’s numerous money to spend on the garments to your PC elements, however provided that you should have already spent a whole lot in your machine’s element elements it might probably go one in all two methods. Either you determine you’ve spent sufficient and skimp on the chassis – making your self just a little rat rig within the course of that appears like a nightmare on the skin however runs like a dream – otherwise you suck it up and wrap your dear PC goodies in an equally dear chassis.

Read extra: These are the best CPUs for gaming at the moment

The latter is what Thermaltake is hoping you determine to do, however at that value level there are a bunch of different circumstances, comparable to Phanteks’ Enthoo Evolv X or Corsair’s Obsidian 500D SE, and the A500 TG has to do quite a bit to face toe-to-toe with these guys.

In phrases of the essential specs, we’re speaking about an ATX case, simply over half a metre in peak, with a pair of darkened, tempered glass facet panels and a brushed aluminium prime and entrance, all wrapped round a rolled metal body. It comes with a set of followers pre-installed – two intakes on the entrance and one within the rear – however they’re sadly not from the highest drawer of Thermaltake’s fan assortment.

And I don’t simply imply that they’re not laden with RGB LEDs both, they’re the ultra-basic Thermaltake case followers and, whereas they’re quiet sufficient, they’re not the best-performing when it comes to dragging warmth out from inside your PC case.

But there may be nonetheless numerous scope for cooling contained in the A500 TG. The roof and entrance of the case will fortunately assist as much as 360mm and 420mm radiators respectively, permitting you to plumb in some critical chip chilling. And, with all of the drive bays being detachable, meaning you could possibly go the entire swine and drop in a bespoke liquid cooling loop, replete with vibrant reservoir and pump setup too. Helpfully Thermaltake will promote you a complete homebrew water cooling equipment in case you’re up for taking the plunge your self, although that’s greater than the price of the chassis itself…

And that roomy inside area means you could jam in as huge a graphics card as you’ll find and nonetheless have clearance round it. That additionally means it’s a pleasure to construct into. There is a bunch of cable administration holes, an enormous cutout behind the motherboard to present you unfettered entry to the CPU cooling mounts, and not one of the edges have been sharpened to razer ranges because of a good end industrial. I can’t rely what number of instances I’ve lower myself constructing into chassis with tough finishes, principally as a result of I’m quickly operating out of fingers. Thankfully, that’s not a difficulty in any respect with the A500 TG.

The prime panel is clear and unfussy, but has every part you want. There’s a big LED-ringed energy button, smaller reset button, audio I/O, and 5 USB ports in each 2.0, 3.0, and Type-C flavours.

It’s an awesome case, and it’s given my Ryzen/Radeon workplace machine a critical facelift in contrast with the traditional Cosmos Ultra chassis it beforehand sat inside. That darkened tempered glass facet panel displaying off each the LEDs of the GPU and CPU cooler to wonderful impact. Though these shiny facet panels are literally my solely actual concern with this in any other case spectacular case – I kinda hate the hinged impact.

The doorways swing open simply sufficient, and shut tightly because of a mixture of robust magnets and a bodily twist-catch mechanism. But, whilst you can elevate the panels from the hinges with out having to assault it with a screwdriver, it does require you to have sufficient area round your PC to swing them open within the first place.

If you simply wish to do a fast GPU swap – a distinct segment concern for {hardware} reviewers solely, possibly – then for me it requires shifting all the system to an area away from my desk the place I can open the doorways sufficient to elevate them off utterly. With a typical screw-on or latch-lock panel you possibly can simply undo and take away it without having numerous elbow room.

But that’s probably the most minor of considerations, and isn’t sufficient to maintain me from frequently trying down lovingly at my newly clothed workplace PC. The construct course of contained in the A500 TG is straightforward, the appears are beautiful, and the utility is great. It’s solely actually these hinges, the followers, and the value which can be of any concern, and even then they’re not precisely deal-breakers.