Thermaltake A500 TG
Aiming for pay dirt with aluminum
THE $200+ CASE MARKET right now is a pretty tough old girl to get your claws into as a manufacturer. It’s littered with award-winning hyper-towers from the likes of Phanteks, Cooler Master, NZXT, and more, and as reputations go, they’ve earned theirs through blood, sweat, and a ton of development. So, when we say that Thermaltake might be on to something with the A500 TG, you can guess how this is going to go.
It’s a dangerous part of the market, for sure, but nonetheless, Thermaltake has attacked it with vigor. The A500 TG is a mixing pot of slick brushed aluminum, pressed steel, and tempered glass panels. It features the type of intuitive design choices, quality materials, and impressive engineering that we’ve not seen from the brand for some time.
Both of the tempered glass side panels sit flush to the frame. There are no clunky securing mechanisms or thumbscrews here, just two sets of magnets, located top and bottom, to hold the twin glass panels in place, followed by a simple turning latch. Both panels are removable—you simply have to lift them off the hinges—and both are ridiculously easy to place back on. They’re weighty, too, so to see them sitting so flush to the chassis, without suffering from any sag, is a credit both to the design of the hinges and to the overall engineering involved in this case.
The internal chassis is steel, of course—that’s to be expected—however, it’s perhaps the only part of the A500 TG that lets it down. It’s not all doom and gloom, but it’s a little less modern than we’d like. Removable hard drive cages litter the front of the case, restricting airflow from the pre-installed fans, despite the fact there are two hard drive caddies in the bottom already. On top of that, there are only three rubber grommets for the cable cutouts, no removable radiator trays front or top, and a severe lack of smart cable management in the back. Incredibly (it’s hard to believe we’re actually complaining about this), there’s also no sign of any LED lighting anywhere inside, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but at this price point, you’d expect at least something classy to match that exterior design.
Cooling is a bit of a tricky one on the whole. The A500 TG does support a substantial number of fans: You can install up to three 140mm fans in the front, three 120mm ones in the roof (or two 140mm), and a single 120mm fan in the rear, with all three locations supporting their respective combined radiator sizes as well. There are plenty of mounting holes to install them into, but again, no removable radiator brackets. As far as performance goes, this case is going to prefer an AIO solution to a fully liquid-cooled setup. That’s not to say it’s impossible to fit a fully liquid-cooled build here, but you would be limited when it comes to radiator size. In fact, it’s best to stick to the slim ones, especially if you plan on running push-pull.
The big problem, however, is that closed-off front panel. Although you do get some mesh filters baked into the one-inch-deep side channels found on both the front panel and the roof, it’s not enough to provide substantial airflow to those radiators we mentioned earlier. They’re also not removable from the case, meaning you will have to pull the entire roof and front panels off your case to clean them.
Overall, the A500 TG looks amazing. It’s a case that has impressed us with its design and material use; however, there are just a few too many oversights for us to give it the whole nine yards when it comes to our awards. It’s a nice, solid case, but can it dethrone the likes of Phanteks and co? We’re not convinced just yet.