These days, computer cases are made out of nearly everything. From wooden cases to glass cases and designs ranging from the conservative to the truly bizarre. A case can say a lot about a gamer, from revealing pieces of their personality or even something as simple as, “this is what I can afford.” Cooler Master aimed to hit the mark of a high-end case with the H500P Mesh, but does it truly have what it takes to make your gaming rig shine while keeping your wallet happy?
Cooler Master’s MasterCase series is known for not only being stylish but also for its modular design. In addition to that, this mid-tower promises more than adequate airflow and expansion options. Let’s take a look at the specifications.
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Specifications
- MSRP: $149.99
- Case Name: MasterCase H500P
- Available Colors: Black
- Material Body: Steel
- Side Panel Material: Tempered Glass
- Top View Material: Plastic, Steel Mesh
- Case Dimensions: 544 x 242 x 542mm / 21.4 x 9.5 x 21.3 inch
- Supported Motherboards: Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX (support upto 12" x 10.7")
- Supports Vertical Graphics Card Installation
- Supports 2 bays for 2.5 and 3.5 Inch drives and 2 bays just for 2.5 inch drives
- I/O Ports: 2 USB 3.0 Ports, 2 USB 2.0 Ports, Audio In and Out on the Front Panel.
- Preinstalled RGB Front Fans: 200 x 25mm RGB fan x 2, 800RPM
- Preinstalled RGB Rear Fan: 140 x 25mm fan x 1, 1200RPM
- Supports up to 7 140mm fans
- CPU Cooler Clearance: 190mm / 7.5 inch
- GPU Clearance: 412mm / 16.2 inch
- Power Supply Support: ATX PS2, Bottom Mounted
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Build Design
To coincide with the new case, I decided to put together a new Ryzen build altogether. After unboxing the case, it comes with several items in an accessory pack to aid in your building process: everything from a soft cloth to clean the tempered glass and some extra fan brackets, to some zip ties for cable management and, of course, the hardware. My first impression was that the case had luxurious feel due to the enormous front fans and the beautiful yet reflective tempered glass side panel.
Disassembling the case wasn’t difficult. Cooler Master made it simple to remove the tempered glass by the use of a single fastener that, once turned, will allow you to pull back and lift up the glass from its groove. In fact, there wasn’t much in the way of disassembly at all, as the simplistic design utilized plastic tabs and hand screws for the majority of the disassembly.
Build Installation and Features
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The MCH500P is a very large case, and the well-detailed guides Cooler Master provides in the box only made the motherboard installation easier. You don’t have to measure or read a manual to figure out what holes need to be aligned to secure your motherboard. Inside the case, Cooler Master has visually simplified wiring access by placing shrouds around the power supply basement, the 3.5-inch hard drives, and several openings alongside the motherboard plate where cabling can be guided unseen for a clean build. After getting the motherboard mounted, and all pertinent hardware placed, Cooler Master also provided a MasterAir MA620P Heatsink Aircooler that I realized needed to be mounted onto the motherboard after the fact (my fault).
The second time I mounted the hardware, I was able to direct the cables behind the motherboard, and with some doing, I was able to place the shroud back in place for a beautiful end to the story. If only it were that simple. For this particular build, the Motherboard I chose was an MSI X370 Pro Carbon. My one major build flaw with the case design specifically was that the front panel audio cable happened to be just barely too short for me to route it behind the motherboard plate all the way to the bottom left hand side of the motherboard. While it was possible, the connect was just a little too tight, and rather than bend any pins to get it to work, I decided to make due without front panel audio. What it really comes down to is the motherboard design, but it would have made my life a little easier with just a couple more inches of cable. Note, this was not a problem for the front USB ports.
Cooling and Sound
While I didn’t plan for any additional fans, the Cooler Master H500P has more than enough space for them, what I didn’t expect is how quiet the case actually was. This was especially surprising considering that the two front fans that come with the case are actually mounted outside of the chassis itself. The MCH500P is supposed to be a High Air Flow (HAF) case. When coupled with the provided MasterAir MA620P, it creates a HAF line that keeps my CPU hovering around 30C at idle and 48C during gameplay sessions. In terms of fan noise, due to the large fans provided, the relatively slower fan speed in comparison to smaller, noisier fans, made me glad that there are so many lights flashing or else I wouldn’t know the PC is on.
The MA620P Air Cooler is also fully RGB enabled which matches perfectly with the H500P Mesh and makes for one gorgeous case.
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Final Thoughts
Putting together this build wasn’t without some pitfalls – namely that pesky HD Audio cable but overall went smoothly thanks to some smart design decisions. Design-wise, Cooler Master made this a cinch to build in, providing a forward-thinking approach to both style and installation. The H500P Mesh glorifies clean building with the use of the power supply shroud and cable covers, so home builders can make a professional looking build without much fuss. In terms of features I didn’t get to use, the H500P is liquid cooling ready, and also allows for vertical graphics card installation. You would be hard-pressed to find another case as accessible, functional, and gorgeous for less.
Pros
- Large mid-tower with plenty of space
- Tempered glass side panel looks great
- PSU shroud and cable covers for clean cable management
- Large and quiet RGB fans included in the box
Cons
- Tempered glass picks up finger prints easily
- Front panel audio cable was a little too short for my build
- Top outlook window is plastic, not tempered glass
