Cooler Master MasterCase H500P review

PC Cases and Modding 227 Page 11 of 11 Published by

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Final Words & Conclusion

Conclusion

The Cooler Master MasterCase H500P might not have the word 'HAF' embedded in its name, but it obviously and abundantly is one. It is a proper chassis that instantly reminds you of the preceding HAF models due to its style. I am actually a little confused as to why Cooler Master would not pro-actively use the HAF branding in the name?, over time, that HAF branding will fade away with names like H500P. The H500P is a product you need to like, as the aesthetics are a bit outspoken. But it is a HAF alright, with the two big 200mm spinners at the front you will get heaps of airflow at very little noise (just connect the fans to your mobo fan header and assign a low RPM). On the inside it's innovative as well, the shielded innards allow you to hide the power supply and HDDs. Quick access to the HDD bay however is a no-go, all shielding is secured with screws at both the right and left side. Then again, how often would you really need to access to them? The shielding is aesthetically very pleasing. 

The Design

The MasterCase H500P can be classified as a PC chassis for a high-end build. It has a good size and if you are digging the style, it looks great. We love the tempered glass side panel, but do feel that Cooler Master should have implemented the top and front side with tempered glass as well. Right now it's a bit of everything as you have the steel base and then lots of plastic elements, then tempered glass and then all of the sudden plexi-glass top and front covers. The storage options once again remain a little scarce, just two HDDs and two SSDs can be installed. The SSDs can be positioned in plain sight on the PSU cover, but may also be relocated to the backside, hanging on the motherboard tray. That said, the H500P will cater to a very specific kind of end-user, the guys and girls with the E-ATX motherboards that have a feel with the HAF series and like some additional airflow. It also is a chassis for the liquid cooling aficionado, these are your LC options:

  • Top : 120mm, 140mm, 240mm, 280mm, 360mm (maximum thickness clearance 55mm).
  • Front : 120mm, 140mm 240mm, 280mm, 360mm.
  • Rear : 120mm, 140mm.

The airflow is good, the fans if configured right offer proper airflow at low noise. 

The Less Cooler Stuff

For what it's worth, I really do like the MasterCase H500P very much, but here's the chapter where CM is going to hate me. Hey, it is what it is, right? The pricing of the H500P feels a bit steep, you can expect to cough up EUR € 149 / USD $149 for what I really feel should be a 100 USD chassis. The higher price needs to be related to the two 200mm RGB fans. Now, I would have found the 149 USD pricing warranted if Cooler Master would have actually included a fan and a RGB controller, but that is not the case, or chassis in this case :-) If you want the RGB LEDs to kick in you'll have to separately purchase an RGB controller or, with a new build, make sure your motherboard has an RGB LED connector. Sorry, but that just doesn't feel right at this price level. There are also minor quality issues with the H500P, the top cover is all bendy plastic and has very little tolerance to mount. If you place it back then 4 out of 5 times it will not pop into place instantly, making it a bit of a messy procedure. Also if you push it with even one finger, it'll come loose and pop off.

 

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The Innards

The chassis innards are done clever, we mentioned the advanced shielding options at the left side, hiding the PSU and HDD bay. You'll have a nice all black interior including all black cabling with plenty of grommet rubberized holes to work with. Totally lovely is the option to vertically mount your graphics card. You'll need to purchase a Gen 3.0 PCIe riser cable and will need to think about adding some support to the graphics card though. We appreciate the overall space for everything and that shielding, albeit simple enough, is screw based. All normal motherboards up-to E-ATX motherboards will fit as well as the smallest Mini-ITX ones, also the most lengthy graphics card will fit and CPU coolers can have a height of up-to 190mm, so these are proper tolerances. There's space for pretty much any kind of liquid cooling. The motherboard tray also has a massive cutout which has a shield at the back side as well. While it's not visible, that likely was implemented for lateral support, strengthening the motherboard tray. With the three included fans you can create a serious amount of airflow. That said, the innards are great.

 

Final Words

The Cooler Master MasterCase H500P is all about nostalgia, looking back at the previous HAF models. In the overall looks and design Cooler Master successfully offers a new 2017 HAF model. There have been a number of compromises made though. The lack of a fan controller is a bit of a miss for a chassis that is all about airflow, however not including even a simple RGB controller for the front side 200mm fans does just not feel right. Also this chassis would have made better sense with all see-through windows done in tempered glass. The left side panel however is made of tempered glass with a nice dark coating, that's done right, even removing/reapplying it has been implemented in a fashion that works great. In retrospect the H500P breathes that HAF feel we have been appreciating for many years now, and okay airflow to go with it of course. On the inside it's mostly all good. I do frown upon the skinny storage configuration though, two SSDs and two HDDs and you run out of space. Then again in all fairness to Cooler Master, in 2017 how many storage units do we really need and house inside a PC case? CM did the same with the new Cosmos in this respect. With M.2 SSDs and HDDs getting bigger, it will likely not be an issue for the majority of end-users. With a price of 149 USD/Euro the Cooler Master MasterCase H500P delivers, but does it excel compared to what the competition is offering? I'm not 100% sure about that. For example, look at what Corsair is doing with the Corsair Crystal 570X, that unit has tempered glass on all sides, comes with three HD RGB LEDs and the actual RGB controller for roughly the same amount of money. Aside from some minor tolerance issues with the top cover, the overall build quality is great though. For the ones that are into the HAF style and design, this chassis is a bit of a beauty. But you do pay a premium price for that nostalgic feel and look. Overall, we love the tempered glass panel and the beautiful inside looks with the option for a vertically mounted graphics card. And once you get that RGB bling going, we can certainly recommend the Cooler Master MasterCase H500P to the HAF aficionado. It's a nice and proper chassis series now updated and redesigned, brought into the year 2017.

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