Deepcool CL500 chassis review - Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

It’s time for the conclusion. The Deepcool CL500 is a nice mid-tower chassis. It’s an evolution of the Deepcool Macube 310P done the right way, mainly thanks to the mesh design, which makes the airflow better. The internal layout is typical, with the PSU installed at the bottom of the case (but the PSU shroud doesn’t have a cut-out this time). There is no RGB lighting here. The installation process is rather straightforward, and you shouldn’t have any significant issues here (if your PSU is no longer than 160 mm). The build quality is good, especially in this budget. The magnetic side panels with a child lock option (screws) and a GPU holder are a beautiful addition here, too, although the magnet could be a bit stronger. On the other hand, only a single fan (and a 3-pin one, unfortunately) is a limitation in terms of thermal and acoustic performance (especially for the GPU), Deepcool has likely assumed that the consumer would install an AIO at the front anyway. It’s still a pity that there are no fans at the front, as air-cooled setups remain more popular. 

Features

Let’s start with the negatives. You get only a single fan here, and it’s a 3-pin one. No RGB lighting is available. You can’t install the GPU vertically, either (but at this price this is not a drawback). Liquid cooling capacity is ok, and you can install a 360 mm rad on the front of the case, 240 mm at the top (which is an improvement on the Macube 310P), and a 120 mm one at the back. There’s enough space for 330 mm long GPUs, 165 mm tall CPU coolers, and 160 mm long PSUs. This is enough for typical builds. The I/O panel has a standard set of two USB 3.0 ports, audio jacks, and power + reset buttons, but you can also find a USB 3.1 Type-C connector there – it’s a lovely addition. As for the things that are different here, there’s the magnetic side panels, the child lock option, and a GPU holder (a nice idea in a time of heavy graphics cards). Last but not least, you get a fan hub here as well.

Aesthetics

Looks are always a subjective matter. The design of the new CL500 is nice. Not as classic as the Macube 310P, but still catches the eye. There is “only” one tempered glass panel, but that’s ok (as usually there’s a bit of mess on the “dark side” anyway), and you can still show off your gear if you want to. The black colour looks elegant.

 The Verdict

The Deepcool CL500 is a reasonable mid-tower chassis. It’s an evolution of the Macube 310P focused on airflow with the mesh design. The visuals are nice, and not flashy. You get a single tempered glass panel (magnetic), and no RGB. Only one 3-pin 120 mm fan is provided, and that affects GPU temps, just like it did in the Macube 310P (a bit less this time, but still). At least one (or better two) fans at the front would have been a significant improvement (especially with PWM control), particularly that you get a fan hub. This way, the coolers wouldn’t need to rev up, bringing down the noise. Three fan filters are mounted here: at the front, top, and bottom (a simple one). The maximum motherboard form factor that you can use is standard ATX, and you can install 360 + 120 mm water cooling radiators and a 165 mm air cooler. Moving on to storage, the case fits up to four drives (two 2.5” + two 2.5 or 3.5” bays). The installation went well. The cable management system is ok, but the PSU space was tight for what we use in our test system (a Seasonic Prime Titanium Ultra 850W). You also need to put a bit of effort into cable management, otherwise, the right-side panel tends to come off because of the pressure. As for the features that we liked, the magnetic panels are a good thing, but the magnet itself could have been a tad stronger. The GPU holder can come in handy in an era of long and hefty graphics cards! The build quality is good, especially considering the budget. Speaking of which, the price is 79.99 EUR so that we can grant the “Approved” award here, for the nice compromise between features and price. At the conclusion, if we could have some upgrade suggestions, then we’d say, again: switch to 4-pin fans and add least one extra at the front. This would surely improve performance in air-cooled systems (the mesh design isn’t enough yet). Also, please use thumbscrews for the PCI slots. It shouldn’t be much more expensive (a couple of cents?). Maybe these things could be implemented in the next model?  We suggested a mesh version for the Deepcool Macube 310P, and here we have it, right? (haha)

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