Cooler Master H500P Mesh - Some small mods

[yoadknux]

Since 2021, the popular choice for high-end cases has been dual-chamber cases with a considerable amount of intake with cases such as the Lian-Li O11 Dynamic, NZXT H9, Corsair 6500d etc. Those cases usually rock 6x intake fans - three side and three bottom - with some variations even allowing up to 9 intake fans. While this design choice guarentees excellent airflow, it is quite expensive and prone to failure as all it takes is one faulty motor to add considerable amount of noise to the system.

I'm still rocking a 2018 case with my 2024 high-end hardware. Personally, I have always gone for cases with large fans, starting with the Enermax Chakra for my old abit IP35 Pro + Q6600, followed by Thermaltake Element S for my X79/4930k, and finally my current Cooler Master H500P Mesh which housed a 8700k (later 9900k) + Z370, recently upgraded to 14900k + Z790.

While GPU coolers have improved considerably and grown in size, they still exhaust massive amounts of heat into the case - For my RTX 4090, the typical power consumption is ~400W (up to 600W when overclocked), and for my 14900k ~200W (up to 300W). Therefore, it is worth trying to improve the thermal performance of a case, although typically even an average case would not cause thermal throttle issues - Nowadays the biggest issue with PC cases is whether you can close the side panel without applying pressure on the GPU connector. Since the H500P Mesh was designed with a vertical GPU close to the side panel, there is extra room and this is not typically a concern.

Ever since I bought this case, I always felt like it is a little underperforming and needs a few modifications. There are 2 glaring issues: The first is the top panel, which is acrylic, meaning it blocks most of the top exhaust - side mesh helps a bit, but not much. The second is the bottom fan placement with respect to the PSU shroud (see green rectangle in image below). Originally, this case was designed so that the bottom fan is used to cool HDD drivers below the PSU shroud. Nowadays SATA devices are becoming irrelevant (I personally don't have any in my PC), so it's just lost intake.



My motivation to make these changes is that since I use a passthrough GPU and an exhaust radiator on top, then a significant amount of airflow is directed bottom to top, so I was looking to enhance this airflow. and make sure I don't re-circulate hot air.

Here's what I attempted to solve this issue. What I did first was take out the acrylic top panel with a precision knife and replace it with a dust filter. Now the top panel looks like this:



Next, I aimed at finding a more suitable PSU shroud. I bought a PSU shroud from a different case (H500M), and painted it white. It took some minor adjustments with a piler and creating a threading in the case, easy stuff overall.



And here's the final result:



As shown in the image, the case now benefits from the entirety of the bottom 200mm fan, no longer blocked by the PSU shroud, and the clearence between the 3rd GPU fan and the PSU shroud is increased significantly.

Time to discuss thermals. My philosophy with cases is as follows:
- Run a continous stress test with the side panel OFF
- Let the system cool down
- Repeat the same stress test with side panel ON

record difference in thermals. If the increase is insignificant, then the case has good airflow.
I focused on GPU thermals. One measurement with HWInfo and the other with GPU-Z (my bad), but they read off the same sensors, so it shouldn't be an issue. HWInfo was with side panel OFF, GPU-Z was with side panel ON. For both tests, I ran FireStrike Ultra Stress Test loop (20 scenes continously).

Side Panel OFF:


Side panel ON:


As you can see, less than 1c difference between "Open air" case to "Closed case" - This is a great result. Compared to stock configuration this is about ~2c difference in thermals, so on the GPU side of things, I can't call it a significant upgrade. I can't run a CPU comparison because the old panel is kinda busted.

Overall, I'm pleased with the change, and I think this case will continue serving me for years to come.

 

[Flamethrower1972]

But that might not be all cases like that.

 

[Blaylock]

Nice mods. I would have expected a bigger change in temp than you experienced, but not much more. There was a fair amount of space below your GPU prior to the mod (looks like about 3 PCI slots) and was likely getting good air. Also, when I reviewed this case back in 2018 the addition of top fans didn't improve overall temps. Of course, that was with much much lower TDP components.

It seems like the H500P is holding up well over time.

 

[yoadknux]

Nice mods. I would have expected a bigger change in temp than you experienced, but not much more. There was a fair amount of space below your GPU prior to the mod (looks like about 3 PCI slots) and was likely getting good air. Also, when I reviewed this case back in 2018 the addition of top fans didn't improve overall temps. Of course, that was with much much lower TDP components.

It seems like the H500P is holding up well over time.

I think it turned out to be a versatile case. In 2021 we had the "bottom intake" revolution of the Fractal Torrent and Lian Li O11 Dynamic. Those cases were "just right", while H500P seemed overly bulky. But in 2024, you can't fit an AIO into the Fractal Torrent and you can't close the side glass without bending the 12vhpwr cable on the O11 Dynamic. For a 14900k+4090 system, the H500P is actually a great pick, you put the radiator on top and have plenty of clearance with the side glass for the GPU connector.

 

[Woomack]

I think it turned out to be a versatile case. In 2021 we had the "bottom intake" revolution of the Fractal Torrent and Lian Li O11 Dynamic. Those cases were "just right", while H500P seemed overly bulky. But in 2024, you can't fit an AIO into the Fractal Torrent and you can't close the side glass without bending the 12vhpwr cable on the O11 Dynamic. For a 14900k+4090 system, the H500P is actually a great pick, you put the radiator on top and have plenty of clearance with the side glass for the GPU connector.

The O11 is one of the most overrated cases released in the last 10 years. I'm not even sure if Lian-Li started them, as at the same time, you could find many similar cases on Aliexpress. Anyway, the airflow is pretty bad, it's tight and not designed for real custom water cooling (even though advertised as such). I had problems even with regular PCIe cables for any larger graphics card.
Maybe I missed some brands, but for me, the only brand that does bottom->top airflow right is Jonsbo/Jonsplus. Their cases were approved for Noctua passive cooling because of that. Some of the latest ASUS mATX cases and some other brands were made in a similar way.

Tbh, Cooler Master products are generally very mediocre. Some are good, but most are pretty bad. It's like they make budget versions of popular gaming products. The H500P looks pretty good, but I wasn't testing it. I believe it's good as you care to make some mods and not to replace it However, most other CM cases that I had in my hands were below average. I mean some design flaws, not the best paint, or stupid ideas that make products look "toyish".
I can only add that I dislike most Fractal cases, too. They're also overrated and they don't bring anything really new/fresh. I only like the Terra, because it's small but easy to work with. However, I can argue about their top quality.

 

[yoadknux]

The O11 is one of the most overrated cases released in the last 10 years. I'm not even sure if Lian-Li started them, as at the same time, you could find many similar cases on Aliexpress. Anyway, the airflow is pretty bad, it's tight and not designed for real custom water cooling (even though advertised as such). I had problems even with regular PCIe cables for any larger graphics card.
Maybe I missed some brands, but for me, the only brand that does bottom->top airflow right is Jonsbo/Jonsplus. Their cases were approved for Noctua passive cooling because of that. Some of the latest ASUS mATX cases and some other brands were made in a similar way.

Tbh, Cooler Master products are generally very mediocre. Some are good, but most are pretty bad. It's like they make budget versions of popular gaming products. The H500P looks pretty good, but I wasn't testing it. I believe it's good as you care to make some mods and not to replace it However, most other CM cases that I had in my hands were below average. I mean some design flaws, not the best paint, or stupid ideas that make products look "toyish".
I can only add that I dislike most Fractal cases, too. They're also overrated and they don't bring anything really new/fresh. I only like the Terra, because it's small but easy to work with. However, I can argue about their top quality.

I agree it's overrated, anything less than the "XL" version is not suitable for a high-end ATX setup, it's really expensive and comes with 0 fans. At the same time, the O11 is the most popular high-end gaming case, at least judging by Youtube/Reddit. It also influenced other popular fish-tank cases like the HYTE Y60 and NZXT H6/H9.

My favorite cases company is Thermaltake, but they haven't produced a reasonable case for a while. They fell inlove too much with glass imo. Agreed about your take on Cooler Master, but they're a pioneering company in terms of large fan case design (H500M/SL600M), at least they try to make a statement and not copy others. My least favored company is Antec which have lookalikes of all popular cases.

 

[Woomack]

I guess Cooler Master should keep copying others, as when they do, they make reasonable products. All their "original" products and ideas are garbage. They still save money on materials and paint quality. They were pushing large gaming cases, but most were not spacious inside; they were covered by thick plastic outside and full of thick plastic shrouds inside. I remember older cases like the first HAF series, and all were mistakes, but priced reasonably and back then, still better than most competition. It took them a while to release reasonable cases without useless plastic covers.
Thermaltake went from really bad cases to acceptable cases, and some are pretty good right now. Most are functional, but they still need redesign. They also try to make more budget series for the masses. I don't remember if they ever had anything high-end. I mean it is well designed with high-quality materials and good paint or anodized. It's like they always try hard to fit into a lower budget and save on something. On the other hand, it's not a bad way as they actually sell well.
HYTE has only a few products, and most of them look great in photos, but when you start working with them, you see all the problems or design flaws that are covered. Instead of releasing something really good, they sell multiple versions with differently painted panels, various designs on the glass panels, displays that cost as much as the case itself, and other things like that.
Corsair has good-quality cases, but they are not always well-designed inside to support everything you expect them to. I mean, large cases with spots for radiators that you can't use, as you have only a choice to use the front or the side; you can't use both. New cases with vertical mounts for 2-slot graphics cards when most large cards have 3-slot designs.
NZXT failed multiple cases because of really bad airflow. Only the latest air series seems good. It used to be the same as HYTE; it looks good but is not functional.
Deepcool has some nice new cases, but most of their older series were simply bad.
Lian-Li is overrated in general. Twenty years ago, they had top-quality cases (top compared to what was then, not what is now). Right now, they are everywhere, from below average to pretty good. Ssupd is supposed to be their side brand, but the quality of their products is just disappointing. It's the first brand that sent me a product with a half-year delay, already two times redesigned and still with design flaws. What's more, other reviewers had similar or even more problems (problems with installing some components, faulty risers, and some more).
As mentioned earlier, Jonsbo/Jonsplus has many well-designed and good-quality cases. They used to sell products under other brands and have a wide range of aluminum cases at a reasonable price. Their brands were hard to buy out of Asia and some single EU countries. Right now, you can get them on Amazon or something, but most US stores still don't have them.

There is a lot of text, but the short version is that there is no one good PC case brand. Every brand has good and bad products. I only see that some maintain some level of quality while others do not.

 

[Blaylock]

I will buck the trend here a little and say that, aside frome their cheapest models, the Cooler Master cases that I reviewed were quite good. Yes, there were a few gadgets and gimmicky features to some of them, but by and large I was very pleased with the products.

The same holds true for Antec. Yes there was a lot of plastic used with them, but of the samples I reviewed, they were quite good. In fact, the oldest case still in use in my fleet is an Antec.

By far my favorite brand to build in was Phanteks. They were a complany that never sent any review samples, so my experience was only a handful, but each one was fantastic.

Lian-Li and SSUPD are the cases that I've had the most issues with. Manufacturing mistakes or defective components straight from the factory. Then on top of that the 6 month delay to get it sorted out really left a bad taste for those brands.

 

[yoadknux]

I will buck the trend here a little and say that, aside frome their cheapest models, the Cooler Master cases that I reviewed were quite good. Yes, there were a few gadgets and gimmicky features to some of them, but by and large I was very pleased with the products.

The same holds true for Antec. Yes there was a lot of plastic used with them, but of the samples I reviewed, they were quite good. In fact, the oldest case still in use in my fleet is an Antec.

By far my favorite brand to build in was Phanteks. They were a complany that never sent any review samples, so my experience was only a handful, but each one was fantastic.

Lian-Li and SSUPD are the cases that I've had the most issues with. Manufacturing mistakes or defective components straight from the factory. Then on top of that the 6 month delay to get it sorted out really left a bad taste for those brands.

I think old-school overclockers will always remember Antec and Cooler Master because of classics like the Nine Hundred and HAF X. Cooler Master imo regained some of that identity with the H500 family and the very underrated SL600M.

On the other hand, I look at recent Antec cases and I see:

Antec P120 - O11 lookalike
Antec NX800 - H500 lookalike
Antec Performance 1 FT - Fractal Torrent lookalike

I guess Antec are cheaper and in the end you get the same performance, so why not. Their PSUs are alright too.

 

[Flamethrower1972]

I will buck the trend here a little and say that, aside frome their cheapest models, the Cooler Master cases that I reviewed were quite good. Yes, there were a few gadgets and gimmicky features to some of them, but by and large I was very pleased with the products.

The same holds true for Antec. Yes there was a lot of plastic used with them, but of the samples I reviewed, they were quite good. In fact, the oldest case still in use in my fleet is an Antec.

By far my favorite brand to build in was Phanteks. They were a complany that never sent any review samples, so my experience was only a handful, but each one was fantastic.

Lian-Li and SSUPD are the cases that I've had the most issues with. Manufacturing mistakes or defective components straight from the factory. Then on top of that the 6 month delay to get it sorted out really left a bad taste for those brands.

You should do a review of my case its great.

COUGAR MX600 RGB Black Mid Tower Gaming Case, 400mm GPU supported, built-in Front 140mm ARGB Fan x3 & Rear 120mm ARGB Fan x1, E-ATX supported along with 8 Expansion Slots - Newegg.com

Buy COUGAR MX600 RGB Black Mid Tower Gaming Case, 400mm GPU supported, built-in Front 140mm ARGB Fan x3 & Rear 120mm ARGB Fan x1, E-ATX supported along with 8 Expansion Slots with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

 

[Blaylock]

@Flamethrower1972 - post that case in my "Recommended cases of OCF" post and I'll add it in (when I finally get that round-to-it)