At one time a premium amenity, tempered glass is now commonly found on cases, including several sub-$100 models. Cooler Master's new MasterCase H500M doesn't hit that price point, but it does go all-out with tempered glass, with the front, top, and both side panels made of glass.
Users who are concerned about airflow can eject the front panel and replace it with a mesh one, both of which are included with the H500M. Either way, you'll be able to see the RGB fans that adorn the front of the case.
They're large fans, measuring 200mm instead of the more commonly found 120mm or 140mm sizes that most cases ship with. Cooler Master also includes a non-RGB 140mm fan in the rear of the case. There are fan mounts to add two more 200mm/140mm or three 120mm fans up top.
According to Cooler Master, airflow doesn't suffer a ton if opting for the glass front panel. "Ventilation on the MasterCase H500M, found on either side of the front panel, differs from the rest in the series. The mesh vents wrap from the side of the panel to the front of the panel in order to offer more airflow for the fans to intake," Cooler Master says.
Cable management skills come more into play when dealing with a glassy case like this one. To that end, the H500M utilizes several covers to tuck away cables and wires and keep them out of sight. That includes a section on the back, next to the motherboard tray, as normally that's not a section that is exposed to eyeballs. In this case, it obviously is.
For storage, there are six 2.5-inch drive bays, and two 3.5-inch drives that also support 2.5-inch SSDs. So in total you can have up to eight SSDs (plus any M.2 drives on your motherboard), though most users will likely be content to install one or two, paired with a more capacious HDD. Front panel connectors consist of four USB 3.0 ports, a single USB 3.1 Type-C port, and a pair of audio ports positioned to the left of the power and reset buttons.
The H500M is going up for preorder today for $199.99.
