Review of Cooler Master TD500 Max.
PROS
- Includes ML360 Max AIO CPU cooler, GX III Gold 850 power supply
- Powered ARGB/fan hub comes pre-installed
- Sockets for power-supply cables built into motherboard tray
CONS
- Second PCIe 6+2 power cable is missing
- Uses face panel mesh as front dust filter
- Noisy
COOLER MASTER TD500 MAX SPECS
| Motherboard Form Factors Supported | ATX, MicroATX, Mini-ITX |
| Internal 3.5-Inch Bays | 2 |
| Internal 2.5-Inch Bays | 3 |
| Front Panel Ports | USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (2), HD Audio |
| Side Window(s)? | Yes (Tempered Glass) |
| PCI Expansion Slot Positions | 7 |
| 120mm or 140mm Fan Positions | 7 |
| 120mm to 200mm Fans Included | 4 |
| Fan Controller Included? | |
| Maximum GPU Length | 380 mm |
| Maximum CPU Cooler Height | 165 mm |
| Power Supply Maximum Length | 200 mm |
| Power Supply Form Factor Supported | ATX |
| Power Supply Mounting Location | Bottom |
| Internal Chassis Lighting Color | None |
| Included Fan Lighting Color | Addressable RGB |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 19.7 by 8.25 by 19.7 inches |
| Weight | 25 lbs |
It is rare to find PC cases that include a power supply, and when they do, it is often a unique, compact design. The same goes for a liquid cooler being pre-installed in the case. Even rarer is finding both in one, making the Cooler Master TD500 Max case/power/cooler combo truly unique. Another uncommon feature is the built-in sockets for power “extension cables” that simplify cable routing to some extent by connecting the motherboard and GPU to the motherboard-tray portion of the case.
However, the TD500 Max is primarily focused on the components’ cost-effectiveness. The included GX III Gold 850W power supply alone costs around, and it also comes with an oversized version of the company’s MasterLiquid 360 Atmos closed-loop CPU liquid cooler. Those who can justify the cost of the power supply will find that they are only paying for the case based on the math. (And for those who really want this upgraded version of the ML360 Atmos? This is the only option available.) The value proposition depends on whether you are looking for equivalent cooler and PSU parts in the first place. If you are, however, this bundle offers great value and a quick way to address a third or more of your PC build’s part selection all at once.
Design: Multiple Tones of Grey.
The TD500 Max package released today is visually distinguishable from the TD500 Mesh enclosure launched two years ago solely by a change in color. Cooler Master refers to the new shade of gray as “Gun Metal,” and we observed that it appears darker in person than in our photos. Cooler Master’s web page also seems to indicate that the company had difficulty representing the true hue. The most visually intriguing aspects of its basic mid-tower shape are the grooves molded into the glass and a three-dimensional fan grille that fills the center of the slope-sided face panel.
The front-panel connectors are positioned at an upward angle close to the top of the case. They consist of two Type-A and one Type-C USB 3 ports, as well as a single headphone/microphone combo jack. Additionally, this is the location of the backlit power and ARGB-pattern buttons, along with a pinhole that allows the hard drive activity LED to shine through.
The top-panel radiator mount is currently vacant, located behind the upper front-panel ports. It is designed to accommodate radiator and fan combinations up to 418mm in length and 57mm thick. Additionally, it offers approximately 41mm of horizontal offset from the motherboard standoffs to enable coolers thicker than 57mm to protrude slightly below the top of the motherboard. The effectiveness of this setup is contingent upon the thickness of onboard components and their proximity to the upper edge of the motherboard.
The TD500 Max features a 120mm exhaust fan at the rear, mounted on a height-adjustment slot that is approximately one inch high. Below the fan are seven expansion slot covers on a bridgeless slot panel, along with the included 850-watt power supply. The absence of bridges between the slot spaces enables the installation of vertical-graphics-card mounts in place of the expansion-slot covers.
The TD500 Max has only one accessible dust filter, which is located in a slide-out panel below the power supply. However, the holes in the front panel’s mesh are likely to be small enough to capture dust for as long as the user is willing to tolerate seeing it accumulate.
The rear fan of the Atmos 360 Max closely resembles the one found on Cooler Master’s original Atmos 360 cooler. However, the company opted for a different design for the thicker radiator. In addition, the photo displays the back of the motherboard tray, featuring a sizable access hole for CPU cooler support plate installation and eight screw points for two 2.5-inch drives.
The rear fan of the Atmos 360 Max is similar in appearance to the one used on Cooler Master’s original Atmos 360 cooler. Nevertheless, the company decided to go with a different design for the thicker radiator. The image also reveals the back of the motherboard tray, showcasing a large access hole for installing a CPU cooler support plate and eight screw points for two 2.5-inch drives.
Cooler Master’s well-known C2164 (OEM) hub is positioned at the top front corner of the motherboard tray’s back surface. It distributes PWM and ARGB signals from a single fan header and an ARGB header on the motherboard to four fan motors and up to five ARGB devices. The majority of these headers are already in use by the motor and ARGB lighting of the three front fans and one rear fan. However, it is important to mention that the three front fans come with ARGB pass-through connectors. By connecting these to the available ARGB header on the C2164 hub, it is possible to transmit ARGB signals to four additional ARGB devices.
Disconnecting the ARGB input cable from the motherboard or not connecting it at all will activate the integrated ARGB controller, allowing for 14 different lighting patterns. To turn off the lighting completely, simply press and hold the case’s ARGB selector button for two to three seconds, but remember this can only be done when the onboard controller is enabled.
Below the lower edge of the motherboard tray, the power-supply tunnel conceals an extra drive cage designed to accommodate two 3.5-inch drives with clip-on rails. Positioned above this cage is a third drive slot, suitable for a 2.5-inch drive, which utilizes the same mounting hardware as the other two 2.5-inch drive slots.
The power supply provided, the GX III 850 Gold mentioned earlier, is 80Plus Gold efficiency rated and has a power rating of 850W, as indicated by its name. With a modular design taking up 160mm of the 210mm available space that we measured, it is missing one cable to complete a full set.
The distinctions between the TD500 Max and its base model become more apparent when observing the other side, such as the presence of a plastic plug covering the power supply logo’s view port and the inclusion of a factory-installed radiator.
The CPU cooler’s head is concealed beneath the square foam clamshell, while the clamshell itself contains a CPU water block, a pump, ARGB lighting, and an Atmos-branded decorative cover. The cooler head is linked to two coolant lines, a fan power lead for the pump, and an ARGB lead for the decorative lighting.
The radiator in the bundled AIO cooler, known as the “Max” version, is 11mm thicker at 38mm compared to the original Atmos 360 cooler. Additionally, the Max case distinguishes itself from the original by featuring cable leads that are attached and pre-routed to the sockets mentioned earlier. These sockets include two EPS12V and one 24-pin ATX sockets, which are visibly located near the top of the motherboard tray.
Further down on the motherboard tray, there is an additional power connector with a PCIe 12V extension. It’s important to note that there is only one connector, not two. The 12VHPWR lead, designed for newer Nvidia cards, does not come with an extension port on the case. However, it is pre-installed at the factory to make card installation easier for users who require it.
Upon removing the plastic plug that conceals the side of the power supply bay, you will uncover a factory-inserted foam block. This foam block contains all the necessary installation hardware, such as twelve threaded pins for 2.5-inch drive installation, thirteen #6-32 screws for the motherboard and other unspecified components, and a Phillips #2-to-hex adapter socket for adjusting the nine included standoffs. This method of organizing the case screws is quite ingenious, as they are not just thrown into baggies.
The TD500 Max is an exceptional choice for constructing a building.
The TD500 Max comes with a variety of additional accessories, such as rails for 3.5-inch hard drives, grommets for securing 2.5-inch drives, zip-style cable ties, power-supply extension and AC-input cables, hose clips for coolant hoses, a three-way PWM fan splitter cable, a dual-pattern Intel socket support plate, thermal paste, screws for CPU adapter brackets, standoffs for water-block brackets, AMD- and Intel-pattern water-block brackets, and nuts for securing the brackets.
The internal power extension cables consist of a 24-pin ATX/EPS, a detachable 8-pin/4-pin EPS12V/ATX12V cable, a regular eight-pin EPS12V, and a 6+2 pin PCIe. Additionally, the mentioned standoffs support AMD sockets AM3 to AM5, along with Intel LGA 1155 to 1700.
After the installation of our hardware, the cables will be connected to the motherboard, including the PWM fan and ARGB inputs of the fan/ARGB hub, a power button with an indicator LED group, a front-panel audio jack header, a USB 3.2 Gen 1, and a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2.
We have been dropping hints up to this point, but now we will be straightforward: The empty cable socket in the TD500 Max’s power supply body is intended for a second 6+2 pin PCIe cable that was not provided by the company. It is possible that Cooler Master overlooked this because the case lacks a second header of that type on the motherboard tray, and perhaps the decision not to include it was due to cable congestion, unlike what was done with the 12VHPWR cable. Nevertheless, the cables provided will not be sufficient to power the GeForce RTX 2070 in our recently retired case testing kit, or any other cards that require three 6+2 connectors, such as many high-end Radeon graphics cards. Fortunately, we are grateful that we selected a GeForce card that utilizes the 12VHPWR cable for our 2024 case testing setup. We will outline that configuration once again…
As the TD500 Max comes with a cooler, our initial steps involved detaching the standard test cooler from our test board, securing our test motherboard to the case’s standoffs, and mounting the case’s MasterLiquid 360 Atmos Max water block onto our test CPU. The LGA 1700 standoffs from the case kit are fastened through the CPU cooler mounting holes on our motherboard to the CPU socket support plate of the case kit, and will be linked to the brackets of the water block at a later stage, as shown in the instructions.
Cooler Master employs a thick sticker to instruct users on the quantity of thermal paste to apply: Just spread the paste between the marked dots and level it with a flat tool (like a credit card) to achieve a layer of the same thickness as the sticker (once the sticker is removed). This is a clever and tidy technique. Cooler Master has been utilizing this process for as long as its Atmos cooler series has existed.
The screw openings located on the sides of the water block above are utilized for fastening water-block brackets, like the one depicted in the two photos above. The brackets are then topped with nuts, as illustrated below.
The following scenario showcases the case in all its RGB splendor, with minimal complications from AIO-cooler and PSU installation.
The upcoming situation displays the case in its full RGB brilliance, with minimal issues related to AIO-cooler and PSU setup.
However, using a larger CPU cooler like this one for testing would result in a competitive advantage in CPU temperature. In order to maintain fairness, we also tested the case with the same smaller cooler that was used for testing other cases in today’s performance charts. This means that our second test configuration utilized the case’s large CPU cooler solely as a set of intake fans.
Verdict: A Bargain If You Need All Three Parts
It is up for debate whether the investment in the TD500 Max is a good deal, considering the power supply and -plus CPU cooler. This requires careful consideration, as the value of the purchase depends on the reasonableness of the prices for both the power supply and CPU cooler. One could argue that the power supply ought to be more affordable, particularly given its 6+2 cable restriction for top-tier graphics cards.
When considering the power supply and cooler as each, the TD500 Max’s case can be seen as a component in the package. This pricing appears fair, although it may not be outstanding due to minor compromises like utilizing the front panel as a dust filter and the absence of a second 6+2 cable.
Nevertheless, if we consider the cooler as the component… we have conducted sufficient tests on them to confirm that the outcomes observed here are quite impressive. Simply put, the MasterLiquid 360 Atmos Max cooler stands out as one of the top closed-loop coolers in its category, and currently, it is exclusively offered in this bundle. If you require the robust cooling capabilities it offers for an Intel Core i7 or i9 CPU, or an AMD Ryzen 9, the Atmos Max component of the bundle undeniably justifies its cost. The key factor lies in whether the other two components fulfill their role in your build calculations. If they do, then this combination is a solid choice. If not, it would be wiser to select your build components individually in the traditional manner.