Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
The Antec DF500 fulfills the modern case look with the spacious and open interior. There is power supply shroud with no ventilation holes in it. This ensures there are two separate temperature zones in the case. At the bottom right, you should be able to spot a rather large cutout, which is to extend the cooling capabilities of the case. A large radiator 360mm radiator can be installed in the front. Otherwise, there are no 5.25'' drives to obstruct airflow or cooling options. Roughly a third of the way from the front, we find average sized cable cutouts for all the cables coming out the back. There are also much larger cutouts found along the top of the motherboard tray. Antec was careful to also leave a big gap for fans to be installed at the top of the case, meaning it should be quite easy to install any standard sized fan at the top. The interior of the Antec DF500 is about as standard as modern cases can get in today's market, which is not a bad thing.
From this picture it does not seem like there is enough room at the top for fans, but there definitely is. The top of the Antec DF500 can house up to three 120mm fans or two 140mm fans. There is not enough room to install a radiator, but with three fans on top and a couple more at the front, there should be an ample amount of airflow throughout this case. The rear exhaust has room for a 120mm fan, which should be included, but I did not receive one. Most of the standoffs for an ATX motherboard are pre-installed except for one. Antec included all the necessary tools to easily install or remove the necessary standoffs. Also in this picture are the different connectors for the front I/O panel. As you can see, they are the same as any other case.
Unfortunately, the Antec DF500 arrived quite dusty, and you can see the streaks left on the power supply shroud, but that is an easy clean. Otherwise, there is a small opening for the I/O connectors and any other miscellaneous connectors you might connect here. This picture has a much better view of the hole for a 360mm radiator. It is large enough for any standard radiator. As I have mentioned on the previous page, the 3.5'' hard drive rack can move from side to side, and if it is moved all the way to the front of the case, it will prevent anyone from installing a 360mm radiator. There is enough room to install a fan, but not a radiator as well. The maximum power supply length listed on the manufacturer's website is 200mm, which is pushing it. With my 160mm power supply, I had to move the hard drive rack all the way to the front to fit all the cables. If your power supply is longer, it will really make it difficult to effectively hide cables down there. If you do not need the 3.5'' hard drive rack, you can easily take it out to free up much more space.
The front of the Antec DF500 has room for three 120mm fans or a 360mm radiator. It can also house two 140mm fans. For most people, this will be enough cooling to be able to install a 240mm or 360mm radiator, which falls in line with the targeted market of this case. The front has a dust cover, which is almost identical with the top dust cover. It has long magnetic strips around its perimeter to attach it to the case, which is much better than plastic clips. The dust cover itself is also of reasonable build quality; it catches dust but leaves room for quite a bit to go through as well. The dust filter does have cutouts for the fans, but they are only large enough for 120mm fans. If you are installing 140mm fans, you have to lift the dust filter off to install them.
The back of the case has about 25mm between the motherboard tray and the right side panel. There is enough room for storage, as there can be a maximum of four drives installed, which is good enough. The biggest drawback along the back is cable management. The power supply chamber is limited as any power supply larger than 160mm limits cooling options in the front. As well, there are barely any cable management loops. It is almost impossible to effectively tie down all the different cables. Lastly, the three cutouts to the right of the motherboard tray are too thin. I had to force my 24-pin connector through them. Luckily, they are rounded and there was no damage to the cable, but damage is always possible when you have to force something through it.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
