By: Aaron Lai
February 10, 2023
Sometimes the obvious is not always so obvious. I was told of a person who was working at a fast-food restaurant. On their first day of the job, a customer asked and paid for an ice cream cone. Normally, this would seem like a pretty regular request, but this person was about to make it interesting. Upon processing the customer’s order, he handed back a single ice cream cone, minus any of the cold soft-serve inside. The customer, bewildered at the empty cone, asked where the ice cream was. While I could excuse this as first-day jitters, the story continued as the newbie on the job went to their manager, asking if they had permission to add ice cream. It is surprising to think anyone would be that oblivious to this mistake, but what really got me was his inability to think critically and instead doubling-down by looking for manager approval. Looking back at this story, this worker technically did fulfill the request of the customer, but it is quite clear he missed the mark completely. In a similar vein, when companies send us products, I think it is important they are able to hit the right spots and also not miss the primary purpose or use case. Today, we have the Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow, which is marketed as a cool chassis with perforated panels for airflow. It also boasts four included fans with support for large radiators. If we take a step back, how does this enclosure function as a whole? Are there any areas that have been missed? Let us read on to find out!
Today's review unit of the Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow arrived from Thermaltake's offices in City of Industry, California, USA. Traveling with UPS and their Standard ground service, this box arrived in good condition. There is one area on the corner edge with a notable impact, but most cases have thick foam in these areas to prevent damage from spreading to the item inside. Similar to the last Thermaltake chassis, the Core P3 TG Pro Snow, this cardboard box doubled as the shipping container. This brown corrugated cardboard box shows off the Ceres 500 TG ARGB in black outline on the front panel. The product name can be found beside the image. The company logo and name can be seen on the top corner. Finally, you can see a colored label at the top to show there are four addressable RGB fans included in the Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow, and these fans are compatible with all of the major motherboard manufacturer software, including Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock. Otherwise, around the box shows more specifications about the enclosure inside.
Before we continue, I have grabbed the specifications from the manufacturer's website for your perusal:
CASE TYPE: Mid Tower
DIMENSION (H X W X D): 525 x 245 x 507.7 mm (20.7 x 9.6 x 20 inch)
NET WEIGHT: 10.5 kg / 23.15 lbs.
SIDE PANEL: 3mm Tempered Glass x 1
COLOR: White
MATERIAL: SPCC
COOLING SYSTEM
- Front(intake): 140 x 140 x 25 mm CT140 ARGB fan (1500rpm, 30.5 dBA) x 3
- Rear(exhaust): 140 x 140 x 25 mm CT140 ARGB fan (1500rpm, 30.5 dBA) x 1
DRIVE BAYS: 2 x 3.5”, 6 x 2.5” or 8 x 2.5”
EXPANSION SLOTS: 7 (Rotatable Patented Design)
MOTHERBOARDS: 6.7" x 6.7" (Mini ITX), 9.6" x 9.6" (Micro ATX), 12" x 9.6" (ATX), 12" x 13" (E-ATX)
I/O PORT: USB 3.2 (Gen 2) Type-C x 1, USB 3.0 x 2, HD Audio x 1
PSU: Standard PS2 PSU (optional)
FAN SUPPORT
- Front: 3 x 120mm, 2 x 120mm, 1 x 120mm; 3 x 140mm, 2 x 140mm, 1 x 140mm
- Top: 3 x 120mm, 2 x 120mm, 1 x 120mm; 3 x 140mm, 2 x 140mm, 1 x 140mm
- Rear: 1 x 120mm, 1 x 140mm
RADIATOR SUPPORT
- Front: 1 x 360mm, 1 x 240mm, 1 x 120mm; 1 x 420mm, 1 x 280mm, 1 x 140mm
- Top: 1 x 360mm, 1 x 240mm, 1 x 120mm; 1 x 280mm, 1 x 140mm
- Rear: 1 x 120mm
CLEARANCE
- CPU cooler max height: 185mm
- VGA max length: 395mm (with radiator), 425mm (without radiator)
- PSU max length: 220mm
Unlike the aforementioned Core P3 TG Pro Snow, the Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow comes fully assembled. It is sandwiched between two Styrofoam brackets to ensure the case is kept safe in transit. A clear plastic bag also surrounds the product to prevent any surface scratches. A small manual can be found in a separate plastic bag to help with system assembly and installation. Otherwise, there is not much else to look at here, so let us take a closer look at the Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow itself.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
