Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
The Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow is a pretty interesting case, especially on first look. The main thing that jumped out was the number of holes seen on all of the outer panels, including the top, front, and sides. From this angle, you can see the fully perforated front with a unique looking pattern of holes. It is clear this is an airflow-focused case, similar to many other cases nowadays, and this design choice is quite consistent throughout. Behind this front panel is a large dark gray plate that contrasts nicely with the rest of the white exterior. The metal plate adds a neat element, as it hides behind the front panel at the top while extending and bending out at the bottom. A Thermaltake logo can be found at the bottom, although it is somewhat camouflaged with the gray-on-gray colors. Otherwise, most aspects of this case are white with the exception of a handful of black items like screws and expansion slot covers. I would like to see a fully white case one day from Thermaltake, but I guess we will keep waiting. I think the Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow is a decent looking case that definitely stands out with its distinct front.
One thing I should add is that underneath the tempered glass side, the bottom panels separate into two portions. While this looks normal now, you can actually swap out the solid half for an embedded screen. This LCD Panel Kit is available directly from Thermaltake, but unfortunately, they did not send one for our review today. With the screen installed and plugged in via a USB 2.0 header, this would let you display system information or your GIFs, similar to the screens found on top of their TOUGHLIQUID coolers.
In terms of dimensions, the Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow is quite a bit larger than what you might expect for a mid-tower case. This measures in at 525mm tall, 245mm wide, and 507.7mm long. This makes the Ceres 500 notably larger in all dimensions than other conventional mid-towers I have reviewed, including the Fractal Design Focus 2 or the Thermaltake H700 TG. In terms of weight, the Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow weighs in at 10.5kg. Comparatively, the two aforementioned cases were 6.4kg and 9.6kg, respectively. This is not too surprising considering the larger size and materials used. Thermaltake does a good job of blending plastic and steel elements together, as both the front and top panels are made up of a plastic outer frame with metal hole-filled panels in between. On first inspection, you might not actually be able to tell much of a difference between the metal and plastic until you touch it and feel the cooler surface. The tempered glass on the one side also adds to the weight of the chassis.
The user-facing inputs and outputs can be found on the side of the case. From the top to the bottom, we first have a large square power button with two circular lights to indicate power and drive activity. The power light is white while the activity light blinks red. Underneath, we have a USB Type-C port, followed by two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. Next, we have two 3.5mm audio jacks for separate microphone and headphone jacks. While headphones nowadays can come in either a single four-pole connection or separate ones, traditional headsets often have separate audio plugs for input and output. Even so, this problem can be easily solved by a Y-splitter or combiner cable, depending on your situation. The last at the bottom is a square reset button. Otherwise, you can see a closer look at the glass side panel with a black knob here. This knob turns and locks or unlocks the tempered glass side to provide quick inside. We will explore this later in our review.
Flipping to the backside, you can see the Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow has a couple more perforated areas, especially near the power supply basement and all throughout the back side. As expected, there is a rectangular cutout for the motherboard I/O and a large exhaust area for either a 120mm or 140mm fan. Underneath, we have expansion slots, which are secured in place with an additional set of thumbscrews. At the bottom, we have the power supply area with a bracket that comes off during installation. This fits a standard ATX power supply. On the side, we have a solid panel made out of steel. It may look like there are two sections of the panel, but it is actually one piece separated by an indented line near the bottom. The side panel is held on by three captive thumbscrews. At the very top, we have two more captive thumbscrews holding the top panel in place.
Moving to the bottom, the Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB Snow looks as you might expect. In each corner, we have a large foot that is padded with rubber to prevent vibrations between the case and the surface it sits upon. Each foot is attached with a screw and can technically be removed, although I am not sure why anyone would want that. The feet raise the case an extra 2cm above the surface, which allows air to flow in and out. Speaking of which, the bottom has even more holes to allow for air movement. The entire bottom is lined with a mesh filter to prevent dust from getting in here. The filter has a plastic frame so the filter can easily be removed from the front for cleaning. A label with the serial number can be found on the bottom. You can also see the contrasting gray metal panel from the rest of the enclosure.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
