Cooler Master TD500 MAX Mid-Tower Chassis Review (2024)

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

How many of you need clarification on what components fit inside the PC build you are shopping for? Cooler Master thinks many, so they are continuing the MAX series of pre-installed components in their line of PC cases. Last time, we looked at the NCORE 100 MAX, which received a rating of 96% with the Editor's Choice award. This time around, we are going full ATX and taking a gander at the TD500 MAX, which includes a custom 360mm AIO and an 850w 80 Plus Gold-rated PSU, both of which are pre-installed to aid in build time as well as frustration.

It is priced at $399.99, which can be startling, but when looked at closer, it is a much better value than purchasing separately. So, let's take a gander at the TD500 MAX from Cooler Master.

Packaging

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Cooler Master has shipped the TD500 MAX in a brown cardboard box but with Cooler Master's flair, which is pretty typical. The slogan, "Maximize your Individuality," is printed on all sides. The external packaging is a little beat up but intact nonetheless.

This side of the box shows all the specifications of the TD500 MAX.

The backside of the packaging shows an image of the TD500 MAX and some key features.

The Cooler Master TD500 MAX's packaging is like the traditional way of packing PC cases, using styrofoam and plastic to protect the contents while in transit. The foam, however, is a high-density foam that bounces back when pushed in, so everything is protected and in perfect shape.

Outside the Cooler Master TD500 MAX

Now that the TD500 MAX is out in the open, we can see that only a little has changed from the V1 or even the V2 versions. The color, which is a gunmetal finish, breaks from the norm but can be deceiving; most of the changes that Cooler Master has made are on the inside, which is where it counts, right?

The upper right section of the tempered glass side panel has TD500 etched into the glass. Nice touch, Cooler Master. The tempered glass side panel is held into place via a single thumbscrew.

The TD500's front I/O is carried over from previous versions, with two USB 3.0 type-A ports, a power button shaped like the Cooler Master logo, a combo 3.5mm microphone/headphone jack, a lighting button, and, lastly, a single USB 3.2 type-C port.

The front intake of the TD500 MAX is more or less unchanged other than the gunmetal paint finish.

The rear I/O side of the TD500 MAX is unchanged except for the PSU that has already been installed.

The underside of the TD500 MAX is just like the non-MAX variants, complete with a rear slide-out PSU dust filter. The four feet have rubber dampeners; however, they could have been larger to offer a better grip, but these will suffice.

The rear side panel is held in with two captive thumbscrews; there is little to report.

Inside the Cooler Master TD500 MAX

Now that we removed the tempered glass side panel from the TD500 MAX via a single thumbscrew, we can see that we are working with an included 360mm CPU AIO with a custom thick radiator and an included 80 Plus Gold 850-watt GXIII ATX 3.0 PSU. The 12VHPWR cable is also pre-installed, rated for up to 450 watts, and has a 90-degree connector.

Here, we can see the pump/block on the included 360mm AIO, dubbed the MasterLiquid 360 Atmos MAX, with a smoked acrylic top that glows ARGB when powered on, as you could have guessed.

This is interesting: Cooler Master wants you to easily apply the perfect amount of thermal paste with this template. It's a creative idea, for sure.

Moving on to the custom thick radiator, which is mounted as the front intake. Measuring a staggering 38mm in total thickness, it allows for even the hottest of CPUs, like Intel's 14900K, which can draw more than 250 watts when running at full tilt. Also, we have custom cable set inputs that allow for a super clean look. However, none of the BTF motherboards seem to be compatible with this case design.

Next, Cooler Master has chosen to include the widely popular Mobius 120P 120 mm fans on the custom 38mm thick 360mm radiator. These fans have tons of static pressure, which performs well for radiator applications, offering an airflow rate of 3.6mmH2O and a pressure rate of 75.6 CFM. Oh, and did I mention they have ARGB? Because they do. Thank God everything is pre-wired.

Cooler Master even thought of a place to store the extra screws and some HDD mounting hardware in the side of the PSU basem*nt cover, clever.

Flipping around to the back side panel, with the 850-watt GX III PSU installed, all the cables come pre-routed, making installing a full system much simpler and saving a lot of time.

All the accessories are laid out, which include CPU AIO mounting hardware with Cooler Master's CryoFuze Nano thermal grease, various screws, HDD sled hardware with rubber dampeners, along with a few zip ties. Also included with the PSU side of things is a power cable, a short 24-pin motherboard, two 8-pin CPU cables, and a single PCIe 8-pin cable. Two PCIe 8-pin cables should have been included for those AMD GPUs needing dual 8-pin connections.

Now, let's get to the build!

Test System, Installation, and Finished Product

• Motherboard: B650 AORUS Elite AX (AMD B650) - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Cooler Master ATMOS 360mm MAX Edition AIO - Buy from Amazon
• Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32GB DDR5 5600 RGB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA RTX 3090 Founders Edition - Buy from Amazon
• Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO XT Gen4 PCIe x4 NVMe M.2 SSD - Buy from Amazon
• Case: Cooler Master TD500 MAX - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: Cooler Master GX III 850w ATX 3.0 PSU - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit Build 22621 - Buy from Amazon
• Software: AIDA64 Engineer v7.20.6800, CPU-z 2.09.0 x64. GPU-Z 2.57.0, and HWiNFO64 v7.63-5205

Final Thoughts

Testing the TD500 MAX from Cooler Master, the standard AM5 test hardware was installed consisting of an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X with the vcore limited to 1.128v while running at the base frequency of 4.5GHz on a B650 AORUS Elite AX motherboard. For memory, two DDR5 sticks of Patriot Viper at DDR5-5600M/T. The test GPU is the NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE, which runs at stock power limits and clocks via MSI's Afterburner GPU Overclocking and Monitoring utility. The TD500 MAX has three 120mm Mobius fans mounted to the CPU AIO for positive air intake while running only a single 120mm exhaust fan, making for a positive air intake scenario.

The CPU, AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X, the 8-core 16 threaded CPU's temps only rose to an average temperature of 54.5C. On the contrary, the NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE GPU averaged only 68.7C while maintaining an average frequency of over 1.9 GHz boost clocks. The front-mounted 120mm Mobius fans mounted to the custom thick 360mm radiator were audible but not loud when the system was fully loaded up while running Aida64 Engineer.

All testing was completed using Aida64 Engineer's System Stability Test version v7.20.6802 for over 5.5 hours; the ambient temperature was 17C. Other monitoring software used was HWiNFO64 v8.02-5440, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.59.0, and CPU-Z 2.09.0.x64.

In conclusion, the TD500 MAX from Cooler Master was simple to build. That said, the two pre-installed system components, the 360mm CPU AIO and 850w 80 Plus Gold rated PSU, made installing a system quick and easy with little to no frustrations. The PSU cables were pre-routed, making plugging in components a breeze. Looking back at the testing, the pre-installed 360mm AIO made short work of the test CPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, while the GPU, the NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE, suffered a tad with a little higher temperatures due to the location of the radiator. In the great scheme of things, it's all relative.

Looking at the pricing, the TD500 MAX might scare off builders on an extreme budget, but those looking for liquid cooling and a high-end PSU know that this price is reasonable when including the system components. However, currently, the TD500 non-MAX is $100 on Amazon, the GXIII 850w PSU is $135, and finally, a comparable Cooler Master 360mm AIO for $82, making a total of $317, which is a savings of $83. If one goes this route, installing the components requires more work.

A few things are going for the TD500 MAX over essentially parting one out. First is the custom 38mm thick radiator on the 360mm AIO, not to mention the Atmos pump/block. Also, the three 120mm Mobius fans are costly and perform quite well on a radiator application. Lastly, the custom cable pass-throughs are a nice touch to make the build much cleaner while saving time by having all the cabling pre-wired. If that's worth it, the additional $83 is well spent.

Overall, the TD500 MAX is a great package that Cooler Master has decided to include with the MAX naming trend. While the TD500 Mesh was already a great case, Cooler Master made it much easier for a builder to complete building that much faster with the TD500 MAX.