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With the release of Coffee Lake, there is finally a CPU worth upgrading to from my aging i7 2600K. Ryzen wasn't an option as Ryzen loses to Intel, significantly, in gaming. As I don't do any sort of production workload, Ryzen isn't a good choice.
The Coffee Lake rumors started to drop during Computex, and that's right when the H500P was announced. I've been acquiring parts for this system since then. Though I am extremely upset about how terrible the H500P is, and recommend no one buy it. Not at least until CM takes the time to fix it.
Beyond it's airflow issue, and thus poor thermal performance, it has numerous other issues. The front and top panels pop off if you look at them funny, the acrylic on those panels also scratches if you look at them funny. There is literally no method you can use to clean dust off those panels that doesn't scratch them. Even using the included cloth damages the acrylic panels. The case also has manufacturing defects, such as the "optional" bracket to mount triple 120/140 fans in the front can not be mounted due to the screw holes in the chassis being misaligned. The bracket , and the rest of the rail, also have different pieces of metal sticking out from them that either prevent fans from being mounted completely or will get hit by the fan blades as they spin.
I made a couple of modifications to the case to try and compensate for the air flow issues. I mounted a 140mm high SP fan in the front, behind the 200mm fans, to help push air towards the GPU. Which is significantly starved of airflow in this case. Beneath the GPU I also mounted an 80mm fan (it's from BeQuiet so it's not loud) to remove hot air that gets trapped beneath the GPU
The rad for my CLC 280, mounted in the top, is mounted as intake. I did this to try and create as much positive pressure in the case. With just the normal rear exhaust fan, and the 80mm fan I added beneth the GPU, there should be more fresh air coming into the case, specifically through the dust filters than is being exhausted.
That's important because this case has numerous gaps for air, and therefore dust, to be sucked into the case if there is a negative pressure environment in the case. The entire TG side panel just rests against the side of the chassis, and not even flush, which means the entire edge of that panel creates a gap to let dust in. On a good case the TG side panel sits recessed into the chassis to prevent such a gap. They also normally mount with thumb screws instead of a cheap lock that doesn't hold the panel flush to the case.
The parts list only includes things purchased specifically for this build. It does not include an additional SSD and some HDDs that were transfered over from my old case. Speaking of drives, the SSD sleds that normally sit on the PSU shroud can either be moved to the back chamber of the case. or you can mount one of them on top the 3.5" drive cage. It's a really snug fit, especially the cables, but is doable. CM doesn't advertise it that way, but the cage is a reused part from the MasterCase series which allows stacking of cages and sleds like that.
Per Gamers Nexus, CM is allegedly going to be releasing replacement top and front panels that have mesh instead of acrylic. Sadly they will likely just sell those as an additional purchase item. People who already have the case likely won't be given a set, as they should, and it's unlikely they will sell the case with those panels as a default option. That's keeping with their entire MasterCase series, where all the good accessories are never included. (Such as the H500P supporting vertical GPU mounting out of the box, but CM does not even offer a stand alone riser cable. Though the temps when using the vertical GPU mount are terrible anyways)
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