Antec DF500 Rgb Cabinet

Eclipse your opponents with the Dark Fleet series DF500 RGB gaming mid-tower. With seven expansion slots, support for liquid cooling radiators up to 360 mm in front and 120 mm in the rear, room for graphics cards up to 380 mm, and three RGB fans, the DF500 RGB is the perfect choice for a stylish, versatile gaming system.

At first glance, the DF-500 and DF-500 RGB with their massive glass side panels seem like they could be the perfect ways to put some colourful hardware on display. The difference between them is that the slightly more expensive DF-500 RGB comes with three 120mm RGB LED fans already screwed into its front panel. Frankly, given the emphasis on showing off, we don’t know why a non-RGB version of this case even exists. We have the DF-500 RGB in for review today, and we’re going to tell you whether it’s good enough to be a showpiece on your desk.

This is a surprisingly compact cabinet, quite in line with current low-end offerings. Even though the front moulding is all plastic, it has a slick, futuristic visor-like design that’s sure to appeal to a wide range of buyers. It’s neither too minimal nor too gaudy. The only issue we had was the huge Antec logo on the bottom, which is printed in bright white and cheapens the look.

The majority of the front face is translucent with a dark tint, which makes the blades of all three front fans stand out. As good as it looks, there are only tiny gaps on the sides for air intake, so we’re going to pay close attention to the noise this results in. A mesh front panel would have been far better for airflow. Hopefully, a lot of dust won’t build up over time, because it would be nearly impossible to reach in and clean it.

The removable left panel is a single sheet of tempered glass, also with a smoky black tint. It’s held in place by four thumbscrews and you’ll have to be careful when lifting it off, because it’s heavier than you might expect. The corners are sharp and exposed. The right panel is standard metal, with two thumbscrews on the back to keep it in place.

Antec has chosen to put the USB and audio ports on the top. This keeps the front face blank, at the cost of usability. It would have made sense on a larger cabinet that sits below your desk, but this one is meant to be on display, so you’ll have to stretch a bit. The ports are also exposed to dust. There are two standard USB 3.0 ports but no Type-C, which is a pity.

Speaking of dust, there are very neat magnetic mesh panels on the top and on the inside of the front that can be removed easily for cleaning. The one on top is especially useful if you aren’t planning to have fans or a radiator there pushing air outwards. There’s also a removable mesh panel for the power supply’s intake fan. However, there’s no protection for the large grille at the rear.

By ditching 5.25-inch drive bays altogether and moving the 3.5-inch drive cage to below the motherboard, Antec has managed to reduce the depth of this case. It measures 480mm tall, 470mm deep and 200mm wide. The 6.7kg weight (without components) is a bit much, but is unavoidable because of the glass.