Corsair 5000T vs Thermaltake AX500 Snowcomputed

Datasheet figures next to each other, and the airflow balance, pressure verdict and case air heating that the fans in each box compute to behind that case's own front. Calculated with the CaseFlow model, not measured.

Side by side

Corsair 5000TThermaltake AX500 Snow
FormATX mid towerFull Tower
Volume74.5 L74.7 L
Dimensions530 × 251 × 560 mm548 × 248 × 550 mm
Frontmesh dust filtermesh dust filter
Fan mountsfront 3 × 120/140, top 3 × 120/140, rear 1 × 120, side 3 × 120front 4 × 120/140, top 3 × 120/140, rear 1 × 120/140, bottom 3 × 120/140, side 3 × 120/140
Radiator supportfront 360 mm, top 360 mm, rear 120 mm, side 360 mmfront 420 mm, top 420 mm, rear 140 mm
Dust filtersfront, topfront, top, bottom, side
GPU length450 mm460 mm
Cooler height170 mm185 mm
Stock fansnone4 × CT140 (front)
Stock airflow, max rpm–241 in / 0 out CFM
Stock pressure verdictships without fanspositive, worst case included
Case air at 290 W–+2.2 K
Stock fan noise–36.5 dB(A)
All mounts, reference fans316 in / 251 out CFM 6 / 4 mounts572 in / 264 out CFM 10 / 4 mounts

With a reference pressure-optimized fan on every mount the AX500 Snow moves more air. The 5000T ships without fans, so only the mount capacity row compares. The pressure verdict describes the stock fan set, not the case: stronger or extra intake fans in the free mounts, or slower exhaust fans, turn a negative balance positive.

5000T — mounts and stock fans

side mountsTOPBOTTOMREARFRONT · mesh

AX500 Snow — mounts and stock fans

side mountsTOPBOTTOMREARFRONT · mesh

Case air heating with the stock fans — computed

0 0 100 200 300 400 450 W GPU (open cooler) + 40 W board AX500 Snow K case air above room

Use it

How these numbers are computed

Each stock fan contributes CFMmax · derate · rpm/rpmmax behind its wall's mounting class: filtered mesh front and side mounts as dust filter, bottom as floor + filter, top and rear as open grille, solid and glass fronts as side-slit intake at roughly half of a mesh front. Front, bottom and side blow in; top and rear blow out.

MountingAirflow bladesPressure-optimized
Open grille0.88 (0.80–0.95)0.88 (0.80–0.95)
Dust filter0.70 (0.60–0.80)0.78 (0.70–0.86)
Floor + filter0.64 (0.52–0.74)0.72 (0.62–0.80)
Solid or glass front0.50 (0.40–0.62)0.58 (0.48–0.68)

Worst case sums intake at the low end of each band and exhaust at the high end; positive there means positive regardless of how the estimates fall. Case air: ΔT = 3.1 · W / throughput (m³/h), with an open-cooler GPU putting its full board power into the case air plus board, RAM and drives. Capacity puts a reference pressure-optimized fan on every mount at max rpm — 120 mm 60 CFM, 140 mm 75 CFM — a generic good fan, not a product.

Mount counts, radiator support and clearances are datasheet figures. Nothing here is measured; the same model runs in CaseFlow.