Thermaltake Core P5 Open Air Chassis Review

Case Build & Finished Product

Following the manual as our build guide, we are first told to set the pair of screws for the PSU mounting plate into the motherboard tray, then to go ahead and mount the PSU to that. Before that, though, you need also to install the support bracket, and there are four sets of holes to adjust for various length PSUs.

It then shows us to install the standoffs in the appropriate locations and with the round head M3 screws, mount the motherboard into place. It is nice to see the grommets on the right and the open hole at the top are placed well for wiring this chassis.

We opted to use an SSD for our build. In doing so, you will need to remove the clip with the 3.5" drive pins in it to allow the SSD to slide over enough to be screwed into place.

Because we can, we decided not to hide our storage choice in this build and opted to mount our SSD just to the right of the motherboard in one of the optional locations these trays slide into.

We are then directed to install the expansion slots. Here is where things can take a turn. Using three screws, you can install the bracket directly to the motherboard tray as seen here for the standard setup.

However, you also have this option. Using the adapter bracket, we now install the expansion slots the other direction. Along with the use of the PCI-e extension cable and its bracket, cards can be installed to look at the coolers, or more relevantly, the water blocks on the video cards.

In front of the PSU, there is a location to mount this pump/reservoir bracket for taller tube style reservoirs with the pumps built in under them. This can limit the PSU, and depending on the tube length, could affect video card length as well.

Now we are directed to a set of four holes at either end of the bottom of the Core P5. This is where we had to dig the screws out of the plastic caps to mount them to these locations.

Once installed, the feet are nearly as wide as the chassis, but do extend past all of the weight in both directions to give the Core P5 a very solid foundation with no fear of your expensive hardware falling over.