Thermaltake has been making products since 1999. They have made a variety of computing products, from cases to power supplies. One of their cases, the M9, I have in front of me, ready to review. The M9 is of their mid tower sized class, so it is a little on the small side; not necessarily bad. We will waste no time, lets get started. Before we start, prepare yourself for a very detailed look of the Thermaltake M9 case. Once you have stocked up on gallons of water, please proceed.

Here is the box and packaging that it arrives in:

After removed from the box, I found thin film over the front bezel to protect the surface. It did its job well, the front was unscathed.

The first thing that I noticed was the side vents on the window. Just looking at them, I knew that they were going to restrict airflow and create extra noise. There is a mod opportunity here, cutting out the grills will greatly increase airflow and decrease noise. There are two places for fans, each able to hold either a 80mm, 92mm or 120mm fan. Please take note that some taller coolers may hinder your ability to install a fan on the inside of the door.

Flipping the case around, we can see the right side and a partial back shot. There is a small vent on the right panel, but I have yet to figure out why it is there. As you will see later, there is no space behind the motherboard, so there will be very little to no air movement. If you move your view towards the front of the case, you will notice the front bezel sticks out farther than the side panel. There is no mesh on the back at all, so it is purely looks. For some, this may limit the places you can put the case.

Moving to the front of the case, we get a full view of the bezel. There isn’t too much going on, something I like. On the sides, you have the sweeping plastic accents. This would have been a great place to increase airflow, but sadly it is solid. The front panel is at the top of the case, unmovable. On it, you will find the power button (with LED lighting up the button), HDD LED, reset button, two USB ports, headphone and microphone jacks. This case boasts a whopping 9 5.25 bays, which is basically all they can cram into it.

Gently turning the case counter-clockwise, we find ourselves at the window. First thing you should notice is the air duct. Unless you are using the stock cooler for your processor, or a very similar one, you will have to remove it. This side is held on by two thumbscrews, which come off fairly easy. Taking the side off is the easy part; I had a bit of frustration getting it back on.

The back looks like most mid ATX (even most full ATX) cases. One issue that I have with cases is stock airflow. The fans included in most cases are generally good, but if you put a finger guard directly behind it, it will greatly hinder proper airflow. Another side affect to the grill is increased noise; you gain more of a “whooshing” sound, even at low RPM’s. Thermaltake also felt the need to include an I/O plate, one that would fit maybe 0.1% of the motherboards out there. If you notice, the top panel is being held down by screws, more on that later.

Again, here is the side, nothing to add. Still not sure what that vent does.

Top shot, nothing to add except: “Ooooh, shiny!”

The bottom has plastic feet. Rubber feet would have been preferred for the noise canceling capabilities. There is also a small intake slot for the front fan cut into the front bezel.

Yanking (not really) the door off, we finally get to see the inside! They taped the accessories down in a thin plastic bag. The bag was surprisingly light and had very few pieces, please read on as I explain everything it comes with later.

Turning our focus on the door, you will see the duct that it comes with. As stated earlier, if you are using aftermarket cooling, you will probably have to remove it.

Another inside shot showing the cables and fans. There is also a blue LED fan hiding in the front HDD cage.

Here are a few more pictures of the insides, focusing on the back and then the front.

Eagerly ripping open the plastic bag, I am surprised to find very little accessories. A wire clip, bracket, speaker, spare PCI cover, alternate front 5.25″ panel and some screws is all that is inside. What intrigued me most was the lack of screws, it only came with 3 standoffs. Immediately, I assumed that they had grossly miscounted the standoffs. I then looked over the motherboard plate; I noticed there are raised “bumps” that take the place of the standoffs! Ah ha! The 3 “extra” standoffs is for full ATX boards.

Looking through the power supply hole, we can see the front 5.25 “fillers”. I noticed an odd “pattern” to them, more on that later.

Here is a close up of the HDD bay. It houses 3 3.5″ devices and takes up 3 5.25 slots. I would have liked to see 4 HDD’s fit in this cage, which is easily do-able.

We will now examine the case in greater detail. First, the 5.25 retention system. This design is new to me, but after I removed and installed the HDD drive bay a few times, I wondered why others did not follow this design. It is one of the very few designs which not only holds the device, but does it securely! To remove, just twist counter-clockwise and pull out; do the reverse to install. They make a satisfying “click” when installed properly. While taking the pictures on how to remove the retention system, I noticed that I had somehow cut myself on the case. I could not find any marks on the case to give away where I had done that, but my guess is near the power supply hole. Watch where you grab this case!

Let us look at the other retention system; the PCI slots. I had difficulty using this retention system and overall do not like it. Not to worry, if you don’t like it, you can remove it with 3 screws. If you do keep it, all you have to do is slide it to the right to lock the card in place. The holding power is not as good as the 5.25″ retention system, but it is good enough to hold the cards as long as you don’t push too hard. Dual slot cards, such as video cards, require “modification” to be installed. There are black tabs directly next to the PCI slots, these block the card from being installed; nothing a pair of pliers and 5 seconds can’t fix. Next, we have one of the biggest gripes I have about this case: If you remove the PCI slot cover, you can’t put it back on. Somehow, they had the idea that putting back on the 5.25″ fillers is a good idea (it is) and not letting you re-install the PCI slot fillers is good (it isn’t). Only remove what you need and have your own slot covers handy.

Again looking through the power supply hole, we find ourselves looking at the back of the front panel. You can easily remove the microphone/headphone and USB cables if you do not need them. There is also the 5.25″ to 3.5″ converter. I didn’t use it like it was meant to be used; I used it as a cable holder! I routed the front panel’s cables through it and out the “back” side of the case to reduce cable clutter. I then stuffed the remaining power supply cables on top of the converter. While it wasn’t meant to be use that way, it sure worked well.

Opening the right side of the case, we will find out how good cable management is. *opens case* Well, I’m disappointed. There is not much space to hide cables. The back of the motherboard plate is completely closed off once the side panel is put on. This gives us the space next to the 5.25″ bays, which is very little. This is why I used the converter to hide my cables. With a little modding, you may be able to run fan cables behind the plate, there is that little space.

If you remember from the shots of the back, there were screws holding the top down. Guess what? They are also on the sides and front; no rivets hold the top down *at all*. If you look closely, you can see me standing behind my camera.

Both included fans only have a 4 pin molex connector. 3 pin + 4 pin would have been greatly appreciated. Also, thank you Thermaltake for labeling this plug, I almost plugged it into my SATA connector. Phew, that was close!

Another nice addition is found on the front panel’s cables. You have your normal USB header (left) and the audio connector which has both AC97 and HDAudio pin-outs. On the right, we have the front power/reset/LED cables. One issue I’ve had in the past is when motherboard manufacturers (*cough* nVidia *cough*) use 3 pins for their power LED. Thermaltake has included both 2 and 3 pin connectors for the power LED. I had another one of those “why didn’t someone else think of this” moments, good job!

To remove the front panel, you just pull. There are no screws and it is extremely difficult to take it off from the inside. Once you do tear yours off (hope you didn’t break it!), you will find the filters for the 5.25″ bays, they remove easily. The buttons on the front use a plastic retention to create the “springy” feel. I don’t care for this design since they don’t seem to be as durable.

After you are done checking out the back of the bezel, turn your gaze to front of the case. You are probably saying “So what Corey? It is just the front of the case!”. Oh, but you are wrong my friend, look at it again. There are holes on the left and right of the 5.25″ bays for routing cables. If you remember earlier, I mentioned an “odd pattern” to these fillers. You can mount fans in here! The holes line up perfectly with a 120mm fan. Although, I’m not sure how much it would help in cooling as there is much air restriction. If you have removed them by mistake, don’t fret, they have you covered. On each filler, there are tabs that you can use to bolt them down. Also, the front panel is pictured, nothing to add except you can remove the USB/audio section if you need to.

Removing the HDD cage we are greeted with, well…a HDD cage. It holds up to 3 3.5″ devices, they could have easily fit 4. You can remove the fan without removing the cage with 4 simple screws, one in each corner. This makes cleaning just a little easier. The cage I received was bent (not sure how that happened), but that was easily remedied. The holes for installing the HDD’s are a little small; I’m not exactly sure why they didn’t make them larger.

Enough of the empty case, lets see some parts installed! I had some “spare” parts laying around, so I was able to piece together a test system. There are a few “quirks” about this case that make installation different; don’t get me wrong, they are not bad quirks, just different. I mentioned earlier that if you have a dual slot card, you will have to break the tabs; no sweat. I also mentioned the “bumps” on the motherboard tray; you only need 3 standoffs to use a full ATX board, none for a micro ATX board. You can see how I routed my cables, pay attention to the front panel cables. Cooling was is an interesting story. I had started out by putting two 38mm Panaflo (high speed) fans on the side panel, thinking that some airflow is better than no airflow. Load temps where 62c average across both cores, respectable. The only problem was the noise the two fans were generating, it was obscene. I removed both fans and fired up the system again. To my amazement, temperatures were *lower* with the fans removed. I believe this to be because it disturbed the flow from front to the back of the case.

I noticed a few issues immediately. The first is that if you have a long graphics card (I used a 8800GTS 320), it can hit the HDD bay while in the default location, you will have to move it up otherwise. I’d say mine came *awfully* close.

I will end this review showing off the lighting off the case. The camera makes it slightly brighter than it actually is.

What I liked:
You don’t need as many standoffs to install the motherboard
You can remove the HDD bay fan without taking the HDD cage out
2 & 3 pin header for power LED
Fans are quiet, even at 12v
The 5.25″ retention system is designed very well, it actually holds the devices

What I didn’t like:
Can’t remove HDD bay with the motherboard in
Removing PCI covers is permanent
HDD’s stick out too far
Only 4 pin molex connectors on the included fans
No space behind the motherboard/PSU bracket for cables
Side fan locations are worthless
The case is sharp (somewhere, still can’t figure it out)
The HDD cage only holds 3 devices

Modification Ideas:
Cut the window fan holes to increase airflow and decrease noise
Cut the motherboard plate to allow some cables to be routed in the back
Cut the finger guards for the fans

Even though I have more listed under “didn’t like”, I still enjoyed working with this case overall. The case is designed for a small system in mind; you won’t be fitting a 9800GTX in comfortably. I believe the price comes in a little high (as of now) at $80. If you can get it for cheaper, consider it. With a few easy modifications, the case becomes much better.

If you have read my past reviews, you will know that I don’t give numbers to anything; I can’t sum this case up with 5 numbers, let alone 1! I leave it up to you to decide if you like this case.

Thideras

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