Page 1: Intro, Packaging, Exterior
Intro:
Thermaltake makes an entire range of PC supplies including cases, cooling, hardware and much more. The last Thermaltake product I reviewed was the excellent »Armor full tower case. Thermaltake is known for making great cases and the M9 looks like a mid tower case with ventilation as its prime agenda. Should the Antec Nine Hundred be worried? Perhaps...
Packaging:
As all my reviews have, this is the very important packaging section. The retail box for the case is black with blue accents and a nice view of the case on the front. It looks a bit like the »Nine Hundred from this picture.
The case was packaged nominally inside the box and survived the package manglers during shipment without damage.
Parts:
Thermaltake gives you some basic parts including a bunch of screws, a floppy face place, a real PCI blank, a bracket and a sticky pad, an extra fan shroud, the manual... and a speaker attachment! The last bit was the best part included. I said to myself how much I miss having a speaker in my cases and this little part makes up for the lack of a built in speaker.
Specs:
You only get a drive cage that supports three hard drives which is a bit strange considering that the case has a full nine bay compliment. I don't know anyone that has more than three optical drive (aside from a CD duplicating computer). You could add another cage for an additional price.
Exterior:
First looks are pretty important. The M9 reminds me of a mix between the SporanoRS 101 and the Antec Nine Hundred. The M9 combines a large windowed side with the venting power of a fully opened front. The entire case is bathed in black and the front trim is nice and glossy. The rest of the case has a more matte type finish as is the norm on these cases.
The windowed side is standard for Thermaltake. It is the exact same side panel found on the »SopranoRS 101 down to the raised etching of the logo (which I hate). The window side has more ventilation than other cases with windows which is good. You don't want to sacrifice function for form. This is a computer after all and it needs to be kept cool. A fan shroud is installed in the window, but you can install any size fans in the case. I recommend only installing 120mm fans as they are the quietest. There is room for a top and bottom fan.
Thermaltake is all about choice. Every fan location can be switched to any size fan. The case includes a 120mm fan in the back located and it is a LED type for some nice lights. The back of the case is fairly standard overall. You can already see the horrible metal inserts for the PCI blanks and I/O shield.
The far side of the case is also standard. It has a nice black finish that is sure to get all dusty in use. Such is life when working with computers, I guess. There are some vents on the lower part for extra cooling.
This is the crown jewel of the M9. The front is all grated just like the Antec Nine Hundred and allows full airflow to enter from the entire front of the case. The molded side pieces add a bit of length for some protection of the face plates and optical drives. Other than that, it is a nice showy feature. The power and inputs are located at the top of the case.
At the top of the case are the inputs and power switch. You get audio and USB hookups. There is no Firewire on this case. I haven't used Firewire on my computers, ever. The power and reset button are recessed so you don't accidentally push them. You can also see another Thermaltake logo on the top front.
Let's move on to the interior of the case.
Thermaltake makes an entire range of PC supplies including cases, cooling, hardware and much more. The last Thermaltake product I reviewed was the excellent »Armor full tower case. Thermaltake is known for making great cases and the M9 looks like a mid tower case with ventilation as its prime agenda. Should the Antec Nine Hundred be worried? Perhaps...
Packaging:
As all my reviews have, this is the very important packaging section. The retail box for the case is black with blue accents and a nice view of the case on the front. It looks a bit like the »Nine Hundred from this picture.
The case was packaged nominally inside the box and survived the package manglers during shipment without damage.
Parts:
Thermaltake gives you some basic parts including a bunch of screws, a floppy face place, a real PCI blank, a bracket and a sticky pad, an extra fan shroud, the manual... and a speaker attachment! The last bit was the best part included. I said to myself how much I miss having a speaker in my cases and this little part makes up for the lack of a built in speaker.
Specs:
- Model - VI1000BWS
- Case Type - Mid Tower
- Side Panel - Transparent window
- Net Weight - 6.4 kg / 14.1 lb
- Dimension (H*W*D) - 440.0 x 200.0 x 495.0 mm (17.3 x 7.9 x 19.5 inch)
- Cooling System
- Front (intake): 120 x 120 x 25 mm blue LED fan, 1300rpm, 17dBA
- Rear (exhaust): 120 x 120 x 25 mm blue LED fan, 1300rpm, 17dBA
- Drive Bays
- 5.25" Drive Bay - 9 or 6
- 3.5 " internal Drive Bay - 3 (1 Floppy converted)
- Material - SECC
- Color - Black
- Expansion Slots - 7
- Motherboards - Micro ATX , Standard ATX
You only get a drive cage that supports three hard drives which is a bit strange considering that the case has a full nine bay compliment. I don't know anyone that has more than three optical drive (aside from a CD duplicating computer). You could add another cage for an additional price.
Exterior:
First looks are pretty important. The M9 reminds me of a mix between the SporanoRS 101 and the Antec Nine Hundred. The M9 combines a large windowed side with the venting power of a fully opened front. The entire case is bathed in black and the front trim is nice and glossy. The rest of the case has a more matte type finish as is the norm on these cases.
The windowed side is standard for Thermaltake. It is the exact same side panel found on the »SopranoRS 101 down to the raised etching of the logo (which I hate). The window side has more ventilation than other cases with windows which is good. You don't want to sacrifice function for form. This is a computer after all and it needs to be kept cool. A fan shroud is installed in the window, but you can install any size fans in the case. I recommend only installing 120mm fans as they are the quietest. There is room for a top and bottom fan.
Thermaltake is all about choice. Every fan location can be switched to any size fan. The case includes a 120mm fan in the back located and it is a LED type for some nice lights. The back of the case is fairly standard overall. You can already see the horrible metal inserts for the PCI blanks and I/O shield.
The far side of the case is also standard. It has a nice black finish that is sure to get all dusty in use. Such is life when working with computers, I guess. There are some vents on the lower part for extra cooling.
This is the crown jewel of the M9. The front is all grated just like the Antec Nine Hundred and allows full airflow to enter from the entire front of the case. The molded side pieces add a bit of length for some protection of the face plates and optical drives. Other than that, it is a nice showy feature. The power and inputs are located at the top of the case.
At the top of the case are the inputs and power switch. You get audio and USB hookups. There is no Firewire on this case. I haven't used Firewire on my computers, ever. The power and reset button are recessed so you don't accidentally push them. You can also see another Thermaltake logo on the top front.
Let's move on to the interior of the case.