Thermaltake’s M9 chassis is a step up from the bottom rung of simplicity, but it’s nowhere near a top-of-the-line design. The case is structured as if Thermaltake took a plain-Jane chassis, improved a few features—like making the PCI and 5.25-inch bay holders screwless—stuck in a front-panel blue LED fan to appease gaming audiences, and called it a day. That might not sound so bad, but in actuality, the screwless PCI holders become this case’s Achilles’ heel. And the arrow? Any dual-slot videocard on the market.

Due to the notched nature of the PCI retention tabs, there is absolutely no way to fit a dual-slot videocard into your rig and still make use of the screwless functionality. You’d have to forcibly rip off the entire retention mechanism just to fit the card in—and that’s assuming you have the proper screws lying around to do that.

On the other hand, we like the screwless drive holders. The case gives you plenty of expansion room with its nine 5.25-inch forward bays, three of which serve as holders for hard drives. It’s just a tad annoying, however, that you still have to pop off the case’s entire front panel to stuff 5.25-inch devices into your system. Front-panel connectivity consists of just two USB ports and the standard audio jacks. The lack of additional connection options isn’t a critical omission, but it’s certainly not preferable.

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Thermaltake M9 VI1000BNS

Therapy

Some nice features, like screwless drive holders.

Thermopylae

Screwless PCI holders screw with dual-slot cards; front panel is just irritating.

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