Usage & Performance

The Thermaltake M9 can by no means compete with Thermaltake's premium offerings such as the Xaser VI, Armor+, and so on and so forth. However, the case puts up a good fight and does the job better than a lot of competitors on the market.

When turning on the Thermaltake M9, the front panel comes to life. The blue LED fan that cools the hard drives lights up behind the front panel's mesh, and the power and hard drive LEDs are light up.

The rest of the case remains rather dark and gloomy, as the only lights are on the front of the case. Powered by a Seventeam 850W power supply and cooled by a Scythe Mugen cooler, the case is near silent.

One thing I did notice was that the sound from the hard drives is rather noticeable. I think this is due the front of the case being enclosed by mesh rather than a non-breathing material. Still, the noise isn't that loud, even from two Western Digital Raptors.

The M9's two 120mm fans also keep the case cool, with an idle temperature of 40°C and 47°C temperature at full load.