Thermaltake SwordM Full-Tower Case Review – Part 1

SwordM Case – External View (Cont’d)

Both side panels are constructed from heavy, finned aluminum extrusions, which can help dissipate heat and feature hinged doors.  The right side panel has a single door that provides access to the front drive bays.  Doors are held closed with thumb screws.  (In this application I wish Thermaltake had used captive thumb screws.)


The left side panel features two hinged doors.  The smaller door at the front is just like the one on the right side of the case and provides access to the front drive bays.  The rear door on the left side is fitted with a single hydraulically damped spring cylinder so it opens automatically when the thumb screws are released.


Our review case includes Thermaltake’s integrated water-cooling system and you can see the large radiator with dual 120mm fans mounted to the inside of the rear, side door.  The door also has pre-drilled holes for mounting four 120mm side fans in SwordM enclosures that do not have the optional water-cooling system if you desire.  Unfortunately none of the air intakes on the SwordM case have dust filters.  For a premium case in this price range, I expect this to be a standard feature.


Moving around to the back of the case brings us to another hinged door that hides all the connections and wires typically exposed on the backside of a standard case.  Cutouts at the bottom are provided to allow cables to exit the case.  While aesthetically this may be a good idea, it forces you to route all your cables down the back of the case to the bottom exits and then back up to wherever they need to go.  I suspect this may cause problems for a lot of users who find their cables are not long enough to go as intended.  I would also like to see the bottom openings made a little larger as it appears as they could fill up quickly.  And the door will almost certainly block RF signals from a wireless network card installed in a PCI slot.  However, the curved rear door gives the SwordM case a very clean and sculptured look when closed.


Two more 120mm exhaust fans are mounted on the inside of the back door.  For systems that come with the optional water-cooling system, a pump and reservoir assembly is located at the bottom.  They are normally concealed but opening the back door provides easy access.


A quick look at the bottom of the SwordM enclosure reveals a large ventilation grill that is pre-drilled to accept two 120mm fans.  Again, there are no dust filters.  Thermaltake provides four caster-style wheels with the SwordM enclosure that can easily be installed with the provided screws.  The wheels add a nice look to the case and are certainly useful when moving the case around on the floor.  Each wheel has a locking mechanism.