Peripheral installation in the Thermaltake M9 case is supposed to be tool-free, but this idea is compromised by adding in extra steps during the installation of 5.25" devices. Despite not having a door, and having exposed mesh grating on the front, the M9's drive bays still require the front of the case to be removed from the frame so that optical drives and other 5.25" devices can be installed.

The drives themselves are secured with plastic locks that twist to secure them in place. They don't feel particularly sturdy, but they do attach tightly enough to stop drives from sliding or shuffling when the case is moved around.

The hard drive cage is an interesting addition that does set the Thermaltake M9 apart from other cases, but unfortunately the design isn't tool free - the drives themselves still have to be secured to the cages using regular screws, and there's no rubber or padding in place to stop vibration or movement. This is not the best case for people looking to build a silent PC.

The drive cage itself can be moved up into any three of the Thermaltake M9's slots (remove videocard before attempting to shuffle it around), or removed entirely if you wanted a system that had nine optical drives and no hard drives.

Thinking about dropping a big pair of SLI or Crossfire videocards in the Thermaltake M9? You may want to reconsider....