Verdict: A great idea in principle but it's flawed for everyday use.
Every once in a while, designers must go crazy and the only remedy for the condition is to let them design something without any constraints. Typically, what they come up with is an extravagant, odd-looking version of their usual creation; think of the concept cars from Ferrari, Jaguar and Citroen, which are essentially just odd-looking cars. What we have here is much the same - a concept case (we'll avoid the obvious 'showcase' pun) that shows what Thermaltake can do when it isn't worrying about cost or manufacturing time. Unlike those silly cars, however, the SwordM is effectively a concept design you can buy, although the number of cases being produced is limited.
The SwordM is a dominating piece of design; not only is it massive, but it's also covered with fins that make it look like an artist's impression of the Black Gates of Mordor. As cool as this might sound, remember that the Black Gates are meant to look ugly and inspire dread in those who confront them. There's good reason for its size though: it's able to house a monstrous PC, with space for an E-ATX motherboard and twin GeForce 8800 Ultras.
There's also a huge 216 x 295mm radiator fitted to the side door. Should that not be enough, there's space in the roof for another large radiator. As you can see from the photo, the side door and roof open with the help of hydraulic arms. Start playing with the SwordM in public and you'll attract a crowd of smiling (or possibly just perplexed) admirers.
Thermaltake tells us the case's looks are based on an ancient Chinese sword and updated with contemporary design elements. We're not sure where the sword part comes in, but the contemporary design aspects are plain to see. Internal minimalism has long been an ambition of PC builders, with tidy cables not only looking good, but also helping airflow, and Thermaltake has applied the minimalist ideal to the exterior too. The cables coming out the back of the motherboard and PSU are hidden behind a large semi-circular door. There's a 90-degree power cable to ensure that the door will close, but you can't use a DVI to D-SUB converter, or a dongle measuring more than 80mm, as this will prevent the door from closing. However, while the idea of tidy cables is good, the implementation makes the case look like a big-bottomed Renault Megane.
The rear door allows Thermaltake to utilise some radical design elements inside the case. A typical case has a cut-out section into which the motherboard I/O shield and PCI backplates fit, but there's no such section in the SwordM - just a gaping hole.
There's a bank of clips to hold the expansion cards in place, but the outputs from these hang down, along with the various ports and sockets of your motherboard. This should help with airflow, however, and the rear door also has two 120mm exhaust fans.
There's a worry concerning this arrangement, however, as the reason for sealing the back of a PC is to shield against EMI. Without it, you risk the electronic noise from your PC interfering with radios and other sensitive electronic circuitry, including pacemakers. The SwordM is CE-certified for EMI safety, but Thermaltake states that it 'didn't EMI test for a whole system', so it would seem that this CE certificate pertains only to the case. As such, the SwordM definitely shouldn't be used near critical electronic hardware.
The build
You can attach wheels to the SwordM, which gives you the option of using the grille on the floor of the case as another ventilation point. Mounts for two 120mm fans are present, as are two holes for tubing or under-case lighting. The SwordM also has two metal lips that attach to the front, and jut out of the top and bottom. These stick out at hip and ankle height - perfect for ambushing you after a heavy night on the town.
The first step to building a PC inside the SwordM is to remove the non-hydraulic side panel, as the motherboard tray is attached to this. This is a job for a screwdriver, despite Thermaltake's insistence that the SwordM is a toolless case. Attaching the CPU waterblock is fairly straightforward, provided you follow the instruction manual. Both the input and output nozzles are at the top, but the block is internally divided, so water will flow around it. With the waterblock attached and the motherboard screwed to the tray, we were able to re-attach the side panel. We routed the cables for the PSU and optical drive to roughly the appropriate area beforehand (with the side panel on, this is a much harder job), and fitting the motherboard in place was incredibly easy.
As all the water-cooling components are inside the case, bleeding and leak checking has to be performed with the system mostly built. However, we used a PSU jumper cable (not supplied) to power the pump so that at least the motherboard wouldn't be powered up if a leak occurred. The lack of a standard backplate also makes routeing water tubing very easy. However, given that the manual recommends connecting the radiator output directly to the pump in the rear section, we're a little mystified as to why Thermaltake couldn't do this for us. Although the two radiator connections are simple clamp connections, the P400 pump (rated at 400 litres per hour), reservoir and CPU waterblock connections are all screw-on. These might guarantee a solid connection, but they proved to be fiddly to fit. For a paranoia-free, secure fit, we used a 19mm spanner to tighten the screws. We then filled the system with 600ml of the supplied one litre of coolant.
The PSU is held by a chunky, angled piece of metal and two sturdy shelves, and the SwordM can easily handle a sizable PSU. However, no such shelves are present in the drive bays, so you have to hold the optical drives in place with one hand while screwing them in with the other. The hard disk cage, which mounts three drives and is cooled by its own 120mm fan, is similarly fiddly. The cage is overengineered, with the drive bay mounts obstructing the screw points for the hard disks. Below the hard disk cage is a plastic tray for bits and pieces; this is a good idea, but it feels flimsy.
While we're dealing with gripes, we also found that the hydraulic arms on the side panel prevented the door from being partially closed. Similarly, we didn't find that opening the roof was necessary.
Thermaltake states that the case needs to be hand-made to deliver the required level of build quality. However, we found the build quality to be lacking in several areas. The rear door would sometimes refuse to shut unless it was raised several millimetres; the drive blanking plates were easily knocked into the case; and the screw holes and slots in the roof weren't properly aligned, so we could only use two screws per fan. For more than £300, we'd expect to find none of these issues.
Cooling
While the air cooling on offer is good, it's the water cooling that reall y interests us.
We loaded our usual four instances of Folding@home to max out our test CPU - an overclocked and overvolted Intel Xeon X3210. We then ran the system at full load for a day. Measuring the ambient temperature, and then taking the temperature of the hottest of the four cores with CoreTemp, we calculated that the CPU ran 11ûC cooler in the SwordM than it did with the reference Intel heatsink fitted to the same test kit housed in a Cooler Master Stacker 830 case. This is very effective cooling. The water system and fans are quiet too.
Conclusion
There are two reasons why you'd buy a water-cooled case: either you're rubbish with a Dremel and want someone else to perform the hard work of fitting the water-cooling components in a case; or there's something that you couldn't do yourself. The SwordM falls into the latter category. However, there's a hefty price for this case, so to be an attractive proposition, it has to stand up under scrutiny.
The case is ugly, with its bulging rear end and rows of fins. The hydraulic arms are annoying, as is not being able to quickly remove the side panel in order to access the motherboard.
In theory, the innovations are largely welcome - the door to tidy the rear cables, the gap where the I/O block should fit - but they're badly implemented. The issue regarding the EMI shielding is a worry too.
The best aspect of the SwordM is the water-cooling system, with the massive radiator and waterblock proving their worth. We'd like to see the cooling elements available as a kit or in a better case. As it is, the SwordM is a collection of good ideas that have been poorly executed.
