Some Assembly Required

Before I go on prattling about the exterior design, it has to be mentioned that in the same vein as all things Ikea that the Sword M requires a bit of assembly after you struggle to pull it from the vice-like grip of the box. Even though it is advertised as having “tool-less installation” you better take out your screwdriver to put your brand new case together.


As you can see, things look a tad bit…incomplete when the Sword M is taken out of the box for the first time. Both the top and bottom “lips” are missing from the front panel and the wheels still need to be installed. There are also two strips of masking tape that have been applied to keep the front drive covers on and this tape needs to be removed very carefully or you will leave some pretty nasty residue on the front panel.


There are four casters in total to install and each take four screws. I found that the best way to install these is to turn the whole case on its side, install one screw on the base plate and then line up the rest of the holes. It might seem a bit tedious but flipping the Sword M over on its head causes some serious problems due to the two “roll bars” (read: handles).

Each individual caster looks to be what you would find on a standard office chair which means they are relatively heavy duty. Every one of them has a brake so you can easily stop the Sword from moving from side to side.


Above and below the front panel of the Sword M you will need to install a pair of aluminum “lips”. The bottom one is quite easy to install with the included screws but installing the one for the top is a bit of a pain. Thermaltake provides you with a long metal straw-like dowel which has to be pushed through two sets of holes. Not only does this take the hand-eye coordination of a brain surgeon but also some pounding with a rubber mallet since the pieces are slightly unaligned.