Exterior Impressions
The case came packaged in an absolutely massive box. Trust me—this picture does not do it justice. According to UPS, it is 53lbs.
You’ll find lots of information printed on the box, including a ‘Cross Fire Certified’ logo and Maximum PC’s logo stating that this case was part of their 2006 ‘Dream Machine’. Not just any case gets this designation, so I was really looking forward to getting it unpacked and into the lab.
As you can see, the case is packed very well. Even though there is a small ding in the cardboard, the case remains unharmed. It took a minute or two to get it unpackaged.
I was immediately impressed with the build quality of the TJ09. It is a very good looking case with a solid, high quality feel.
You’ll notice that it is also quite a bit longer than your average ATX case. This is because it not only supports ATX, but also EATX—a standard used by many server and higher end workstation motherboards. Visible towards the front of the case is the very unique side ventilation system that I’ll get into a bit later. SilverStone sent me the TJ09 with the optional windowed side. I found the window to be a little on the flimsy side, unfortunately. Its quality does not quite match the rest of the case in my opinion.
At the front of the TJ09, you’ll find exposed drive bays. There is only a single 3.5” external bay, but this should not matter to the vast majority of buyers. For those not keen on having their CD/DVD drive exposed, the SilverStone TJ10 is almost identical to the TJ09 but with a front door.
At the top of the case, you’ll find the USB, firewire and audio ports. The module takes a bit of force to open but keeps the case looking less cluttered by concealing the ports when not in use.
As we move back a bit, you’ll find a large exhaust opening that supports two 120mm fans.
At the rear you’ll find the lower PSU opening, two grommets for external watercooling gear and a 120mm fan with a wire grille—which is better for airflow than most stamped grilles. You’ll notice that there is about two inches above the rear IO opening. This is to provide some extra ventilation and clearance for two 120mm exhaust fans above the motherboard.
The PSU sits at the bottom of the TJ09, which is a much more popular orientation these days. This can pose some cable management challenges—we’ll take a look at this once we get Icrontic’s test machine into the TJ09.
At the bottom of the case, you’ll find a large grille to ensure that your PSU can breathe. Mounting it upside down would allow it to exhaust air from the lower part of the motherboard, but at least there is some flexibility in this regard thanks to the lower vent. If you do decide to mount your PSU in the normal orientation, you’ll have to check that grille for dust bunnies on occasion.
SilverStone has implemented some very interesting design features into the TJ09. This is definitely not your average case. The most identifiable unique feature of the TJ09 is the side vent system. As you can see, the hard drive cages are located directly behind the visible portion of the vent. In this layout, the drives are separated from the rest of the PC. Most ‘standard’ mid-towers utilize the airflow of the intake fan to cool the hard drives. Although the drives stay nice and cool, that warm dissipated air is brought right into the case, warming up other components.
The vent serves another purpose—providing mid-section air intake. The rear-most portion of the vent houses a 120mm intake fan. The hard drives are actually in front of this fan. The beauty of this design is that the cool airflow is sent directly into the path of the graphics card, where it is needed most. We’ll take a closer look at this intake system in the next section.
As I mentioned earlier, the build quality and attention to detail on the TJ09 is excellent. Aside from the side panels, the aluminum used is quite thick. I couldn’t imagine how heavy this case would be if it were constructed of steel.
I suppose it is the minimalist look that most appeals to me. I’ve been a fan of Lian-Li’s case design for quite some time, and SilverStone has definitely adopted the same basic philosophy.
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