Interior Impressions
Once I removed the side panel of the TJ09, I was immediately amazed by how spacious it is inside. Having owned a relatively compact mid-tower for the last couple of years, I forgot just how precious those extra cubic inches can be.
The TJ09 can accept just about any length of expansion card—even full length cards. I particularly love how the hard drives and expansion bays are spaced—nothing will get in the way of very long graphics cards like the 3870 X2, for example. You can see how close that mid-mounted fan is to the expansion slots—what a great feature.
The 120mm exhaust fan has a wire grille on the inside of the case as well. The power supply is not separated from the rest of the case like the Antec P180 or the SilverStone TJ07. The main chamber of the case is very open. This should provide some additional wiring flexibility, but does not look quite as clean in my opinion.
The TJ09 has a removable motherboard tray with the entire rear panel affixed. This is a fantastic feature that I wish more cases had. It is so much easier assembling the system on a removable tray—you can even install your graphics cards outside of the case.
Once the tray is in place, access to the expansion cards is available using the screwdriver holes along the frame. This is a nice feature, as driving screws at an angle can be a challenge.
The intake fan draws air through the ports on either side of the case and directs it towards the graphics card and expansion slots. A brilliant design consideration. I’ll be testing the effectiveness of this feature in the next section.
The fans used in the TJ09 are 9 blade, 1200RPM Everflow F121225SL models. I couldn’t find any additional information on these fans, but at 1200RPM, they are designed more for silence than airflow. Anyone looking for heavier duty cooling can swap it out for a 25mm thickness fan of their choice.
The huge opening at the top of the TJ09 accepts two 120mm fans of 25mm thickness. There should be sufficient clearance for a dual 120mm radiator if watercooling is your preference. SilverStone sells a special mounting kit that allows a radiator to be installed in the TJ09 or TJ10 without any cutting or modification.
The TJ09 accepts up to six 3.5” hard drives in two separate cages.
The cages are constructed of thick aluminum and click into place with a very high quality feel. There are vibration dampening pads on either side of the cage to help reduce noise.
Sandwiched between the two drive cages are clips to secure a 120mm fan. SilverStone does not include a fan for this location, but any 25mm thickness fan will fit. My only concern is the relatively small openings in the cages, and the really tight space. A fan will not be operating optimally in this location. Thankfully, the side vents help to keep this area much cooler than a fully enclosed case would—even without a fan in this location. There is a vent at the bottom of the case beneath the cages as well.
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