Silverstone TJ07 Full-Tower Case

Reviews: Cases

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Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
Silverstone
Feb. 28, 2006

Specifications

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Introduction

Silverstone has quickly made a name for themselves as one of the highest quality computer case manufacturers. In their relatively short existence, they have built some of the best cases in both the PC and HTPC markets, rivaling the quality, construction and aesthetics of competitors such as Lian-Li, Antec and of course Cooler Master. For those of you who aren't in-the-know, Silverstone was founded by many of the designers who developed Cooler Master's acclaimed ATC line of cases.

Back in 2004, Silverstone introduced the Temjin TJ03, a top-of-the-line case that they haven't attempted to outdo until now. Today we will be taking a look at their latest offering, the Temjin TJ07. The TJ07 is Silverstone's flagship case; it is their most expensive case to date and has its sights set to take over where the TJ03 left off. With a price tag of over $300, you can bet that we have some very high expectations.

Though we had seen mock-up photos of it online, we first saw the TJ07 in person at Silverstone's booth during CES 2006 - and barely had a chance to play with it. One of the Silverstone representatives did guide us through the case's features and talked a bit about the struggles of manufacturing a case with such a complicated design. The top, front and bottom of the case is one solid piece of extruded aluminum, bent into shape with automotive-quality machinery. The entire case is built using extremely thick aluminum and is almost entirely assembled with screws. A lack of rivets coupled with the case's size and cooling potential serves to make the TJ07 very appealing to case modders.

It is painfully obvious that this case is being marketed towards the select few that can pay a high price for exceptional quality and aesthetics, but will the TJ07 be the Ferrari of computer chassis or will it end up being an over-priced hunk of aluminum?

First Impressions

The TJ07 is packaged in an extremely large box. The foam padding is very thick and gives the case a 3-4 inch buffer on each side. While it would seem like overkill, it may not have been enough as we will find out later.

As I briefly mentioned before, it is the construction of the TJ07's outer shell that makes it unique. Rather than having four panels bolted together to form the outer shell, the top, front and bottom of this case is all one solid piece of extruded aluminum ranging in thickness from 4mm to 8mm. Once the panel has been extruded and cut to shape, it is rolled through an automotive-quality machine to bend it into shape. Silverstone actually ran into some problems here due to the varying thickness of the panel and had to delay the launch of the case until these production issues could be resolved. Silverstone had initially planned on constructing the panel using three long arched strips but opted for the single piece despite the potential complications. Here are a couple pictures of the prototype 'three-piece' design:

Aside from the obvious benefits to aesthetics, the construction of the TJ07 also lends quite a bit to its sturdiness. The fact that three of the panels are all part of the same 4-8mm slab of aluminum, in addition to the higher-than-average thickness of the case's other panels makes this one of the most rugged aluminum cases on the market, rivaling the strength (and girth) of many steel cases as well. This is definitely not a case you would want to lug around to LAN parties.

The front of the TJ07 sports seven external 5.25" drive bays. Below the drive bays is a hinged door held shut by a magnet. Pushing the bottom of the door opens it and reveals the front I/O connections which can be removed and replaced with a floppy drive or other 3.5" device. Below this is the power button, reset switch, power LED and HDD activity LED. The reset switch is recessed and will require a pin to press it. This is a nice feature if you have kids or pets running around that may accidentally bump the case, or if you have siblings that tend to have fun at your expense by resetting your computer. However, if there is a time when you actually need to use the reset button, you better have a pin handy!

Airflow in the TJ07 is a bit different than what most people are accustomed to. There is no intake on the front of the case. As you will find out later, the interior of the case is divided up into a top and bottom compartment, each having its own method of circulating air. There are vents along the bottom of both side panels which allow circulation through the bottom compartment. In the default configuration, the air is sucked in from the left and blown out the right, but this can be configured to do the opposite as we will see later on. In the top compartment, there is an air intake at the back of the case and an exhaust at the top of the case.

Many cases that focus on aesthetics, such as the TJ03, resort to using front door panels to cover the drive bays. This allows the case to retain the stock design, keeping potentially ugly bay devices tucked away. With the TJ07, Silverstone decided to keep the drive bays exposed, but did not offer any optical drive concealment in the form of 5.25" aluminum doors. These days there are several cases in every price range that offer flip-down doors to mask optical drives. With such a sleek looking case at such a high price, I can only wonder why Silverstone didn't include this feature, even if they increased the price a bit. Surely whoever is willing to spend $300 on a case won't have a problem spending an extra $10 to keep it looking spiffy after installing their CD and DVD drives.

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Page 1: Introduction & First Impressions
Page 2: Inside the Case
Page 3: Quality Check
Page 4: Conclusion

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8 User Comments

1 - Posted by f112 on April 30, 2006 - 8:28 am

Good job with the review, very helpful. I become a member just thank the writer.

2 - Posted by handrail on May 2, 2006 - 9:15 am

glad you liked the review. don't be a stranger to our forums!

brad.

3 - Posted by Brian on May 2, 2006 - 11:51 am

Glad you enjoyed the review. Are you planning on purchasing a TJ07?

4 - Posted by QuakeMazer on October 22, 2007 - 1:49 pm

I very much enjoyed the review, and yes I purchased this case, will be adding modifications to it and will post pictures :)

5 - Posted by Kurtis on October 22, 2007 - 5:13 pm

Welcome to the forums, QuakeMazer. We look forward to seeing your mods to this beautiful case. :)

6 - Posted by sirreal7 on January 20, 2008 - 7:45 pm

i am trying to decide between buying the cooler master cm stacker 832 se OR the silverstone tj07 . if any tech heads out there have messed with both of these uber cases , then please advise as to which one you would spend your hard earned cash on . obviously the cm stacker 832 se is cheaper but the real issue with me is which one is slickest .
feedback please .
sirreal7@hotmail.com

7 - Posted by Kurtis on January 21, 2008 - 11:22 pm

Any SilverStone case beats the Stacker any day, IMO.

8 - Posted by Dyrewolph on February 6, 2008 - 3:05 pm

I've had the stacker for almost a year now and it's been absolutely awesome...

... that said, due to space restrictions (smaller bedroom etc) It's sitting behind my desk at the moment so no one gets to see it's pretty blue lights anymore :-(

(ps even sitting behind the desk I've had no problems with it overheating or anything!)

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