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SilverStone TJ09 Full-Tower Case
The Inside
Overview The parts of the case align like stars in a good (bad) zombie movie. That is to say, everything fits just right. The case doors open and close without catching on the chassis or the vents, the thumbscrews all go through perfectly straight, and to put it bluntly, nothing is crooked. Bent frames are more common to aluminum chassis, and so is just cutting corners on account of the metal being more expensive. None of those problems are present with the TJ09. And frankly, the inside of the case looks as good as the outside, although you can see where the rivets are, and where the mesh is cut. Still, with a window, it's hard to not install cold cathode lights, since the design just begs for attention.    Drive Bays There are four external 5.25" bays and one external 3.5" bay, each with its own simple brushed aluminum bezel. The decision to use a dedicated 3.5" bay, instead of adding another 5.25" bay and including an adapter, is a simple one to explain: by freeing up space on both sides of the bottom-most bay, the TJ09 leaves a good amount of room to run power and drive cables to the hard drive cages. With room for six hard drives, it's patently necessary, on account of the 120mm cooling fan between the drive cages and the main chamber of the case.   The six drives are in their own compartment completely separated from the heat from the rest of the computer, and vented on two sides. Manipulating the drives and the drive cages is a pleasure. Each three-drive cage confidently clips into place and slides in and out smoothly. The latches are the handles on the cages, and removing them is pure intuition.    The drives can be installed in any direction, so attention must be paid to make sure that the power connection and cables are oriented correctly once the drives are in the case. Also, because of the way the drives are positioned, the connections are fairly far away from the rest of the computer; SATA cables are universally long, but some PSU cables might not reach well. This is one circumstance where a Molex-to-SATA power adapter may come in very handy. The consideration that's gone into everything is made apparent in the drive cages. The handles have grips for fingers, and the screw holes are counter-sunk so the screws lay flat along the sides. It's not possible to even see this, but it's there. This does mean that while the cages is done tool-less, installing the drives is not. And like the other sources for vibration, the cages are lined with isolating foam. The 5.25" drive bays are demoniacally simple. Four screws in from each side. There's also a place for an additional 120mm fan to actively cool the well-vented cage area, which might be necessary if all six drive slots are full and are in constant operation, although for most people the passive cooling, combined with the thermal isolation, is enough. Motherboard Tray The full-length E-ATX motherboard tray slides out on sturdy rails, with inset vibration-dampening foam. The tray and the back plate are a single bent sheet of 3mm aluminum, and show no sign of flexibility. It's also easy to secure with five thumbscrews, and once inside the case, doesn't have a hair's width of wiggle.   The back plate is plenty wide (or tall if you're looking at it flat)--enough clearance for any heatsink including my very tall Scythe Ninja, at 150mm not counting the fans. With the tray installed, the expansion slot screws are obscured but completely accessible: the chassis has a hole drilled though it for each screw. The tolerances for the slot covers is practically nil, too, and cards, even heavy cards like dual-slot video cards, fit so tightly that a screw seems almost redundant. And the slot covers are steel; no punching bits out or flimsy aluminum placeholders. Power Supply The PSU mount in the TJ09 is at the bottom of the case, and it may be installed with it' fan facing up or down: either as a case exhaust or with it's fan drawing outside air through the mesh at the underside of the case. As a side note, the case still looks good even when you flip it over. The feet provide plenty of clearance for air intake through the bottom, even if the case lives on carpeting. Aside from the screws at the back of the case, the PSU is supported on a pair of rails that are also fitted with foam vibration-dampening material, which also does a fine job of preventing scratches on the power supply (or if you look at it another way, to prevent the PSU scratching the case).  Still, the same caveat regarding cases with PSUs at the bottom applies, and that's if the PSU cables are short, the CPU AUX cable may need to be stretched across the motherboard to reach its connector. Cooling Although the TJ09 only comes with two 120mm fans, there are mounts for two more at the top. With a pair of additional fans, the potential to move air is only rivaled by a handful of cases like the Antec Nine Hundred. While I'm comparing it to the Nine Hundred, I'd like to point out that this case matches it for cooling on the low-noise end of the spectrum, and that's no small feat.     The best configuration I found when using (not included) fans at the top, while counter-intuitive, is to have them intake fresh air for the CPU, and then use the PSU as an exhaust. This effectively goes against the rising heat, but the cool air more than makes up for it. The hard drives are completely isolated from the computer, and both benefit. The drive cages have no active cooling, but are widely spaced apart and well-vented through their mesh walls. The expansion slot cooling performs questionably different than a hole in the door, but damn does it look great. It's better if only because of style. And if air-cooling isn't your thing, it's pre-fitted with 1/2" holes for tubing through the back. Unfortunately, the two 120mm fans at the top aren't spaced correctly for a dual-fan radiator, but with some garage-workshop engineering, this shouldn't pose a problem for the creative overclocker.
Page 1: Introduction & First Look
Page 2: First Impressions Page 3: Inside the Case Page 4: Quality Check Page 5: Conclusion 
Related Reviews Add Comment
5 User Comments 1 - Posted by
mjsmere
on April 3, 2007 - 3:19 pm Excellent article, kudos.
2 - Posted by
Max Slowik
on April 3, 2007 - 5:34 pm So, like, I had some real problems writing that article. Not ethical ones, I love this case and I'm glad it's mine, all mine, but rather, writing problems. Mostly problems with flow; I won't point out the problems that I think are there on account of that might taint your commentary. I really want to hear about what you liked about it. I really, really want to hear if there was something that you thought sounded shitty. P.S. I didn't shoot the pictures. That's all Kurtis. That's also a very good thing. P.P.S. I'm going to take some photos of it with our next test rig once it's all installed and put them up here. 3 - Posted by
mjsmere
on April 4, 2007 - 7:44 pm I'm sending you a long email about it.
4 - Posted by
setha2z
on April 24, 2009 - 3:31 am I appreciate this review because I am seriously considering buying one or maybe two of the best air-cooled tower cases I can find. Of importance to me is that the intake air is filtered effectively, and that the filters are easily cleanable. It seems that the only way to clean the TJ09 intake grille is to remove the intake fan assembly first. Is that true, and how hard is it to do that with a loaded case? Please send response to my email address. Thanks very much, Seth; setha2z@aol.com.
5 - Posted by
Max Slowik
on April 24, 2009 - 12:47 pm It's not difficult but I wouldn't ever say it was quick. Even in the best scenario, you'll have to undo a lot of screws. You'll likely have to loosen and slide out the motherboard tray as well.
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