SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E: Fat Case in a Little Coat
by Dustin Sklavos on August 4, 2011 1:50 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- SilverStone
- MicroATX
- Mini-Tower
Conclusion: Awesome Performer, But Needs Care
It's awfully hard to argue with results. I was excited to get a chance to test the SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E and now I understand why: SilverStone's design, however offbeat it may seem, ultimately proves itself when it comes to raw thermal performance. If you want to build a powerful computer in a small enclosure, odds are good you can do it with the Temjin.
Unfortunately there are some sizable caveats for building inside the TJ08-E. While I'm used to some difficulty with SilverStone's designs, the cramped quarters internally coupled with the unusual layout made cabling the entire thing borderline nightmarish. Frankly, you absolutely need a small power supply, and you need it to be modular, period, end of discussion. SilverStone is happy to sell you one, but that's definitely an addition to the pricetag that needs to be considered.
Clearance for optical drives is also pretty foggy, and while I think the case would definitely put in an even better performance with a tower-style CPU cooler and proper fan control from the motherboard (at least acoustically), you're not going to be able to fit anything huge in here. Thankfully, Cooler Master's Hyper 212 Plus is reasonably small, good, and cheap. You can also fit a big ol' video card into the TJ08-E without too much trouble, but I'd really hesitate to go for an SLI or CrossFire configuration. While it's true in our testing the Temjin performed markedly better than the more expensive FT03, the FT03's design seems better suited for multi-GPU configurations and our experience with the DigitalStorm Enix seems to confirm this.
With all that said, while the Temjin can be a royal pain to actually assemble (and thus is a poor choice for people who like to tweak their hardware or change it out frequently), for anyone who's going to build once and then maybe add something a year or so in the future it's an excellent choice. There's definitely room for improving the cooling and acoustics by the end user, which I like to see, but the overall thermal design is surprisingly effective.
The best part may just be the pricetag. At $99 the SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E is a very attractive, modern case that in some ways competes with the mid-towers we've tested. Nothing about it feels cheap, and the brushed aluminum face is a particularly nice touch. SilverStone also includes two USB 3.0 ports on the front instead of USB 2.0; these ports use a motherboard header instead of a passthrough, and SilverStone actually includes an adaptor to let them plug into a USB 2.0 header instead. If you're building from the ground up you'll want to spend some extra on the power supply (which you really should be doing anyhow), but at least the Temjin won't break the bank and will give you a heck of a lot of value for your $99. It's a fantastic enclosure...now if they could just make it easier to build.
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BoloMKXXVIII - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Why doesn't the lack of an audio line in port rate as a negative? Does it save that much money or is it pressure from the RIAA?YukaKun - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
CoolerMaster's Elite 335? http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id...That's one hell of a Mini Tower! It's amazing for it's price and it' kinda good looking too. Could you guys do side by side or something with already proven cases when a new one pops? Specially some offerings from CoolerMaster (they're always cheap :P)
Cheers!
antef - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
See my post above about the Elite 341 - it has a similar look and is even smaller since it's specifically microATX.YukaKun - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Actually, I did read your comment, but couldn't find the 341 at CoolerMaster's page.Going to look again.
And I forgot to thank the review! Nice review as usual!
Cheers!
Termie - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Just saw this on Newegg this week and thought it looked awesome. It's great you were able to get it into test so soon after release.Pretty sure this is the way I'll go with my next build. Time to update (and downsize) from my Antec 900. I'd been considering the FT03 as well, but that seems like more form over function. It's quite expensive, it really isn't all that compact, and from your testing, it doesn't perform as well as the TJ08.
ebolamonkey3 - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Quick question, do you need an adaptor to use the USB 3.0 headers w/ a USB 2.0 port on the motherboard? Aren't they the same form factor, and you can just plug them in?Dustin Sklavos - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
You do need to use an adaptor (the TJ08-E comes with one); the USB 3.0 motherboard header has at least twice as many pins as a USB 2.0 motherboard header.zero2dash - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
You're complaining about cramped size yet you're building a mITX system in a mATX case. Seriously?Anyone with common sense knows that building a SFF system has size issues; that's inherent with the design and the size of the form factor. If you're not prepared to cable manage and optimize in some ridiculous ways - don't build a SFF system.
fujii13 - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
They might exist but I've never seen a Mini-ITX board with four expansion slots. Seems like a lot of extra unnecessary space for something that could fit into a LIAN LI PC-Q08B (that can hold some 7 drives and has two expansion slots). I can only see this case being useful for Micro-ATX setups.Death666Angel - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Not sure what exactly you are referring to, but if you mean that this case has enough PCI-slots (those things at the back of the case where you connect your display and network cables) to accommodate 4 different cards, you might also keep in mind that this is a micro ATX compatible case. Micro ATX boards are very much able to have 4 different cards on them. :-)As for the case, it looks nice. Although I like cube cases in that space region more. I have a Lian Li V-252-B myself and am interested in the Sugo 02-06 series from Silverstone in the future (depending on how the CPU and GPU sizes and energy consumption goes).