Internal Design

The first thing that we noticed when we opened up the TJ05 was the swing bar at the bottom. We have seen multiple variations of swing bars, including the one Thermaltake implemented in its VM3000A chassis. SilverStone's swing bar is slightly larger and covers the bottom 1/3 of the chassis. The swing bar has space on it to mount either dual 80mm fans or dual 3-1/2" HDDs, or a combination of the two. This provides for more options when it comes to expandability, but we noticed the lack of strength in the swing bar's top hinge. If not properly handled, it could lead to damaged goods.




Click to enlarge.


The swing bar also has add-on card support devices, like the ones we saw in the VM3000A as well as Thermaltake's Damier V6000A. The TJ05 comes with a small spoon-shaped tool that is used to adjust the add-on card supports.

Upon opening the swing bar, we noticed the bundle of wiring, which all led to the front of the chassis. There was an equal amount of wiring for the LCD temperature display, auxiliary ports, and the power/reset buttons and power/HDD LEDs. Though not as much of a clutter as we saw in the Thermaltake Damier V6000A, the mess could have been reduced by encasing groups of wiring in their own jackets.




Click to enlarge.


At the front of the TJ05 reside the drive bays. There are a total of four 5-1/4" drive bays that utilize the drive rail design for easy installation. We were excited to see the drive rails being used through the drive bays, since many chassis that we have looked at in the past limit their usage to either only the 5-1/4" bays or 3-1/2" bays.




Click to enlarge.


Speaking of 3-1/2" drive bays, Silverstone has implemented a removable HDD carriage like the one in the Super Flower X-Mask, but it faces to the side like Thermaltake has done in their Damier V6000A. The carriage can hold a maximum of 5 HDDs using the plastic drive rails included with the TJ05. It can be removed by taking out the single thumbscrew at the bottom, pushing down on the clamp and pulling the carriage outwards.




Click to enlarge.




Click to enlarge.


The drive rails used to mount the 5-1/4" and 3-1/2" drives in the TJ05 are included in a compartment at the bottom of the chassis as we have seen in many other cases. There are plenty of included drive rails to accompany the maximum number of drives that the TJ05 can hold.




Click to enlarge.


In addition to the drive rails, SilverStone has used sliding clips reminiscent of the sliding clips from Thermaltake's VM3000A Skull, which used similar devices to secure expansion cards in their slots. This is an excellent way to mount expansion cards, but since the adoption of our new test bed's components, namely our ATI 9700 Pro VGA card, tool-less mounting devices will not work with it. The VGA card's DVI daughterboard interferes with the wrap around style, which "hugs" the card in place. Many of you may not have any difficulties with your VGA cards, but if so, the tool-less sliding clips can be removed as a whole by unscrewing the entire module from the backside of the chassis.




Click to enlarge.


External Design (cont.) Case Fans
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  • Locut0s - Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - link

    As usualy another great review. Looks like this may be the case for my next system! Not to advertise another site but there is another good review of this case online for those who want more information and another opinion, though equally positive:

    http://www.pcunleash.com/bbs/zboard.php?id=MyItemR...
  • PuravSanghani - Saturday, August 28, 2004 - link

    #30: If you feel there are typos and issues in the article, please do point them out and we will do our best to try and resolve them. Thanks.
  • Mday - Saturday, August 28, 2004 - link

    There are various typoes and issues with this article. Other than that... I give the article a 6.8/10.
  • DonB - Thursday, August 26, 2004 - link

    "Next case to review: Thermaltake Tsunami. ;) "

    We badly need an updated power supply review too. Most recent one from searching for "power" on the home page appears to be "2003 Power Supply Roundup Part II: Better Faster Cheaper" from Jul 31st, 2003.
  • johnsonx - Thursday, August 26, 2004 - link

    OK, fair enough...
  • masher - Thursday, August 26, 2004 - link

    The 12cm fans I have start at 3000 rpm, and go down from there. They're louder at 12v than nearly all 8cm fans, though you're correct this isn't true for all fans.

    But you're still missing the point-- the reviewer is blaming the CASE for the noise, despite a cooling figure that obviously shows the fans are pumping much more air than those its being judged against.
  • johnsonx - Thursday, August 26, 2004 - link

    #25:

    12cm fans are almost invariably quieter than 8cm fans without any special effort. I don't know why you seem to think otherwise. I agree that if you were to run them at the same rpm, then yeah, a 12cm will be louder. But 12cm fans are almost always set at a fairly low rpm (in the low 2000 range), while 8cm fans tend to go 3500rpm and up (way up, the really noisy ones closing in on 6000rpm).

    Perhaps you are thinking that all fans run the same speed at full voltage? No, they run at whatever speed they were made to run.
  • masher - Thursday, August 26, 2004 - link

    #20, Sure you can devolt a 12cm fan and get more airflow for less noise than an 8cm...but the reviewer didn't do that, now did he? He ran them full speed, chortled with glee at its resultant good cooling numbers, then expressed shock and awe that it was no quieter than a case equipped with smaller fans. Come again?

    The fans CAN be quieter...they don't start out that way. The reviewer doesn't seem to understand why not.
  • PuravSanghani - Thursday, August 26, 2004 - link

    jm0ris0n: The designer of the TJ05 also designed the Wavemaster which results in the similarities.
  • Zepper - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    Apparently, jm0.., you didn't actually READ the review...
    .bh.

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