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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  • jm0ris0n - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    This case is a rip-off of the coolermaster Wave series. http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=&Lang...
  • Zepper - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    How close does the CONCAVE door come to the front of the 5" bay filler plates? Would it impinge on the use of Mobile Drive Racks, hot-swap cages, or mounting an optical drive like the MSI X52 (retail version) which all protrude a bit from that when mounted properly?
    . The reviewer should keep an eye to these practical matters without letting glandular secretions due to the enticements of swoopy aluminum color their thinking process ;) .
    . Nobody really cares what their case is made of unless they spend all their time lugging it around - which no one is likely to do with a case of this size. If it's built well and doesn't look like the cat puked on it, we're happy. In fact, I prefer a steel chassis as it is less prone to noise transfer than Al.
    . I too am desirous of a Berserker as linked above by johnsonx - a lot of case for the $$$. newegg also sells the front panel I/O option for it at ~$13...

    .bh.
  • ryang - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    [quote]
    "This is a review of the TJ05, which does not have a removeable tray, apparently, while the TJ03 does."

    oh. Oops
    [/quote]

    Uhh.. No. The TJ03 is a god ugly chassis (http://www.silverstonetek.com/images/photo/tj03/Pp...

    This is a review of a TJ05, with the reviewer clearly getting confused.

    And re: fan size vs. cfm vs. db. On average, a 120mm fan will flow 2x the amount a 80mm will flow at the same RPM, whilst generating slightly more noise. Hence you can happily run a 120mm fan on 5v and still get decent airflow. =)
  • JustAnAverageGuy - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    "This is a review of the TJ05, which does not have a removeable tray, apparently, while the TJ03 does."

    oh. Oops
  • johnsonx - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    I've been looking at these Silverstone cases myself; Newegg has a nice selection. I note that there is a version of the reviewed case without the front panel display for $20 less:

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...

    Silverstone also has some cheaper cases with many similar features; I'm considering the cheapest one on NewEgg for a server re-build project.

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
  • Schnook121 - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    damn i really like this case. Any idea where i can get one for cheap?? lol
  • ciwell - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    Next case to review: Thermaltake Tsunami. ;)
  • SUOrangeman - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    Cooler Master Stacker
  • Modal - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    ""The TJ03 Nimiz was a monstrous product that had great features, such as a sliding removable motherboard tray, a seemingly endless potential for expandability,"[/i]

    [i] "The Bad
    - No removable motherboard tray
    "[/i]

    ? "

    This is a review of the TJ05, which does not have a removeable tray, apparently, while the TJ03 does.
  • masher - Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - link

    One other question..why is the reviewer "disappointed" in the sound figures for the case? Did he expect it to be quieter than a case with 80mm fans?

    News flash-- larger fans are louder than smaller ones...at the same rpm. They're quieter at moving the same volume of air, but plug a 12cm and an 8cm fan into the same 12v supply, and the larger fan will be louder.



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