Review of the Silverstone "Temjin" TJ08B-E mATX case

[Termie]

I thought I'd share my perspectives on building my new system in the Silverstone TJ08B-E case, which I'd been eyeing for a while (ever since the positive Anandtech review - http://www.anandtech.com/show/4533/silverstone-temjin-tj08-fat-case-in-a-little-coat), and which several forum members had recommended to me. Another excellent review is available here: http://techreport.com/articles.x/22814, and unlike Anandtech's review, they actually use full-size components.

When selecting a new case, I had three main criteria:

(1) It should be measurably and noticeably more compact than a standard mid-sized ATX case (I was coming from an Antec 900, which itself is relatively compact).
(2) It should allow the use of high-end components, including dual graphics cards.
(3) It should be a relatively good value.

Positive Findings
The Silverstone TJ08B-E absolutely meets the three critieria listed above. First, it really does take advantage of the smaller dimensions of the micro ATX standard, unlike many mATX cases. While it's about the same width as many ATX cases (~8.3"), it's at least 4 inches shorter in both height and depth. This makes a distinct impression visually, and also means it takes up a lot less floor space.

Second, it is an absolute wonder of design, allowing you to pack (almost) everything you could into a case that really is compact (I discuss caveats below).

Finally, at the price it's offered at (I purchased it at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Mi...pr_product_top), it's a tremendous value. The materials are fantastic and the finish is first-rate, which just amplifies the feeling of value you get from the innovative and unique design. You're paying not only for something different, but for something better.

Drawbacks
(1) My first case arrived damaged from Amazon, with a huge dent on the top panel, but Amazon's return program was first-rate and had me a new case at no additional cost within days.
(2) If you use the hard drive cage for 3.5" drives, they will almost certainly prevent you from using an intake fan on a tower-style CPU cooler. This is a big disadvantage for cooling, and it's why I say you can fit "almost" everything in that an ATX chassis would allow. While you certainly can pack four 3.5" drives in the case, I think that's pushing the limits of reasonableness, because it would prevent an intake fan on the CPU cooler and even worse, would also block almost the entire airflow of the front case fan. Edit: As noted by other users below, placement of 3.5" hard drives in the drive cage will also prevent you from installing RAM with tall heat spreaders.

Assembling the TJ08B-E
(1) It really comes together like a puzzle, and you have to insert each component in a particular order. Just follow the directions and you'll be ok.
(2) I only found after trial and error that not only can you fit a 3.5" drive in the bottom external 3.5" bay (avoiding conflict with the CPU fan), but you can also fit a 2.5" SSD in the same space, just below the larger drive. Yes, that's correct - there's space for both a 2.5" drive and a 3.5" drive in what is described as a single 3.5" bay. In a stroke of genius, Silverstone designed it so the plugs on the 2.5" drive would face the left side of the case, making cable management a snap.
(3) If you'll be using the drive cage for 2.5" SSDs, you'll need drive sleds for those drives - I was somewhat surprised that Silverstone hadn't designed an innovative method for the cage to serve double-duty. I guess they expect you to only have one SSD and to use the hidden bottom mount.
(4) Cable management is excellent for such a small case, much better than my Antec 900, which was designed before motherboard cutouts became popular.

Performance
(1) The case is relatively quiet, aided by the fact that it has no vents on either side, and the top vent goes straight to the PSU (mine runs silently). The front 180mm fan isn't quite as silent as my Scythe FDB 120mm fans, but it's ok for being an OEM fan. Max speed is listed as 1200rpm, but mine is spinning at 1000rpm. Below ~500rpm it cuts out due to lack of sufficient startup voltage.
(2) There is a slight cooling penalty in regard to GPU temps. This may be due to the upside down orientation of the GPU (as tested by SilentPC review - http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1215-page8.html). My GTX670 runs about 2 degrees hotter than it did in my Antec 900, which had a fan mounted directly in front of the GPU. I'm betting that loss of airflow is the main reason it runs a bit hotter. Obviously, there's no way to provide GPU-specific external cooling with this case.
(3) I have no issues with CPU cooling - probably because I was able to fit a push/pull arrangement in. Then again, I got lucky - my 3770k will run at 4.4GHz with stock volts (1.14v), and pushes just over 70C in IBT.

So, that's about it. Any questions?

 

[Zargon]

pretty snazzy looking case there buddy!

 

[Termie]

pretty snazzy looking case there buddy!

Thanks, man.

I'm just waiting for someone to say "but I can see your SATA cables, WTF?!?!?!". Such is life in the forum world...

Anyway, I'm happy, very happy in fact. I've been wanting to build a system like this for a long time. Thought I might wait until Haswell, but decided there were enough reasons to upgrade now.

 

[inabag]

I built my latest rig in this same case about a month ago. I can upload a pic later. I love everything about it.

 

[Piano Man]

I see you have the Asus Gene V. I hear getting the USB3 pins plugged in from the front is a real PITA because of the HDD cage in that thing. Is that true? You basically have the setup I'm going for except I'd want to go 4.6-4.7 on the 3770k. I plan on putting a 3.5 on the bottom, and 2 2.5 SDDs in the drive cage. I also have a Noctua D14 that I see actually fits in there (no 3.5" drives though in the cage like you stated).

I also heard that the drive cage actually helps with cpu temps as it acts as a quasi wind tunnel.



As you stated, I heard the 180mm in the front kind of sucks for noise even on low setting. Do you recommend hooking it up to a variable fan header?

 

[Kenmitch]

Thanks, man.

I'm just waiting for someone to say "but I can see your SATA cables, WTF?!?!?!". Such is life in the forum world...

Anyway, I'm happy, very happy in fact. I've been wanting to build a system like this for a long time. Thought I might wait until Haswell, but decided there were enough reasons to upgrade now.

Now that you mentioned it those cables and wires do look tacky

It's a nice feeling when you build your own rig and things go as planned.

Looks like your gpu insures most of the airflow from the intake runs thru your cpu cooler.

Nice build

 

[Termie]

I see you have the Asus Gene V. I hear getting the USB3 pins plugged in from the front is a real PITA because of the HDD cage in that thing. Is that true? You basically have the setup I'm going for except I'd want to go 4.6-4.7 on the 3770k. I plan on putting a 3.5 on the bottom, and 2 2.5 SDDs in the drive cage. I also have a Noctua D14 that I see actually fits in there (no 3.5" drives though in the cage like you stated).

I also heard that the drive cage actually helps with cpu temps as it acts as a quasi wind tunnel.

As you stated, I heard the 180mm in the front kind of sucks for noise even on low setting. Do you recommend hooking it up to a variable fan header?

As for the USB3 header, yes, I had read that too, and sure enough, it's a tight squeeze. Silverstone uses a very stiff cable, and it absolutely juts right up against the drive cage. There is no way you could insert it without either removing the drive cage or the motherboard tray. Luckily, the drive cage pops out very easily.

Silverstone states in the manual that the drive cage should be left in at all times for cooling purposes. I don't entirely buy that, because about 1/4 of the fan is actually outside the perimeter of the cage, and the space inside the case is compact enough that air is going to be directed no matter what. Because there is no internal bracing inside the cage, I don't see how it could hurt airflow, so I left it in, though I could just as easily have taped the SSD to the top of the lower bay and called it a day.

I have my 180mm fan hooked up to a fan header, but for some reason the motherboard isn't controlling it. I don't know why, since my 120mm exhaust fan is reading the fan control I'm sending it. For whatever reason, the 180mm has decided it wants to spin at 1000rpm regardless of the motherboard setting. Good enough for me. You can read more about potential voltage modifications here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1215-page5.html

And as for the CPU overclock, good luck to you, as it's probably luck of the draw. I haven't tried to go that high, but I know some folks have had temp/throttling problems pushing past 4.6. I've never seen a core go above 70C, and I'm sure I could push it more, but I've only had it together for a few days and done a few runs of IBT, 3dMark11, and Unigine. I'm not an uber-overclocker, so I'll mostly run it at 3.9, which the Maximus V Gene defaults to for all four cores.

 

[Termie]

Now that you mentioned it those cables and wires do look tacky

It's a nice feeling when you build your own rig and things go as planned.

Looks like your gpu insures most of the airflow from the intake runs thru your cpu cooler.

Nice build

Thanks! This was my sixth or seventh build, and this time around I really wanted to build a system that was aesthetically-pleasing and unique in its design. I think I got that with this case, and the energy-efficient CPUs and GPUs released recently allow you to get some serious enthusiast-grade tech into a small chassis.

As for the cables, yeah, they're still a work in progress. I'll eventually go back in and tie down all those cables (what you see is basically the cables that would otherwise be hidden by a full-size drive cage in an ATX case). Just wanted to get it up and running first.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

More pictures

 

[Termie]

More pictures

No problem. Pictures added.

 

[philipma1957]

A nice build. A nice case.

 

[Piano Man]

Another question. I see you went with a rear blower on your GPU. Would you say that is the loudest fan in your case right now, or is it still the front fan? I was planning on getting an ASUS D2CU just because my last two real blowing video cards have been a little loud for my taste, especially during gaming sessions.

 

[Termie]

Another question. I see you went with a rear blower on your GPU. Would you say that is the loudest fan in your case right now, or is it still the front fan? I was planning on getting an ASUS D2CU just because my last two real blowing video cards have been a little loud for my taste, especially during gaming sessions.

The front fan really isn't that loud at the constant 1000rpm I run it at. And of course, during gaming the video card is the loudest - in fact, it's the only fan that actually increases in RPM during gaming (well, other than my PSU fan, which isn't on at idle). That being said, the video card is silent at idle (it uses the excellent GTX680 reference cooler), and isn't even particularly loud when gaming. Silverstone recommends the use of blower-style fans in the manual, and I can see why - there really isn't a lot of directed airflow in the case. It's a positive pressure design, which means air gently escapes from the entire rear of the case, but some of it can also get caught up in the top, and that's likely what would happen if you used a D2CU. The top "blowhole" isn't like the one you see in other cases, as it doesn't remove any air from the case. It's specifically for the PSU intake, and the air in the case never mixes with the PSU intake or exhaust.

Just as an aside, Newegg has the GTX670FTW on sale this weekend for $400AR - a pretty good deal in my opinion. Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...w,3217-12.html), so it might still be a good choice, but it's not optimal for this case.

Another way to think about this is to consider the airflow around the video card. The only real escape for hot air will be out the back. There is no vent above, and unlike a case that isn't inverted, the heat cannot rise and be pushed out along with CPU exhaust. The heat from a D2CU will just be circulated in a small area around the card, with a bit going out the back with the positive pressure, but most being pushed up against the bottom of the PSU tray and caught up in the card's intake fans. Essentially none of it will be pulled out by the (optional) 120mm rear fan.

 

[PCTC2]

Yeah. I currently use both the TJ08-E and the PS07 (the "budget" version), and the sound profiles are very different. I actually prefer the sound profile of the PS07 (quieter IMO but has a higher pitch sound-profile).

One issue I have, which Silverstone points out anyways, is with higher-profile RAM, it brushes with the hard drives. I don't have an issue with tower clearance because i use a Corsair H60 and H80 in each of them.

All in all, I do love the size of the case, moving from a Corsair 800D to the TJ08-E for my primary computer (X58 => H77).

 

[PClark99]

I have a friend on the way over right now and I am going to be building him a machine with the same case. I will post my thoughts on it after the build is complete.

 

[Termie]

I have a friend on the way over right now and I am going to be building him a machine with the same case. I will post my thoughts on it after the build is complete.

Probably the biggest issue is the mounting of 3.5" drives - if he has more than one, you'll need to use the cage, and that will lead to potential clearance problems either with the CPU cooler or potentially with tall RAM heat spreaders. Otherwise, it's pretty easy to build with, due to its modular design, but you'll want to keep track of all the various screws - you need to take nearly all of them out of the case before you start building.

 

[PClark99]

Probably the biggest issue is the mounting of 3.5" drives - if he has more than one, you'll need to use the cage, and that will lead to potential clearance problems either with the CPU cooler or potentially with tall RAM heat spreaders. Otherwise, it's pretty easy to build with, due to its modular design, but you'll want to keep track of all the various screws - you need to take nearly all of them out of the case before you start building.

Did the build tonight. It came out pretty nice. It consisted of:

Asrock Z77 Pro4 M mobo
i5 3570
Antec Kuehler 620
4x4gb gskill ram
Sapphire HD7850
Crucial M4 256GB SSD
WD 3Tb Green
LG Bluray Burner
Enermax Infiniti 720W PSU

My thoughts on this case:

1. Wire management was super easy with the cut outs in the mobo tray. The finished product looks clean and well organized.
2. Goddamn its a pain in the ass working in this case especially in the upper left portion of the case.
3. I fricking hate that hard drive cage I think its the worst part of the whole case. Since I went with the Antec Kuehler I did not have any clearance issues, though it was a minor PITA to install the block on the CPU.
4. I thought the metal chassis portion of the case is extremely flimsy. But when its all put together it feels pretty solid.

Would I build with this case for myself? Well the airflow in the case is adequate for its relative small size, it wasn't that difficult to work in, though I did hate that HD cage. The case does look pretty nice. I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.

 

[dma0991]

Was just thinking of this case for my next LAN box but it is difficult to justify the purchase of this case over the much cheaper Fractal Design Core 1000. I really like the fact that the TJ08-E is capable of fitting a Noctua NH-D14 pretty easily in such a small case while the Core 1000 is very limited in terms of choices when it comes to heatsinks. Needs vs wants. :hmm:

 

[Termie]

Was just thinking of this case for my next LAN box but it is difficult to justify the purchase of this case over the much cheaper Fractal Design Core 1000. I really like the fact that the TJ08-E is capable of fitting a Noctua NH-D14 pretty easily in such a small case while the Core 1000 is very limited in terms of choices when it comes to heatsinks. Needs vs wants. :hmm:

They really aren't comparable. I bought a Fractal Core 3000 before this and returned it. Not only was the build quality, fit, and finish of much lower quality, but a fan filter was missing from the package. The Core 1000 is obviously a different model, but I can assure you it won't look or feel half as nice. Now, it is less than half the price, but from the reviews I read, it has some serious limitations, including the use of certain tower coolers. Also, it would absolutely require additional case fans.

Also, cable management is a disaster in that case: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5736/fractal-design-core-1000-how-little-is-too-little/3

 

[dma0991]

They really aren't comparable. I bought a Fractal Core 3000 before this and returned it. Not only was the build quality, fit, and finish of much lower quality, but a fan filter was missing from the package. The Core 1000 is obviously a different model, but I can assure you it won't look or feel half as nice. Now, it is less than half the price, but from the reviews I read, it has some serious limitations, including the use of certain tower coolers. Also, it would absolutely require additional case fans.

Also, cable management is a disaster in that case: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5736/fractal-design-core-1000-how-little-is-too-little/3

I'd be a fool to compare 2 casings that are not in the same price bracket. What I meant was, the Core 1000 has all the necessary features that I need for this build but the TJ08-E has all that with some extra features thrown into it. Which is to say while the TJ08-E is designed very well and fits a huge tower cooler, I'm still wondering if it is worth the extra.

I could do quite a lot with the Core 1000 if I have the time and cable management isn't an issue with the plate covering it to hide the cables. I could cut the PSU cables and to exact length. Still in the consideration stage though, I may or may not go with the TJ08-E. The plus side is that I could use the TJ08-E for several builds, I can see it supporting newer hardware without any problems.

 

[Pheran]

Termie, thank you for posting this, I'm seriously considering getting this case. The only thing that is holding me back is that it will probably force me to replace my Corsair Vengeance RAM due to the location of the hard drives (I need 1 SSD and 2x3.5 HD - and the bottom bay would be occupied by a card reader), which is irking me. If I knew that my RAM would fit I'd probably order it right now.

 

[Termie]

Termie, thank you for posting this, I'm seriously considering getting this case. The only thing that is holding me back is that it will probably force me to replace my Corsair Vengeance RAM due to the location of the hard drives (I need 1 SSD and 2x3.5 HD - and the bottom bay would be occupied by a card reader), which is irking me. If I knew that my RAM would fit I'd probably order it right now.

Pheran - I have Corsair Vengeance ram, and while I haven't tried installing a 3.5" drive in the cage, I can tell from my lower 3.5" drive that the top of the ram heatsinks would interfere with the drive if it were in the main cage. I think Corsair realized it made a mistake with these extra-tall heat spreaders, since they released the low profile versions soon after. And of course the ram never gets hot, so it didn't really need them (and in fact, the tall heat spreaders were probably just for looks rather than functionality).

 

[Pheran]

Pheran - I have Corsair Vengeance ram, and while I haven't tried installing a 3.5" drive in the cage, I can tell from my lower 3.5" drive that the top of the ram heatsinks would interfere with the drive if it were in the main cage. I think Corsair realized it made a mistake with these extra-tall heat spreaders, since they released the low profile versions soon after. And of course the ram never gets hot, so it didn't really need them (and in fact, the tall heat spreaders were probably just for looks rather than functionality).

Thanks - and yeah, I realize that those heat spreaders don't actually do much of anything.

After much deliberation I ended up going with the Antec Solo II instead. The other strong contenders were this Temjin and the Fractal Design Arc Mini. I think the fatal flaw in the Temjin (for me) is that they went a little too crazy on making it shallow. Adding about 30mm or so to the depth could have made it the perfect case for me. I decided that I didn't like the mesh top on the Arc Mini, so the Solo finally won out, even though it's kind of expensive (especially since you need to buy another fan). But I keep cases for a long time so a little extra expense now won't mean too much in the long run.

I'm a big Lian-Li fan, so I was kind of disappointed that I couldn't find a Lian-Li case that I wanted this time around.

 

[Termie]

Thanks - and yeah, I realize that those heat spreaders don't actually do much of anything.

After much deliberation I ended up going with the Antec Solo II instead. The other strong contenders were this Temjin and the Fractal Design Arc Mini. I think the fatal flaw in the Temjin (for me) is that they went a little too crazy on making it shallow. Adding about 30mm or so to the depth could have made it the perfect case for me. I decided that I didn't like the mesh top on the Arc Mini, so the Solo finally won out, even though it's kind of expensive (especially since you need to buy another fan). But I keep cases for a long time so a little extra expense now won't mean too much in the long run.

I'm a big Lian-Li fan, so I was kind of disappointed that I couldn't find a Lian-Li case that I wanted this time around.

Cool - glad to help. Enjoy your new case. I agree that the Temjin isn't for everyone. By compacting the depth so much and placing the hard drives over the motherboard, it really does limit possibilities for some people. In my case it worked out fine (due to the lower bay and my single 3.5" drive), but otherwise I would have had to buy new memory, at a minimum.

In my situation, this case is in fact exactly what I wanted - I feel that hard drives (and DVD drives) have for too long dictated the size of computer cases, and I wanted to take a step in a different direction with this case. It's perfect for me, but it's definitely not a layout that will work for all systems.