Final Thought

It has a sleek look with curves all throughout the front. It has an elegant blue backlit LCD temperature display/control, which illuminates to create a cool-as-ice look on top of its futuristic front bezel. Finally, it has the numbers to prove its look is not the only thing going for it.

From the results of our benchmarks, we can say that this is one of the most attractive cases we have seen, but it doesn't stop there. Yes, it has a façade, which tops most of the cases that we have worked with, but it goes much deeper than that. Its fan system performed the best, so far, in our thermal tests by keeping the Athlon 64 3200 about 50-60 degrees cooler than its maximum operating temperature, out-doing the other chassis by as much as 3-4 degrees.

We were slightly disappointed with the TJ05's performance in sound, since it only matched the numbers of the Enermax Sea Hawk and the Chenbro Xpider II, both of which had at least one 80mm fan installed.

When we opened up the TJ05, we saw just how much more it had to offer. Its tool-less design was the thing that we most enjoyed from this case. It had plenty of drive rails for all types of drive installations and the sliding clips that secured the expansion cards were designed strong enough to withstand daily uses. Though the TJ05 did not have a removable motherboard tray, it was overshadowed by the other tool-less features.

The price tag is noticeably lower than the mid-$200 sticker on the Temjin 3 Nimiz, mainly due to the use of steel for most of the case construction. At around $150, we definitely recommend this chassis, especially if you can afford to spring that extra green from the SuperFlower X-Mask or the NZXT Guardian.

Benchmarking - Sound
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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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