SilverStone Temjin TJ04-E: Devil in the Details
by Dustin Sklavos on February 10, 2012 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- SilverStone
- mid-tower
Introducing the SilverStone Temjin TJ04-E
The overwhelming majority of cases from SilverStone we've reviewed so far have been based on some very unorthodox designs, featuring layouts that feel ATX in name only. Yet when we visited with them at CES and they showed off the Temjin TJ04-E, we were surprised: at least superficially, the TJ04-E looked like a garden variety ATX case. It had SilverStone's usual clean lines and style, but everything seemed almost too normal. Thankfully we have the Temjin TJ04-E in house today, and while it may indeed look fairly by-the-book at first glance, SilverStone's mad scientists have tweaked quite a few things beneath the surface.
The Temjin TJ04-E is going to seem fairly standard initially, but as we delve deeper into this chassis design you'll see places where SilverStone's engineers have opted to experiment with modern fundamentals. Our review unit is also one of four models based on this chassis: ours is windowless at $149, while a windowed version will be available at $159. Similar to the Temjin TJ08-E and Precision PS07, SilverStone will also have a less flashy version available in the form of the KL04. The TJ04-E models include heatsinks for the hard drive cage as well as a pair of SATA power cables that expand a single SATA lead to four while the KL04 does not, and the KL04 loses the attractive brushed aluminum front panel. The result is a $109 enclosure, or $119 with a windowed side panel.
| SilverStone Temjin TJ04-E Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | ATX, Micro ATX, Mini ITX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 4x 5.25" |
| Internal | 9x 3.5", 6x 2.5" | |
| Cooling | Front | - |
| Rear | 1x 120mm exhaust fan | |
| Top | 1x 120mm intake fan (additional 1x 140mm fan mount) | |
| Right | 1x 120mm intake fan (additional 1x 120mm fan mount) | |
| Bottom | 1x 120mm fan mount | |
| Expansion Slots | 8 | |
| Front I/O Port | - | |
| Top I/O Port | 2x USB 3.0, headphone and mic jacks | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearance | 12.5" (Expansion Cards), 170mm (CPU HSF), 180mm (PSU, recommend 160mm for optimal cabling) | |
| Weight | 21.1 lbs (9.6 kg) | |
| Dimensions | 8.43" x 19.25" x 19.25" (214mm x 489mm x 489mm) | |
| Price | MSRP $149 | |
One of the things SilverStone stressed during our meeting was the sheer mountain of storage space inside the Temjin TJ04-E, and they weren't kidding around. Their removable hard drive cage is capable of holding a staggering nine 3.5" drives, and their smaller removable SSD cage can hold six 2.5" drives. Stacking SSDs together isn't really a big deal, but hard drives might be. Nonetheless, SilverStone was quick to point out not only the inclusion of the removable hard drive heatsinks but also the study Google did in 2007 that revealed that temperatures both too high and too low can increase the failure rate of hard drives. Thus, they designed the TJ04-E to keep hard drives in the "sweet spot," between about 35C to 43C.
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ckryan - Friday, February 10, 2012 - link
And this is pretty strange. My guess is the team at Silverstone must be a pretty unusual lot.earthrace57 - Sunday, February 12, 2012 - link
Personally, I think case companies such as Li-Lian or SilverStone should stop trying to innovate in the case design; the S design is pretty well proven. Instead, they should innovate in HOW they cool it, for example, take Alienware's "active cooling" to the next level. First, add those fin things alienware did, and, instead of just having them flip up and down uselessly, have a fan connected, so when they flip up, the fan starts up...little things like that that will help idle noise while not hurting performance under loadImpulses - Sunday, February 12, 2012 - link
That kind of solution requires far more money and engineering for questionable results imo... And the S design just sucks. It may be fine for 90% of systems out there, but it's far from optimal for any enthusiast or gamer running one or more high end GPUs (each one generating more heat than an old Pentium 4). You could argue that's a GPU issue but until that market slows down we're far better off with some innovative case designs.Impulses - Sunday, February 12, 2012 - link
Obviously this case is a miss on the GPU-cooling front... At least with the stock config, but I was speaking in general above (and with some of ST's other designs in mind). Frankly I appreciate these reviews for the usual in-depth scope most AT reviews have, but I think the performance metrics are rather worthless, specially as a way of comparison against other cases.I understand why it's done like this, and frankly I can't think of a fairer way of doing it... But I also can't picture any enthusiast worth his salt not making any changes whosoever to the stock cooling of a case in a DIY build, specially when we're talking $150-300 cases.
Sometimes the smallest changes can make a huge difference, it just seems equally unfair to write off some enclosures because they lacked an extra $15 fan. Different mentality I guess... I certainly don't follow the same logic when say, buying a car, even tho I know people who would.
earthrace57 - Sunday, February 12, 2012 - link
The S design hits the hard drives, CPU, RAM, and Chipset, only the GPU's are left to fry, but even then, in most cases (pun not intended) there is a side fan, which hits the GPU directly, so, just add a 10 dollar fan into one of those slots and the S design is all the sudden made quite a bit better. Also, I might just like to point out, to release a fully functioning case (as in not this), extensive tests have to be done, revise, test, revise ect. In this situation, even though the upfront costs are higher, you can get a product that works into the market quicker, without the extra cost and time that it takes to test and then revise a product. (And yes, this fan control would have to be revised, but it wouldn't take nearly the same amount of time as revising a case IMHO)lawrencekellie - Tuesday, March 17, 2015 - link
The Silverstone website does not state that a mini-ITX will fit in the case. Can you confirm or deny whether it actually does?Thank you