Silverstone TJ-05, need opinions

[imported_fallen]

Hello,

I am looking at putting togeather a new Ccore 2 Duo rig, with either crossfire or SLI but I need help with the case decision. I really like the look of the silverstone TJ-05. I am a current owner of the older Coolermaster, Wavemaster case & have been very happy with it, but I want 120mm fans & hopefully a little more room to work.

Does anyone have any 1st hand experiance with this case (SST TJ-05) or have other suggestions?

My personal preferance is plain black outside, no LED's, Lights, etc... I am not a fan of the flashy stuff. Portability is not a factor. I will be doing some mild OC'ing on air, so whatever case I go with would need to be able to handle a decent aftermarket HSF unit.

Price range for whatever case I go with is is $125-$250 or so. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Zepper]

I think SundialMicro.com has the Temjin 5 w/o the window if that's what you decide on and want the least bling. Every few weeks, I go and look over the Newegg picture gallery of the TJ5 - thus far I've been able to resist, but it keeps getting harder to do so... The few improvements on it I'd like are some HDD isolation and a little more clearance behind the door for fan controller knobs, etc. Now if you're willing to go up in budget, the Tt Eureka is another one I like, it's even bigger than the TJ5 (but most of the extra size is in the bezel - no problem with knob clearance on that one...

I'd also say that the Wavemaster is very well made and it's fairly easy to improve the cooling, etc. to bring it up to current standards. With the mobo drawer, etc. one would think it would be fairly easy to work on w/o being oversized.

.bh.

 

[imported_fallen]

Thanks for the feedback Zepper. As far as the wavemaster case I have, I love it but I plan on giving the entire system that is currently in it to a family member. My only complaint with the wavemaster actually comes from my fat fingers & lack of coordination. I will definately look at the Tt Eurreka. I had a bad experiance with a Tt PSU that ended up costing me a video card & motherboard, so I was a little shy about trusting them. In fairness maybe it was an isolated thing and getting a bad PSU may not mean they make bad cases. I keep seeing plenty of people with positive experiances with Tt, so I will definately consider them.

Thanks again.

 

[Zepper]

YW.

There is also the Chenbro server case on ewiz.com for less than $80. +sh - one of the most compact cases out there that will take an EATX mobo. And I like the Enermax CS-10182 too. It's more of a server or business grade case too, but I like starkly functional. One feature I like on the 10182 is the PSU mounting plate - you can aim the PSU intake fan away from the CPU fan so as not to scavenge CPU air. One way to resolve the 80mm rear fan issue is like this: Outside the Box. Think 80 to 120mm adapter and cut the fan grill out... And yes, the case that PSU fan rig is on is a close relative of the 10182, the Silverstone Berserker (Xoxide.com is one of the last places selling those).

Some versions of the original stacker have rebates all over the place thru the EOM too - check ZZF. And the Aerocool CoolView (often called a "Poor Man's Stacker") can be had for a song thru the EOM ($30. rebate). The CV has been discontinued - remaining stock is disappearing fast.

.bh.

 

[warbean]

Hopefully the 05 is better than the 04. THe 04 was the worst case I ever owned, no front intake holes. Had to remove 2 cd rom bay covers just to let the thing ventilage and get decent temepratures. I dont recommend for OCing.

 

[Zepper]

Need to get over that, old bean... The intake vents on the TJ04 are at the bottom of the bezel (very good for limiting noise) and you can open out the slots if you need more - all the front fan really needs to do anyway is to provide a bit of breeze for the HDDs, the rear fan is the important one. Standing the 4 on carpet is a bad idea (or even on the floor at all - but that's really true of any case to limit dust) - other than that, no problemo. IMO, the Temjin 4 (aka Gloria) is one of the best looking and functioning mid-tower cases you can get for that money - you can get equaly functional (perhaps a bit moreso) steel and plastic cases for less money (see the Rosewill thread here) but you have to pay for that heavy, diamond-cut aluminum bezel.
re. the front fan on the Gloria: The grill directly in front of the front fan should be cut away as it is apparently very restrictive (the rear grill too) - the slots at the bottom of the bezel are far enough away from the fan that they won't offer too much restriction, but I'd cut them away anyway - no reason you couldn't open the entire bottom of the bezel except to keep the critters out...
. And the later production are coming with much better fans.

OP,
Just in case you weren't aware, the Tj05 comes w/ or w/o window and w/ or w/o integrated Eudemon fan control/temp monitor w/ LCD display. And monarchcomputer.com (Atlanta) beats Newegg's bottom line on the 10182.

.bh.