Rather than rely on the usual tool-free mechanisms for securing your expansion cards, SilverStone has chosen to stick with conventional screws. Considering that a case like the TJ09 will normally be used in builds involving heavier-than-normal graphics cards, this really isn't such a bad idea. Many tool-free devices for securing expansion cards—particularly the ones made of lightweight plastic and/or metal—just aren't up to the job of holding down video cards with hefty, double-wide coolers. Some of them break easily after repeated use. The TJ09 uses regular aluminum expansion covers that slip on and off without a fuss.

Each side panel is secured by three thumbscrews as well. Some cases force you to jump through all kinds of hoops just to get the side panels off. Fortunately, the SilverStone TJ09 isn't one of them. Simply undo the thumbscrews, and swing the panel outward, and off. To put it back, slip the front of the panel back onto the elongated, curved clips at the front of the chassis; swing the panel closed, and put the thumbscrews back in. It's good to see that at least one case manufacturer understands that if you wanted to be “entertained” by all kinds of crazy and puzzling methods of getting in and out of your case, you'd go and buy a Rubix Cube...

The TJ09 in this review has a large, rectangular, high-quality Perspex window with beveled edges, secured by black anodized Allen-head screws. The window is cut so that the external drive bay area is completely hidden, which makes for a much neater and attractive appearance. An aluminum panel with holes machined to access the expansion slot screws, is attached to the rear chassis. This plate is more cosmetic than practical, as it makes the expansion slot are look nice through the side panel window. You'll need a screwdriver with a narrow shaft to access the expansion slot screws—which leaves out most magnetic screwdrivers. The panel is held in place with six screws—two at the top and two at the bottom of the panel. And two more on the top and bottom edge in back of the case. So, you can remove it, if you wish.

If you've ever scraped enough knuckles and uttered enough expletives while working on a case with about as much room inside as a shoe box, and vowed never to put yourself through that experience again, you'll fall in love the TJ09's roomy interior. Up top is are a pair of mounting brackets for an optional pair of 120 x 25mm fans to help vent the heated atmosphere of the case—or attach a radiator for a water cooling kit with a little fabrication. The exhaust fan even has a grille mounted on it, on the inside of the case. The external drive bays use regular screws rather than any tool-free set up, to hold optical and floppy drives, and fan controllers in place. Unless you have some need to frequently swap out these devices, this isn't as much of a minus as it may seem. It will be easier to secure fan controllers and other 5.25” bay devices that aren’t the full length of an optical drive, and can be difficult or impossible to mount in other cases with tool-free latches.

More so than even the fastest quad-core processors, video cards like NVIDIA's GeForce 8800-series, and AMD/ATI's X1900 and 2900 Radeon, pump out a lot heat. Throw overclocking, SLI or CrossFire into the mix, and your rig becomes a small oven. Keeping these cards cool can be quite a challenge. SilverStone's stroke of genius for the TJ09 is the shroud-mounted 120 x 25mm fan that pulls in air through the back of the side intake ducts, directing it right across the video card area. Also rated at 1,200 RPM and 21 dBA, this fan uses a single-wire 3-pin motherboard connection for RPMs and a 4-pin Molex connector for power. Since the fan is separated from the hard drive cage, the air it pulls in is much cooler than it would normally be circulating over the hard drives first. Made of chrome-plated steel, there are holes in each corner of the shroud that allow you to access the screws that hold it in place. Once removed, the shroud assembly drops off and you can unclip the fan inside and replace it if it fails, or swap it out with the 120x25mm fan of your choice. The shroud also has a pair of slots along each edge that can be used for wire ties and cable management.

The SilverStone TJ09 holds up to six 3.5” hard drives in its two quick release bays. Simply squeeze and grasp the two handles and pull the bay out. To replace it, push in back in until it clicks in place. Although the bays are tool-free, you'll need to use the supplied screws to secure your hard drives inside. SilverStone mounts the drives vertically inside the bay, with the power and data cable connectors facing you. This allows you to comfortably fit three drives in each bay, while maintaining plenty of space between each one for proper airflow and heat dissipation. The rubber strips inside the bays eliminates any chance of irritating vibration noise.

Naturally, the more drives you install, the more heat they produce. If you fill both bays with a trio of Western Digital 10,000 RPM Raptors, obviously you’ll need more than the TJ09’s passive cooling to keep the temperatures under control. Fortunately, SilverStone anticipated problems like this, and included a fan bracket between the two drive bays. To remove it, you'll need to take the right side panel off and unscrew a pair of thumbscrews. The bracket holds a 120 x 25mm fan (not included), that can be clipped in place to either pull air in, or push air out of the drive bays.

With many cases, either the front panel I/O cables are too long for your particular motherboard, making cable routing a royal pain—or too short, meaning having to forgo use one or more of the ports you really need. In addition to screws and other installation hardware, SilverStone has also included a set of Extender Cables for all of the I/O port cables that connect to the motherboard. Now you won't literally be caught short trying to connect your audio or other ports to the headers on your particular mother board, which the manufacturer happened to place all the way in the back of the board.

Installing the power supply, whether it's a standard-length 620W or a full-length 1,000W monster, is as simple as sliding it in and underneath the power supply guide clip at the bottom of the case, and bolting it in. The SilverStone TJ09 also supports redundant PS2 power supplies (the silver bracket must be removed first—a simple task involving four screws). One really nice touch that SilverStone added, is the black enamel finish inside the side panels and the bottom of the case.

The majority of cases are riveted and welded together, with only the serviceable parts of the case secured by screws. Even in this regard, the SilverStone TJ09 stands out among all other cases. Inside and out, the TJ09 is assembled with more screws than any other case on the market. Why? It makes things easier for enthusiasts to mod the case in ways that require disassembling most of it—which is a lot quicker and easier to do when the disassembling involves screws, rather than rivets. While a lot of enthusiasts would be more than happy or satisfied with what the TJ09 offers out of the box, SilverStone has made it easier for those willing to push the boundaries of creativity to make a unique statement with their own TJ09. No one can say that SilverStone doesn't have its finger on the pulse of the enthusiast community.

Normally you would think that a case that's mostly bolted together with screws would not be as solidly built as one with weld and rivets—and more prone to vibration noise. This is not the case (no pun intended), with the SilverStone TJ09, which is not only one of the most solidly built towers I've ever see; but once I got my components installed, there was not one hint of metal-on-metal rubbing or vibration anywhere.

Assembly

I used the following components for the test build with the SilverStone TJ09:

● Intel Core 2 Extreme 6800 Processor (2.93 GHz, Stepping 6, Revision B2) w/retail CPU cooler.

● Intel D975BX2 “Bad Axe 2” Motherboard (BIOS 2634 02/16/2007)

● 2 GB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4 RAM (5-5-5-18 2T)

● 768-P2-N31 EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX Video Card (BIOS 60.80.06.00.01)

● Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi “Fatal1ty” Sound Card

● (2) Western Digital WDC WD3200KS-00PFB0 300 GB 7,200 RPM Caviar SATA Hard Drives (RAID 0) on Intel 82801GR/GH SATA RAID Controller

● NEC 1.44 MB 3.5” Floppy Drive (black)

● LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1673S DVD Burner (black)

● Thermaltake W0117RU Tough Power 750W Power Supply

● Windows XP Professional SP-2/DirectX 9.0c & latest Microsoft Critical Updates

As I would expect with a case of this caliber, installation was quick and painless thanks to the removable mobo tray, and the fact that the case has so much room inside to work with—even with a GeForce 8800 GTX installed. I encountered no sharp edges to send me scrambling for my medicine cabinet. Fit and finish was flawless. Though the writing and illustrations are a bit too small to be useful, the included multi-lingual Installation Guide should keep first-time system builders out of trouble. Tidying up the wiring and cables took the longest, as there's little room or places to tuck them out of sight. If you don't have the benefit of a modular power supply, you can bundle unused cables underneath the video card cooling fan shroud.

One thing I should point out, is that you before you purchase a SilverStone TJ09, you should carefully measure the length of your power supply's 12V 4-pin, EPS 12V 8-pin, and the main 20 or 24-pin power cables in relation to their connectors on your particular motherboard. Not all motherboard manufacturers place these critical connectors in the same spot. Cables that reached without issue when the power supply was mounted at the top of your old case, may now be too short with the power supply at the bottom of the TJ09. How the cables on your power supply are designed can also be an issue. Some power supplies have separate 4 and 8-pin power cables. Others like the Thermaltake Tough Power 750 used in this review, have the 4-pin 12V and EPS 12V 8-pin connectors daisy-chained on the same cable. As a result, the 4-pin is at the end of the chain and has a longer reach than the 8-pin.

The Intel D975BX2 uses an EPS 12V 8-pin connection, which is located near the upper left-hand corner of the board. Fortunately, I was able to carefully route the cable along the back of the motherboard underneath the sound and video card. I made the connection with a little less than an inch to spare to keep the cable from being stretched too taunt. If your particular motherboard requires that you take the same approach that I did, make sure you steer clear of any capacitors and any other components on the board that might be inadvertently snapped off. If you have an Ultra power supply with FlexForce cables, you'll probably have an easier time of it. FlexForce cables are flatter, thinner and more flexible than regular power supply cables—particularly the ones that are sleeved.