The only other consideration concerning the power supply, is the orientation used when mounting it in the TJ09. For the most part, you're better off installing the power supply in its normal “right-side up” position. If your power supply has a bottom-mounted intake fan, it will pull in cooler air through the grille underneath. While this will certainly lower the PSU's operating temperature (a plus), it will also pull in dirt and dust—particularly if the case is sitting on a carpeted floor (a minus). Plan on blowing out your power supply with a can of compressed air more frequently, as part of the routine maintenance on your system.

 

What about inverting the power supply so that it can help pull some of that video card heat? Although the results probably won't be that dramatic in lowering video card temperatures (although every little bit helps), there's just one problem. By inverting the power supply, you're effectively shortening the distance between the cables in the wiring harness and connectors on the motherboard, by the width of the power supply (the harness is now on the right instead of the left). Unless your power supply has longer-than-average cables, you may find that you cannot connect the power cables to the motherboard and other components. Due to the way the hard drives are mounted in the drive bays, if you're using fairly short SATA cables in your current case to reduce cable clutter, you may need longer cables after swapping everything into the TJ09—especially for drives mounted in the top bay.

 

Testing

 

We've only had a couple of cool, low humidity days out here on the East Coast. Undaunted, and with the help of my air conditioner, I coaxed the room down to 68° and used EVEREST Ultimate Edition v4.00 (Build 976) to measure motherboard, CPU (including each individual core) and the 8800 GTX’s temperatures under idle, and load. Having a Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard also allowed me to use EVEREST Ultimate Edition's LCD applet to monitor these temperatures on the G15 LCD in real-time. Idle temperatures were recorded after allowing the system to run for an hour at the desktop from a cold start. Load temperatures were recorded while playing The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion for three hours straight.

 

For the second phase of testing I removed as much extraneous noise from the room as possible; then took my Galaxy Audio CM-130 SPL Meter and placed it about the same distance that I normally sit at the computer. I observed and recorded the values from the CM-130 during system boot, idle, and under load running the full battery of benchmarks at the default settings with the exception of the resolution set to 1920x1200 under 3DMark06 Advanced Edition v1.1.0. I recorded the lowest and loudest readings then averaged the results.

 

 

The same tests for temperature and noise will be compared against the Cooler Master Stacker 830 NVIDIA Edition that I reviewed back in January, with the same hardware configuration used in the TJ09. To keep the tests consistent (and fair), the Stacker tests were conducted using the case’s out-of-the-box configuration of one 120mm Cooler Master intake fan, and one 120mm Cooler Master exhaust fan.

 

 

 

Click here to view non-Flash Version

 

The SilverStone Temjin TJ09 and Cooler Master Stacker NV-830 are fairly close in heat dissipation, although the NV-830 turned in better numbers for the CPU under-load processor temperatures. I suspect this has more to do with the fact that the CPU no longer had the benefit of the Thermaltake power supply’s 140cm fan to help remove some of the heat, since it was now mounted at the bottom of the case, than the relatively minor differences in exhaust fan speeds (Cooler Master’s 1,220 RPMs to SilverStone’s 1,200). The TJ09 would undoubtedly benefit from an additional fan mounted in the rear upper fan bracket to help pull some of the heat from the CPU cooler outside the case.

 

 

 

Click here to view non-Flash Version

 

There’s no doubt that the TJ09’s video card cooling system does a better job than the NV-830, which only has the benefit of passive cooling through its mesh side panel without additional fans installed. There were times while playing Oblivion, when the GeForce 8800 GTX would peak at 80°C (a normal occurrence) before the card's fan would immediately ramp up and drop the temperatures back into the seventies. On average, this occurred much less frequently with the TJ09, than the Stacker NV-830. Noise (or more accurately, the lack of it) is where the TJ09 really stands out. The solid side panels and whisper-quiet fans make a noticeable difference over the Stacker NV-830. Even with the stock Intel cooler and GeForce 8800 GTX being the loudest components when under load, overall the TJ09 is a noticeably quieter case than the NV-830. Although the larger surface area of the NV-830’s meshed side and top panels and the ability to add more fans can easily give it a more commanding lead over the TJ09 in keeping things cool, it does so at the expense of more noise. While it’s not likely that you would want to want to lug either case to a LAN party, a fully decked-out TJ09 is going to be easier on your back (11 kg to the NV-830’s 16 kg) and your wallet (TJ09 street price - $259; Stacker NV-830 - $299 from the NVIDIA Store).

 

Final Comments and Conclusion

 

By sticking with a classic design and adding an innovative cooling system, the TJ09 is undoubtedly the finest case in the Temjin product line to date. The fit and finish is impeccable, the cooling is top notch; the case is super easy to get in and out of, and it’s quiet. Cable management can be a challenge, but not impossible with a little planning and patience. If you have a modular power supply, half the battle is already won. Again, you’ll have to be mindful of cable lengths—particularly power and SATA, but that’s true of any case with a bottom-mounted PSU. The only possible problem area I see with the case, is that the motherboard tray's handle might interfere with some video cable dongles and adapters, so you may want to have some extender cables handy for those as well.

 

I really like this case, and there’s not much I would do to change it. I would add an additional 120mm in the top rear fan bracket–one of the “silent” models—to help pull some of the heat from the CPU cooler, while keeping things as quiet as possible The only thing I would have liked to have seen SilverStone include, would be thumbscrews for the expansion slots. I would have also liked the motherboard tray and stand-offs designed identically to the SilverStone TJ03-B, which would have raised the motherboard higher from the tray to allow easier cable routing underneath it. I also think the front of the case would look a little better with a smaller SilverStone badge—but that’s just me…

 

The TJ09 isn’t a case for everybody. If you’re not building a high-end rig around one (or two) of NVIDIA or AMD’s flagship video cards, there are better (and cheaper) alternatives out there. But if you’re planning on building a killer system where you can show off the exotic plumbing of your water cooling setup through the windowed side-panel, or prefer the "sleeper" approach of the model with the regular side panel, the SilverStone Temjin TJ09 should be at the top of your list for your next build.

 

 

Barry’s Rigs ‘n Reviews would like to thank Directron.com for making this review possible!

 

Buy at Directron.com