SilverStone TJ07 Full Tower Case

 

SilverStone TJ07

Introduction

SilverStone's next generation flagship tower case the TJ07, has upset the competition for amost a year now by introducing this world class case design back in spring 2005. Since then, the TJ07 has won many awards as one of the best case designs introduced to the modern world. With state-of-the-art ergonomically designed engineering, the TJ07 sports such features as extruded aluminum uni-body once piece main structure, exceptional cooling characteristics, minimal use of rivets replaced with air craft quality fasteners, 4.0mm ~ 8.0mm outer frame, creates one of the most elegant case designs available.

Known for high end professional products, SilverStone has built a reputation based on quality, innovation, design and manufacturing that's gained great respect from the masses since there foundation began in 2003. Taking Computer enclosures to the next level, SilverStone leads by example, providing chassis designs that go above and beyond anything we are used to seeing in the chassis world. Exceptional design and quality workmanship can be seen throughout SilverStones product inventory.  Today, SilverStone continues the fine art of manufacturing technics through talent, dedication, and commitment , bringing the end user the absolute best in product functionality and design.

Upon receving this specimen, I was very surprised at the quality of this case. In fact the workmanship is so state-of-the-art, that I was amazed at the over all thought and enginuity that went into the design of this product. The enclosure is very rigid and very well manufactured, one gets the sense of prestige in ownership, the all alloy chassis is lightweight, sexy and very functional. Besides having great looks, innovative design and cooling characteristics, the TJ07 is manufactured in a way that puts the PSU at the bottom of the chassis and puts the motherboard on above the upper tier of the enclosure aiding in the cooling process by putting the main components above the PSU and closer to the ventilation system. Let's check this thing out...

The Enclosure

Taking the side panel off reveals the all aluminum construction giving us an idea of the over all layout of this enclosure. Two 120mm fans are located at the top of the chassis, with two 92mm fans on the rear panel. SilverStone recognizes that removing heat is more important that moving air inside the enclosure, so both of these fans essentially remove the heat at the rear and from the top of the chassis. This greatly reduces over all temperatures through better convection processing. Looking closer you will not find a bunch of cheap-o rivets, sharp edges and gimmicky plastic parts, instead, SilverStone uses threaded fasteners all throughout the enclosure, while not emlinating every rivet, you will find that rivets are used in a very minimal way, mainly around the motherboard panel will you find rivets.

The all aluminum components are cold rolled and all edges are extremely smooth and rounded, you will not find a single jagged edge anywhere on this enclosure.  Another unique feature is the fact the main body starts out as a extruded aluminum panel just over five feet in length and is custom rolled into shape with press machines making the top, front and bottom, one single piece adding to the strength and over all integrity of the enclosure.

 

As we can see from the picture above there are two additional 120mm fans located at the bottom right of the chassis. This is the HDD cages, these cages house your hard drives and cools them by intaking cooler air from one side panel and exhuausting it through the other side, enhancing the over all cooling characteristics provided by all six fans. This is another innovative design that actually works very well and in effect signifcantly lowering the over all temperatures inside the case over other brands.

The Enclosure Continued

Just above the HDD cages we find the bay area of the enclosure. Take note of the cable ports, each of them have a protective polycarbonate edges attached to the rolled edges of the chassis. This eliminates shorting and adds another protective measure from system failure by isolating cables and wires from the alloy components. SilverStone pays close attention to details and this is just another one of them. So far this case is outstanding in design and functionality. I am just simply amazed at the over all quality. SilverStone has definitely made an impression on me.

The bay area will allow the use of up to seven 5.25 devices, giving anyone plenty of room for expansion and upgrades. The  bay area has a brushed aluminum finish giving a very rich looking enclosure giving the TJ07 a very smooth and elegant look on the inside. One thing I notice about the chassis is how well the inside looks. It appears as if SilverStone puts as much attention to the inside of the chassis as they do the outside. Another thing I like about the bay area is the fact you dont have to deal with attaching rails and plastic sliders in order to install a DVDRW or some other 5.25" device. With the TJ07 you simply fasten your peripheral with screws.

At the bottom of the bay area you can see the blue cable, this is the front panel controller cables that attaches to the motherboard headers, giving you power, reset, USB, headphone, mic and firewire access. Each of the seven front bay panels are held in place with screws, instead of clips or snapping in place. First class workmanship can be found all over the enclosure. The more I learn about the TJ07 the more I like.  SilverStone definitely manufactures some of the best cases I have ever seen for retail sales and this product is no exception.

The Enclosure Continued

The ventilation system provides top and rear panel cooling with the use of two 120mm fans mounted to the top and two 92mm fans at the rear. The 120mm fans are housed in a wire frame and screwed into the inside upper top of the chassis and can be easily removed for what ever reasons. Let's say you go water cooling and need the top panel access for an external system or just want to remove the fans you may do so while still maintaining a factory look. The 120mm fan connectors are 4-pin molex and the smaller 92mm fans have mini 3-pin connectors that will easily attach to motherboard resources for a power source.

Standing off, we can see the motherboard tray and back board area which is flanked by the cooling system. The upper deck has plenty of room and can accomodate any current design ATX system with plenty of room to spare. The motherboard tray is removable to facilitate easy installation and mounting of your favorite brand ATX board. The fan power cables are long enough to tuck away behind the motherboard if you are one to hide your cables. You dont neccessarily have to use extension or patch cords to achieve this, so thats another small plus.

Having examined the TJ07 in detail is leaving a lasting impression of high quality and innovative thinking. I like the fact everything about this case is thought out from the get go. From the bottom mount PSU, to the clean and smooth looking bay area, to the motherboard tray - everything seems to compliment each other with style and awesome looks. I could end this review right here and say - this is the case of all cases, but then thats just an opinion and well I would rather show you the rest of this bad boy in detail and you decide, so lets see some more...

The Enclosure Continued

Taking a closer look at the rear of the chassis we can see the two fasteners that screw the side rails and the top of the main structure in place. While most manufacturers would use rivets and unconventional techniques, SilverStone utilizes threaded fasteners to fasten this enclosure together were ever possible and this is another example of that effort, oh wait I mentioned that already, well now you get the picture, literally. Also look at the rear panel around the fan shroud, it's very smooth looking. I love this case!

 

 

At the bottom of the chassis we can see the same fastening techniques here as well. No Rivets! The PSU bracket can be seen here with an open slot for your PSU. Did you notice the PSU sits on it's side? Thats right, the PSU area places them side ways in case you want to use two PSU's. Yip, thats right, this enclosure allows the use of two power supplies. Stuff 2 redundant PSU's or use one, either way its going to sit on it's side depending on which bracket you use (extra single PSU bracket included) and I like that feature myself.

 

The feet this enclosure stands on are high-tech looking, matching the silver alloy and black color theme. These feet are rubberized to cut down the vibration transfer to the surface in which this case will be placed. These are also screwed in and can be removed for what ever reasons. Also note that the rear panel is totally removable as well. In fact this entire case can be dissassembled if one chooses to do so. What a modders dream! Let's continue the journey...

The Enclosure Continued

Here we can see the spacious interior of the TJ07. The square cable port is where the PSU cables will route up and into the motherboard. There are seven expansion slots on the rear panel that will allow up to seven add ons if you or your motherboard supports the need of seven expansion slots. I think my configuration will only need three so I have plenty to spare. Over all at this point in time I have give this case kudos for excellent design and layout.

I think it's time to end the commentary and start the build up, I cant wait to migrate my system to this enclosure, I am totally stoked over this case. With what I have seen so far, my current case is headed for the land fill. Let's start off with checking out the accessories box and see what we got for installation support.

Inside the box we get a 24-pin dual PSU connector. This PSU patch cable allows you to connect two power supply units for the most demanding hardware. There are three bags consisting of mounting tabs, a bag of machine threaded screws and the standard self tapping screws. The extra PSU mounting bracket allows a single PSU to be mounted on the left or right side of the chassis depending on which bracket you want to use. It's time to get this show on the road. I am going to start the installation, let's go have a look.

Hardware Installation

Hardware Installation

First thing I am going to do is stuff 1.2 TB of HDD's into the HDD cages and bolt them in. Each cage comes with a 12v - 120mm fan for cooling. These cages are light weight, easy to setup and can hold up to three hard drives a piece, giving you a total of 6 slots for 3.5" hard drives. The fans are low noise and push a considerable amount of air with their 11 blade design. These 120's spin at 1200rpm and put out a very low noise signature of around 21dBA.

Now I just lined up the cages with the 4 slots of the main chassis brackets and locked them into place and finished off HDD installation by using the philips head retention mechanism. These screws have a spring with a knurled edge thumb screw that pulls the cages into position. No tools are needed to place the cages inside the chassis making removal and installation very easy. Just hand tighten the two retention screws and thats it.

Bam, done deal. Since I have the four HDD's locked and loaded,  I will get ready to prep the case for the next installation process; the motherboard. Let's take a look.

Hardware Installation Continued

Hardware Installation Continued

The TJ07 comes with metal alloy motherboard studs as do most cases and once I placed the studs in the ATX configured area, I then stuffed the I/O plate that ships with the motherboard and installed that I/O plate into the rear of the TJ07 and then carefully installed our motherboard specimen. When doing so take great care not to scratch the backside of the motherboard, doing so could kill the motherboard, this can happen on any system, so keep that in mind.

Moving right along I decided to stuff our power supply unit into the rear of the chassis and check for fit. Yip, it fits. The cool thing about this case is how you can mount the PSU. There are two included brackets that with allow you to install up to two PSU's, standing on end. We can see that I placed my PSU on the left side with its orientation on its side. In order to install power supplies into this case, you first must take off the metal retaining bracket, then slide the PSU in from the rear of the chassis and then re-mount the PSU bracket, followed by screwing in the PSU to the bracket. Easy enough.

SilverStone includes a single PSU installation bracket which allows you to install just one PSU in the typical standard flat orientation. While I am only using one PSU for now, I decided to use the dual PSU bracket, just in case I get froggy and want a second PSU for this workhorse. I also decided to use the dual bracket because it puts the exhaust fan facing the outside of the chassis effectively moving cooler air around the case.

 

Hardware Installation Continued

Hardware Installation Continued

With the motherboard and power supply unit in place, I decided its time to stuff the DVD-RW unit in the top most 5.25" bay. I had to un-screw two screws (one on the left side and one on the right)  to take out the front bay cover and then I was able to slide the DVD-RW in from the front side and screwed the burner into place with 4 machine screws. Easy enough.

 

So far with the DVD-RW, PSU, and motherboard in place, I went ahead and stuff the graphics card  and proceeded to install the SATA cables. If you look closely you can see I routed the 4-pin Conroe motherboard connector behind the motherboard. This thing is starting to look more and more like a full blown computer. Now is a good time to think about cable management and how you want to connect the rest of the system.

After tinkering around with my idea of cable management, I went ahead and installed all the 12-volt power connectors to all the fans and DVD-RW and remaining hardware. Proceeded with the IDE cable, PCI-e power cable for the graphics card and routed the cables in such away that they are away from the main face of the motherboard for that clean look. I like how the TJ07 accomodates this fact, it really aids in how well you can conceal the wires and cables.

Final Installations

Final Installations

With all the major components installed, I double checked all the power connections and tightened all the screws and thumb screws on the expansion slots. So far the installation process was fast and painless, its nice to be able to work on a case like this and not end up with fingers sliced up from rough edges and bad quality control. You will not find the "finger gotchas" with this high end offering. SilverStone would never allow a chassis to leave its factory if any edges might be a threat, so be rest assured you dont need armor plated gloves to install hardware into this bad boy.

The TJ07 comes available with a side panel window as we see here, or you can opt for the window-less version. Since our motherboard has LED's all over it, we get to see a bit of eye candy thanks to the plexi-glass window. The plexi -glass is held in place with eight allen key self tapping screws. I must say I really like this case. The all brush aluminum finish on the side panels add to the over all looks and really make this rig stand out.

Well now that I tripled checked everything, I put power to the system and it fired right up first time go. So I decided to grab this shot of the system in action. In fact I am writing this review from this very system. Pretty cool stuff! I really enjoyed the installation process, everything fits together very well and everything worked great. All the fans were in perfect operational order and to top it off the black color matches my color scheme around the office. Let's take a look at the finished product.

Final Installations Continued

Final Installations Continued

With everything installed and the system fired up, I took this shot of the front fascia or bezel. You can kind of see the slight texture thats used in the finish. Finger prints will show up once touched, but that happens to just about anything one touches, so its to be expected. The 5.25" blank covers are brushed aluminum and compliment the bezel design, giving the TJ07 a very spiffy look. These pictures dont do the surface finish any justice, but hopefully you will get the idea.

Just below the 5.25" expansion slot is the "hidden" 3.5 front panel access slot. This panel includes 4 USB ports, microphone and headphone ports and a IEEE1394 firewire port, which is a nice touch. The hidden cover is opened by simply touching the bottom of the cover as indicated with a small arrow, indicating there is something behind the cover. This stealth feature is innovative and cleverly designed. The cover is also magnetically held in place.

Below we can see the two 120mm cooling fans and the metal grid that is on top of the case and to the rear of the chassis. These fans push hot air out the top. While some might suspect this to be intake, it is not. This is the exhuast port that pulls hot air rises from within the case, the 120mm fans, exhuast the air through the top with good efficiency. The flash I used on the camera light up the fans more than what you can see in normal ambient light. So you you dont see fans as easily as this picture suggests.

Well this about covers the review of the SilverStone TJ07 Tower Case. I hope you have enjoyed the build up as much as I did building it. The TJ07 is definitely high end and worthy of Beverely Hills and beyond. Anyone seeking a classy product built with talent and imagination should give SilverStone a shout. Well let's wrap this review up and get with the program.

Conclusion

 

 

Conclusion

SilverStone's TJ07 sets itself apart from the competition with this exciting case design. I found the TJ07 to be pleasing in several ways, one, the workmanship and quality is definitely worthy of receiving a "high-end" stature, in that the case is well built, light weight for it's size, and all leading edges are cold rolled and de-burred from the factory. Two, I like the fact the PSU and HDD's are located below the motherboard tray, which free's up the 5.25" expansion bays and promotes a clean look and feel inside the case.

The main-body has a very rugged finish that stands out and looks great. I noticed no vibrations or noises associated to vibrations and this is a real plus, there is nothing worse than a case that puts out re-verberation. The TJ07, is near silent in operations while this case ships with 6 cooling fans they are not loud or noisey, sure they can be heard, but its not abusive to the ears. The chassis design is unlike anything I have seen and having experienced this product first hand, I would recommend this case to anyone who wants to take a leap to the high end.

Having the pleasure to sample this case, I conclude this to be one of the best case designs I have used in the last 15 years. I truly like what SilverStone has done with the TJ07 and I think you will too. The superbly designed enclosure sets itself apart from most cases in the high-end segment and the response to this case from my colleagues are just as amazed at the cosmetics, construction and over-all design of the TJ07. Even the clear side panel is high-end, the polished rounded edges goes to show the thought thats put into the quality over all.

The only problem I see for this case is the price, while it is very pricey, you get what you pay for. SilverStone has been known for producing very high end enclosure and products for the elite and for those who can afford to make that jump. It's like buying a watch, you can go for a cheap Timex or splurge on a Rolex, both can tell you the time, but one stands out, just as with the SilverStone TJ07. If your budget is no object, then this case might be for you. I would recommend this case based on what I have seen regardless.  Take a look:

 

SRP Pricing Index $ 329.00USD

Interested in acquiring the SilverStone TJ07? Find out here: Where to buy.

Overall Rating : 90 VRMarks!

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