Visual Comparison

Crazycamel IT Shop send us an Antec Aria for comparison, a small cube form case with minimal space inside, the same test setup was installed in there (without the optional PCI slot blower). Visually the two cases are quite different, the Aria is noticeable wider, the TJ08 is much taller.




Performance Tests

The system was stressed with K7 CPU Burn and 3DMark03 running in loops, maximum temperatures were recorded, the room temperature was measured at 29?C, yes it?s summer here. Ambient noise was ~37dBA, the sound meter was placed 15cm from the front of the case.



The fan on the AMD heatsink is temperature controlled, in the Aria it runs close to 5000rpm, being the main cause of the high noise output; CPU and Chipset temperatures are very acceptable considering the high room temperature. In the TJ08 the overall case temperature is almost 10?C lower, the two 120mm fans are quite effective, the AMD cooler fan is only spinning at 2900rpm, yet the overall noise reading is not much lower, the culprits are the case fans and the Chieftec PSU, while the 120mm fans are not extremely loud, they are not silent either, and since they only have a 4-pin power connector, hooking them up to most 3-pin fan controllers requires some modifications, not really plug and play.

Conclusive Thoughts

At the time of writing the TJ08 can be found for ~?/$90, what you get in return for your money is a no frills all thrills compact light-weight case, the finishing is excellent with no sharp edges to be found. Installation takes some time but once set up most of components inside are kept cool, although the HDD area is a neglected a bit. The TJ08 looks great with its brushed aluminum front which lights up blue when powered on.



Areas of improvement are still to be found, the hard rubber feet don?t help much to absorb vibrations, the dust filter in the front is hard to reach and the case could benefit from some tool less features.

PRO
Excellent finishing
Good airflow characteristics
Removable motherboard tray

CON
120mm not silent at full speed (and only have 4-pin power connector)
No Tool Less features

Overall the TJ08 does impress both in the looks and usability, Silverstone continues their trend of creating high class PC enclosures.

Questions/Comments: forum thread