SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E: Fat Case in a Little Coat
by Dustin Sklavos on August 4, 2011 1:50 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- SilverStone
- MicroATX
- Mini-Tower
Introducing the SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E
While vendors have been all too happy to send us larger enclosures (and we've been all too happy to receive them), our coverage of Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX cases has been a little lacking. That's why we're pleased today to present SilverStone's new Temjin TJ08-E. SilverStone's Temjin line has been a popular one, and with the TJ08-E mini tower they're confident they have a winner on their hands. It has the kind of clean exterior design we've been clamoring for more of, but can it perform?
I had a chance to take a look at the TJ08-E back at CES and fell in love with it almost immediately. While I wouldn't say I'm biased towards SilverStone, I'm definitely very fond of them. When most other vendors are reiterating and refining traditional ATX case designs, the mad scientists they call engineers seem to be constantly experimenting and tweaking, making some radical changes and some less so. The results are generally enclosures that are a bit more difficult to work with than more standardized designs, but are never dull, almost always eye-catching, and sometimes that mad science pays off.
As a mini tower the TJ08-E still feels a little bit bigger than most, though it's still not as big as Antec's P180 Mini. In some ways it's a reminder that Micro-ATX isn't that micro, but SilverStone has crammed an awful lot of expandability into this enclosure.
| SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 2x 5.25", 1x 3.5" (can also store a 3.5" drive internally) |
| Internal | 4x 3.5", 1x 2.5" | |
| Cooling | Front | 1x 180mm fan |
| Rear | 1x 120mm fan mount | |
| Top | - | |
| Side | - | |
| Bottom | - | |
| Expansion Slots | 4 | |
| Front I/O Port | 2x USB 3.0, headphone and mic jacks | |
| Top I/O Port | PSU vent | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearance | 13.25" (Expansion Cards), 150mm (CPU HSF), 160mm (PSU) | |
| Weight | 11.68 lbs. | |
| Dimensions | 15.16" x 8.27" x 14.72" | |
| Price | $99 | |
If you think about it, that's an awful lot of expansion space for an otherwise reasonably small mini tower. On paper at least, all I'd have to do is change out the motherboard in my video editing workstation and I could fit the entire machine, complete with all the hard drives, into the TJ08-E. As you'll see, though, something had to give to get everything inside the TJ08-E.
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BoloMKXXVIII - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Why doesn't the lack of an audio line in port rate as a negative? Does it save that much money or is it pressure from the RIAA?YukaKun - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
CoolerMaster's Elite 335? http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id...That's one hell of a Mini Tower! It's amazing for it's price and it' kinda good looking too. Could you guys do side by side or something with already proven cases when a new one pops? Specially some offerings from CoolerMaster (they're always cheap :P)
Cheers!
antef - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
See my post above about the Elite 341 - it has a similar look and is even smaller since it's specifically microATX.YukaKun - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Actually, I did read your comment, but couldn't find the 341 at CoolerMaster's page.Going to look again.
And I forgot to thank the review! Nice review as usual!
Cheers!
Termie - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Just saw this on Newegg this week and thought it looked awesome. It's great you were able to get it into test so soon after release.Pretty sure this is the way I'll go with my next build. Time to update (and downsize) from my Antec 900. I'd been considering the FT03 as well, but that seems like more form over function. It's quite expensive, it really isn't all that compact, and from your testing, it doesn't perform as well as the TJ08.
ebolamonkey3 - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Quick question, do you need an adaptor to use the USB 3.0 headers w/ a USB 2.0 port on the motherboard? Aren't they the same form factor, and you can just plug them in?Dustin Sklavos - Friday, August 5, 2011 - link
You do need to use an adaptor (the TJ08-E comes with one); the USB 3.0 motherboard header has at least twice as many pins as a USB 2.0 motherboard header.zero2dash - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
You're complaining about cramped size yet you're building a mITX system in a mATX case. Seriously?Anyone with common sense knows that building a SFF system has size issues; that's inherent with the design and the size of the form factor. If you're not prepared to cable manage and optimize in some ridiculous ways - don't build a SFF system.
fujii13 - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
They might exist but I've never seen a Mini-ITX board with four expansion slots. Seems like a lot of extra unnecessary space for something that could fit into a LIAN LI PC-Q08B (that can hold some 7 drives and has two expansion slots). I can only see this case being useful for Micro-ATX setups.Death666Angel - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Not sure what exactly you are referring to, but if you mean that this case has enough PCI-slots (those things at the back of the case where you connect your display and network cables) to accommodate 4 different cards, you might also keep in mind that this is a micro ATX compatible case. Micro ATX boards are very much able to have 4 different cards on them. :-)As for the case, it looks nice. Although I like cube cases in that space region more. I have a Lian Li V-252-B myself and am interested in the Sugo 02-06 series from Silverstone in the future (depending on how the CPU and GPU sizes and energy consumption goes).