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Review: Silverstone Tek Temjin TJ06S

by Tarinder Sandhu on 21 October 2005, 11:04

Tags: SilverstoneTek

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Internal Appearance and Features.

The official Silverstone specifications (below) reveal an impressive but pretty standard set of specs, apart from one feature which leaps off the page, or in this case screen, and immediately sparks your interest – customized 120mm CPU Wind Tunnel.

Material: Aluminum front panel, 0.8mm SECC body.
Color: Silver Black
Motherboard: Extended ATX, ATX, Micro ATX.
Model: Standard Model TJ06S, with Window TJ06S-W.
Drive Bays: Exposed 5.25” x 5 3.5” x 2, Hidden 3.5” x6.
Cooling System: Front 120mm intake fan, 2200rpm, 21dBA
Front 80mm intake fan, 2200rpm, 21dBA, Rear 120mm exhaust fan, 2200rpm, 21dBA Customized 120mm CPU wind tunnel
Expansion Slots: 7
Front I/O Port: USB2.0 x 4, IEEE1394 x 1, Audio x 1, MIC x 1.
Power Supply: Optional standard PS2 (ATX), Redundant PS2.
Net Weight: 11kg.
Dimension: 205 mm (W) x 566 mm (H) x 474 mm (D).

Before we get to the Wind Tunnel, going through the specs we can see the welcome inclusion of 120mm intake and exhaust fans, putting out 21dBA of noise. This is impressively (or unimpressively if you prefer) quiet, and certainly within tolerable noise levels. You’d be unlikely to hear these cooling fans above the general whirl of your PC. You’ll also notice that the TJ06s, at 11kg, is not the lightest case on the market, having said that, its of very sturdy design, and with its steel and aluminum construction, its clear that Silverstone were going for an acceptable compromise on this issue and not an all out push for a ultra lightweight final product.

A total of three case fans for the entire cooling system of the case may seem a little bare, however the air flow is very nicely balanced, and being a large, roomy chassis, with good cable management, there will always be plenty of space to ensure this is always the case, no matter how many additional cards and drives you choose to install; also consider that due to a clever feature employed by Silverstone, the hottest piece of equipment inside the chassis has some… well, some special attention, which we will look at in more detail now, as it is by far the most interesting internal feature of the TJ06s – the Wind Tunnel.

It’s obvious that someone at Silverstone had a eureka moment when designing and implementing the Wind Tunnel into the TJ06s. The tunnel itself is held in place by sturdy plastic clips, and although being quite thin and light, and sometimes requiring a small amount of force to get it into place, never feels like its about to crack or become damaged in any other way. The tunnel is positioned right at the bottom of the case, which, due to the previously mentioned upside-down motherboard mounting method, is where the CPU and RAM are fitted. It is the CPU and RAM that the wind tunnel is there to cool, by isolating it from the rest of the components in the case, and then cooling it separately. The two included 120mm fans (one intake, one exhaust) are used to create a constant flow of air, being sucked into the front and blown out the back of the Wind Tunnel, and in the process, over the CPU and RAM sticks. This does leave a single 80mm fan for cooling everything else, but as previously mentioned, a large case, with good cable management can be cooled perfectly well like this, particularly when you take into account the hottest part of the internals, the CPU, has dedicated cooling.



Moving away from the cooling, you’ll find the TJ06s comes with all the standard features of a high-end PC chassis, such as a completely tool-less design, allowing for easy removal of expansion card covers and the installation of expansion cards themselves, the general ease of use is facilitated by the inclusion of a small package included with the case, consisting of metallic clips for use when installing Hard Drives or 5.25” drives, and clear plastic clips, which are used when installing into the smaller 2.5” drive bays.

Also included are a small bag of screws (the case also allows you to use these screws if the tool less design does not appeal to you for some reason) and even some cable ties, to keep the roomy interior free from user-created cable clutter. The included screws could also come in handy should you decide to add a few internal case fans of your own or for extra piece of mind when fitting that very expensive X800XT-PE.

Overall, the Silverstone TJ06s is a case that does things differently to the masses, but not for the sake of doing so. The changes, from the BTX style motherboard and PSU layout, to the minimal though effective cooling, balanced airflow and dedicated CPU cooling Wind Tunnel are all well thought out and genuinely useful additions to an already fine case internal.