Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E Evolution Case Review

We have mentioned before how innovation is a never ending process and how inspiration can come from almost anywhere.  For Silverstone we see their inspiration coming from the products they design along with the planning that goes into each chassis.  To some these are all works of art, to others they are simply the way cases should be designed.  So, what happens when your design innovations lead you to rebuild a previous design?  Does it become better than the previous? Or would it parallel that movie sequel you saw last weekend?

In this review we will be looking at the new and improved Silverstone TJ08-E.  The "E" stands for Evolution which also describes the approach Silverstone took to rebuild this popular MicroATX chassis.  For those of you familiar with the TJ08 you'll know that the previous design was really quite small and was very utilitarian by design.  The TJ08-E takes the same basic chassis and remodels the interior to support modern hardware and cooling requirements.

The outward appearance of the TJ08-E is similar to the previous edition but with a few minor differences.  You will notice that the primary intake is quite large and actually takes up a good portion of the front panel.  Below the intake you will find the external 3.5" drive bay along with two 5.25" drive bays above.

Looking at the back of the case can tell you a lot about the internals.  The TJ08-E features a double flipped layout meaning that if you turned this case over the power supply would be under the motherboard.  However as the back panel shows the expansion slots are located at the top of the case directly under the PSU meaning that the motherboard has also been flipped.  There is a 120mm fan position provided to help to exhaust heat from the CPU area.

The primary intake is located at the front of the case under the 5.25" external drive bays and is comprised of a single 180mm air penetrator fan.  This new fan is very unique in that it features a series of straight fins that channel the air into a single column instead of the reverse cone common to standard fans.  This column of air allows you to enhance cooling and target airflow over critical components

This awesome new fan is complimented by a speed switch that will run the fan at 700 or 1200 rpm.  We like these over thermal sensors since there is less to deal with and, more often than not, you will know when extra cooling is in order.

To aid in dust collection you'll find a removable fan filter built into the front bezel.