SilverStone TJ08

From here, let’s take a look at the removable motherboard tray and the ins and outs of removing the tray and installing the motherboard.

On the back of the case, there are 2 sets of screws to hold on the two side panels, two for each side. When facing the back of the case, the side panel on the left has one screw in the middle. This is the only screw holding the motherboard tray in the case. Once removed, slide the motherboard tray towards the front of the case and let it fall gently backwards. It’s that simple.

Once you have the motherboard installed onto the tray, place it back into the case, slide it back towards the back of the case and lock it in. Once everything is lined up, secure it with the screw and you are ready for business.

With everything installed into the case, including the PSU, we can take a look and see just how everything fits together.

Yeah, well, you know.

With a full sized PSU, a smaller DVD drive and all the cables to power the computer, the space inside this case is cramped as you can see in the following picture.

Now I had to use a modular PSU as I did not have any other power supply handy to test with and while this worked, I would not recommend such a supply. The cables on this PSU were just too rigid to work with properly but I was able to get everything going. Another nice feature I would like to point out is the HDD mounting area. You can of course install up to 2 hard drives or any 3.5′ device in the bottom cage but there is also 4 mounting holes ‘hanging’ from the bottom of the cage itself.

This is the route I decided to take to allow more surface area of the hard drive to be exposed in the hopes that this will help keep it cooler than if it was in the cage sitting.

The mounting of the hard drive underneath the 3.5′ cage does allow air coming off the 120mm fan to move across the hard drive, giving it more airflow that it would receive in the cage without a fan in front of it.

Well, there you have it. The case designed to be small and quiet was able to accomplish just that. The TJ-08 is a stylishly designed case that would look good on any desk or entertainment center. Being made of aluminum, the weight is considerable light as well, even with everything installed. A case this good is not without some gripes as well. The case does not allow you much room to work with but this comes with the territory when purchasing a micro ATX case so I cannot hold that against it. The price is not too bad either. The SilverStone TJ-08 can be found online for around $100 (US) which to me is a good deal when figuring in how well of a built case you will be getting.

Pros

• Light
• Good looking design
• Small
• 2 x 120mm fans
• 4 x front USB, 1 IEEE Firewire and audio jacks in front
• Absolutely the easiest removable motherboard tray I have ever worked with. Ever.
• Sturdy
• Competitively priced

Pros

• Micro ATX is not for everyone
• Front bay covers are somewhat flimsy

Folks, I am trying to nit-pick this case but I just cannot find very much wrong with it. The motherboard tray was a dream to work with and the overall look of the case, just as with any SilverStone case, is elegant and well done. I am awarding this case a 9 out of 10 on our scale. I would like to give this an editors choice but I am not a personal fan of the micro ATX form factor. This however does not take anything away from the fact that this is a well made case that would look at home in even the smallest of offices.

I leave you with a comparison shot of my current case and the SilverStone TJ-08. Now that’s compact!

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