TJ09, fans, pos-vs-neg pressure, and im a noob

Ok first of all do not get the silver TJ09, its hideous, I owned it. Also negative pressure is where there is more air blowing out than in, positive it where there is more air pulling in than out. Neither are great, (the closer to balanced or slightly negative are best) a major factor to why I sent back my TJ09, the overly negative cooling pressure did not cool well enough to justify the price tag. I found that you MUST remove a hard drive bay and install a 120mm fan on the bottom vent to get decent hard drive cooling. Also, the cable management of the TJ09 is not terrible, but is difficult and in the end will not be great. The cooling not being exactly great led to me sending it back, and now I have an Antec 900 (which I hate and am looking to upgrade when funds come in) that cools better than the TJ09 with all fans on low. I would have to say that unless you absolutely love the looks of this case, it looks better in the pictures so do not go totally by that, and that you aim to install some major water cooling in this case, look elsewhere. The TJ09 is NOT a bad case, just not even close to worth the price, I am a fan of "price no object" when it comes to computer cases so that is an unbiased opinion. The only thing I liked about the TJ09 was the top fans, they were better for water cooling, but now many cases are doing the same for much less.

TJ09 shed in the light of my opinion:

Pros:
-Pretty large, a slightly small full tower
-Quality construction, except the window be careful with the window (that's with all cases)
-Easy to build in, the removable motherboard tray is the best I've ever seen

Cons:
-Price
-Cooling, not worth the price
-Looks, the front panel does not look right to me, it looks totally separate to the rest of the case
-Only 4 5.25" drive bays
-Cable management, again not worthy of the price
-Case rattles a little and is pretty loud

If you decide to stick with the TJ09 then you will have a nice case. If you are unsure and want the opinion of some one who is "infuriatingly obsessed with cases" (my girlfriends words not mine) then I will be right here. Look up the Lian-Li PC-A71/70, Silverstone TJ07, Silverstone KL03, and Xclio Windtunnel Advanced just to name my favorites. Also more RPMs usually means better cooling but at a louder volume. I like fan controllers because they allow you to quickly adjust the speed at which the fans spin, and the volume, depending on what you are doing. If you are just internet browsing then you will not need all fans at high, but playing games like Crysis or major HD encoding will make you want the fans at around mid-high to high.

You always want the CPU cooler Fan to blow air into the rear exhaust fan, if possible, otherwise you are restricting air flow. The 3 or 4 pin thing depends on the motherboard, send a link to your exact X38 and I will tell you. I perfer to hook up fans to a fan controller, not the motherboard. The only thing you should worry about when it comes to fans is whether the cords are long enough, they sell extensions. Installing fans is pretty much common sense, you plug in the matching male and female connections to the motherboard where it says in the manual, to the fan controller which makes it easier, or just smack them all into a molex chain or chains, it is as simple as that so just relax you will do fine, and if you do not then we are here  . Post any further questions, or updates to questions.

Wow, thanks blood raven!

I will check out all the cases you describe.

Truth it, I hate bling looking cases and only care about a GOOD build and being very functional.

Also, since I posted, I think I am switching from the X38 boards to a Gigabyte P35 board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Like you said, money isnt an object as long as I know Im getting what Im paying for. So even though this mobo is cheap, I dont plan on SLI or RAID so it does what I need. I just need to find the best 1066 DDR2 memory that will work with the board (4gb). Sticking with the E8500 or E8400 for the price.

I plan on doing a full refresh once nahalem and the new mobos, nvidia cards, etc. come out Q1/Q2 or so of next year so a less sexy build works fine for me.

I was looking at the Antec P182 case also but once you touch the Silverstone ones, everything else feels made of paper.

I'll need to look at your cases you suggest as well as the P182 again. I liked the room the TJ09 had at the bottom (im only using 2 hard drives so was going to put them in the top section and remove the bottom bay for PSU cable storage) as I am going with the PC Power and Cooling 750W which is not modular, but then many say single wire is better since less electrical resistance, etc. etc. Just more crap to hide  

So what fan controller do you recommend and how does it work? I stick all the fans (say 4) into the controller and then that gets powered somehow and I attach the controller somewhere?

Never right off Antec, the P-182 might not be aluminum, but it's quality is up there with Silverstone. Silverstone makes great cases, but they brag and brag about the quality of the case, even though it is about the same as manufacturers like Antec and Cooler Master, and can not quite touch Lian-Li. Silverstone is a good company, but the TJ09/10 are a disappointment, atleast for me. The TJ03 and the TJ07 are very good cases, and more than make up for the TJ09/10.

A fan controller is powered and the fans plug into it via 3/4 pin connectors. The fan controller then just regulates the voltage going to the fans, that's it. Also I am running the PC P&C 750w too, good choice and the cables are not THAT bad. Tha P35 will be fine and do what you want, the X38 is not needed.