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I will be diplomatic, there are 3 fans pushing air out of the case and about 1 fan that is, kind of, push air into the case. This means there is negative pressure. This might work well in most situations, but when there are 3 exhaust fans and 1 inefficient intake fan you have a very unbalanced system. You see normally negative pressure is a good thing, where there is slightly more air being pulled out of the case than pushed into it. This scenario not only exhausts more hot air, but through the negative pressure created, also pushes more cold air into the case. An example would be 1x 80mm exhaust fan on top, 1x 120mm exhaust fan on the back, and 1x 120mm intake fan in front. The Silverstone TJ09/10 have royally screwed this up. With the huge unbalance in exhaust/intake you get much more air being pulled out of the case, which then amounts to heat not being dissipated with the air flow, since the exhaust fans are pushing the air out of the case. As anyone who has seen a older sealed off computer case without any fans installed, without airflow inside the case things get hot. What this means is the TJ09/10 is pulling too much air out of the case, which then causes a lack of air inside the case that allows heat to build. This is why the Silverstone TJ09/10 does not cool as efficiently as it looks like it should. With heat building inside the case it is no longer able to cool GPU/s or the CPU as well as it should, since hot air is being pulled in by the GPU and CPU cooling fans/heatsinks. This, through a lot of research, is something I regretfully learned after I bought the Silverstone TJ09, it is a decent case, but no where near worth the price.

I got my 900 almost a year ago and that flaw was already fixed. A great case, not "cheap" at all. Roomy as much as a mid tower can be. The cooling is awesome. I'm very happy with it.

Wow, you are overanalyzing this whole physics/negative pressure cooling thing. Did you account for the PSU fan which in my system (140mm) pulls most of my GPU heat right out the bottom through my PSU. Just look at the cooling results obtained by actually using the TJ09 rather than using theories or physics, lets get out of the scientific books and really test these theories and physics in real world useage. Lets start with a review, and just to recap before the review both the Antec 900 and the Silverstone TJ09 are both using either slow fans (1200RPM's) or low fans speeds.>>

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=g [...] rticID=542


By systemlord at 2008-03-09


Being diplomatic here, these real world results doesn't support you physics, negetive pressure, theoretical logic mumbo jumbo. Real world tests are always preferred over theoretical speculation. You are right about the Antec 900 being better bang for the buck though as far as cooling is concerned.

Ahh, what a shame. My favorite case in the whole wide world is the CoolerMaster Stacker 830 SE. And just a few weeks ago it was on sale for $160 at newegg. It's $250 now, but it's still absolutely godlike and can run circles around cases double its price.

Once again your reading comprehension is lacking. I did not say that TJ09/10 cases do not cool well. I said that TJ09/10 cases do not cool well for the price. Also those tests do support my physics, the Antec 900 is shown in that test and in many others that it easily beats the TJ09/10 with all fans on low. This is not because the 900 has more fans, it does not, nor is it because the 900 is smaller, that actually hurts its cooling performance. With the TJ09/10 being completely made out of aluminum, which if you do not know dissipates heat very well, the only difference between the 900 and the TJ09/10 is that physics thing you are so dismissive about. Lets let it rest, you bought a TJ09/10 and like it. To me you paid to much for too little, that is my opinion and no matter how hard you try I will not change my opinion because you like your case. Especially when I back my argument with facts and explanations, and you do not. I will apologize for this minor flaming war that has started up between myself and systemlord, but I hope that it helps somone if they are looking into buying a TJ09/10.

Kind of smug aren't you resonance451? Well we can't all have cases with cooling that allows them to acheive lift off.

Care to expand on this? I know the Cosmos sucks at cooling, but haven't heard the S model sucks as well.
(Not going to buy one in any case [lame pun, I know]. I went with something other than my usual LianLi choice and it bit me in my ginormous butt. Never again, and shame on Gigabyte for making a crappy case)

This isn't a flaming war just having a simple difference of opinion, thats all. You need to unwind a bit there The_Blood_Raven.

Blood_Raven you did say, "It does not cool well, even if you add all possible fans". Now who's reading comprehension is lacking? Sorry that you think this was a minor flaming war, I thought it was a difference of opinion and a friendly conversation.

Yeah I was a step ahead of you, already apologized for that statement. Also I did not think that the dispute had gotten out of hand, but I could see where other people could think that. You are right I did get a little overzealous, but I was angry since I had wasted so much of my time on something I did not like, but hey it happens. The truth is the Silverstone TJ09/10 case is a very easy case to build a PC in, mainly because of its well designed removable motherboard tray (something that very few cases do well), its large size, and its bottom mounted PSU (something I am really glad that cases are using more and more now). I just felt angry when I bought 2 other cases for almost $100 less than the Silverstone that cooled slightly better, and for some unknown reason had slightly better cable management options (its almost as if there is too much room in the case and not enough places to tuck wires in). In my honest opinion this was unacceptable. The TJ09/10 series is not for me and I am beginning to realize that picking out a case is quite difficult. Systemlord I have read many of your posts on this forum, since on my off time I like to browse the THW forum and give my 2 cents, and I know you know what you are talking about when it comes to computers. Silverstone makes great cases, but not great enough for the price. Being that you seem to have a lot of experience with Silverstone cases, do you have any thoughts, advice, facts, or general opinions on the KL03? This is a case I am looking into. I like its looks, cooling (with slight modification), price, and Silverstone DOES make quality products, I was impressed with everything about the TJ09/10 except the cooling. I hope this little... umm... debate has helped some people.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811163102
I plan on painting the side/GPU fan bracket black so that it does not look terrible.

Oh and sorry about the reading comprehension thing, it was early in the morning and I am not a morning person.

So have you narrowed your list down any further dashbarron (the OP, incase you guys have forgotten JK)? Any other opinions or experiences you would like to narrow it down? Have your changed the budget? Let us know. I'm curious to see what you go with.

The Cosmos S goes a long way to fixing the cooling problem, but not all the way. The HDD cooling is less than great, and the side fan can not be replaced, last time I heard. Another major problem is that this case has poor air flow design, since the case is just a Cosmos with extra fans. This means the design of the case is not meant to be efficient with all that air flow. Cable management is nearly impossible as well thanks to a major design flaw in the side panel locking mechanism, the panels come off easily. My friend swears by CoolerMaster, and ended up sending the Cosmos S back for a Cosmos 1010. All and all I am rather put off by the Cosmos series, but if cooling is not a major concern it is a great case. Also you should never lock yourself into 1 brand, though Lian-Li is a good brand to do so, no matter how well they have served you in the past, look at them first but do not only look at that brand, you will get screwed sooner or later.

That was just what I was thinking, oh well I apologize all around, it went too far. Any way he said that he was going to buy the Lian-Li PC-71, and I hope he does. I would REALLY like to see some actual pictures of that case, pictures on newegg.com just do not capture a case's true appearance.

No purchases yet. Been waiting over a year for Intel's new quads to come out. Expected mid-March release, we'll see.

Still looking at the Lian A71 and A10 as possible selections. The Cosmos S has definitely peeked my interest too. At least on the A71 and Cosmos side, there would be more than enough room for any sort of sick designs I have in mind as for the interior. Would I ever utilize all the space? Probably not, but I like to know it's there if i need it. The prices on these cases peek $200-250, and I'm sorely tempted to spend that much.

I ruled out the Antec 900 due to cramped issues, HD cooling, the expansion slot issue, and generally "cheaper" built. I've seen more than once now, that the expansion slot issues is false. The HD cooling? A few of you insist the myth is just a myth. I'd almost be willing to buy on that bet. I still worry a tad about the space issue, but it's more of a distant worry.

But that's why I liked the looks of the Lian and Cosmos. I'm paying more, but from all I've seen they look like professional cases, with less plastic and almost all, if not completely, metal. I notice the Cosmos S has some plastic fronts, while the A10 at least is all metal, and so does the A71.

Still no words from anyone with a new Cosmos S?

I've done extensive research for over a year, and I pray that I'm still waiting for Intel to play their hand before any final decisions. I'm just hoping to knock down competitors, and we're in the final round.

I could definitely take pictures when I'm done

On another note, I'll keep those fans in mind. With any selection, I'm going to need to add some 120's. Case fans are about the only thing I have to look into. - Still looking at some good PC coolers.

The Antec 900 has plent of room, my Xigmatek HDT 120mm is the tallest CPU cooler I know of, and it fits. I would send you a picture of my case, but it wont really show that there is plenty of room for larger GPUs. The Antec 900 is a great case. It is built as well as my previous TJ09, its cools better, and is big "enough". The Antec 900 is nice, but I strongly advise you to look into something a little bit better. Get the Lian-Li PC-A71, not the Cosmos S. The Cosmos S does not cool as well, the side panels are cheaply mounted and will pop off, and this makes cable management impossible. Also I think its ugly.

These are 2x 3870 X2s and they are the longest cards on the market, and yes they ARE in an Antec 900, though its not a stock 900. Large GPUs WILL fit in an Antec 900.


This is the ATI 2900XT 1GB in a stock Antec 900, the 2900XT is the same length as an 8800 Ultra. The cable management is in that case is actually surprisingly bad, it can be much better than that.

If you want a CPU cooler with air cooling, then get the Xigmatek HDT-S1283, it performs less than 1 celcius higher than the TRUE (ThermalRight Ultra Extreme), and it is much cheaper with a very nice fan included. As I said before the Xigmatek 120mm is very tall and barely fits in the Antec 900, but does.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233003