SilverStone’s New Cases with Front-Panel USB 3.0

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Big ideas are found in small packages in two new SilverStone cases.  First up are improvements to its classic TJ08 Micro-ATX Mini-Tower, the new TJ08E adding a 180mm intake fan with slide-out dust filter, magnetic top-panel dust filer, and the front-panel USB 3.0 connector initially introduced on motherboards last summer.

A pre-production design was also on display that’s designed to make your PC integrate better with office furniture.  Borrowing the cooling path from SilverStone’s full-sized Fortress 2, this small-footprint Micro ATX design is similar in size to a personal-sized paper shredder.

SilverStone also has a solution for those who would like to use the new front-panel ports with older ports, in the form of an adapter that reduces the interface to USB 2.0’s nine-pins

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ares1214
    I...cant...believe...they...are selling a trash can with fans as a case. It might be modern, it might be aesthetically pleasing to those who paint their houses with cow manure, but I would never buy that case. Why cant they just be normal for once! :P
    Reply
  • thrust2night
    9266113 said:
    I...cant...believe...they...are selling a trash can with fans as a case. It might be modern, it might be aesthetically pleasing to those who paint their houses with cow manure, but I would never buy that case. Why cant they just be normal for once! :P

    To be honest my trash can actually looks much better than this case. I wouldn't even use this pos as a trash can.
    Reply
  • cmartin011
    "i've eaten at taco bell and filled a toilet with something more organized than that." had to bring it back love it!
    Reply
  • 11796pcs
    I like it, but having the outputs for the graphics card at the top seems like a bad idea, and the front could be better. I think one of the best cases out right now is the Antec Three Hundred Illusion- it's cheap, has good airflow and looks really cool.

    "A pre-production design was also on display that’s designed to make your PC integrate better with office furniture." The whole point of a case (or at least a gaming case, which apears to be the target audience of this case)is to not stand out- to be bold- Silverstone seems to be doing the exact opposite.
    Reply
  • d_kuhn
    I can see some potential thermo benefits to top exhaust (heat rises) especially for the gpu, but having the power supply on the bottom is only a good idea if it's airflow is completely blocked off from the rest of the case..,. otherwise it just pumps heat into the memory/cpu area.

    Silverstone makes good cases in general (some of the best... though they're expensive), not sure if this one is such a great idea.
    Reply
  • treefrog07
    I guess silverstone believes there is under-served market. But for office use, they should add a "spill plate" to cover all those holes.
    Reply
  • Lutfij
    not all that silverstone make have touched gold...they rather failed to touch wood after the success of their prior line ups!
    Reply
  • beanoslim
    The 180mm fan is nearly the same height as the whole unit so should be plenty of airflow.
    Reply
  • cornwolf
    Does anyone know where I can pick one of these cables from? I have just brought an Antec 302 and i need one of these adapters.
    Reply