CoolIT Boreas MTEC Chassis Review

Exterior Impressions

If you have never seen or handled a Silverstone case, it really is hard to explain how well constructed they are. Quite honestly, Silverstone cases are some of the best out there and this TJ07 is no exception.


The TJ07's clean nice lines with those curved racing lines on the top really transform this from being just another boring “beige box” (or in this case black box) into something which looks like a fine piece of sculpture. Besides its good looks the fact that its made from some of the thickest, ultra heavy duty metal gives it a presence which is almost palpable. When this brooding monster is a room, your KNOW its there!


Good looks and quality construction are all well and fine but those masters at Silverstone take it to a whole new level by flexing their engineering prowess on every aspect of this enclosure. Unlike most cases the TJ07 is partitioned internally to maximize cooling zones while minimizing heat build up. As you can see from the side profile, the bottom of the case has two fans whose sole job is to cool your hard drives. Above this you have another hole cut in the Plexiglas and grilled over where the Boreas’ first fan sucks air from outside the case, over the Boreas’s massive heatsink and ejects it out the side of the case (the other side has another fan which does the exact same thing, making for a heck of a lot of air being exhausted out the case).


Of course cooling zones are all well and fine but this is an expensive kit which most people will rightly want to show off. To this end this chassis has a huge side window which affords you a great look at the inside. While lots of cases have side windows, very few companies get it right and either go with a really wimpy ultra thin Plexiglas or the way they mount the Plexiglas to the metal side panel leaves a lot to be desired in the elegance and looks department. Luckily, the Boreas MTEC chassis suffers from neither of these issues, Silverstone uses an ultra thick (yet crystal clear) window of Plexiglas and the mounting of it is neither garish nor flimsy. Heck, they even took time to bevel the edges of the ‘glass so as to even further reduce the possibility of any sharp edges.

Then next thing which separates a really good case from the rest of the herd is the side door itself. To be more specific, the material it is made out, the thickness of said material and even how the door itself locks or attaches to the case. The entire TJ07 case is made from aluminum which varies in thickness from 4-8mm. Its thick, its heavy and you can forget about minor dents and dings as this sucker is strong.

Unlike many other doors which rely on swings, this side door relies on the old, tried and true method of multiple latches which allow you to slide the door in to lock it in position. A lot of cases which use this method (including my own Stacker 830) cheap out on the material and every time you slide the door in place you’re afraid its going to bend one of these little suckers. Well you rest assured this will not happen with this door on this case as those latches are made of the same thickness as the rest of the door and in fact when you slide the door in place it gives a very reassuring clunk which reminds this reviewer a lot of a the older Volvo’s or even a Volkswagen.


To further lock this side door in place you screw in not one, not two but four knurled thumb screws. This actually is one of the few nits one could pick about this case, as these are same thumb screws which come with all TJ07s. For a retail case these thumb screws are a very nice touch, but for a custom piece of kit these rather small screws are bit of a pain to use. If your hands are on the petite size than the TJ07's standard screws will be of no problem to you but we would have really liked to have seen them be bigger.