ESA is it worth it?

[Evil-I]

Hi All,

I'm considering buying a Silverstone TJ10 case and noticed the ESA (Enthusiast System Architecture) variant. The idea seems a good one to me, having a centralised thermal and lighting control system saves a lot of messing around. My only concern is that my Abit IP35 motherboard doesn't support it, and after a bit of research only the Nvidia 780i and 790i chipsets do seem to support it. Now if I do buy the ESA variant of the case, it seems to come fully loaded with fans as opposed to the standard that only has two fitted. I guess if I don't have ESA enabled, I can always connect the fans up to another fan controller until I do get ESA enabled hardware.

My worry is that ESA hasn't taken of well and may no longer be built into new hardware?

What do you all think?

E-I

 

[Trox]

When i got my TJ10 a while back i was thinking about the ESA as well... I gave it a miss due to the huge ESA sticker on the side and front, it looks crap and cheap.

You can always buy the Silverstone ST-CMD01S-ESA "Commander Series" seperate if you really want it at a later date.

 

[Evil-I]

Hi Trox,

Thanks for that, I think you're probably right, the ESA stickers are a little OTT and I ca always add ESA later if required.

Just out of interest are you happy with your TJ-10? I'm fairly sure its the way I want to go, but an opinion from someone who has one is always appreciated!

Best,

E-I

 

[EsaT]

Another try of Nvidia to lock people into their motherboards.
In it's current form there's very little good in it.
With 5.25" device sized display/controls equipped hub capable to software independent operation (could then be connected to mobo for software control/monitoring) it would have been really innovative and worth of its name (darn Nvidia for abasing my name) but with that eating of multiple USB ports and plain software relying it's just another of those crawling below the bar/going from where fence doesn't exist marketing gimmicks.


Hmmm... only four 5.25" and six 3.5" bays... rather expensive case for its size.

 

[sid]

didnt even know there was an option with the TJ10 like this when I got mine

Btw,

I've noticed tou say you have the IP35 pro board? Well thats the same as me and guess what ? the some of the front panel connector cables are not long enough to reach the header lol. Only the power and power LED make it, no reset or reset led

sid

 

[Trox]

Hi Trox,

Thanks for that, I think you're probably right, the ESA stickers are a little OTT and I ca always add ESA later if required.

Just out of interest are you happy with your TJ-10? I'm fairly sure its the way I want to go, but an opinion from someone who has one is always appreciated!

Best,

E-I

Yea i love the look of the case, goes well with my old CM case.

My PC is watercooled and with the aid of the silverstone support bracket i have positioned the rad inside up top, which is nice as the case didnt require any modifications done.

The only down side was hiding the cables from the PSU, but tbh i would expect most cases to suffer from this.

I wouldnt replace my case for anything

 

[Evil-I]

I've noticed tou say you have the IP35 pro board? Well thats the same as me and guess what ? the some of the front panel connector cables are not long enough to reach the header lol. Only the power and power LED make it, no reset or reset led

sid

Thanks for that Sid, I might make up a little extension loom for the motherboard headers or something. Gives me something to do until the case arrives


E-I

 

[sid]

Thanks for that Sid, I might make up a little extension loom for the motherboard headers or something. Gives me something to do until the case arrives


E-I

its only just short so 10cm should be plenty

Still a bit stupid though, You'd have no chance on a matx motherboard.

I expected a bit more from a £200+ case

sid