Tagan A+ Black Pearl Full Tower

[PAGETITLE=Introduction] When setting out to build a new PC, one of the hardest pieces to pick out isâ€¦ wait a minute, thatâ€™s the beginning of our Gigabyte Aurora 570 review. Never mind. When it comes time to build a new PC, a certain amount of preparation should be taken when itâ€™s your own hard earned cash being spent. Consideration needs to be given to hardware, performance and ultimately, your budget. If youâ€™ve been paying attention, over the last couple of weeks, we have taken looks at quite a few different PC cases, each with their different pros and cons and in the two plus years we have been on the web, we really havenâ€™t found that one perfect case that provides us with everything that we look for in a complete case. Itâ€™s that pros versus cons debate that most everyone goes through when they start shopping around for a new computer tower. With everything in mind, our quest for the perfect case continuesâ€¦ at least our idea of what the perfect case might be. Everyone has an idea of what they want. I know when I start to look around for a new chassis; I usually stop by the usual suspects. Antec, Thermaltake, Silverstone, Cooler Master and Lian Li are all case manufacturers that I will visit, just to see what they have to offer. As we have mentioned in the past, there are usually a few companies that are well known for other products that for whatever reason, have decided to throw their hat into the chassis ring. We have looked at cases from Gigabyte and Asus recently, neither of which are known for their cases. Built by Tagan and sold under the A+ brand name, the Black Pearl is a stout chassis with plenty of features and a unique design. If you ask anyone, one of the best chassis manufacturers around today is Lian Li. They make great cases and their prices reflect this. The Black Pearl at first appears to be a direct knock off of Lian Liâ€™s V2000 with its inverted ATX design and its half windows. They say that imitation is the ultimate form of flattery and this is a saying that rings loud a clear in the case world. There are many designs that are sold by different manufacturers but happen to share the same look. This happens all the time. Think of it as a Ford/Mercury type situation. Closer Look The Black Pearl is shipped in a large black box with a picture of the case on the front. The back side of the case looks exactly the same. Just as other cases are packed securely in a foam shell, Tagan has decided that this method of shipping will work for them as well. Wrapped in a plastic bag to ward off any scratches that might occur while in transit and sandwiched between a pair of molded Styrofoam pieces, the Black Pearl is quite secure and arrived undamaged to our labs. Time to haul the case out of the box and see what we are in for. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Closer Look] Once out of the box, we see the sheer size of the case. One unique feature about the Black Pearl is the one single piece of aluminum that makes up the front, back, bottom and top. This adds to the overall appearance of the case as well as making it sturdier. This similar design can be seen on Silverstoneâ€™s TJ07 and the Lian Li V2000. Offering seven 5.25" drive bays the expandability of the Black Pearl cannot be questioned. This total however is lowered to six should the users decide to use the provided 3.5" bay adapter. The top two drives are occupied with a pair of drive shrouds. These are used to cover up the optical drive bays but with their spring loaded doors, they continue the all black look regardless of the color of the CD/DVD drive. Just under the drive bays, there is a small LCD screen flanked by two small buttons. This is actually the read out of the included fan controller. Just to the right of this display, the power and reset buttons can be found. Here is a closer look at the top two drive bay covers. These are spring loaded and made entirely out of aluminum. One suggestion I have is to remove the front of the drive trays as these can catch randomly on the door. No case is complete anymore without a slew of I/O ports. Not wanting to be left behind, the Black Pearl offers a pair of USB ports, a FireWire port and an audio out and microphone pass-through. These are all cleverly hidden from sight behind a small black aluminum door. Notice the screws on either side of the door. These screws allow the I/O ports to be removed the desire ever strike you. On the top, at the back of the case, there is a large perforated area, just about the right size to accommodate a pair of 120mm fans. While a pair of fan can be mounted back here, the intended use for this area is the installation of a radiator. This is obvious by looking just behind this perforated area and seeing a pair of hole. These holes can allow the user to pass through up to ½" tubing. The best part of this whole idea is that the hole covers are held on with screws. This is night if one ever gets tired of water and decides to change back to air cooling. Instead of punch outs that cannot be replaced, if the user keeps track of the covers, they can be reinstalled. Moving to the right side of the case, we see a half window in the side panel. Tagan has decided to design a case completely opposite of what is normally seen in 99% of all computer towers. With the motherboard tray on the other side, the motherboard is going to obviously have to be installed upside down. This is a design that we first saw in the Liquid XS at All American Computers and one that I install fell in love with. Finally, an exotic video card cooler can be seen. The side door also helps to hide a lot of the wiring mess that is common in most every PC build. The back of the Black Pearl showcases the inverted style of the case. With the power supply mounted in the bottom and the PCI slots at the top, the Black Pearl is certainly different than majority of other cases available today. In the middle, just to the left of the I/O shield is as 120mm opening for a, you guessed it, a 120mm fan. At the bottom, we see the power supply area. Just above the opening, there is a pair of grills that allow air to flow into the case. There are also holes should a pair of 80mm fans get installed onto this area. Just above the power supply area is the I/O shield and the fan screen. At the top, the PCI slots are just to the right of even more ventilation holes. The PCI slot covers have a mirror finish and look great with cards installed. To secure the doors on either side of the case, there is an incorporated pull tab that when pulled out, released the door. This is secured onto the case with an attached thumb screw. Moving down to the bottom of the case, there are three separate blocks of holes, all aiding in air circulation. To dampen some of the case vibrations, as well as protect any surface you set the case one, there are four rubber feet. Let's take a look now at the interior! [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Interior] With the side panel off of the case, we see just what it has to offer underneath the motherboard area. Organized exactly like the V2000, the Black Pearl has the case divided up into three sections. The top is reserved for the motherboard and optical drives while the bottom section is divided up into two separate parts. On the left, there is a pair of hard drive cages while the right side is left wide open for the power supply. Starting with the power supply area, we notice that the PSU does not sit directly on the bottom of the case. Instead, there is a small shelf with many quarter sized holes for ventilation. Just above the opening for the power supply we again see holes for ventilation. To the left, we get a closer look at the hard drive area. Both cages can hold up to 4 hard drives in each one, allowing the Black Pearl to hold a total of eight drives in all. These cages can be removed individually by simply removing a thumb screw. Above these two areas is the main chamber of the case. This is by far the largest and is intended to house the optical drives, as well as the motherboard. The drive bays are wide open with the bottom bay being occupied by a 3.5" adapter. While not a tool less chassis, the Black Pearl does offer a few conveniences such as locks for optical drives. These simply fit into the holes on the back of the drive, locking it into place. The front bay covers, as stated earlier, are made out of aluminum and are held onto the case with small metal nipples that stick out of the side. This allows the covers to remain on the case without the use of screws. Another somewhat unique feature of the Black Pearl is the CPU air shroud. This is supposed to direct air from the back fan onto the CPU. Remember however, should a tall tower cooler be used, this piece will not fit and must be removed. If this is what you choose to do, remember that the fan is installed opposite of normal. It is sucking air into the case instead of out and if you use a tower cooler and face it to blow out of the case, the two fans will work against each other and the temperatures will reflect this. Trust me on this, I made this same mistake. With the shroud removed, the case feels much more open. One thing to note is that the holes on the motherboard are not marked. When the standoffs are installed, make sure they are placed in the correct holes. At the top, the PCI slots are held on with thumb screws. While not tool less they do have cut outs to allow screw drives to be used. At the bottom of the upper chamber, there is a set of plastic lined holes. These allow the power supply cables to run up to the motherboard. The PC speaker is also situated just above the larger of the two holes. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Interior Cont.] As in any case, the power and reset buttons, along with the hard drive LED need to connect with the motherboard and the Black Pearl is no exception. With twisted wires, the button cables are clearly marked and plenty long. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the USB, FireWire and audio cables...

Tagan A+ Black Pearl Full Tower

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