My time with the Tagan Black Pearl case has been a great one. So much so that I have decided that it would have a permanent home in my office. The quality is just superb and all the room to work is amazing. For your amusement, Zeek 2.0 helping me with the photo shoot (10 months at time of shoot):

I would like to applaud Tagan/Aplus for their effort to bring a top quality case to market that also caters to the water cooling enthusiast. As their first H20 capable offering, they do have some areas to improve on. Due to the limited pass-through sizing at the top of the case, I was unable to test my water cooling system with the radiator on the exterior of the case. I was however able to mount the radiator inside the case with the fans mounted between the radiator and the top panel of the case. This proved to be a very inefficient, loud and warm way of doing water cooling. Temperatures jumped between 10-20% that of what they were, for example, with the Danger Den Water Box Plus.

On the plus side, this case if very sturdy, light weight and extremely flexible. The tool-less design needs some congratulations with its single thumb screw removing of side panels and anti-vibration HDD mounts, but I felt kind of ripped off when I saw only four of the seven 5.25" drive bays with snap-flaps.

At $249 USD, I find that this case competes directly with the Lian Li PC-V2010B. At a $60+ USD savings, I say I can live without the brand name and the fancy wheels-for-feet! This is a Kickass, Gameman's Choice, product for those looking for a top-of-the-line case with extreme flexibility and water cooling options for under $300 USD. Our thanks and appreciation goes out to Tagan for their supply of this review sample and their continued support of 3dGameMan.com!

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