ABS Aplus Black Pearl

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: Tullphan
IDC, I have a question for you.
In your pic here, it shows the CPU shroud mounted...albeit turned 90 degrees.
In your followup picture here, it's gone.
I see you're using a Tuniq Tower. Did you decide not to use it? In theory it seems kinda like a good idea if it'd work that way.
Also, any plans to go H2O w/this monster?
Looks good!

Hi Tullphan, you have quite an observant eye for the details!

Yes I did mount the provided fan shroud rotated 90° such that it accommodated my Tuniq120.

Also not shown in the pictures is the fact that I cut off the end of the shroud before actual testing with it in place so that the rounded end did not impede the exhaust airflow on the output side of the Tuniq HSF.

That said I do not have it installed anymore (as you saw in the later pics).

The reasoning for this is best captured in this graph.

Idle temps were about 2.5°C lower without the shroud in place, fully loaded temps were about 5°C lower without the shroud in place.

Personally I was quite surprised to see the delta be so large.

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: Fallen Kell
Personally I am not sure about this case. It is essentially the Lian Li PC-201B without a front door and with easier to remove lower hard drive cages (the Lian Li ones were not a full cage but two metal frames which were screwed into the bottom of the case and the middle divider wall that separates the lower chamber from the motherboard chamber). After living with the PC-201B for 2-3 years now, it really isn't as good as it should be. It looks like the Pearl might have fixed my biggest gripe, which is that I could not install my Tuniq Tower in the orientation that you have (I had to point the fan up) towards the video card/side exhaust fan which isn't that bad, but sucks considering how much better the airflow would work otherwise...might simply be my motherboard combo).

My other gripe has to do with cable lengths and management/routing, especially for SATA cables. There is no way to route them so that they are out of the airflow path due to how far the hard drives are from the motherboard and/or controller cards. I am using the max length SATA cables and they just reach (if you use the bottom hard drive slot). You really could use an extra six inches of slack to be able to move/bundle them out of the way.

If you need a big case, well, you won't find too many bigger (asside from the MountainMod Cubes). If they added the extra 1/2 inch (1cm) space between the bottom (well technically top since it is inverted) of the motherboard is located and the internal divider to accommodate large heatsinks, then this could be a really good case.

It's closer to a V2000 imo without the hole ridden front.

Are you using 1 meter SATA cables? I had no problem with wire routing when I was using the stock hard drive location in mine.

What heatsinks extend past a motherboard? The CPU socket would have to be very very low on a motherboard for a heatsink to make contact with the shelf on this case.

I would like an extra inch or half an inch of space though. It makes it a real pain for me to unplug the 8-pin CPU power connector on my P5Q deluxe.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Originally posted by: Tullphan
IDC, I have a question for you.
In your pic here, it shows the CPU shroud mounted...albeit turned 90 degrees.
In your followup picture here, it's gone.
I see you're using a Tuniq Tower. Did you decide not to use it? In theory it seems kinda like a good idea if it'd work that way.
Also, any plans to go H2O w/this monster?
Looks good!

Hi Tullphan, you have quite an observant eye for the details!

Yes I did mount the provided fan shroud rotated 90° such that it accommodated my Tuniq120.

Also not shown in the pictures is the fact that I cut off the end of the shroud before actual testing with it in place so that the rounded end did not impede the exhaust airflow on the output side of the Tuniq HSF.

That said I do not have it installed anymore (as you saw in the later pics).

The reasoning for this is best captured in this graph.

Idle temps were about 2.5°C lower without the shroud in place, fully loaded temps were about 5°C lower without the shroud in place.

Personally I was quite surprised to see the delta be so large.

That was an interesting graph. I, too, was surprised at the results.
Do you ever plan to go H2O w/that case? If so, is there room at the top for a 120x2 to accomodate the provided exhaust routes & tubing holes?
Is that case as massive as it appears in the photo?

 

[Idontcare]

Hi Tullphan, I know next to nothing about H2O cooling but Aigo has this same case so he'd be a great resource to ask. If/when I do go water I will want to try it with this case first before trying anything else.

The case is awesome to work with and in, regardless of the cooling used it is just a nice and easy case for cable routing and keeping things cool. It is a large case to be sure, larger than I had anticipated but I like it larger.

 

[Zepper]

Case has similarities to the Rocketfish Full Tower aluminum case (also a LL OEM job). Some of the tips developed for that might be useful to owners of this case. Search for the threads.

.bh.

 

[sparkuss]

For IDC, Aigo, or anyone else that has pulled the lower cages out of the bottom. How strong is that remaining shelf across the middle? Does it flex at all? Will it support any kind of additional weight bolted to it?

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: sparkuss
For IDC, Aigo, or anyone else that has pulled the lower cages out of the bottom. How strong is that remaining shelf across the middle? Does it flex at all? Will it support any kind of additional weight bolted to it?

Its quite strong, could probably hold 20-30lbs without breaking if I had to guess.

 

[sparkuss]

IDC,

Thanks, I'm still considering a water cooling setup in there. Course they're discontinued at Newegg, I'll have to find one somewhere else. Should have just picked one up no matter how far off I am on my build.

 

[gangster]

iam in same boat i wanted one aswell
anybody want to sell?

 

[aigomorla]

I would not recommend the ICY DOCK for any computer you want to be quiet. It tends to rattle a lot.

havent notice mine rattle.

i bought it disregarding your recommendation, because the computer is in another room.

But it seems to be fine...

Care to elaborate?

 

[sparkuss]

WooHoo,

I found one on Ebay and managed to win the auction.

For IDC,

Did you make any initial attempt to get your PSU cables behind the MB tray? I just pulled the back cover and there isn't much clearance there.

Maybe I can try re-sleeving the cables to get them tighter or maybe even flat? I haven't picked out a final PSU yet.

 

[wonSR4]

I bought this case a little less than a month ago and I love it. Coming from a P180 which was getting cramped to this case which is so spacious was nice. The only thing I forgot about was that my sata cables weren't long enough. I incorporated some of the things that IDC did when it came to hiding the cables and what not. As for hiding the PSU cables behind the MB tray, that would be really hard to do. I ended up just bundling the PSU cables with a zip tie and left it there.

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/6527/pict0052eg.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/7271/pict0053vv.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1421/pict0055do.jpg
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7168/pict0058v.jpg
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/8968/pict0046p.jpg
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/2183/pict0047en.jpg
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/1885/pict0049d.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6048/pict0050xk.jpg
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/845/pict0051g.jpg

 

[sparkuss]

wonSR4,

Yeah I see that there is no space there. I'm going to be trying WC this build so I am hoping to reserve both those cable cutouts in the upper floor for WC tubing.

I'm wondering if I could try re-sleeving the PSU cables like below to get the flat portion to fit behind the MB tray.

/-----------\
----------------------------
\-----------/

Photo by ROID450, imagine the cables near the red cable tie if laid flat behind the MB tray.
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss20/elbatcho/enermax%20sleeve/blackneardone006.jpg