Hi all. As some of you know, I've had my Fun with the Torture Rack. I learned a lot, had some fun, and now moving to the next project. My objective is simply to improve my modding skills.
Newegg recently had a special promotion on the Black Pearl ... on sale for $89.99 and free shipping. Since I had a $25.00 coupon from the egg, I picked up the case for $54.99.
This is NOT my ideal case. It's too big. I had actually been looking at one of the Lian Li V1000 models, but just couldn't decide which to get. So, for the price, I figured I could have some fun with the Black Pearl and not be too concerned about messing it up.
What's going into it? Well, I'm just not sure. I have a few options, and those will evolve during the next few days. What I'd appreciate are your comments on how best to water cool this beast. So, here's some pics to get us started:
The BOX:
I saw it, and my first words were, "OMG - it is f'ing HUGE" (sorry, Mom ). You can't appreciate the scale here, but we'll get to that.
Hmmmnnn - this case is specifically designed for water cooling? Let's figure out what works best where, and that's where I'm hoping for some creative input from you folks as we move forward:
Here's the case and a secret component (yes - I know I've given this away elsewhere):
And, just how big is the Black Pearl? If you have seen a Lian Li V2000 model, you know. My understanding is this is essentially a rebadging of that case - maybe with some modifications. Not 100% certain what the differences are. How big is it, you ask? Take a look at this:
That's the Lian Li A05 on the left, the Antec Nine Hundred Two in the middle, and the Big Momma on the end.
A side profile here - my plan was to replace the mesh with a window. Hmmmnnn, not so sure now. It doesn't look all that bad. But we'll see what develops.
The innards - lots of room. The question is "how do we fill it to the best advantage?" SNiiPE_DoGG has done a wonderful job in FLOW - the cases are very similar. But, don't want to just copy and paste - let's come up with something a bit different, perhaps?
The back ... this will become important when we figure out where to put the PSU:
It comes with two holes pre-drilled in the mid-plate. Darn, I wish they'd just give you a blank canvas:
The bottom has holes already - but the solid piece running across the center makes it less then ideal for easy installation of a radiator:
The top also has potential for installation of a radiator - why would they only include 2 holes, when there is plenty of room for 3??? You may have seen my first pass with a dremel - I'm no Ashraf or Kibbler. This could be interesting:
So, that's the Black Pearl. The fit and finish are excellent - the Lian Li birthright is evident. It's "water-cooling" ready, but it's not obvious where the radiators should go. On to the next post ... where we'll look at radiators.
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