ABS/Tagan Black Pearl - evolution of a water-cooled rig

[shazza]

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.

[shazza]

When I decided to get the Black Pearl, I thought it would be an ideal candidate to try out the new Thermochill PA140.3. I'm intrigued by the possibility of getting a nice noise/performance ratio with the larger fans. So much for my savings on the case, but I thought it might be fun to have something "new" to work with.


The PA140.3 came in the white box you see in Pic No. 3 in the first post. What's inside:



It came with a gasket, and also some screws.




First thing I did was compare it to a PA120.3 --- hmmmnnnn, I was surprised. It thought it would be bigger than the PA120.3 - which is the one in the front:







hehe ... photo noob here. What I got in the above pic was perspective distortion from the lens (using the lower end of a 24-105mm f/4.0 zoom). Can be corrected in photoshop, but that's for later. So, a few different perspectives follow, just to show that the PA140.3 is HUGE. It ain't no Monsta, but it's a big boy.






Comparing to the PA120.3 and a PA120.2 (and a RAID can for scale - lots of bugs in the desert, so have to be prepared at all times )






Adding the MCR320 and XSPC RX120 to the party:






And a few more, to show the size in comparison to the case:




















SO, MY QUESTION ... where is the best place to mount the PA140.3 in this case????

[Dangals]

I am looking forward to see what you do with this Shazza - no doubt it will be another beauty when finished

[jpm804]

Can't wait to see what you do with this worklog.....

I got my Black Pearl also yesterday and the thing is huge .... I also understand you when you say it's no so obvious where the radiators should go in this case.

I'm going external for now and might change it up later... can't wait to see what you end up doing////

[EliTE22]

nice looking case

would u mine telling me whats the height of the bottom compartment of the case?

thanks

[skinnee]

:popcorn:

[viper2004]

Nice, Shazza!

I too will be starting a black pearl project log and I have lots of plans

nice looking case

would u mine telling me whats the height of the bottom compartment of the case?

thanks

I just measured and it's exactly 9.5"

[EliTE22]

viper2004
[QUOTE I just measured and it's exactly 9.5"[/QUOTE]

thanks

think ill be picking one up for a nice SS build

[Kibbler]

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:

There's a grievous error in this post...

When it comes to dremel skills it goes more like

Ashraf (and bill owens coolmeister DB CD and other notables etc.)=============================>me=====>my cat



++looking forward to another of your worklogs!!

[dingdong555]

woohoo, looking forward to this!

[matsjuw]

Looks very interesting, looking forward to another purty build

[CptDreadFlint]

Great to see another build from you Shazza as I always enjoy your worklogs. Can't wait to see what awesomeness you have in store for us

[PeterStoba]

Subscribed $54.99 is a steal for a case like that.

[flak-spammer]

That's exactly 100% identical to a lian-li PC-V2000B. for $55.00 you are lucky mine was $300 and a was going to be $80 in shipping. . Anyways I hope you like it cause it's huge, lanning with one is a pain.

[dreamaxx]

Damn, wanna swap that case for my V1000? I really really wanted the black pearl, but nobody brings them into Aus, and they'd never in a million years go for $89.99. I really wish I could have got in on that deal

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this case at any rate Even though I will be stewing in jealousy over here

I just measured and it's exactly 9.5"

Sorry what did you just measure? :O

[Rise]

awesome shazza

i'd like to offer up some suggestions before you do anything - since you're looking to expand your modding experience, why not go with a whole bunch of non-standard stuff? I'd love to see you mess around with something like a Monsta rad, or maybe one of the new 140.x setups. Maybe you could even make your own res! Voigts has put together some great hand-made res tutorials as have some other folks which might be worth checking out. There are many other things to suggest but it's your build so everything is for you to decide... either way, I'm sure it will come out great and it will be a lot of fun to watch!

[dreamaxx]

Pretty sure she already got a 140.3 right?

Shaz when are you coming to Australia? Even though I've moved, I hope we'll still be able to meet up I'm on the Gold Coast now...

[Arthur]

Hey @shazza,

Black Pearl is incredible case for WC setup and you bought it quite cheap well. I searched this case long time but I could not find in my country anyway. After that I decided to take my V2000. Black Pearl and V2000 appearently same chassis with little differences but its oke. Both of cases are great potential on WC setup.

I am looking forward to see your worklog with this case.

Cheers,
Arthur

PS: I collecting my WC parts for a while, I'll add my worklog on XS quite soon.

[PradaG]

Nice Sharon!

Quite a deal too

bring on the pics

[illidan]

pepsi


subd here... waiting for more

[Chris_redfield]

$54.99 for a Black Pearl!!! Thats possibly the deal of the century. Can't wait to see this build up and running should be good. Thats a nice case to work with.

[muki | sk.4um]

subd

[genERIC]

Definitely going to subscribe to this one, I've wanted to do the black pearl for a while, wish I would have known it was on the egg for 90 bucks, oh well. Maybe I'll catch it next time. Can't wait to see what you do to this!

[shazza]

Post No. 2 updated with radiator pics. WHERE DO I MOUNT A PA 140.3 in this case?

WOW ... thanks for all the nice responses and words of encouragement. I do appreciate the support, and I know I can count on you folks for some good advice.

@ Rise - you got it! This case looks like it will handle the PA 140.3 just fine - if only I can figure out where to put it. I'm all ears on suggestions. It's one thing to review numerous builds others have done, but it's good to get ideas from you guys, because there are many things I won't think of on my own.

@ Dreamaxx - funny, sounds like we are each going to be working with the case the other wants BTW, we're planning our trip to Australia for July 2010.

Glad to see several other Black Pearl builds in process. I expected we might see several, given the special deal on the case. The main difference I can see with the Lian Li model is the front display/fan/temp controller. Limits modding options for the front a bit, I think, but doesn't look bad. Maybe get a whole new side panel and try something different?


Inserting pic to break up boring text. I don't think I'll try the PA140.3 in my Lian Li A05 (although phinix_mike is going to do it, I think):







Here are some things I know I want to do with the case:

1) Paint or Powder Coat the internals. Haven't decided on a color - have to figure out which hardware is going in. Probably black (it's the safe choice - but then, I do like color in my builds).

2) Utilize the PA 140.3 in a way that achieves good airflow and also allows for a nice job on routing my tubing.

3) Undecided on exchanging the mesh with plexi. PPCs sells a precut window for the V2000 series, which I imagine would work here. I could also do my own.

4) Am willing to cut into the case or radiator/fan grills - will either do it myself or pay someone to do it. More fun to try it myself.

5) Have not decided on a pump or reservoir combo yet.

6) Will be sleeving my wires, because I just love to sleeve. Want to see if I can get the back of the motherboard tray to look as good as Charles does in his builds (okay - maybe half as good???)

7) Haven't decided on hardware for sure. I'll post a few options later.


I started this log for selfish reasons - because I want to get ideas and help as I go along, and the feedback keeps me motivated. I also thought it might be useful to someone new to liquid cooling to see one way to approach a new build. Some of the new people think they need to know everything they are going to use and how they are going to lay it out before they even start their build. I wish I could do that - I love the render work that Laine is doing. I tend to take a meandering road to the end, enjoying the mystery of which direction I'll head and what the end result will be. Enough rambling! On to figure out my hardware selections...

[dualbrain]

Shazza: Go hard - go and place the rad vertical. As I have no time to play that much ... you do it This way I see how someone dares, and who could do better than you? Right ... none!