These days it takes a lot to get me to take notice when a new case arrives here at the Club, but today's case definitely piqued my interest.  Just one look at the latest from Tagan's Aplus case line will show you this is no ordinary case.  Boasting a world record 360 mm side fan, the El Diablo isn't something you see every day.  But is the massive fan just a gimmick or is it really worth bringing this case to your next build, lets find out!

     This is exactly how the Tagan El Diablo arrived at the Club.  The box is large and the graphic really shows off the case style and massive fans.  The sides are devoted to the specifications but with the exception of the size of both the case and fans, they are pretty standard so we'll get to them in a minute.  The El Diablo case is only offered in black with silver trim and no power supply option is offered.

     Lets take a closer look at the case starting with the boring side.  The case is quite large measuring in at about 8" x 20.5" x 22.5"  (220x220x30MM) making it a full ATX case even without the widened fan housing.  the steel construction and full case size bring the overall weight in at about 30 lbs empty.

     The front is dominated by the blue LED lit clear 250 mm fan.  The top door is accented with a silver to match the sides and contains two lights in the A+ and the space below it.  These two lights are tied to the power and drive activity lights.

     The left side is almost completely open to the inside with a fine mesh.  A row of Allen style bolts hold things in place making a window mod a very real option.  Of course you will probably only really notice the massive clear 360 mm fan.  Just in case the fan doesn't catch your eye it lights up quite nicely with a set of blue LEDs as well.

     Each side flare is accented by its own bank of blue accent lighting around the back curve.  The two case fans are controlled by a set of speed control dials as seen here with the white arrow.  The button on each side of the front fan also gives you an easy way to turn off each side fan and light.  Its a nice option, but why would you want to?

     The back of the El Diablo is pretty standard with a couple of notable exceptions. There are also several round punch outs for water cooling or other external devices.  Nice touch.

     The external ports are located about half way back on the top behind a small plastic door.  The port selection is pretty minimal with a single 1394, 2 USB 2.0 ports and a set of audio I/O ports.  The USB ports were mounted slightly offset but functioned fine.  The lack of a clasp or magnet device to hold the door closed is a real letdown making the flimsy door a bit of a liability if you use it often or if you tend to move your PC a lot like I do.

     Drawing on a server style the El Diablo has oversize feet that swing out for extra stability.  Each is well padded and arrived with tight enough mounting they held firmly in place.

Features:

• Huge Front 250mm Blue LED fan with on/off switch fan speed control.

• Enormous Side 360mm Blue LED fan with on/off switch fan speed control.

• Case open Alert.

• Tool-less HDD, DVD, Floppy kit.

• Tool-less removable rear 120mm fan mount bracket.

• External Water cooling kit holes. (Rear of Case)

• Cool dual side VR blue LED light.

• Top audio, firewire, USB ports.

• Easy PCI card install flip switch.

• Ultra high heat dissipation.

• 4 X Bottom Leg Stands.

• Expansion slots with tool-less kit.
  

Specifications:

Model: CS-EL Diablo BM
Article#: 10096
Brand: Aplus
Case:
External 5.25" bays:5
External 3.5" bays:1
Internal 3.5" bays:6

Material Chassis: Metal
Color Chassis: Black
Side Window: Mesh
Power Supply Incl: None 

Dimension: 205 x 520 x 570 mm
Material: 0.8mm SECC
M/B Form Factor: Micro ATX, Standard ATX, Ext ATX (12"x13")
Side: 1x360mm (on/off switch, VR adjustable fan speed)
Front: 1x250mm (on/off switch, VR adjustable fan speed)
Rear: 1x120mm (Optional)

Side 36cm fan (VR)
DIMENSIONS: 335x335x33MM
BEARING TYPE: SLEEVE BEARING
RATED VOLTAGE: 12.0 VDC
START-UP VOLTAGE: 6 VDC (NORMAL)
RATED CURRENT: 0.16-0.55 A ±10%
RATED POWER: 1.92-6.60W
AIR FLOW: 90.5-205.36CFM
STATIC AIR PRESSURE: 0.83-1.76 mmAq
NOISE LEVEL: 22.08-30.93Dba
RATED SPEED: 50--600 RPM±10%(VR)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: 30000Hours at 25℃/65%RH

Front 25cm fan (VR)
DIMENSIONS: 220x220x30MM
BEARING TYPE: SLEEVE BEARING
RATED VOLTAGE: 12.0 VDC
START-UP VOLTAGE: 7 VDC
RATED CURRENT: 0.30 A ±10%
RATED POWER: 3.60W ±10%
RATED SPEED: max 800 RPM ±10%
AIR FLOW: 150.49CFM Max.
STATIC AIR PRESSURE: 0.97mmAq
NOISE LEVEL: 32.1dBA
LIFE EXPECTANCY: 30000Hours at 25℃/65%RH 

     The packaging contains a set of rails for all of the drive bays, extra fan mounts for the optional rear 120 mm location, the usual set of screws and a simple User manual.  The included back plate was not mounted by default but may make someone out there happy, I guess.