Tagan EL DIABLO APLUS Case Review :: Tagan El Diablo A+ Case Exterior

One of the first things you’ll notice on the case is the big fan enclosure being wider than the case, on the front of the case. This is necessitated by the 250mm fan on the case front, as the diameter of the fan is wider than the case itself which is 205mm wide at the top. This accounts for the discrepancy on the size of the case on the manual and the website. The front fan is enclosed in an octagonal cover that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.

The El Diablo has five 5.25” drive bays behind a door that protects the drives. The door is kind of cool as it closes magnetically that alleviates the need for a lock to hold it into place. To open the door simply put your hand on the groove and pull the door open. Tagan has really put some beautiful design work into their case, making the form part of the function. There is also a 3.5” drive bay used for the FDD.

The real star of the show on the El Diablo case, however, is the side panel. The case has a 360mm fan on the side panel or a fan that is three times as wide as a 120mm fan that we are used to. The door on the side panel is of a mesh construction, meaning that you can see inside without the drawbacks of a glass or plastic door. Here again form belies function as the 360mm fan covers nearly the entire motherboard area of the case.

One feature to note is that there are wheels on both sides of the case. The wheels are for the fan controllers of the two fans, one the 360mm fan, the other the 250mm fan. The rear area has the space for the PSU, seven slots for PCI devices and a 120mm fan mount for an optional 120mm fan. As the case has a 360mm fan and a 250mm fan airflow is not likely to be a problem. The Front Panel IO on the case is on the middle of the top of the case which is excellent for cable management but not so good if you want to put something on top of the case as it might block the FP IO. Tagan includes a Firewire port, two jacks for the Front Panel Audio and two USB 2.0 ports. The Power and Reset buttons are behind the door under the 5.25” drive bays. This means that it is unlikely that you will accidentally turn off the computer.