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EXTERNAL TOUR
The appearance is fairly unremarkable. The matte black finish is pretty much
par for the high end course, but there's no sign of shiny titanium or glowing
LED lights. There are a few places where Tagan has branded their logo onto the
casing, but that's pretty much where the visual adornments stop.
Note the extremely open rear grill.
There are a couple of minor design quirks that set the EasyCon XL apart from
other power supplies. One is the length: At 175mm long, it complies with the
recommended length for EPS12V power supplies in its capacity level. The only
problem is that some cases are only designed to fit the 140mm length that is
standard for ATX12V units. You'll want to double-check that your case has room
for a longer power supply — and don't forget that the detachable cables
add about three centimeters to the total length.
Venting along the side of the casing keeps hot components cool.
The other unusual aspect of the exterior is a long vent that runs down one
side of the power supply. Presumably, there are hot components here that would
otherwise be improperly cooled. However, the position of these vents is a little
strange, as there's not always a lot of space for airflow between the power
supply and the side panel.
CABLES AND CONNECTORS
There are a total of fourteen cable sets (wow), all of which are sleeved in
either black vinyl or copper EMI shielding:
- 18" cable for main 20+4-pin ATX connector — sleeved in black vinyl
- 18" cable for 4+4-pin AUX12V connector — sleeved in black vinyl
- 18" ground wire
- 2 x 21" cables for 6-pin PCIe connector — with a ferrite ring
and sleeved in copper mesh
- 2 x 23" cables with two 4-pin IDE drive connectors — sleeved in
black vinyl
- 1 x 18" cable with two 4-pin IDE drive connectors — sleeved in
black vinyl
- 1 x 21" cable with one 4-pin IDE drive connector — with a ferrite
ring and sleeved in copper mesh
- 2 x 23" cables with two SATA drive connectors — sleeved in black
vinyl
- 2 x 18" cables with two SATA drive connectors — sleeved in black
vinyl
- 1 x Molex to 2 x Floppy adapter with one 6" cable and one 10"
cable
Overall, we were a bit surprised at how short the cables seemed to be, the
main motherboard and AUX cables in particular. 18" is not long enough for
some high end cases (for example, Antec's P180), especially those with unusual
layouts. We also found the cables very stiff and hard to manage, especially
the cables with copper sleeving.
Aside from the main motherboard headers, the +12V AUX connector, and the mysterious
ground wire, all of the cables are modular and need only be installed when necessary.
Unusual modular connections that appear to be modified PCIe plugs.
The modular connectors are large and easy to grip, and they mate snugly and
securely. In fact, they're a little too snug: The photo below shows what can
happen if you pull a little too enthusiastically when you're disconnecting the
cables...
The modular sockets can be pulled out by accident.
The two PCI Express cables are color coded and use slightly different plugs
from the rest of the cables, making it impossible to accidentally plug the cables
in wrongly.
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