Lian Li A04 - New MicroATX case

I Think that the case has to be specifically made for that bezel. I Know the one in my q11 is attached way outside of the regular CD rom mounting.

but the thing is that the q11 has screws holding the drives in so you can slide it back to accomdate the bezel this has that tooless junk which makes me think it wont work
 
but the thing is that the q11 has screws holding the drives in so you can slide it back to accomdate the bezel this has that tooless junk which makes me think it wont work

Right.. But the bezel attached to the case seporately.. Thats why I was saying it wont work, but it aint got nothing to do with the tool'less design.. The case has to be made for the bezel as far as I can tell.
 
For those that have the case (I just ordered mine last night with the 15% off coupon) what fans are you using in the case?

I have some fans from other cases and builds and was thinking of:

Front Fan Upper - Scythe GT 1450
Fron Fan Lower - Scythe S-Flex SFF21D
Top Fan - Scythe GT 1450
Rear Fan - Nexus Real Silent 80mm
CPU Fan - Scythe PWM

I will not be using the upper HDD tray, just the bottom with 2 HDD's in it, so I thougth I would use the GT 1450 in the top opening as it would be unobstructed and the lower RPM SFF21D (800 rpm) in the bottom opening to give some air to the two HDD's.

CPU cooler will be a Zalman CNPS10X Performa (152mm) with a Scythe SY1225SL12LM-P (PWM) fan.

Wondering what others are using or have you just stuck with the stock fans?
 
currently using CM TX3 cpu fan
rest stock Lian Li case fans

might switch all case fans to GT15 in the summer.
don't know if that's going to make any temp difference.
 
Anyone using an optical drive in their case? Mine doesn't actually fit in all the way cause it hits the motherboard. I can't even use the tool-less latch cause the holes don't line up. Anyone else running into this issue?
 
Anyone using an optical drive in their case? Mine doesn't actually fit in all the way cause it hits the motherboard. I can't even use the tool-less latch cause the holes don't line up. Anyone else running into this issue?

is it an older ide drive? or a bluray one?
 
It's a LG Bluray/HDDVD combo drive from a few years ago. SATA connection, but the drive itself is hitting the motherboard.
 
Not sure why you would want to fit a second fan at the top, it would be counter productive and starve the fan of your CPU cooler of air. I have actually closed the gap between top fan and the cpu cooler to avoid air bypassing the cooler.

It would work only if you have a tower cpu cooler with Fan at the bottom pushing air vertically towards the top. I tried that configuration but you end up taking the hot air of the back of the GPU card, so not efficitent.
 
It's a LG Bluray/HDDVD combo drive from a few years ago. SATA connection, but the drive itself is hitting the motherboard.

I figured out this is more because of my motherboard than the drive itself. I have an Asus m3n78-vm and it's wide enough to actually use the third mounting screw. If I got a board that only uses two instead of all three I think my bluray drive would fit.

Only complaints with this case are the bright blue power led and the bleed it has in the corner of the optical drive bay. I just disconnected the power led though. Cable management is possible in this case but it's not easy. Still from a mATX case it's well thought out and I like it a lot. Thinking of maybe replacing the case fans with quieter ones, but waiting until I get my SB set up in there before I decide.
 
Just back to confirm that the Zalman 9900MAX cooler does fit in the case. Either a back or top exhaust orientation is no problem at all!
 
I ended up getting rid of my PC-A04 as it just did not fit my system well. The cable options are very limited and routing was difficult at best. Looks great, but prefer the PC-A05 which is considerably larger.

My secondary system is in an SG05 and was hoping to move my main system from an Antec Solo to the PC-A04, but ended up just transferring back to the Solo.

Have not tried the FT-03 but might give it a try.
 
My a04 is doing great still.. Currently housing 10TB of storage spread between 6 samsung drives. Next time I dig into it I will get some pics snapped.


And the a04 vs FT03 to me are 2 completely different types of cases. The FT03 is much more flashy while the a04 is more utilitarian. So its a matter of what your using it for & how visible it will be.
 
Considering this case however ive ordered a FT03 which is due to arrive today, but not sure that is the right choice, question is what is the MAX cpu height available, I have a megahalems which is 158mm tall, i know people are saying around 160mm on here but I cant see anyone actually trying a Megahalems in the A04?
 
Considering this case however ive ordered a FT03 which is due to arrive today, but not sure that is the right choice, question is what is the MAX cpu height available, I have a megahalems which is 158mm tall, i know people are saying around 160mm on here but I cant see anyone actually trying a Megahalems in the A04?

It doesn't fit in the A04. I tried it because I read reports it does. If the heatpipes didn't stick past the fins it would.. but it doesn't :)
 
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It doesn't fit. I tried it. If the heatpipes didn't stick past the fins it would.. but it doesn't :)

Doesn't fit the A04 or the FT03? Need a little clarification so as not to confuse folks.
 
do u think the a04 can handle a crossfire 5970 setup? Or are there other better matx cases for this? I'm probably gonna remove both harddrive cages and just have one harddrive in the 5.25" bay.
 
do u think the a04 can handle a crossfire 5970 setup? Or are there other better matx cases for this? I'm probably gonna remove both harddrive cages and just have one harddrive in the 5.25" bay.

Pretty sure there's enough space. According to Lian Li, with the HD cages removed there's space for 370mm cards (~14.5"). Here's a shot of mine before it went to a new home. Card is a 6850 (~9.5").
Na3bp.jpg
 
I just built a WHS 2011 server with this case, couldn't have been happier. Shitload of drive bays (using 5 now), good cooling, very quiet, nice fit and finish etc..

Not as fun as a desktop build, but it was one of the simpler and more pleasant build experiences I've had.
 
I recently completed a build using the Lian Li PC-A04. Some people have commented that build pics with this case are few and far between so I’m adding some of mine to this thread to give others a better idea of fitment and clearances.

My criteria when choosing components was for quietness, low power draw, and good “bang for the buck.”

Build Specs:
Lian Li PC-A04
Intel Core i5-2500k
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler
Asrock Z68 Pro3-m (mATX m/b)
2x 4GB G.Skill Sniper DDR3-1600 1.25V (low voltage) memory kit
Corsair VX430 PSU
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200rpm hard drive
Samsung SH-222ab DVD Recorder

Case accessories:
Acousti AFM02B Ultra Soft Silicone Fan Mounts
2x 10” rounded SATA rev.3 cables
3-pin Fan Y-adapter cable

Initial pic with motherboard and CPU Cooler installed. Keen eyed observers will note that I put the cooler fan and wire clips on reversed. That silly mistake has now been corrected!
LianLiPCA04-1.jpg


A CPU cooler that I highly recommend for this case is the Gelid Tranquillo. Here's a pic showing the clearance for the Tranquillo. The cooler itself is about 153mm high, and when installed there is about 4-5 mm of clearance from the tips of the heatpipes to the side of the case.
LianLiPCA04-2.jpg


Cable routing wasn't too bad for my particular motherboard. Not using a discrete VGA card and only having one hard drive helped greatly, of course. The Corsair VX430 cables were long enough that I could keep them tucked up against the sides and edges of the case. Even the primary ATX cable doesn't disrupt airflow much as it doesn't cross into the interior of the case until the 5 1/4" drive rack. I bought a couple 10" rounded SATA cables which were much easier to route than the difficult to bend flat cables. 10" was just right for my config, with no slack to tuck anywhere.
LianLiPCA04-5.jpg


With the hard drive rack oriented front to back there is plenty of room to tuck extra power supply cables, if your PSU is not modular.
LianLiPCA04-7.jpg


One snafu was that the hole on the motherboard tray for installing a CPU cooler did not line up with the location of my CPU, so that I had to loosen and lift the motherboard off the tray in order to slide the cooler backplate underneath.

A small touch was replacing the screws that hold the top 120mm fan with Acousti AFM02 silicone fan mounts. Though the mounts are not flush with the top of the case, since they are black they really are not very obtrusive. The two 120mm front case fans already have rubber mounts.
LianLiPCA04-6.jpg


I have to say that I am very impressed by the quiet ventilation provided by the case fans that Lian Li included. They can operate at very slow speeds (my motherboard can lower the two front fans down to <600rpm where they are inaudible) but they can also ramp up to provide effective cooling at load. At stock speeds I am currently measuring 26-28 degrees C at idle using CoreTemp, with max temperatures at load (Intel Burn Test 2.51) peaking at 58-59 degrees.
 
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I just bought this case off newegg. Now I gotta, wait until it comes in the mail and I start building in it. (Also got a 6870 to go with the new case so I'm ecstatic).

I have the stock Intel HSF currently but, does anyone have experience with using a a "tower" heatsink in the US? I want to find best temperatures for my CPU that will fit this case. I will post pics when I start building.
 
I just bought this case off newegg. Now I gotta, wait until it comes in the mail and I start building in it. (Also got a 6870 to go with the new case so I'm ecstatic).

I have the stock Intel HSF currently but, does anyone have experience with using a a "tower" heatsink in the US? I want to find best temperatures for my CPU that will fit this case. I will post pics when I start building.

Look up a few posts :)

He's got a 153mm tall Cooler inside his
 
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Look up a few posts :)

He's got a 153mm tall Cooler inside his

I guess I wanted a more "mainstream" or well known tower heatsink like the hyper 212 or s1283.. it's been a while since I've researched air cooling cpu heatsinks so I'm not sure what's really good these days..

Ideally, this heatsink should not have interference with the first pci-e slot as I'll be throwing my 6870 in that slot. (having it heatsink fan close to the gpu worries me as well)
 
Now you're getting picky :)

The Tranquillo is not as well known as the ones you mentioned, but still a good cooler. Not sure about thePCIe clearance though.
 
We are all picky :D

kendalf, are you currently using a graphics card in that first pci-e slot? would it be possible to tell us the clearance your tranquilo hsf has on your board?

Also, would you advise orienting the HSF 180° from the way you have it currently and then switch the fan from push to pull?
 
aberchonbie, I'm not using a graphics card which makes things easy for me, but I can't help you with clearance questions. I think it also depends on the placement of the CPU socket on your particular motherboard. On the Asrock Z68 matx board that I'm using, the socket seems a bit more centered on the board, which reduces clearance to the PCI-e slot, but does provide a little more clearance from the top exhaust fan on the case. I'll try to get actual measurements between HSF and pci-e slot when I get home.

From what I've read about the design of the Tranquillo, I think it will only work effectively using a push config. The fin arrangement probably is not effective with a reversed air flow, unlike the 212+. However, I'm not sure if the 212+ would fit, as its specs say it is 158.5mm tall, which means the top of the heat pipes will likely be pushing against the side of the case.

Hardware Canucks had a pretty good head to head comparison between the Tranquillo and the CM 212+, among other budget heatsinks. The Tranquillo matched the 212+ in most tests, and did so with slightly lower noise using the stock fan. I've been pretty happy with the temperatures I've been getting on a 2500K, even when overclocked to 4.2 Ghz.

Edit: For some reason the forum apparently doesn't want to show the correct link to the HC review. I'm sure you can find it easily.
 
Thanks for your response kendalf, really helpful.

Last quick question: Are you able to take off that bit that says "Tranquilo" on it? LOL!
 
Last quick question: Are you able to take off that bit that says "Tranquilo" on it? LOL!

I'm sure it can be removed (looks like it's held down by only two screws), but that would reduce the cooler's effectiveness. The plastic plate actually serves to prevent air from escaping out the top V-gap between the fan and the heatsink. Page 4 of the Hardware Canucks review gives a brief explanation of the design of the heatsink.
 
Got my A04 today and just completed building. Stock Intel HSF for now, but really contemplating what to do about it..

IMAG0116.jpg
 
I don't know if anyone has tried to fit other types of cooling but options for aftermarket cpu cooling is pretty limited in this case.

Clearance at top is not good for any watercooling units ie. H50, etc. Even if the tubes were to reach the front, the external 5.25 bays and hard drive bays eliminate the option of watercooling.

I wish the case was just a tad deeper to allow for a 120mm at the rear but only a 80mm fan fits there (even though they could have fit a 92mm fan with just a tad more room).

Tower heatsinks don't work too well on most mATX boards as the pci-e is too close to the cpu socket.

Also my front two fans don't work! If I drop a wad of cash on a nice case, the fans should work! My top 120mm fan is also very noisy. I think they gave me a bad batch of fans. I ordered 3 noctua p12's from sidewinder as that's the cheapest I could find.

I guess I will stick with the Intel HSF for now. Anyone else deciding to venture into aftermarket CPU cooling?
 
Still Intel HSF for me but did a quick measurement. Looks like max height is 158mm or 157 so that it doesn't touch the side panel when you close up the case. (The bottom of the metal ruler is touching the motherboard, and the ruler's edge starts at 0.)
IMAG0132.jpg


In regards to the noisy LianLi fan that came on my case mounted at top and the two front fans that refused to spin up, I've replaced with noctuas. I've got them all hooked up via ULNA cable so they spin rather quietly.
IMAG0141.jpg


Now the loudest component in my system is the video card that refuses to chill well with the stock heatsink. I have a hard time putting money into an aftermarket 6870 heatsink even with the idle temp at 42°C.
 
This case the case I have been waiting for. It's perfect from what I seen. I will be placing my order in 1-2 weeks for it. Hoping to catch it on sale before I just buy it.
 
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