help choosing a Lian Li Case

[mike82y]

Dear HardForum member,

I am about to upgrade my 6 years old computer.
right now im looking at

Lian Li PC-B70 (2009 model)
Lian Li PC-P80 Armorsuit

I dont have experience with any of Lian Li cases, can you guys give me some tips?

mike

 

[jterp7]

what are your needs and what is your budget? Care about noise? (you'll need one with a door for starters)

 

[mike82y]

I want to build a High Performance i7 PC to replace my AMD Athlon XP Barton 3200+
I was going to wait for Corsair 800D but I think its gonna first come out at the end of the year in Europe

I like the look of both cases, I think the tooless setup is a bit different..

 

[jterp7]

if you want the get the armorsuit on the cheap get it at your local MC (mine only has one left), if you have one nearby I'd also take a look at the A71 for 100 less than the B70.

 

[E.T]

P80 is Thermaltrashed bling bling version of Stacker style A77 with intake fans sandwhiched between two meshes instead of just one restriction and PSU forced to act as exhaust for hot air of components. Also accessing optical drives requires opening that fake door (doesn't do anything to contain noise) leaving case cooling on shoulders of only exhaust fans.

B70 again is more fashionable edition of A70 with more noise leaking front. That useless light and thin foam in side panels would prevent installing anything which actually works... to vibration induced noise because thanks to quite open front you can't do much to airborne noise. (except lowering speed of fans and in general getting rid of moving mechanical parts)
Also tool-less PCI prevents possibility of adding PCI cooler so it's anything else than plain advantage... (these new blingy Lian Lis just keep getting farther and farther from utilitarian no nonsense A70/71)

 

[haadij404]

my a05b is doing a great job keeping my i7 rig happy and cool

granted i did mod a blowhole up top and replaced the stock fans with some that can push more air.

 

[mike82y]

what case do you recommend E.T?
I would like to buy a big case... maybe I should just buy Antec 1200, the price seems reasonable

 

[jterp7]

A71.

There was actually another thread and the 1200 is only slightly cheaper than the all aluminum and quieter A71.

 

[E.T]

I would like to buy a big case... maybe I should just buy Antec 1200, the price seems reasonable

That short in depth ATX case is overpriced for its half plastic consuctruction and lack of working space with long graphics cards:
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviewimages/antec1200/pictures/43.JPG
(or look how near motherboard HDDs would end up)

In E-ATX sized A71 there's working space and there's no way for graphics cards to mess accessing/use of drive bays or the reverse.

 

[Auzner]

I have a PC-A71B as well. It's my first Lian Li and an awesome case
I feel like I should only buy Lian Li now so I can interchange their parts and accessories like Legos or something. Any accessory you buy from them will match their cases. And you can swap parts between cases. It's all nice looking and goes together well. The PC PC-A17 has a bunch of drive bays like the armor case. If you want all fans infront you can also get two BZ-502's. Its hard drives are held with a EX-33N at the bottom.

The PC-B70 looks like a good choice as well. Personally I don't like that appearance, but internally it's the same as the PC-A71 but with Lian Li's drive mount revision. Their latest plan involves a caddy for each drive whereas the A71 generation you simply screwed rubber mounts onto the drive and slid it in. Like how EX-332N is EX-33N with the the caddy update. The only reason to think about it is if you're switching drives around. I once had 3 Antec cases and they all had drive rails and none of the rails were compatible in other cases and that was frustrating.

 

[E.T]

The PC-B70 looks like a good choice as well. Personally I don't like that appearance, but internally it's the same as the PC-A71 but with Lian Li's drive mount revision.

Frame size/basic design is same as A70 but after that there's quite a few differences, most of them "one step forward and one and half backwards" fashion gimmicks:
-Tool-less PCI preventing installing PCI cooling kit. (anyone here changing cards daily?)
-Tool-less/easy to use rail systems of 5.25" bays can be major pain in the neck for secure installing of short devices like card readers/fan controllers designed for standard screw mounting.
-After A70/71 they put there mesh for restricting PSU's fan. (why would anyone want to hinder cooling?)
-That useless light and thin Akasa/Spire etc crapmat in side panels needing removal before installing actually working stuff is possible.
-Previously metallic air filter frames are now plastic. (anyone want to bet which is more surely intact five years later?)
-Also new HDD cage with metal HDD caddies is just step backwards: HDD already in contact with metal parts which can amplify noise. Effectively prevents airflow from cooling electronics of drive. Increase in size of airflow obstacle inside cage which now also lacks second pair of fans for boosting/refocusing airflow toward main components.

So from utilitarian viewpoint it's like paying more for half useless features limiting versatility or being plain disadvantages.
Maybe good for someone wanting fashion but not justifiable by usefulness/versatility.

 

[mike82y]

thank you guys.

hey E.T:.. after reading your comments on both cases, I have to agree with you that A71 is the the better choice out of all.. the only thing I dislike the case is the front door... is there any other big cases that you would reconmmend?

 

[King Icewind]

Just by looks i like the Lian Li PC-P80 Armorsuit.

Have you looked at the Antec Twelve Hundred? Its real nice looking and keeps everything cool. It also has a decent layout on the inside

 

[jterp7]

having a door means that by default the A71 is already quieter than the A70, before doing anything at all, like undervolting fans. It will be at least 6dB quieter than the 1200 and provide equivalent cooling if not better.

 

[E.T]

I have to agree with you that A71 is the the better choice out of all.. the only thing I dislike the case is the front door... is there any other big cases that you would reconmmend?

A70 is similar to A71 except lack of direct noise escape path blocking door.

having a door means that by default the A71 is already quieter than the A70

Door's efffect to noise of intake fans is probably "around 200rpm drop" in noise but that varies depending on noise spectrum and how close it's to background noise to start with...
Also didn't try stock fans except listening them separately.

 

[jterp7]

My bro (A70 owner) has removed 2 fans and undervolted and has a makeshift noise reducer (don't ask). I can't help think how much quieter it would be just with a door. He has 3-4 fairly loud HDs though, I'm guessing you'd need mats for that?

It sits on a stand to his right btw.

 

[aubsxc]

Newegg has free shipping on the Cooler Master ATCS 840 right now (for $189 shipped), which I think is a fair price for a very well made case on par with the more expensive Lian Li towers. And if you are looking for an AMD cpu, the 840 comes bundled with the 940 and 955 BE processors along with a very healthy combo discount.

 

[E.T]

He has 3-4 fairly loud HDs though, I'm guessing you'd need mats for that?

Only elastic suspension insulates all vibration so mass damping is useful especially in case of acoustically bad HDDs. Also HDDs radiate noise directly so again blocking direct noise escape path helps.
(plastic wrap around HDD trays like in ATCS are just little better than hard mounting)

 

[mike82y]

if I understand correctly. the only differences between Lian Li PC-A71A and Lian Li PC-A70A is the front door?

 

[jterp7]

allegedly, the HD mounting is also slightly different, with the A71 slightly improved..not enough to be significantly better though. If thats true, then door + better mounting = lower noise, though most of that should be the result of the door, as mentioned previously.

 

[E.T]

Main cage has used rubber grommets from the start in both (secondary top HDD cage had originally hard mounting) but as components are common I would think that also A70 has same less airflow restricting design of main cage that A71 had already in May of last year...
But then again I'm not actually sure have I seen pics of A70 with that soft mounting secondary cage.

 

[Zoson]

IMO the best Lian Li case on the market at the moment is the A17. I have an A10B, and that is also wonderful.

 

[Tullphan]

I'm anxiously awaiting the LanCool PC-K62.
To me, it appears to be a steel/plastic version of the LL PC-P50.
It's not one of the ones you mentioned, but I thought i'd throw it in for giggles.