Lian Li PC-A10

Dec 1, 2006
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I am building a new system and looking for a decent case. The reviews on this one look very good and I am in a mind to buy one at £175 GBP.

I have bought Lian-Li producrs before and have a bit of a love affair with them.

Before I spend all that cash are there any showstoppers concerning this case I should know about?

Proposed new PC:
Intel 6600, air cooling, (Probably) not SLI, MSI P965 Platinum Mobo, No overclocking beyond what manufacturer's utilities provide (and I will turn that off if possible), Not one of the huge 8800 video cards for now, normal (sane) HD and optical drive requirements. probably over the top power supply at 750Watts give or take a 100 Watts. Quieter running end result is better - but I'm not particularly going for a silent build.

I have been frightened off the coolermaster rc-830 series by some appalling stuff people have reported on the Web about build quality and general shoddiness.

Please let me have any feedback - good or bad.

Thanks in advance.
 

ShockwaveVT

Senior member
Dec 13, 2004
830
1
0
I have one and I'm very impressed. Build Quality is top-notch.

Installation is easy in the spacious case, true tool-less 5.25" bays (can still use screws if you like) removable motherboard tray, thumbscrews galore, hard drives get a slide-in setup. Plenty of space for large a PSU w/ modular connections (x2!). Wire management is a cinch as well, the sides of the 5.25" bays have plates screwed to each side that are basically removable wiring covers.

Overall the case is very quiet. 120mm fans, build in fan speed control (for 2 fans), rubber mounting for HDD and most of the fans, leave only an occasional vibration/rattle noise in the side panels but this can be corrected with a bit of Dynamat or similar noise damping material. This is more a product Aluminum construction rather than the design or quality of the case. If really really quiet is your goal, Antec P-180 may be a better bet, but this case is superior all-around.

About the only thing that should be improved are the arrangement of the HDD bays, they aren't as airflow friendly as they could be. Also, beyond 3 HDD you get into blocking the airflow down there completely, unless you decide to go with a 5.25" bay converter. (plenty of room to do that)

I have some pictures I'll post up later today.
 
Dec 1, 2006
51
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Thank you Shockwave.

As I mentioned in my original post I won't have many hard drives. Maybe only one.


Your post reinforces my desire to own one of these cases


 

TBSN

Senior member
Nov 12, 2006
925
0
76
Yeah, I'm interested in this Case as well. The price is a little extreme, considering you can get a P180 for under $100 after rebates, but still, this case looks ill.

I'm sure people would love to see pictures, shockwave. Thanks!
 

ShockwaveVT

Senior member
Dec 13, 2004
830
1
0
OK here are some poor quality pictures. Eventually I'll sit down and get some good ones.

Unfortunately I don't have any good shots of the exterior of the case, so I'll give you a quick top-down description. Near the front edge of the top of the case there is a small door that conceals the 2xUSB, 1x1394, Line Out and Mic In ports. This flap serves to protect the connectors from dust when not in use.

The front door opens to about 135 degrees and has slats on the sides that are about 1" deep, allowing plenty of air to enter to feed the front 120mm intake fan and any 5.25" bay coolers.
Inside the door we have the power and activity LEDs located at the top right, visible with the door open or closed. Next to them is a 3-position switch for the built in fan controller. Below the seven 5.25" bays are the power & reset switches, which are wired with LEDs that mimic the power & activity LEDs above. Really cool effect but only visible when the door is open. Below the switches is the intake for the front 120mm fan. It does not include a filter.


Upper Chamber
Here's an overview of the motherboard & 5.25" stack, showing the general arrangement of the case and my half-decent wiring job. The case is spacious, and I think an 8800 would fit in here no problem.

The top fan is an intake, the rear fan is an exhaust, the GPU cooler fan is an exhaust, and the lower chamber fan is an intake. I chose to connect the upper intake and the lower intake to the built-in 3 speed fan controller. (mounted top front of the case). At the top right of the motherboard tray you can see the power connector for the rear 120mm fan, I set it this way so its easy to disconnect when pulling out the tray.

The case comes with extenders for the 4pin and 24pin (also doubles as a dual PSU adapter) motherboard power lines, but I found them to be unnecessary with my P5NSLI and M12.

Those gray tabs along the 5.25 stack are the tool-less mounting option. They have 2 stubs that clip into the screw holes on your 5.25 devices. They only attach from one side so if you move the case around a lot, its probably best to utilize screws. The plate on the side of the 5.25 is removable and gives access to taking off the plastic clips, as well as providing a handy wire guide. (I used the plate on the rear for this purpose - see below)

Lower Chamber
Here you can see the PSU with intake fan aimed outward towards the side panel (1.5cm clearance). I've noticed no heat/airflow problems with this arrangement. Also note there is plenty of room for modular PSUs.

Also, you can see the HDD arrangement, which is poorly thought out in my opinion. The rear cage mounts 2 HDD's vertically, which blocks air from flowing around them. The front cage is very easy to use and provides the best cooling but the mounting rails still block a lot of airflow. At the most I would place 3 HDD's in that front cage, and none in the rear cage. If you have more than three drives, a 5.25-> HDD converter with built in fan placed up top would be my recommended placement.

5.25 stack detail
another angle
Here you can see my DVD burner as well as the top panel 1394 wiring tucked up at the top. The front panel USB/Audio/1394 wiring all have motherboard header connections, and they are wired so there's a block and an individual pin connection option. Room is left at the top of the stack above the top-most 5.25 bay to store unused connectors (like the 1394 in this case) or extra ATA or power cables.

Note there are 2 divider plates in the 5.25 stack to provide stiffness. They break the 7 bays into a 2-3-2 arrangement. These are held in place with screws and are removable, but not easily. The only effect they have is to limit the placement of a 3x5.25 to 4xHDD bay converter. Lian Li makes both 2x5.25->3xHDD (80mm fan) and 3x5.25->4xHDD (120mm fan) bay converters.

In these pictures you can also see the wiring tucked behind the back-side conduit plate peeking through.

Rear of 5.25 stack
closeup
Here is the back of the 5.25" stack where I ran a lot of wires. The power connector on the left is for the Fan Controller located at the top front of the case. I ran the front USB & audio lines behind the conduit plate, along with the wiring for the LEDs embedded in the power & reset switches. (they mimic the Power-On and HDD activity LEDs at the top of the case)

Wiring Pass-Thru
Along with the wiring pass thru behind the 5.25" stack, you can see the power switch LED lines, along with the USB & Audio front panel connectors coming out from behind the conduit plate. This pass-thru provides a handy wire management route for you fan and 5.25 device power lines.
 

Woofmeister

Golden Member
Jul 18, 2004
1,385
1
76
Boy, there sure are a lot of us interested in this case.

Thanks for the info Shockwave. I'm still torn between the A-10 and the PC-101, but I'm going to make a decision soon.
 

TBSN

Senior member
Nov 12, 2006
925
0
76
almost all the most quiet cases put the PSU at the bottom...
 

TBSN

Senior member
Nov 12, 2006
925
0
76
...I just wish it wasn't $250! Doesn't that seem kinda expensive for a computer case? Or maybe I'm not up to the times...
 

Old Hippie

Diamond Member
Oct 8, 2005
6,361
1
0
I just wish it wasn't $250! Doesn't that seem kinda expensive for a computer case?
It is a little pricey. How about this and I have a coupon for an 8.00 discount and add 20.00 shipping to Ohio. Brings it down to a more tolerable 220.00. I'm gonna talk myself right into this thing.
 

imported_sushicide

Senior member
Jun 20, 2005
228
0
0
How are the PCI cards secured? Every pic I see the sidefan is blocking the view I can't tell if it's toolless lock or thumbscrews.
 

ShockwaveVT

Senior member
Dec 13, 2004
830
1
0
Thumbscrews,

There's many more pictures out on the web - mine are just to show my setup (and are limited by my crap camera).

Also an update to my post - the GPU cooler fan is actually an exhaust, not an intake. Sorry for the mix up.
 
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