Rocketfish by Lian Li Aluminum Full Tower Case - first impressions

[Zepper]

Might want to read this on Paxmate and similar - http://www.dansdata.com/foam.htm
I don't know any test of Paxmate and similar that found any significant difference. I know that regular Sonex can deaden a room pretty well - no idea how it works in the tight confines of a case. I'll have to find some of that roofer's tape to see what it's like. I've used rope caulk (Mortite/Frost King) to deaden case surfaces and it works but you have to use quite a bit - sort of defeats the concept of a light case...

.bh.

 

[Bluefront]

Roofer's tape comes in rolls 8" wide.....different lengths. It's like Dynamat, sticky on one side, and with aluminum backing. Once applied it won't come off. You can find the stuff at large hardware stores (Home Depot) that sell shingles and roofing pieces. It costs maybe 1/3 as much as Dynamat.

Paxmate won't quiet a super noisy computer, but it does prevent sound from bouncing off solid surfaces. And it's cheap, easy to apply. It will seal cracks, and uneven surfaces. I use it to cover internal pieces of the case that won't handle a thicker dampening foam.

Here's the Paxmate I've been using. It comes in a box with a different name on the outside, but the name Paxmate on the inside. Paxmate is heavier than other similar stuff.....and can be removed if you're careful. The other stuff is much lighter, and rather flimsy.

 

[imported_Jackyl]

Can I install a power supply that has a large fan on it? Like this Antec. It appears that the mounting holes only allow for this power supply to be mounted with the fan down. The case has a raised area in middle to support the supply. I'm not sure if bottom facing fan is good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371001

Would a power supply that has two fans, front and rear, be better?

 

[Zepper]

The RF allows PSUs to mount only one way - which I consider upside down. I consider the main PCB down to be "right side up". PSUs with big fans will have the fans on the down side. You might want to rotate the support 180 degrees. Put some "fender washers" under the screw heads to spread the load and you may not need the support at all. Or rig an entirely different type of support system for it to rest on at the far outer edge or corners, so the fan grill won't have to rest on it. This case supplies lots of opportunities for fun with Dremel and drill...

.bh.

 

[Tim]

Thank you OP for this informative post, as I'm trying to get my hands on one of these at the $47 clearance price I see others have gotten. To everyone else who has posted feedback as well, thank you

I am going to try to go the quiet rout with this case as well, and If I get my hands on it, the roofers tape idea is probably what I'm going to try
You ppl are awsome!

 

[Tim]

Sorry for the double post.

I read above somewhere that the top panel comes off easy enough... I'm seriously thinking about nabbing this case and making my first attempt at modding here via a 3x120mm rad up there. Or I could probably take the top panel off and send it out somewhere to get that done as well I imagine. What do you guys think? My current w/c setup is a cheezy thermaltake bigwater 760i wich I loathe more and more everytime I look at it inside my cramped up lian-li v1000. I only have plans to cool the CPU and the northbridge on a evga 680i motherboard and probably nothing else. Perhaps a 2x120mm rad would be a better choice? I want to make this case quiet, so if I could use a quieter pump? IDK, what do you guys think I should do/buy? I'd like to have a nice quiet/cost efficient ratio.

...and bonus if I can grab the case for $48 like some have!

 

[Bluefront]

FWIW.....I've had this case sitting in the living room for almost a week with the left side off, just looking at it. Here's what I've come up with. It's too big to be hidden away somewhere....so I'll turn it into a piece of furniture. It'll sit next to a sofa, looking like an end-table. I'll cover the sides, top, and front door with furniture-grade oak plywood. The door will have a series of fake drawer fronts......like a tall file-card cabinet.

There's enough room for two complete systems inside, one low-power, PICO powered. The other will be my usual 3.4 Northwood system. I've had enough furniture-making experience to pull this off ok. The physical layout of the Rocketfish makes this possible. Should be nice-looking when completed......sumer-time project. I'll make the computer first.....than cover it with the wood.

 

[Tim]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
FWIW.....I've had this case sitting in the living room for almost a week with the left side off, just looking at it. Here's what I've come up with. It's too big to be hidden away somewhere....so I'll turn it into a piece of furniture. It'll sit next to a sofa, looking like an end-table. I'll cover the sides, top, and front door with furniture-grade oak plywood. The door will have a series of fake drawer fronts......like a tall file-card cabinet.

There's enough room for two complete systems inside, one low-power, PICO powered. The other will be my usual 3.4 Northwood system. I've had enough furniture-making experience to pull this off ok. The physical layout of the Rocketfish makes this possible. Should be nice-looking when completed......sumer-time project. I'll make the computer first.....than cover it with the wood.

Now that sounds like an interesting project. I'm still hoping to get my hands on one of these cases so I can make my first project out of it. Maybe after I'm done with it in that aspect, I'll try to figure out a way to hide the big black case... Perhaps two of them with a marble slab on top and call it a bar? hehe

 

[tigersty1e]

How load is this?...

Also, is it possible to mount the PSU upside down? That is, have the PSU fan on top?

 

[Zepper]

tiger,

Q1 - Can't be understood... Please try again. If you mean, "How much does it weigh?", then: Gross wt. in the box just as it comes is about 26 pounds, Net weight is about 18.5 pounds.

Q2 - as delivered, NO - of course anything can be modded. You could get a Lian Li reversible PSU mounting plate as used in one of their other cases (sites out there like Performance-PCs.com or SilverPCs.com carry significant numbers of L-L parts) and mod that in. After all, some corners had to be cut to meet BestBuy's price point. IAC, there will be plenty of air available for the PSU in the normal position - the coolest air in the case will be down there.

.bh.

PS: How come you haven't completed your Member Profile yet, tiger? It has two tabs to be filled out. Just click on the "profile" button at the top of the page. .bh.

 

[tigersty1e]

I meant to write how load this thing is...


The thing about the PSU I'm concerned about is that the PSU will be sucking in all the dust off the floor/table

 

[Zepper]

Do you mean low? The feet are less than 1/2" tall - cheap feet. You'll want to get better ones so the height will be whatever your new feet provide. I'd be blocking off the silly bottom venting and let the PSU draw from in-case air - voila, no dust problems... I use a pair of cheap Rubbermaid step-stools to raise my cases off the floor - reduces dust a lot and puts it closer to hand.

These feet aren't pretty, but they would lift the case an extra 1/4". Some places have LED feet that are quite tall, but you would have to add some soft rubber to the bottom of them as they are hard plastic.

Here are a lot of feet:
http://www.performance-pcs.com...n_page=index&cPath=133

.bh.

 

[tigersty1e]

Wow. I can't believe I typed it wrong again.

Loud.

With the flimsy panels and large fans, how loud is the case?



I just picked mine up today... not exactly on sale, but it was 99 plus tax. They wouldn't price match and said that 20 other people asked about the case this week.

The fit doesn't really look top noth. The black finish seems like it will rub off if I'm not careful.

 

[Zepper]

I haven't switched my system into mine yet (had other things to do) but with just all the fans running full speed after I removed the H-shaped metal grill from in front of the front fan (not the H-shape in the filter housing) it is pretty quiet even with the left side open. Remember that the fans are ball bearing and push about 25% as much air as your typical stock fans (which are usually sleeve bearing) - I'd say nice and quiet considering those preconditions.

.bh.

 

[JaYp146]

Regarding noise,

I'm using Cascade's "roofer's tape" and "rubber-butyl" types of dampening on the side panel and it makes a huge difference with fan noise from the PSU, CPU, video card, and rear exhaust fan (rubber mounted). The only issues I'm now having with silencing the case is my Samsung 500GB hard drive, (which, ironically is known to be already a very quiet HDD). I've mounted it on foam in a 5.25" bay but still find the case to be resonating as the HDD seeks.

SPCR highly recommends >1.0mm Stretch Magic, a type of elastic used in bead making, to suspend hard drives in 3.5" or 5.25" bays . Will try and get some the next time I'm near a Michael's and let you guys know how much of a difference it makes...

 

[ericlp]

One thing I'd like to do to this case is put in a side window. I've not done this... But one would think it would be pretty easy to do with aluminum doors. What would you recommend for buying a kit on line or buying a sheet of Plexiglas yourself? Maybe a link to good place to buy parts?

Thanks....


Edit:

Check out this link...

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=271940&mpage=1&key=

 

[Bluefront]

A window in the left panel would be an easy mod. Cutting the hole is simple enough.... the tough part is the attachment of the glass (plastic) and making the edge look nice.

On a previous case mod, I found a large, thin, picture frame. I cut an appropriate sized square opening, and attached the frame on the outside with a series of small screws from the inside. There are a countless number of different looking frames that could be used. On a different mod I used the outer frame and glass from a wall clock.

Anything to be different......

I took my case completely apart yesterday....impressive. Everything is a perfect fit. I'm not so happy about the attachment of the front bezel. The four screws that hold it on are so tiny they could be dropped/lost in an instant. And if one gets stripped you'll have to search hard for another that'll fit flush with the case.

And the included front filter is useless like Zepper says.....it'll keep birds and maybe large bugs out. That's about it.

 

[Zepper]

Bump to keep the fire stirred. Plus I've heard some more stores have dropped to $48. so if you haven't checked lately, do it!

.bh.

 

[Tullphan]

I'd probably get one if it didn't have the oddball (i.e. Metric) screws. As clumsy as I am, i'd lose or strip one or five.
Haven't checked my local (120 mile round trip) BB yet to see if they had any left in a week or so.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Zepper, can we get some pics with all the goodies installed? I want to get an idea of how easy it is to wire the thing.

thanx

 

[Zepper]

This link has already been posted earlier in this thread and in aigomorla's thread:
RF pix - thanks go to the broadband reports site.

Also go to the BestBuy product page: - Then to the last page of customer reviews, click on the thumbnail there. Thanks for reporting this one go to Tullphan.

That'll have to do ya for a while yet.

.bh.

 

[ericlp]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
Zepper, can we get some pics with all the goodies installed? I want to get an idea of how easy it is to wire the thing.

thanx

http://i215.photobucket.com/al...TACSOPMOD/DSC00530.jpg

That's the only image you need to see!

 

[Zepper]

Where did that one come from? Is that mirror glass on the side?

.bh.

 

[Bluefront]

My dual MB Rocketfish will take a while to finish, but I posted a few pictures and the initial write-up at SPCR. It'll be air-cooled and mostly positive pressure. No exhaust fans should be necessary. The lower filtered intake chamber is finished, along with the swing-out MB tray for the second board.

The Rocketfish was a good find for me..... I've been looking for the right case for this project for some time now. I was hoping for a case at least 9" wide, but this one's close enough. I thought it might be overly long, but seeing it now.....looks to be the perfect size.

 

[ericlp]

Hmmm, dial up eh? Hows that working out?

Hmmm, P/S relocated to the top eh? How big is your power supply? I'd be kinda worried that it would be top heavy. All I need to do is tip over this case... Think I'll keep mine on the bottom. I've been looking at other mods... But... We shall see. Do like the filtered air chamber neat... Why not put the fans in the chamber... More room in the case would make it look cleaner as well. At first I thought that the Chamber Air Filter was just another box that that the Case Sat on... Now I see that it's just part of the case.... Hmmm, I guess I would have made a Separate Box case Stand Style... That's just me I guess.... Now I see why you needed a swing out MB and you have to put the PS at the top....

As for that picture check out the link about 9 posts up... ^^