Rocketfish Full Tower Case (similar to LianLi PC-A71B)

[emelius]

Originally posted by: isekii

How much does the units weigh ?

according to the manual, 18.6 pounds or 8.44 kilograms...

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: emelius

Originally posted by: isekii

How much does the units weigh ?

according to the manual, 18.6 pounds or 8.44 kilograms...

so give or take 20-21lbs total i would assume..

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: emelius

Originally posted by: Tullphan
Regarding the motherboard tray, I read here (see post by "Jackeroo75" on 3/11 @ 00:54:45) that it is removable by removing the front screws (& reading the manual...hehehe)...can anyone confirm?
They say there's 3-120mm fans in this thing...is one of them the removable fan over the PCI slots?
Also, you guys around Greenwood, IN & Westfield, IN...what are y'all paying?
The closest Indiana store to me that's showing them in stock on the web is Evansville & I don't know if they'll price match to those stores or not.
Anyone got their system put together yet? I'd like to see some interior pics of one to see how the wire management is.

with respect to Jackeroo75, he is mistaken...the motherboard tray is not removable (unless you're going to rip/cut it out!)...please note that in that same thread the .pdf of the manual is posted & there is no mention of such a thing being possible...& there are no front screws on the tray haha...i believe he may have meant the front door or front cover

hope this helps...

oh, & the removable fan over the pci slots IS one of the 3 120mm fans...i'm considering adding a blow hole &/or a window w/a fan once i determine which model will fit...

Yeah...you're right.
I called both stores closest to me...one was $119 & the other $47...go figure.
I guess one could get the Dremel out & fix that motherboard tray like the P182, unless there's not enough clearance behind it.
I did see a picture (albeit small) of this case w/the components installed here. I would hope one could do a better job of wire management!

 

[emelius]

ah, turns out Jackeroo75 was referring to the xeon mounting plate (that comes included) being removable...

 

[Elixer]

I went to BB to check, and they didn't have one where it should have been.
They did have the tag for $47.xx, but no units. I ask the guy, and he says computer shows one, someone must have bought it.

While walking the isles by the printers, I looked up, and saw a big red box with 'Rocket fish' written on it. The front of it was covered by some printer boxes. I then got the guy to get it down for me. Made a lame comment of someone put it in the wrong section. I said yeah, I can see how a big red box like that would confuse them. :disgust:

I don't know why you guys think it is huge though (it IS a full tower, so are you comparing it with other full towers?), it only has room for 6 3.5 HDs in the lower area (which you have to unscrew from the bottom of case to remove--IF you decide to remove it that is, it is NOT really required) I could have used another 3 tray rack though--then I would have said it was huge.

It has 3 120mm fans, easy install of any motherboard, the PSU area could have been made a bit better, since I like side brackets to make it a bit more sturdy, instead of the lone clip type metal piece in the center.
The door only opens on one side, and you can't reverse it. Would have been better if they had a split design, but oh well.
The usb/fw/speker/mic jack is on top, I prefer it on the side, but again, I can live with it.
No other real issues that I have come across though. It even came with a little tool to mount the standoffs.

It IS a nice case.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Zepper]

Tull,
Whassamatta you? That guy's wire management is fine for a case w/o a window. He's got them dressed for minimal interference with airflow and that's all one needs to do. Unless they are just AR...

BTW, my store was $71.99 and wouldn't budge - but I'm gonna keep an eye on them and if they drop I'll be on 'em like stink on used food for my price adjust... Yup, I bought one and as soon as I finish a review of it, I'll be selling it.

.bh.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Tull,
Whassamatta you? That guy's wire management is fine for a case w/o a window. He's got them dressed for minimal interference with airflow and that's all one needs to do. Unless they are just AR...

BTW, my store was $71.99 and wouldn't budge - but I'm gonna keep an eye on them and if they drop I'll be on 'em like stink on used food for my price adjust... Yup, I bought one and as soon as I finish a review of it, I'll be selling it.

.bh.

Yeah...my 180's spoiled me as far as wire management goes. I guess i'm just picturing that 8-pin cable draped over everything.
I'll be anxiously awaiting your review...then your FS/FT thread!
I guess you're still spoiled on your Kublai? This one's too "industrialized" for ya, ain't it? hehehe

 

[Shooks]

Thanks for those who first posted about the price being further reduced, went back and got the difference back. Loving the case btw

 

[SilentRunning]

Originally posted by: Elixer

I don't know why you guys think it is huge though (it IS a full tower, so are you comparing it with other full towers?), it only has room for 6 3.5 HDs in the lower area (which you have to unscrew from the bottom of case to remove--IF you decide to remove it that is, it is NOT really required) I could have used another 3 tray rack though--then I would have said it was huge.

I was wondering if anyone knew why this would not work to add more hard drives. I know the three bay wouldn't work because the dividers are every two bays.

 

[Zepper]

The 3-in-2 bay cages will work, but in the Rocketfish/LL case there are no three contiguous 5" bays for a 4-in-3 model like the new Cooler Master or the L-L EX-34. You can remove one of the 5" drive cage cross braces and have 3 bays to work with. I suppose the drive cage itself would make up for the missing brace. Quite a few detail design problems with the Rocketfish, IMO, but even L-L's design flaws are executed magnificently. A critic c'est moi has to look past wonderful execution...

.bh.

 

[emelius]

this might be better...check out that site as it's probably the best place to go for modding lian-li stuffs...

btw, the hard drive dividers can be unscrewed...

 

[Elixer]

Also just in case nobody knows, if you have a older motherboard with dual/quad IDE ports, take note that you may need to buy longer cables. I don't see any issue with SATA ports though. This is the case with most full tower system though.

Come to think of it, you can't even reverse the PSU mount, so if you happen to have a unit with a fan on the bottom, you can't point it at a heat source, it is stuck pointing down.

I most likely would return this if I got it for $80. The more time I spent with it, the more little flaws I find.

Haven't tested with a 3rd party drive cage yet, but it don't look good--looks like Zepper is more experienced in this area though.

 

[Auzner]

From the photos the PC-A71B looks a lot different than this case. I'll tell you now I ordered one for $260, so I'm Lian-Li biased. It's gone now because UPS had dented it so I returned it. Some day the another will come... Before I made this expensive purchase I studied it and compared a lot of different cases. I really wanted the hard drive capacity in a full tower that wasn't quite a "maximum sized" full tower like the V2100.

Lian Li vs Rocket

1. 5x5.25" vs 6x5.25"
2. At the top right the Lian Li can hold 3 hard drives or another PSU
3. 10x3.5" vs 6x3.5" internal
4. No external 3.5" vs 2 (useless)
5. 6x120mm fans vs 3x120mm fans and only 1 in front
6. Rocket has no stability beams
7. Front doors look a little different

They're similar but still different. I think the Lian Li would have better cooling and makes better use of the internal space.

If they're the same quality aluminum construction and just a variant of the design, the Rocketfish case might be better for the price if I didn't need all the hard drive bays.

 

[fguo79]

You can put a Lian Li EX-33 5.5'' to 3.5'' adapter in the rocketfish case, which would add another 4 HDD space plus a 12cm intake fans for better airflow. The cost would be $40 shipped, altogether still significantly cheaper than PC-A71B.

Originally posted by: Auzner
From the photos the PC-A71B looks a lot different than this case. I'll tell you now I ordered one for $260, so I'm Lian-Li biased. It's gone now because UPS had dented it so I returned it. Some day the another will come... Before I made this expensive purchase I studied it and compared a lot of different cases. I really wanted the hard drive capacity in a full tower that wasn't quite a "maximum sized" full tower like the V2100.

Lian Li vs Rocket

1. 5x5.25" vs 6x5.25"
2. At the top right the Lian Li can hold 3 hard drives or another PSU
3. 10x3.5" vs 6x3.5" internal
4. No external 3.5" vs 2 (useless)
5. 6x120mm fans vs 3x120mm fans and only 1 in front
6. Rocket has no stability beams
7. Front doors look a little different

They're similar but still different. I think the Lian Li would have better cooling and makes better use of the internal space.

If they're the same quality aluminum construction and just a variant of the design, the Rocketfish case might be better for the price if I didn't need all the hard drive bays.

 

[Zepper]

I looked at the G70 with google's image search and it looks a lot like that one inside, but does have some features similar to the A70s like the one-hole feet and the door.

.bh.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

Come to think of it, you can't even reverse the PSU mount, so if you happen to have a unit with a fan on the bottom, you can't point it at a heat source, it is stuck pointing down.

1.) A common "situation" with most cases that have the PSU at the bottom. As long as you don't have the case on carpet, the case feet keep it approx. 1/2 inch off the floor, enough to supply the PSU with incoming air. It's not like the PSU is drawing huge volumes of air anyways. I even checked with Corsair TS because I was also a little concerned initially.

2.) There's a small "pedestal" that keeps the PSU approx. 3/4-1.0 inch off the bottom of the inside of the case as well = more room for PSU to "grab" air.

The Lian Li A70 has the same/similar little "pedestal", albeit with a rubber pad on top.

 

[Zepper]

Auzner,

4. No external 3.5" vs 2 (useless)

- I resemble that remark! I have my MS05's docking bay in one and a Combo flash card reader/floppy drive in the other...

fguo,

You can put a Lian Li EX-33 5.5'' to 3.5'' adapter in the rocketfish case, which would add another 4 HDD space

Actually it is the EX-34 that holds 4 HDDs (ooops, there is an EX-33 that only holds 3 drives and takes three bays, sorry I'd not seen that before) and you can't put one in the Rocketfish w/o removing one of the 5" rack's cross-braces (which I find is not that easy to do with the 5" cage being pop-riveted to the chassis). You can put the EX-23 in there w/o modification as it only needs two 5" bays. With a little more study, I saw that if one were to drill out the pop rivets that hold the 5" cage in place, there are plenty of threaded locations for screws in the cage - I guess the pop-rivets were a concession to economy for this OEM build.

Yup MR,
. No problem for bottom mounted PSU to get enough air with the fan on the bottom side. An inch of clearance plus some vent holes right below will do it.

.b.h.

 

[yinNout]

Got this case yesterday at Milpitas, CA BB. Listed at $119, but I had them pricematch to Emeryville to ~$48. Got it for $51 otd.

Put it together last night -- the fans seem very loud, even after I closed up the case. I think it may be due to the fact that I have them plugged into the mobo and they are 3-pin instead of 4-pin and thus the speed is uncontrollable. Anyone else experience loud fans? I'll go home after work and check for obstructions, but I don't think that's the case, as it wasn't THAT loud... just louder than my old system, which had like 4 80mm fans. I thought 120mm were supposed to be quieter.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

re: fan noise

I'd say they are "average". They're Lian Li fans rated at 25.6 dBA at 1500RPM and 53CFM. Also notes they are only consuming 3.2W at 0.27A, so overall, a controller may not be the answer if you are looking for super silent operation.

120mm doesn't necessarily make a fan quieter, it's more a combination of the fan specs.

Also, I've found that very light-weight Al cases sometimes contribute ... rattle, not as rigid mount for the fans, etc.

Conversely, I have an old Coolermaster ATC aluminum case that is built like a tank and I can put med. speed Sunon fans in it and not be too bothered by the fan noise. Then again, I've never been overly concerned with fan noise anyways.

 

[Zepper]

The fans weren't loud to me. I had one out of the case (the one that was in the card cooling duct) connected directly to 12V with the 4-pin Molex. It felt smooth in my hand too. Seemed to be very low noise for ball bearing fans. I'll be pulling the others and listening to them individually. Done, and all three sound the same to me in open air. They have a little whine to them if you get really close to them.

I removed the inner guard from the rear fan as it looked restrictive to me and isn't really needed in any case. Maybe rubber fan pins would help - I have some extras I can sell at a reasonable price and ship by first class for very low shipping cost. Some times the frames of fans can be warped by fastening too tightly to a surface (or a device like that aluminum guard on the rear fan) that isn't particularly flat. Besides, the case is relatively thin aluminum and sounds carry in it very well - one of the known drawbacks of aluminum as a case material.

See my first impression thread in the C&C section.

.bh.

 

[craftech]

Originally posted by: MiataPaul
I just got one at the Middletown NY store, it was 119 but they price matched the Kingston store that had it on sale. The sales girl was SMOKING HOT as well (Pauline). She got the managers approval.

I went to the Middletown NY store today and asked for "Pauline" and they told me that no one works there by that name. I had the guy scan it and it came up $119.

Then I went to the customer service desk and the guy said he would call up the manager.

The manager arrived at the desk and checked but came up with the same $119 price. I told her that I read a post on Anand Tech Hot Deals by someone who said he was in the store the other day and a sales girl named "Pauline" got the manager to price match the Kingston, NY store.

The manager told me that there is no one now working there by that name nor was there ever a girl named Pauline who worked there.

I told the manager that the guy not only named her, but said she was "smoking hot". The manager started laughing hysterically and called the Kingston Best Buy who told her that the price was $71 so the manager sold it to me for $71.

When I left I told the store manager that I thought she was "smoking hot". Everyone around us suddenly turned and looked (not getting the inside joke).

John

 

[Throckmorton]

Doh.. I bought one the day before yesterday for full price, because I figured they'd be discontinued soon. No one posted in here about the price matching or I would have tried..

Well now I've put my hardware in it, but I lost the key for the front door. So I can't put in my DVDRW, and I can't use the switch.

This case is not perfect anyway. Hard drives sitting in the bays barely have room for the SATA power cables. You need the right angle plugs unless you want to put stress on your connector and drive.

There is also no room for air from the fan to flow around the hardrdrives.

You can only mount the powersupply one way, and if you have a 120mm fan PSU, the fan will face down.

 

[Zepper]

A bent paper clip will handle the key problem and the whole bezel comes off with just four screws (find them on the sides of the bezel, top and bottom and be careful with those screws as you'll become close friends) and once the bezel is off, you can open the lock with your finger (nope, you'll either need to find your key or pick the lock with said paper clip) - no wires are attached to the bezel so no problems there. Pretty much have to take the bezel off to put the opticals in anyway as it's hard to get the bay filler brackets out w/ the bezel in place. The bezel will need to come off every time you need to clean or replace the filter element too.

.bh.

 

[Throckmorton]

Does anyone have a specific store location I can look up to try to price match? I wonder if BB will PM one I bought already or if I need to buy a new one, and then return it with the old $120 receipt

 

[craftech]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Does anyone have a specific store location I can look up to try to price match? I wonder if BB will PM one I bought already or if I need to buy a new one, and then return it with the old $120 receipt

You should post where you are located first. Maybe someone can point to a nearby Best Buy that sells it for less. You can then have the manager call that store to verify so your refund of the difference can be authorized.

In my case the Kingston, NY store is about an hour and a half to two hours from the Middletown, NY store where they price matched it and sold it to me.

John


EDIT: Here is the Best Buy price guarantee language:

http://www.bestbuy.com/olspage...3603302&id=cat12098#01

Since this is not officially listed as a clearance item, they should refund you 100% of the price difference including tax. They list a "reasonable distance" as the criterion for a "nearby" store.

2nd EDIT: Apparently they kind of scammed me at the Middletown store. I called the Kingston store this morning and they told me the price was $47.99 and not $71.99 so I will be going back to the Middletown store to do the same thing you are trying to do.