Lian Li Cases

[Burroughs]

Hello, I am planning on purchasing a Lian Li case in the near future. I had some concerns about the color, however. I've heard that the black cases show fingerprints very well and that this will make the case look "greasy". How true is this? Also, I imagine you can see dust very well.

Maybe the silver case will be a better alternative. What say you??

BTW - I am planning on the PC-7 case.

 

[NatePo717]

How often are you feeling up your case that fingerprints would be an issue?

 

[Burroughs]

Hmmm. . .that's true. Not often, I suppose.

 

[NatePo717]

I have the V1000 (silver) and :heart: it

 

[Burroughs]

So you're pleased with Lian Li's quality?
What do you think about this one. . .
Link

 

[Woofmeister]

I own a Lian Li PC-7Plus. It's silver and people who have no interest in PCs think its amazing looking. I'm pretty happy with the case except that some of the corners are a little tight to work in and it's not the easiest case in the world in which to hide wires and cables. The home theater case you linked to above looks like it might be even smaller.

I'll probably buy Lian Li again, but I may go with a black case next time since it's easier to match it with a monitor and keyboard. Oh, and don't kid yourself, the silver cases show scuffs and fingerprints as well. At least, I notice them but then I'm sort of neurotic about keeping my computer clean.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: Burroughs
Hello, I am planning on purchasing a Lian Li case in the near future. I had some concerns about the color, however. I've heard that the black cases show fingerprints very well and that this will make the case look "greasy". How true is this? Also, I imagine you can see dust very well.

Maybe the silver case will be a better alternative. What say you??

BTW - I am planning on the PC-7 case.

Since i have two silver L-L mt and one is being fully modded right now, i will be direct.
Black only comes in one color and all the exposed bays will match. In the silver case i have a choice of white,pearl,beige(in several shades)and floppies that come in some unknown color. Black cases are supposed to give a boost in performance ;-)
Black will show dust and scratches a clear anodized case will hide both.

The Lian Li's that have a vertical mount HDD cage are generally thicker aluminum and a stiffer case. The PC-7(i have one)has a horizontal mounting for the HDDs and is not as stiff. I removed the top by drilling out the pop-rivets inorder to do a clean cable run and the case turned into a leaning mid-tower. I made and installed cross braces at the rear of the PSU and at top center of the inner panels. A framing square was used to make sure the case was true before the 8-32 screws were tightened. This my seem like over kill but the side panels and all gaps must be perfect to my good eye.

A removable top panel is a big plus when working on a case, particularly a small tower.
When the top goes back on the holes will be tapped to 6-32 and flat head screws counter sunk and installed.

The PC-7 is just another <$120 aluminum case and not to be considered anything special.
The thumb screws for LL are a very small size and fine pitch. They are smaller than the normal thumb screws(6-32). This can present its own problems if screws are lost or stripped. They can be tapped to 6-32 however.

I will be happy to come back and answer any question about LL that i can later tonight.

Galvanized

 

[Geomagick]

I've had my PC65(silver) for a couple of years now and it is very easy to keep clean. Will replace it with another Lian Li in the next month or so.

 

[Burroughs]

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. It's definitely a toss between the PC-7 and PC-65 right now. I'm leaning towards the silver finish, but then again it would be easier to have matching drives if the case was black. Hmmmmmm

 

[daniel1113]

I just switched my black Coolermaster case for a silver Lian-Li. As much as I love black computers, especially anodized aluminum in black, it showed so much dust and drove my crazy. Like a light silver car, the Lian-Li seems to always look good, with or without dust. Plus, you can't go wrong with a Lian-Li.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

I got a variation of the PC-65 from three years ago. It is a much better constructed case
than the PC-7, notice it has a vertical mount for the HDDs. It has 80mm fans in the front and if the drive bay is filled with storage it will block the intake. The stamped grill at the rear exhaust should be removed and a wire grill put in place.
2-92mm fans will just fit at the front when your ready. I've done it. 1-92 or 2-80mm will fit
at the rear if you wish. Some cases may not come with a top blow-hole nomatter what the pics and model number indicates. The top 80mm blow-hole fan is good for drying a sweaty
ball cap after a hot day and that's about it.

It's a good case at $120. 2mm aluminum is fun to cut on :laugh:


Galvanized"The Lian Li cutter"

 

[allies]

I have a black V1100 Plus and it's awesome...

 

[Nirach]

I have a silver PC-60, with my Xbox modded into it. I can safely say, I love the case. Wonderful construction, easy to use, take apart, etc etc. They may be 'simple' in comparison to most cases on the market these days, but that's a good thing. At LAN games people don't know what just hit them

 

[liquid51]

I have a Lian Li PC-V2000 plus and I love it. The thing is freakin huge. The only thing I may have done differently in retrospect is thought more about the upside down mounting of the mobo. The problem I'm encountering now is heat pipe cooling on Asus mobo chipsets. Such a nice and quiet option and I have to yank it off!

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: liquid51
I have a Lian Li PC-V2000 plus and I love it. The thing is freakin huge. The only thing I may have done differently in retrospect is thought more about the upside down mounting of the mobo. The problem I'm encountering now is heat pipe cooling on Asus mobo chipsets. Such a nice and quiet option and I have to yank it off!

Yeah, I am in a similar situation. I just finished building my new system inside a V1000 case using an A8N-SLI Premium, and realized that the heatpipe would have to go. So, next week, I will need to remove everything from the case, remove the heatpipe, and add two additional water blocks (MOSFET and chipset).

Also, because of the upside down motherboard config, along with my water cooling setup, I end up losing my upper-most PCI slot. Of course, that wouldn't matter if PCI-E cards would start becoming available...

Gotta love the joys of building custom computers

 

[tbooth]

I love my V2100B, but yeah sometimes it does get greasy fingerprint spots on it. This doesn't happen too often though. The main visual problem I have with this case is that it shows dust really easily, but then again so does everything else black that I have. I Just need to make sure to wipe it off every once in awhile and its cool.

I'm kinda starting to wish I had put a 120mm blowhole in the top while I was doing other mods to this case as the top compartment can get kinda warm.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Black cases are supposed to give a boost in performance ;-)

The PC-7 is just another <$120 aluminum case and not to be considered anything special.

Black gives a nominal 2% extra performance, according to forum lore.

I mostly agree with the PC-7BW Plus that I own - not too much better than any other aluminum case in that price range except for one thing... the fan areas can be made very "open" without cutting. The rear 120mm fan area has a "modders mesh" grill that's just held on by some double sided tape. The front fan has a filter/grill combo that can be left off. This makes for an albeit dangerous (for small fingers/animals) quick and easy mod for quietness and airflow. OTOH, the TOP fan blowhole kinda sucks - looks like a shower drain and gurgles just as bad. If my wife wasn't standing over my shoulder with a baseball bat in one hand and her WoW box in the other, I may have cut it out for better airflow and lower noise.

Picture of rear 120mm "modders mesh" fan grill

Picture of front 120mm fan with no filter/grill

Picture of rear fan with "modders mesh" grill removed (right-most image)

Yes, GalvanizedYankee, those pics are of the build that I said I'd post here. Haven't had time to do a write-up yet.

 

[Mrvile]

I think it's all personal preference...my black V1000 doesn't show fingerprints at all, and I'm sure the silver model doesn't either. I also doubt there's any real performance gain between colors.

 

[fibes]

Get the Skyhawk from Dealsonic. It looks almost identical to the PC-7 and you will save about $60.00 Skyhawk MSR-4610 Silver.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: fibes
Get the Skyhawk from Dealsonic. It looks almost identical to the PC-7 and you will save about $60.00 Skyhawk MSR-4610 Silver.

NO!!! NOO!! DANGER Will Robinson!! It's a pure unadulterated POS and it will arrive damaged

GAR-UM-TEED.

I got one for my sister's comp build 6 weeks ago. I could tell the PSU had been pulled and the case reboxed, then tossed. One of the case feet mounts had to be repaired, BY ME.

If you want a very good cheaper/better case than the PC-7, get a Kingwin 424. It only has 80mm fans but it has features the LIan Li doesn't, like rubber HDD mounts and is better constructed out of 2mm aluminum. The PC-7 is a mix of different thicknesses.


Galvanized

 

[fibes]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee

Originally posted by: fibes
Get the Skyhawk from Dealsonic. It looks almost identical to the PC-7 and you will save about $60.00 Skyhawk MSR-4610 Silver.

NO!!! NOO!! DANGER Will Robinson!! It's a pure unadulterated POS and it will arrive damaged

GAR-UM-TEED.

I got one for my sister's comp build 6 weeks ago. I could tell the PSU had been pulled and the case reboxed, then tossed. One of the case feet mounts had to be repaired, BY ME.

If you want a very good cheaper/better case than the PC-7, get a Kingwin 424. It only has 80mm fans but it has features the LIan Li doesn't, like rubber HDD mounts and is better constructed out of 2mm aluminum. The PC-7 is a mix of different thicknesses.


Galvanized

Not true Galvanized, I have ordered 2 of these cases and they arrived undamaged. I also live in Chicago, so they traveled quite a bit of distance.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

fibes, Zap did a review of this very case.

Search mini-review MSR-4610. His arrived in Mid-West busted up.

The fan set-up in that case is very poor IMO. I modded two 92mm on the side cover for intake and turned the lower front 80mm around for exhaust. It does have a removable top, the case is well braced and it has a slide-out mobo tray. The rest of the case is sub-par.

If your happy with it more power to you.


Galvanized

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: Burroughs
Hello, I am planning on purchasing a Lian Li case in the near future. I had some concerns about the color, however. I've heard that the black cases show fingerprints very well and that this will make the case look "greasy". How true is this? Also, I imagine you can see dust very well.

Maybe the silver case will be a better alternative. What say you??

BTW - I am planning on the PC-7 case.

It can happen, sure. All you need to do is hit it with some Windex and you're good.

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: Burroughs
So you're pleased with Lian Li's quality?
What do you think about this one. . .
Link

I've been very pleased with the build quality of my unit. So much so that my next case will be a Lian Li as well. As for your link, I guess it's okay if you like something that small.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: fibes
Get the Skyhawk from Dealsonic. It looks almost identical to the PC-7 and you will save about $60.00 Skyhawk MSR-4610 Silver.

Heh, I did get one, but FedUp did a BangUp on it. Also, I like 120mm fans. Still, may get that SkyHawk just to mess with... if it shows up unbroken.