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Looking for a 'plain' mid-tower; prefer aluminum

Y

you2

Diamond Member
I'm building a new game system to run windows 7 (will keep old sys on xp). I'm looking for a case large enough for 6950 (not 100% i will go with that card; might end up with gtx 460/470 or 6870; dependent on pricing when SB is back on the market).
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I've read a lot of threads and looked at a lot of cases on newegg. The key features I'm looking for are:
large enough for vid card
plain square off shape (like lian pc-9f; or 7 ii plus)
no window
no leds
prefer aluminum (for reduced weight; but don't want it so cheasy that it bends easily)
less than $140 (less than $40 would be great; but willing to spend more for a nice aluminum case)
do not care if black or silver
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the current xp pc uses a lian pc-60; which is just large enough for the 8800 g92; no complaints with this case 'cept for the cramp position of the vid card).
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I'd like the case available by early march (which is when I think sb will be back on the market)
 
Lian Li PC-7FN satisfies all your requirements except for the LED fan. You can probably snip the LEDs off the fan or replace it with a standard 140mm fan.
 
The Silverstone FT01 works if you can find one. They're a couple of years old, and you may be able to snag one for under $150 if you get lucky.
 
Ok thanks for the suggestions. Btw when I looked for the silverstone ft01 I couldn't find it at a good price (local microcenter did not have it when they were being sold at a very nice price). Not sure i'm in love that case given the weight.

The pc-9f looks very similar to PC-K7B (but no removable tray and all aluminum). To be honest I'm having a bit problematic distinguish between the PC-K7B, PC-7FN, PC-9F
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Looks like the PC-K7B is steal/alum/3 fans/removable tray/3x 120mm fans
PC-7FN is all alum/2 fans (120mm,140mm)
PC-9F is all alum/3x 120mm fans (maybe a PC-K7B but all alum)
I was able to find the PC-9F for $125 so I'll try for that; if it fails to ship then i guess either the PC-K7B or PC-7FN whichever is less expensive.
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One thing that worries me about these cases is the vid card hitting the hard disk cage.
 
Most of the Lian Li mid towers will fit all but the largest graphics cards. Pretty much everything shorter than a 5970.

If you're really concerned with video card fit, go with a PC-8N. It's basically the new version of your current case, but it will fit any video card out if you remove the bottom drive cage and put your HDs in the 5.25 bays with either the brackets that came with the HDs or one of the sharp looking ones from Lian Li. Not only will it fit any video card, but it will cool whatever card you have better. Of course, the downside is that you are limited in the number of HDs you can use.
 
Ok thanks. Are you happy with the PC-K7B ? It sounds like a antec 300 with a aluminum shell. Is that accurate ?
 
you2 said:
Ok thanks. Are you happy with the PC-K7B ? It sounds like a antec 300 with a aluminum shell. Is that accurate ?
Click to expand...

The biggest complaint that I've "read" about that case is that you may need 90 degree connectors for your hard drives as they are so close to the side panel, there is no room. That case looks and rates pretty well though....I have thought about it myself (still do at times).
 
you2 said:
Ok thanks. Are you happy with the PC-K7B ? It sounds like a antec 300 with a aluminum shell. Is that accurate ?
Click to expand...

No, not accurate.

When populated with all possible fans, Antec 300 will have better airflow. Antec 300 also has PSU on bottom while PC-K7B has PSU on top. Some prefer one over the other.

With that said, the PC-K7B certainly looks a whole lot more expensive (and indeed does cost more). The Lian Li case is all aluminum exterior and face with steel chassis. The Antec 300 is steel chassis and exterior, with plastic face. The PC-K7B also has filters over the front fans, which really do keep my system reasonably clean of dust. Additionally, the sideways HDD mounting (which Engineer pointed out as a possible complaint) allows you to use multiple graphics cards without blocking HDD bays like they would in an Antec 300.

BTW, I turned the HDD bays around (couple screws and the HDD sub-chassis comes out) and I don't have any problems using normal SATA cables.

Here are some pics I took when I assembled the system. First is just a normal inside pic. Note all the drives are connected, yet you don't see the cables because I turned the HDD bays around. The graphics card is a GTX 285 which is 10.5" long. There's probably another inch spare. The optical drive bays are toolless and probably the BEST toolless ODD bays I have ever worked with. I normally despise anything "toolless" but these actually work well.
100_1284.jpg


Here's the back side where I hid the excess cables. Who needs modular? ^_^ All the excess cables are out of sight and not in the way. You can see all the SATA data cables bundled up - I had SIX drives in there at the time.
100_1282.jpg


A couple more serious issues about this case is that there are some complaints of the motherboard not lining up. Mine is very slightly misaligned (I/O shield slightly off center, graphics cards too far away from screw holes), but some have claimed that they couldn't install cards in theirs.

The biggest issue I have with mine, actually, is the sharp edges of the aluminum front fascia. I have mine just to the right of me under my desk, and on several occasions I've bumped my leg or knee into the top left corner, resulting in cuts. I've even drawn blood! :\
 
Thanks! Nice pictures.

Hum. So it sounds like you are not overjoyed wth the case but it has some pluses. I never had any problems with sharp external edges on the pc-60 (i really like the exterior of that case; the interior is ok but clutter). I see on all the new cases (both pc-7 and pc-9) that lian has added space behind the motherboard for cable management. Hum. Either aluminum is really expensive or lian manufacturing has tanked. Kind of annoying that the very use-able antec 300 is $52 and these other three cases are $100-$130 shipped. Hum...
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I had a very nice case from kingwing-424 (aluminum with removable mother board) and vaguely I thought it was only $80. Pity they don't still make that case (it was great for my amd-thunderbird system; but would be too small for todays vid cards)
 
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you2 said:
Hum. So it sounds like you are not overjoyed wth the case but it has some pluses.
Click to expand...

I think I got it on sale for around $70 or $80 shipped, so I am quite pleased with it. Here's a pic of how the I/O shield is misaligned:
100_1277.jpg


It really isn't that much of a problem, and TBH I've encountered this with other cases too.

you2 said:
I never had any problems with sharp external edges on the pc-60
Click to expand...

The older Lian Li cases had a plastic strip on top of the fascia. My wife's old PC-7BW Plus had one that had a fake carbon fiber weave. That made it less sharp. The PC-K7B has an aluminum top with a sharp edge. My wife's current Lian Li PC-60FNW also has an aluminum top, but it is rounded in the front as well as beveled from the top.

you2 said:
Either aluminum is really expensive or lian manufacturing has tanked. Kind of annoying that the very use-able antec 300 is $52 and these other three cases are $100-$130 shipped.
Click to expand...

Aluminum is indeed more expensive than steel. Also, Lian Li's manufacturing (unless they've changed it recently) is a bit different than that of other cases.

Most manufacturers create special tooling so they can just cheaply stamp out metal parts. That's why you see a lot of cases (sometimes under various brands) that all look identical on the inside.

Lian Li uses machines that other manufacturers would use for prototyping. Basically a bit more work on more expensive machines, versus a one time cost in tooling for mass manufacturing.
 
Do you know why they dropped the fake carbon fiber weave which the pc-60 has and make the corners nice and soft 🙁

Kind of sad they dropped this feature as it gave a nice accent to the silver cases.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
In my experience a cheap aluminum case will be flimsy. Not just when you pick it up, but it will resonate fan noise too. Lian-Li are not cheap aluminum cases, though.

Anything under $100, I'd be shopping for steel, regardless of whether you need to pick it up. I love my 300, but I only move it like once or twice a year so I can update hardware and vacuum behind my desk. I gave my old (cheap) aluminum case to my wife and I had to do a lot of work on that case to keep it from resonating badly.
 
I ended up going with the Lian Li PC-9F for $127 shipped (from provantage). It took approx 5 weeks from the day I placed the order till the day it arrived (I live on east coast and it shipped from west coast (CA)). I was charged the day it shipped not the day I placed the order. After 10 days (the item had not shipped) I emailed provantage and inquired upon the issue. They responded in 24 hours indicating it would not ship till Feb 24 (which it did) so I would give them 5 stars even though it took a while.

Anyways on to the case itself. My old case is some vintage pc-60 (I think pc-60 plus). This case is similar but different. I would say the metal is slightly thicker. They did away with the fan over the video card but now have 2 front fans and one back fan. The fans have 4 pin connectors which connect to power plugs (I believe I can remove the power plug and plug them directly into the mother board).

The only thing I dislike about the case so far is that the drive cage extends all the way from top to bottom as one piece; I think I like fractal design where you can remove 1/2 the cage if you don't need that many drives. The front is nice rounded and smooth. Can't fully comment on the connectors yet since I'm waiting on a SB MB to shipped (I installed the drives and psu and as soon as the B3 boards are on the market will finish up the build). Hum the case also lacks the top fan that the pc-60 (plus?) has but there is an option to install one - not sure if it is needed. Oh well maybe i'm just not picky but as long as this case doesn't run hot I think it meets my needs. A bit concern about having the psu on the bottom - not sure there will be enough ventilation down there with the case sitting on a rug - the case itself has a gap (inside the case) between the bottom and the PSU so maybe that is enough. It is slightly taller than the pc-60 (plus?) maybe 3/4 an inch but otherwise similar dimension; yet some how seems a bit roomier inside.
 
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