Lian Li's PC-A05FN: Alternative Thinking at a $99 Price Point
by Dustin Sklavos on December 7, 2011 10:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- mid-tower
- Lian Li
Testing Methodology
For testing ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| Full ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-875K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 3.8GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D-E Pro |
| Graphics Card | Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (244W TDP) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| CPU Cooler | Zalman CNPS9900 MAX with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Gold 750W 80 Plus Gold |
A refresher on how we test:
Acoustic testing is standardized on a foot from the front of the case, using the Extech SL10 with an ambient noise floor of ~32dB. For reference, that's what my silent apartment measures with nothing running, testing acoustics in the dead of night (usually between 1am and 3am). A lot of us sit about a foot away from our computers, so this should be a fairly accurate representation of the kind of noise the case generates, and it's close enough to get noise levels that should register above ambient.
Thermal testing is run with the computer having idled at the desktop for fifteen minutes, and again with the computer running both Furmark (where applicable) and Prime95 (less one thread when a GPU is being used) for fifteen minutes. I've found that leaving one thread open in Prime95 allows the processor to heat up enough while making sure Furmark isn't CPU-limited. We're using the thermal diodes included with the hardware to keep everything standardized, and ambient testing temperature is always between 71F and 74F. Processor temperatures reported are the average of the CPU cores.
For more details on how we arrived at this testbed, you can check out our introductory passage in the review for the IN-WIN BUC.
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank the vendors who made our testbed possible:
Thank You!
We have some thanks in order before we press on:
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory we used to add memory thermals to our testing.
- Thank you to Zalman for providing us with the CNPS9900 MAX heatsink and fan unit we used.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, Intel Core i7-875K processor, ASUS P7P55D-E Pro motherboard, and Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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Iketh - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_conte...Scroll down to figure 4 and 5. The sweet spot for hard drives is 35-45C, which makes sense since that's the temps they reach with very little air flow and probably the temps manufacturers tune their microscopic clearances.
ckryan - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - link
I have the last revision of this case, and it's my favorite. It's sure as hell not for everyone, and maybe not even for many, but a few people such as myself love this case design. I love the aesthetic, and when fitted with the right components and some good case dampening material you get a quiet but good looking system. (It looks particularly good with the Samsung BD drives...). Some think of this case as a blank canvas, and I count myself among those.The last previous revisions have had no out of box top vent for the GPU area. That's pretty much my major complaint (but I enjoy the lack of exterior openings for noise to leak out). With the airflow of the rear intake you can run a good tower cooler passively if you so desire. Cable management is a nightmare do to the PSU placement being way too close to power connections on the motherboard itself. But I like the upside down motherboard placement and think it's a great system. GPUs face up, and as long as it can cope with cooling itself, it's awesome.
Thank you for obtaining the new version of this case. I have a Lian Li V351 uATX case, and it's a strange but beautiful design. If you're willing to work with the enclosure, I think they're most satisfying, attractive, and quirky.
Alecthar - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
It's a generally held belief among the Lian Li enthusiasts I know that the earlier revisions of this case (A05NB) are superior to the slightly more orthodox layout of this newer model. I certainly agree in principle (I can't speak to practice, as I don't currently own one0.Hrel - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - link
I really like the brushed aluminum minimalist looks of this. But it's too loud and too small. I'd really like a Fractal R3 except with this brushed aluminum exterior and no side grate, smooth everywhere. Some sound dampening foam would go a long way too. Also the reverse design is weird and wouldn't work for how I build rigs.All in all I love the aesthetics of this thing. But a micro-ATX case is as small as I can go, and then things get cramped. Reverse design = no good. Too loud.
With all that said, I think there will be people who will really want this. I think it'd make a really nice looking HTPC case. As I've never been a fan of paying 150+ for a horizontal case with a wimpy power supply just so it can "look" like a receiver and not a computer. I'll never understand the market for those cases. What's wrong with just a regular PC tower?
ckryan - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - link
I added AcoustiPak material to all of the interior surfaces and the inside of the front bezel. With a Noctua U12 SE2 cooler and a midrange GPU everything is great. The new USB3.0 revision has the 140mm top fan mount to reign in the GPU area heat. So multi gpu configurations are out, but with the right card you can have low noise and good temps... but it's a little challenging. I'm using a Seasonic X650 PSU, and it's always running in passive cooling mode (as a 2500K doesn't suck much juice even with a healthy OC).But seriously, it's not for everyone. I liked the case enough that I was willing to choose components that would work in the case, and I think it's the most attractive mid tower case around. I recommend something like a GTX460/560 that runs cool to begin with, and some designs are going to work better than others. But you don't have to worry about CPU tems, so to a certain extent it's okay if the case gets warm elsewhere.
S0me1X - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - link
Like the previous poster, I have the previous version of this case. It is actually superior in terms of cooling (provided you upgrade the fan-less top panel with the 140-mm fan one). This way, you get directed airflow from bottom (cpu) of the case to the top (gpu). Alternatively, you can use one of these kits: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php... , which integrates well with both cases. Also, if you use the PCI cooling bracket, you should use a GPU heatsink which has no built in fan (Prolimatech MK13 is a great match for this).Another thing is: this case cools a lot better without the hard drive bracket. I'm only using the 5.25 bays (4 120gb ssds in a single bay:) ). So remove the hard drive bracket (also remove the hard drive fan) and have the PSU fan pointing upwards. Finally, replacing the bay covers with these http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php... actually has a dramatic impact.
What I am getting at is this case requires some simple (tool-less) modifications to really shine. What you get is a compact (but fits full size mobo) all aluminum (light and elegant) case for a very good price.
S0me1X - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - link
I'd like to add that I would probably try reversing the fans in the revision used in your review. In other words, have the back/top fans exhaust and don't use the front fan at all. Remove the hard drive bay and install the PCI cooling bracket.Stuka87 - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
I am not digging on this case. I love aluminum cases, but this case is too short. The video card goes into the hard drive area.And I dont case for the air intake. Far too much resistance which means that intake fan most likely ends up pulling in air from the case, rather than from outside the case.
It needs to be about an inch longer, and have a larger air intake from that front fan.
tzhu07 - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
Just read (skimmed) through this. I like the elegance of Lian Li, however their cases are not the best for noise control.I recently ordered parts for a build on Newegg, and I considered lots of Lian Li's for microATX, but in the end I chose the Fractal Design Define Mini. It's not too big and not too small, and most of all was built with silence in mind. Can't wait to assemble it together.
Beenthere - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
...poor design throughout. "Just because you can doesn't mean you should", sums up this design precisely. This is usually the result of looking for sales by being weird and it actually works sometimes.