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
Conclusion: The Dubious Value Proposition
Once again I'm left with an enclosure whose needs are fairly clearly beyond the scope of our standardized testbed, and to me that's too bad. Under the circumstances I don't think the testbed is really that brutal, at least at stock settings, and this is a case that should be able to handle the most challenging part of the overclock with aplomb: the processor.
First, the good stuff: if you're overclocking the CPU, you have a few options with how you want to configure the Lian Li PC-A05FN. The processor cooling seems to be the reason for the case design, and everything else is secondary; if you're operating on a budget of less than $100 for the case and just want the CPU to scream, Lian Li has you covered. The PC-A05FN is also one of the more attractive cases I've tested, and it's also among the lightest due to the all-aluminum design. You sacrifice a little bit in the way of durability, but for most of us it's probably worth the tradeoff, especially at this price point. (The silver version is going for just $89 on NewEgg as of this writing.)
My biggest issue with the PC-A05FN is that once again with a Lian Li case there's a gulf between what the case is ostensibly capable of and what it's actually capable of. Can it handle our testbed? Well, nothing overheated, so that's a "yes", but the GTX 580 is probably more than you should plan on for this case—a GTX 560 or HD 6950 would be a better fit. A better question is whether it can handle our testbed better than other enclosures in its price range. That's a lot foggier, and where things get even more complicated is when you realize that the other cases are almost uniformly easier to assemble your system. The other enclosures may be a bit bigger, but they're also far less "special needs" than the PC-A05FN; you can do a quick-and-dirty build in a BitFenix Shinobi without too much trouble, but the PC-A05FN more or less demands you carefully select your components to maximize the value of the enclosure. It's going to be a bit more work to assemble to boot.
So what's the verdict? By the end of this review, you should have a pretty clear idea of whether or not the Lian Li PC-A05FN is right for you. This just isn't one of those "this is the best enclosure for under $100" situations where I can sign off on it and tell you "godspeed". I wouldn't fault anyone for buying it provided they did the research first and carefully chose the parts used to assemble the build because the case does have potential. For more generic, less specialized builds, though, I'd advise most users to look elsewhere.
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ShieTar - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
This is a strange thermal design indeed. It seems the engineers at Lian Li were trying to get the best CPU cooling possible, without too much care about what that will do to the GPU.Sounds as if it could give you a nice, silent workstation with a high-power CPU and On-Chip graphics. Sadly, in my personal experience, most business buyers don't seem to care too much about the noise that their employees will have to suffer from their machienes, and just go straight for the cheapest offer.
Still, it would be interesting too see a comparison of this box and a more classical competitor when filled with this kind of business setup instead of your standard, more gaming centered, testbed.
Touche - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
Aluminum cases have a big drawback. They tend to hum due to HDD vibrations. It'not (as) noticable if you have loud fans, but it's terrible with quiet computers.bji - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
I have this case and this doesn't happen to mine. No humming. Also my fans are almost never running; it's a quiet computer.Why is aluminum more susceptible than steel anyway? What's the science behind your statement?
Death666Angel - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
Mass (weight) is a great noise insulator. And steel has a greater mass than alu. So usually, steel has better acoustic qualities. Using that to translate "all alu cases are worse than others" is not right.ckryan - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
I put a lot of mass on the panels with the acoustic dampening material, and it's totally worth it. But I didn't have any humming or vibrations beforehand.piroroadkill - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
Sideways 3.5" drive bays. Having them facing the board is just way too cluttered. With the immense width of this case, you'd think they'd have much better cable routing options behind the motherboard tray, too.darkhawk1980 - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
I don't have the case, and it's difficult to really know if it would fit or work, but would it be possible to modify the side panel and add in a 80mm or 120mm fan that could blow air in near the air inlet on the GPU? Specifically, perhaps, placing one right near the back (or front, depending on your viewpoint) of the GPU, and placing it between the end of the GPU and the HDD caddy's? This might improve both the GPU temperatures and the SSD temperatures, although I'm not sure if it would help or hinder the other temperatures inside the case. This would also help to provide a positive internal pressure (looks like 1 inlet fan at the back, and 2 outlet fans [power supply exhaust + front 120mm fan exhaust]) which is definitely a good thing.MadAd - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
Ive given up giving up on these cases with creative item rearrangements. It never works, weve had ATX for 10+ years and if there was a good configuration to be found, wed have it already.Why dont the manufacturers start calling for a smaller redesign? Optical Disks and Power Supplies are limiting shrinking the box atm, but ask for a smaller power supply atm and people grimace with the mutterings of 1U on their lips. Mobos can always be smaller, all electronics can, but no one seems to have any will to do it.
If consoles pads and laptops are 'taking over' standard pcs, then its time to do it...most home users dont need more than a slim client, with space usually going to ppl with many HDD (nas box anyone?) or large gfx arrays.
IM sure atx wont just disappear tho, enthusiasts that need the space can use it, but we really need to deal with this size thing to move the PC into the living room.
Death666Angel - Thursday, December 8, 2011 - link
I don't see the shortage of small enclosures, be they ITX or mATX, in the last few years. There are quite a lot of cases that offer what you describe, with SFX PSUs for moderately powerful gaming rigs or external pico PSUs for mid to high-end CPU+iGPU configurations.And there there is also the AIO becoming increasingly powerful and cheap.
ATX will always be around because a lot of people don't want to pay the premium for the smaller size and they just hide the case. Or they actually need the space. I don't see how anything huge has to change though, as there are products for everyones purposes. :-)
MadAd - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
"a lot of people don't want to pay the premium for the smaller size"exactly!
so until the market moves to a new standard, anything that isnt atx is going to have a premium on it..its dragging the platform as a whole down