Lian Li PC-A77 Full Tower Case Thread
- Thread starter Arcane
- Start date
Ok it arrived last week but I been quite busy so only finished the build yesterday. Its got the usual Lian Li quality build and finish. Nothing outrageous about the design, new or novel.
I've already filled out each of the 12 bays. From top to bottom I have 2 x DVDRW, FDD/Card Reader, 12cm HDD/Fan module, 2 x 4in3 SAS backplane.
Cable tidying features are slightly better than my previous case (Cosmos) in that it has a hole just beneath the motherboard where you can feed front-panel connectors through. The side cover also has no problem fitting back on if you're passing cables behind the motherboard tray.
Its also much lighter than my Cosmos due to its all-aluminium build, almost 7Kg less, but doesn't have much to grip onto for moving around unlike the Cosmos which has huge bars.
Bad points: imo poor fan controller with too many cables (3 x temp sensors, 3 x 3-pin fan connectors, 1 x hdd activity cable, 1 x 4-pin power connector) and no manual controls. The case is positioned on the floor and to the left of me where the text on the LCD isn't readable anyway due to low contrast and poor viewing angles. I removed all the cables except for power and just use it for the clock
I didn't bother removing the motherboard tray for installation. Its one of those which swings out downwards so a large heatsink (e.g. TRUE) might make contact with the chassis when removing/installing. There's plenty of room to work with inside though so not a major issue.
That's it for bad points really and even then they are not a big deal. There's been a few mentions of high price in this thread but I got it for £170 inc. VAT and delivery which is reasonable imo.
I also took a few pics which I'll upload later.
Edit: Forgot to say it's a fantastic case overall, has to be the best stacker available at the moment. I haven't gone through and mentioned all the good points as it's simply easier to mention the limited bad points and say everything else is good!
p.s. going to order it's little brother (PC-A17B) to make a backup server.
I've already filled out each of the 12 bays. From top to bottom I have 2 x DVDRW, FDD/Card Reader, 12cm HDD/Fan module, 2 x 4in3 SAS backplane.
Cable tidying features are slightly better than my previous case (Cosmos) in that it has a hole just beneath the motherboard where you can feed front-panel connectors through. The side cover also has no problem fitting back on if you're passing cables behind the motherboard tray.
Its also much lighter than my Cosmos due to its all-aluminium build, almost 7Kg less, but doesn't have much to grip onto for moving around unlike the Cosmos which has huge bars.
Bad points: imo poor fan controller with too many cables (3 x temp sensors, 3 x 3-pin fan connectors, 1 x hdd activity cable, 1 x 4-pin power connector) and no manual controls. The case is positioned on the floor and to the left of me where the text on the LCD isn't readable anyway due to low contrast and poor viewing angles. I removed all the cables except for power and just use it for the clock
I didn't bother removing the motherboard tray for installation. Its one of those which swings out downwards so a large heatsink (e.g. TRUE) might make contact with the chassis when removing/installing. There's plenty of room to work with inside though so not a major issue.
That's it for bad points really and even then they are not a big deal. There's been a few mentions of high price in this thread but I got it for £170 inc. VAT and delivery which is reasonable imo.
I also took a few pics which I'll upload later.
Edit: Forgot to say it's a fantastic case overall, has to be the best stacker available at the moment. I haven't gone through and mentioned all the good points as it's simply easier to mention the limited bad points and say everything else is good!
p.s. going to order it's little brother (PC-A17B) to make a backup server.
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Associate
- Joined
- 17 Dec 2007
- Posts
- 652
- Location
- Edinburgh
sounds brilliant
got any build/completed pictures we can drool over
got any build/completed pictures we can drool over
Glad to hear you got the right case in the end.
Hard to say...that motherboard looks lost in there
Without that vertical division Chieftec BA/CA01 would be winner. (Also Stacker 810's WTX capacity would make ATX look small
I'm not sure that it's so much camera as toy.
So those could be actually considered as good photos.
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Jun 2007
- Posts
- 5,239
- Location
- London
pay so much for a case, and cable managment is non existant 
why lian-li, why?
why lian-li, why?Yeah such a nice case for sub £100. Can't believe i was looking at cases double that tbh.
The internals of the a17 are so good for cable mangement as well. will post a build log when i get started.
*just found that the usb front cables and socket section are missing, looks like an RMA*
just emailed overclockers, there's also a couple of tiny marks on the top front right of the case*Damn, i've been unlucky recently
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lol yeah I agree. Off-topic but I been waiting to replace my mobile (contract is up this month) to see how good the camera is on my new phone.
If that's crap too then I'll probs get a half-decent standalone camera.
Ordered the PC-A17B as well. Going to use it as a backup NAS, sat next to it's bigger brother
Sigh.... have to take the mobo out of the A77 as I'm sticking a new one in. Most of the time went on aligning the drives and braiding the cables anyway which will both stay.
Sigh.... have to take the mobo out of the A77 as I'm sticking a new one in. Most of the time went on aligning the drives and braiding the cables anyway which will both stay.
How do you finish off the ends of the braided cables? ocUK have arranged pick up of my a17 today, really wanted everything to be ready for my build this weekend but it doesnt look like its going to happen. Bit gutted tbh but oh well.
Black electrician's tape from B&Q. Can't be arsed with heatshrink and soldering iron.
I even braided all 8 cables from the fan controller in the A77, then decided to remove them anyway
3mm flex for the thin cables like power/reset switch, LEDs, thermal sensors, etc.
6mm flex for fan cables (with 3-pin headers)
velcro ones for some power supply cables
Short cables I sometimes just use the black tape on its own (like those bits inbetween molex connectors on modular psu cables.
I even braided all 8 cables from the fan controller in the A77, then decided to remove them anyway
3mm flex for the thin cables like power/reset switch, LEDs, thermal sensors, etc.
6mm flex for fan cables (with 3-pin headers)
velcro ones for some power supply cables
Short cables I sometimes just use the black tape on its own (like those bits inbetween molex connectors on modular psu cables.