Lian Li PC-B25FWB

RUMBLERIDER2 · 10 Aug 2010 at 15:08

Has any one got a LIAN LI PC-B25FWB.
If so what is your impression, whats cable management like front & back.
If you have any detailed photos of it set up, please post them.
Many thanks

mikeo · 12 Aug 2010 at 17:20

Hi

I have the PC-B25FB (IE. none windowed version) and have been reasonably impressed with the case. And I spent absolute AGES deciding on which case to replace my ageing Chieftech with, used it in several builds over the last 10 years but even after moding it many times, the cooling / space just was not enough for modern kit. Hence the purchase of the Lian Li.

- I like the PSU fixing bracket, though I did screw mine in as well (paranoid!?).
- The clips to hold the add in cards (IE. PCI etc.) are an excellent design. Though I wished that they locked open. As if your case is lying flat, they tend to not stay fully open. I just held them fully extended with a bit of sticky tape when fitting the card.
It will fit graphics card up to 290m in length (as long as power connectors are on the side of the card). My 260 GTX fits fine. Probably moving to a 460 GTX at some point. Though longer cards can fit if you either remove the HD cage, or mod it (IE. cut off the top part). Though this would reduce you to 3 HD bays.
- Build quality top notch. Though you have to watch that you don't scratch that painted aluminium finish!
- Cable management OK. Reasonable room behind the back panel. A couple of the holes in the mobo tray are maybe a bit tight to feed cables through (catch on the top panel of the case). Just used long nose pliers to pull the cables through (EG. the 4/8 pin CPU power cable). Needed to buy an extension for this cable to reach from PSU to the top of the mobo (common problem though).
- HD fixing mounts are good. You fit the HD's to little rubber wheels. And slide them in.
- Cooling top class for a mid tower. Two 120mm inputs at the front, one 120mm output at top/back of case and two 140mm at the top of the case. Even at full power, they are not that loud. But I run them at mid power via the fan controller. Does not appear to degrade my temps, but does reduce the noise slightly. Dropping to low power makes no noticeable difference in noise levels (well to me), so left them at medium level. The Zalman CPU cooler is one I've always liked and that has a Fanmate2 fitted and I run that about 1800RPM which makes for low noise levels. Not completely quiet case (but what one is). Though mine is on the desk next to me and no more than 3ft away and it's fine and my hearing is pretty sensitive.

To further mod / tidy things up. I bought the stealth doors for the optical drives. They look and work well. Also picked up a Lian Li fan controller (not from this site). You can fit one behind the front removable panel. Though had to buy the one that fits in a PCI slot and mod it. Drilled out the bracket and fitted some old mobo standoffs. Also got those little plastic plugs to go in the USB sockets on the top front panel, to keep dust out. Also picked up a 3.5 - 2.5 bracket for when I get an SSD. so that I can fit it in the HD cradle.

Could hide the cabling even more if I wanted to. Remove floppy drive, not sure why I even bothered to fit one. Replace optical drives by SATA ones. But don't want to replace perfectly good drives just for aesthetics. Could also turn HD's round and have cables at the back. But again don't want to, as I do on occasion pull and replace them. If I did do the above, it would be pretty cable free.

If you want to know anything else, let me know.

Think I have a couple of pictures somewhere (not that brill) but I'll post them if I could.

RUMBLERIDER2 · 12 Aug 2010 at 17:48

mikeo said:
Hi

I have the PC-B25FB (IE. none windowed version) and have been reasonably impressed with the case. And I spent absolute AGES deciding on which case to replace my ageing Chieftech with, used it in several builds over the last 10 years but even after moding it many times, the cooling / space just was not enough for modern kit. Hence the purchase of the Lian Li.

- I like the PSU fixing bracket, though I did screw mine in as well (paranoid!?).
- The clips to hold the add in cards (IE. PCI etc.) are an excellent design. Though I wished that they locked open. As if your case is lying flat, they tend to not stay fully open. I just held them fully extended with a bit of sticky tape when fitting the card.
It will fit graphics card up to 290m in length (as long as power connectors are on the side of the card). My 260 GTX fits fine. Probably moving to a 460 GTX at some point. Though longer cards can fit if you either remove the HD cage, or mod it (IE. cut off the top part). Though this would reduce you to 3 HD bays.
- Build quality top notch. Though you have to watch that you don't scratch that painted aluminium finish!
- Cable management OK. Reasonable room behind the back panel. A couple of the holes in the mobo tray are maybe a bit tight to feed cables through (catch on the top panel of the case). Just used long nose pliers to pull the cables through (EG. the 4/8 pin CPU power cable). Needed to buy an extension for this cable to reach from PSU to the top of the mobo (common problem though).
- HD fixing mounts are good. You fit the HD's to little rubber wheels. And slide them in.
- Cooling top class for a mid tower. Two 120mm inputs at the front, one 120mm output at top/back of case and two 140mm at the top of the case. Even at full power, they are not that loud. But I run them at mid power via the fan controller. Does not appear to degrade my temps, but does reduce the noise slightly. Dropping to low power makes no noticeable difference in noise levels (well to me), so left them at medium level. The Zalman CPU cooler is one I've always liked and that has a Fanmate2 fitted and I run that about 1800RPM which makes for low noise levels. Not completely quiet case (but what one is). Though mine is on the desk next to me and no more than 3ft away and it's fine and my hearing is pretty sensitive.

To further mod / tidy things up. I bought the stealth doors for the optical drives. They look and work well. Also picked up a Lian Li fan controller (not from this site). You can fit one behind the front removable panel. Though had to buy the one that fits in a PCI slot and mod it. Drilled out the bracket and fitted some old mobo standoffs. Also got those little plastic plugs to go in the USB sockets on the top front panel, to keep dust out. Also picked up a 3.5 - 2.5 bracket for when I get an SSD. so that I can fit it in the HD cradle.

Could hide the cabling even more if I wanted to. Remove floppy drive, not sure why I even bothered to fit one. Replace optical drives by SATA ones. But don't want to replace perfectly good drives just for aesthetics. Could also turn HD's round and have cables at the back. But again don't want to, as I do on occasion pull and replace them. If I did do the above, it would be pretty cable free.

If you want to know anything else, let me know.

Think I have a couple of pictures somewhere (not that brill) but I'll post them if I could.

Many thanks, pictures would be nice.
Still not made my mind up, but you are swaying me towards this case.
My set up at the moment is as follows, CPU INTEL I7 920, Cooled with a COOLIT ADVANTAGE, water cooler. Motherboard ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Memory 12GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR Graphics Card(s) 2-ATI RADEON XFX HD 5870 XXX EDITION crossfire. Monitor 32IN SAMSUNG 1080 LCD. PC INPUT HDMI. Screen Resolution 1920 1080 Hard Drives 2TB WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK
KINGSTON SSD NOW V+ 64GB PSU TAGAN BZ1100WATT Case CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 800D Cooling AIR COOLED, & COOLIT ADVANTAGE.

I am still slightly worried about space for the 5870s, as i dont really want to chop the case around.Having said that i need a case a lot lighter, with a side window, & with much better cooling than the corsair.

mikeo · 12 Aug 2010 at 18:13

Hello again

From what I've read, the 5870 is 27cm long. Not much bigger than my GTX 260. Though I think the power connectors are on the end of your card, are they not? Just taken side panel off and it looks like you should be able to feed the PCIe power cable through the slots in the HD cage. Though modding the HD cage would be easy. I was originally going to do it myself. It's designed to be removed normally anyway. I did this originally when fitting my mobo, gives you a bit more manoeuvring room. Even just cutting the top/left hand side of the cage off would give you LOADS of extra room (another 3inches, or so) and would still leave the cage VERY rigid, as there is a divider between the bottom three HD slots and the top. It would still leave you two of the three fixing point for re-fitting the cage into the case. It almost looks like they "half thought" about making the cage in two parts, so you could remove the top part. Rather like with the new Corsair 600T (which I did consider, but could not be bothered to wait for).

Pictures on their way.

Only my opinion. But the graphics card issue would not be a worry for me. As there are options. No case is perfect, as no doubt you realise. All are compromised somehow.

mikeo · 12 Aug 2010 at 18:19

I stand corrected, the power connectors for the 5870 appear to be on the side of the card, not on the end. So I can't see you would have the slightest problem, as it's no bigger than my 260 GTX.

mikeo · 12 Aug 2010 at 18:23

Pictures:

RUMBLERIDER2 · 12 Aug 2010 at 18:27

mikeo said:
Hello again

From what I've read, the 5870 is 27cm long. Not much bigger than my GTX 260. Though I think the power connectors are on the end of your card, are they not? Just taken side panel off and it looks like you should be able to feed the PCIe power cable through the slots in the HD cage. Though modding the HD cage would be easy. I was originally going to do it myself. It's designed to be removed normally anyway. I did this originally when fitting my mobo, gives you a bit more manoeuvring room. Even just cutting the top/left hand side of the cage off would give you LOADS of extra room (another 3inches, or so) and would still leave the cage VERY rigid, as there is a divider between the bottom three HD slots and the top. It would still leave you two of the three fixing point for re-fitting the cage into the case. It almost looks like they "half thought" about making the cage in two parts, so you could remove the top part. Rather like with the new Corsair 600T (which I did consider, but could not be bothered to wait for).

Pictures on their way.

Only my opinion. But the graphics card issue would not be a worry for me. As there are options. No case is perfect, as I no doubt you realise. All are compromised somehow.

Thanks yes i agree no case is exactly what you want in every detail.
The 5870 i have are with the power cables at the front, so it sounds like there would be no problem.
Iam changing the power supply to a HX1000, i have had the Tagan for a long time, but the cables on the Corsair have a smaller profile. Also i will only put the Blu ray drive in, to make less clutter, & put the other drive in an external caddy, for if i need to copy discs etc.
It looks like i will purchase this case on pay day.
Many thanks, i really appreciate your input.

mikeo · 12 Aug 2010 at 18:31

and more

mikeo · 12 Aug 2010 at 18:31

Inside

RUMBLERIDER2 · 12 Aug 2010 at 18:37

Many thanks, nice set up, looks like it will do fine, the only difference is we are getting a black interior. Also i will reverse the hdd cage, so the connections are at the rear.
Thanks again.