Lian Li A16 Any good?

Arcane · 3 Mar 2007 at 15:46

I'm going to have the two fans on the rad blowing air in and use the rear fan as an exhaust, as far as the graphics card fan goes, i'll run it without unless it gets too hot.

WJA96 · 3 Mar 2007 at 16:23

techmob said:
can you get a side window for this?

Not at the moment.

Arcane · 7 Mar 2007 at 09:28

Mine arrived last night. The Rad's going to be a tight fit but will go in. There's a shelf at the bottom of the 5.25" bays that the 3 in 1 module sits on, so I'm thinking of drilling that out to leave some more space. I've also run into an issue with the Lian-Li radiator brackets, they basically don't fit the Thermochill radiators, the screw mounts don't line up and the bleed valve on the bottom fouls it. I'm thinking of dremeling out a space for the valve and using heavy duty velcro to mount it onto the bracket.

As far as the case itself goes, it seems very nice though the side panels are a pita to put back on, I keep thinking i'm going to scratch the anodizing, not the smoothest action I've ever seen. The 3-in-1 thing doesn't exactly glide out either, though these are minor points...overall i'm very pleased with it.

WJA96 · 7 Mar 2007 at 11:16

Arcane said:
Mine arrived last night. The Rad's going to be a tight fit but will go in. There's a shelf at the bottom of the 5.25" bays that the 3 in 1 module sits on, so I'm thinking of drilling that out to leave some more space. I've also run into an issue with the Lian-Li radiator brackets, they basically don't fit the Thermochill radiators, the screw mounts don't line up and the bleed valve on the bottom fouls it. I'm thinking of dremeling out a space for the valve and using heavy duty velcro to mount it onto the bracket.

As far as the case itself goes, it seems very nice though the side panels are a pita to put back on, I keep thinking i'm going to scratch the anodizing, not the smoothest action I've ever seen. The 3-in-1 thing doesn't exactly glide out either, though these are minor points...overall i'm very pleased with it.

I think the quality points are very interesting - we're definitely paying a premium over the US prices as I think these have been imported from a US supplier. They should be about £80 I reckon and they are retailing at double that. The PC-A05's currently available in the UK are also very expensive against the prices available in the US (£50).

Arcane · 7 Mar 2007 at 12:34

The other Lian Li I owned was a V1100 (the one with the door). That was far superior in regards to thickness of panels etc....I do think it's overpriced and agree sub £100 is more realistic...despite that I'm very happy...it's a nice case. Coming from a P180 though I'd forgotten how easily Alluminium scratches. I'll post some pics once I've got the rad in at the weekend.

WJA96 · 7 Mar 2007 at 17:54

Apparently the Lian Li PC60/PC7 side panel also fits this, so a window is available.

PinkFloyd · 7 Mar 2007 at 18:17

Really want one of these...... Not liking the price tag at all at the moment though.....

HighlandeR · 7 Mar 2007 at 22:32

Yeap price put me off as well...

Sometimes I worry about these cases cos ive had a Akasa Eclipse 62 and the size was so lovely.. I dont think heat can build up the case is too big for that !

stu4691 · 11 Mar 2007 at 07:07

I've just got one of these and the price tag put me off initially but having taken the plunge I couldn't be happier. Feels so solid, beautifully finished and I think looks great (got the black one).

Fans are a bit noisy but chuck out loads of the air, so I've got them on a fan controller. Even turned down so they are barely audible my case temp is currently 0.5C above the room temp.

matja · 11 Mar 2007 at 17:37

Can you get extra drive cages for the front? I found one on Lian Li's website, but in a different style (not tremendously important, but still...) Will OcUK get them in?

Arcane · 11 Mar 2007 at 17:51

You mean the 3-in-1 thing at the bottom?

WJA96 · 11 Mar 2007 at 19:43

matja said:
Can you get extra drive cages for the front? I found one on Lian Li's website, but in a different style (not tremendously important, but still...) Will OcUK get them in?

You mean this?

£25.50+VAT

or if you just want the fan then you can have that too - it all matches perfectly;

£17+VAT

Black only though as far as I'm aware at the moment.

Arcane · 12 Mar 2007 at 11:46

Here's a couple of pics with the radiator about to go in.

artaxerxes · 14 Mar 2007 at 18:19

WJA96 said:
You mean this?
Black only though as far as I'm aware at the moment.

Yes - only black. Grrrrrrr.

WJA96 · 14 Mar 2007 at 18:29

artaxerxes said:
Yes - only black. Grrrrrrr.

You can get the black ones anodised silver, or buy them in from the US.

matja · 14 Mar 2007 at 18:35

WJA96 said:
You mean this?

yes, that

is that on OcUK? I can't find it...

WJA96 · 14 Mar 2007 at 18:46

matja said:
yes, that is that on OcUK? I can't find it...

Nope. OcUK only stock the cases, you need to go to a competitor for all the other bits. I can't tell you where, of course.

matja · 14 Mar 2007 at 18:49

WJA96 said:
Nope. OcUK only stock the cases, you need to go to a competitor for all the other bits. I can't tell you where, of course.

Shame (that ocuk dont stock them). Thanks for the pointer

artaxerxes · 15 Mar 2007 at 19:46

Went with a US retailer. Couldn't find the fan by itself in silver. But another HDD bay is a bonus. Had funds lying around in my paypal account so it worked out well.

Thanks for the tip WGA.

Flanno · 20 Mar 2007 at 18:56

Can you tell me if the sidepanels are the same quality as on the V series, or are they more like the PC7 which I suspect they might be as someone on this thread said this case can take the PC7 side window. That being the case, it seems overpriced.

Have a thread on General Hardware about finishing off a rig I am building and like a lot of people am stuck between this case, the tj09, antec900, eclipse, and lian li a10.