Lian Li PCA70B

Craig321

Craig321

Craig321

Soldato
Joined
2 May 2004
Posts
19,953
I've been looking for a case with a good amount of internal hard drive slots and no front door and came across the PCA70B.

Can anyone tell me what the build quality is like compared to the PC-7B II - I found the PC-7's quality a bit rubbish (sharp edges, rattly side, panels were a little flimsy etc.)

I'm open to any suggestions around the same price range.

Thanks,
Craig.
 
Craig321 said:
I found the PC-7's quality a bit rubbish (sharp edges, rattly side, panels were a little flimsy etc.)
Click to expand...
Mainly corners/edges are rounded but there are some which aren't.
But it looks like aluminium doesn't form good cutting edges (except through thinnes like in fins of heatsinks) because despite lot of careless working with A71 I didn't get a single cut while with steel cases I was getting cuts quite frequently.

That rattling of sides when tapping/moving case is caused by slight loose in side panel's top edge attachment so it might have been present only in certain batches considering I haven't found much comments about it...
And my A71 manufactured in May 08 stopped rattling completely after installing combination mat with bitumen layer to side panels so it isn't hard to solve that problem if it occurs.

Here's another thread with pictures:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17799173

Except for door this is same case:
 
As long as the thin panels don't rattle like my PC-7 then it's not really an issue for me.

mr_x_plosion - are there any Silverstone cases that have a similar amount of hard drive slots/space?

Thanks,
Craig.
 
Craig321 said:
As long as the thin panels don't rattle like my PC-7...
Click to expand...
Hard HDD mounting surely contributes to rattling in that case.

Only Silverstone which can compete in overal size is lot more expensive TJ07 but it can't compete in number of HDD bays, also screw mount is harder for installing drives and bad for acoustics... (SPCR found side panel rattling in it)
Newer and smaller TJ09 and FT01 also have cooling wise way too dense HDD spacing further lowering number.


gt_junkie said:
I'd agree - would have been nicer if they had panels more like their 'silent' series of cases.
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While thicker than ~1,15mm side would be better for rigidity that would bring more material costs and weight. (+probably more transport costs) For example V2x10 is heavy for aluminium case.
 
mr_x_plosion said:
This.

Don't get me wrong its a nice case but compared to Silverstone it feels cheaper.

Mine was also bent meaning the PCI screws didn't line up very well.
Click to expand...

Lol i had the same problem. The rear of the case was bent pretty bad. Dont get me wrong its massive and easy to work on with plenty of room for any set up you could think of. Really good price if you look around too but idk it just dont feel really high quality like some of the other lians and silverstones. Im thinking if you maybe got the sound proof matting and totally did the case out in that it would feel a lot more solid.
 
EsaT said:
Hard HDD mounting surely contributes to rattling in that case.
Click to expand...

Main cause of the rattling is the loose side panel. I have to make sure it's secure with blue tac. I've sorted it now, but it was just one of the issues I had with the PC-7.

I'll just need to make sure the PCA70B fits under my desk and I think I'll buy it. I already have 5 hard drives to put inside, so I think 10 slots is a good idea for future upgrades.

Craig.
 
Craig321 said:
I'll just need to make sure the PCA70B fits under my desk
Click to expand...
Case itself is actually 58cm high (9cm short of big Chieftecs), but nowadays common top positioned IEEE1394/USB ports (10cm from front) need some space to access.

For case to be positioned on floor A70's intake air filters are ideally done so you can clean those easily.
(similar to A7010: 1:15+)
 
EsaT said:
While thicker than ~1,15mm side would be better for rigidity that would bring more material costs and weight. (+probably more transport costs) For example V2x10 is heavy for aluminium case.
Click to expand...
I do know this - had a few lian li cases in my time. ;)

The difference in outright 'end user' cost though is relatively neglidgeable so might not have impacted so much on any purchasers decision to buy.

That said, isolating HDD's and/or use of blu tac if needed will sort any side panel 'rattle' issues.

gt
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like I'll be getting this case soon, then I'll finally be able to make use of my spare 500GB drives :)

[Edit]
Are they still made? Can't find one in stock anywhere.
 
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Discontinued models seem to disappear fast from Lian Li's website so I don't think you have to fear that.
It's probably just that newer fashion feature/bling equipped versions are taking some attention away from it so that most shops don't keep it that much in stock anymore and in shops which keep it those might go out of the door at faster space... for example OcUK's stock situation with A70/71 fluctuates constantly from small number in stock to out of stock.
(most of the components are common with other cases so manufacturing it should be easily economically feasible even with somewhat smaller sales)
 
EsaT said:
Discontinued models seem to disappear fast from Lian Li's website so I don't think you have to fear that.
It's probably just that newer fashion feature/bling equipped versions are taking some attention away from it so that most shops don't keep it that much in stock anymore and in shops which keep it those might go out of the door at faster space... for example OcUK's stock situation with A70/71 fluctuates constantly from small number in stock to out of stock.
(most of the components are common with other cases so manufacturing it should be easily economically feasible even with somewhat smaller sales)
Click to expand...

Hmm, I can't find it in stock anywhere at all. I read somewhere it has been discontinued as well :/

[Edit]
Might go for the PC-A77B - loving the built-in fan controller, and it has 9 internal 3.5" drive bays (using 6 5.25" bays).

I like the way they've used 5.25" bays with converters to get 9 3.5" internal bays. Means I could have 12 drives (9 using the front 5.25" bays and the other 3 in the place of the bottom/top PSU slot) :cool:
 
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