Weighing up two cases, which one to get?

b.cummins

b.cummins

b.cummins

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So after some extensive thought, I've decided it's time for a change and I'm looking now at two very different cases in consideration of what I'm after.

I'm currently looking at either the Lian-Li PC A05 NB or the Fractal Design R3,
Considering the pros and cons to what I'm aware:

Lian-Li wins over Fractal weighing just 4kg in comparison to Fractal's 12.5kg
Fractal wins over Lian-li in noise reduction as the case is kitted out with noise dampening
Lian-Li wins over Fractal in cooling given better airflow and aluminium casing.
Fractal wins over Lian-Li for convenience because the Lian-Li requires reverse mounting which will not work with my heatpipe motherboard so if I get the Lian-Li I'll be requiring a new mobo..

They both look nice but I'm slightly swayed by the brushed aluminium look of the Lian-Li and the very clean and basic cut of the case.
I'm a moderate overclocker and I tend to get graphics cards in the mid range so nothing too long..
What would you guys look for?
 
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If your not overclocking to the extreme then the noise dampening would be more benefical over the better temps.
 
Well unless you're gonna be moving your PC around a lot then weight doesn't really matter, it's going to be sat on your desk or floor for 90% of the time. Hell, my case is 14kg and I only move it for upgrades or changes.

Like Ace said though, if you're an extreme overclocker you want a good case for cooling, otherwise any aftermarket CPU/GPU cooler is gonna keep your chips cool. Noise reduction is a good thing though if noise irritates you easilly, especially at night.

What's your current motherboard? I guess if you don't want to spend extra money on a motherboard then your choice is gonna have to be the Fractal R3.

Personally I think the Fractal looks better too, but that's just my opinion.
 
Ace Modder said:
If your not overclocking to the extreme then the noise dampening would be more benefical over the better temps.
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At the moment I'm running a p35 board @ 400FSB and a Q6600 @ 3.4ghz, wouldn't push it past 3.6 tbh. Later down the line I hope to upgrade to Sandybridge or perhaps the following Gen, but I'd only be after a similar yield, anything beyond 30% is usually fine for me.

Emphacy said:
Well unless you're gonna be moving your PC around a lot then weight doesn't really matter, it's going to be sat on your desk or floor for 90% of the time. Hell, my case is 14kg and I only move it for upgrades or changes.

What's your current motherboard? I guess if you don't want to spend extra money on a motherboard then your choice is gonna have to be the Fractal R3.

Personally I think the Fractal looks better too, but that's just my opinion.
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It isn't so much the moving around that's going to be problematic it's that I'm mounting the case on a desk bracket. That said it is from a decent range at Ikea so it's probably sturdy enough to take that kind of weight..

My motherboard at the moment is an abit IP35 Pro, I don't particularly mind spending a bit more money but socket 775 boards are pretty sparse now.. I was actually thinking it would be a good excuse to get a p45 for that slight performance boost to tide me over with my current hardware.

The fractal does look nice, but I'm always going to have a preference for aluminium over plastic and steel ;)
 
I'll vote for the Lian Li.

I've been impressed with every Lian Li I've had (on my fifth now) and, in comparison, the R2 I had was simply not built to the same standard. I don't specifically know how the R3 compares to the R2, but I did not find the R2 to be particularly quiet, or heat efficient, although the cable management was excellent. The Fractal is also very heavy, as you've pointed out.

The one thing that I would complain about with Lian Li is their pricing, which, with their upper end cases, is quite frankly ridiculous now.

Why, just as a matter of interest, can you not use your MB in the LL? I didn't realise there was a recommended orientation for MB's, or is it just the IP35? It's not something I even considered with my LL's. :eek:
 
Gepetto said:
I'll vote for the Lian Li.

I've been impressed with every Lian Li I've had (on my fifth now) and, in comparison, the R2 I had was simply not built to the same standard. I don't specifically know how the R3 compares to the R2, but I did not find the R2 to be particularly quiet, or heat efficient, although the cable management was excellent. The Fractal is also very heavy, as you've pointed out.

The one thing that I would complain about with Lian Li is their pricing, which, with their upper end cases, is quite frankly ridiculous now.

Why, just as a matter of interest, can you not use your MB in the LL? I didn't realise there was a recommended orientation for MB's, or is it just the IP35? It's not something I even considered with my LL's. :eek:
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I've always loved the look of Lian-Li's but I have heard a lot of good things about the R3.

The problem with the motherboard, is the reverse mounting, as the heatpipe ceases to work properly since the cooling fluid has nowhere to rise to.. Or so I've heard!
 
b.cummins said:
Incidentally can anyone confirm/dispel this rumour about reverse mounting a heatpipe motherboard?
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Unsure on this. My friend has an Asus P5N32 SLI board with heat pipe cooling and a Lian li V1000. He has compared the temps to when he used to run it in an Antec 900 and there ins't much of a difference. Arguably though he has changed the way the fans are mounted in the v1000 so the cooling may just be better than it was back in the Antec.

People over at Toms hardware disagree though and state that the boards will overheat:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/210123-12-inverting-heatpipe-motherboards-help

I dont think anyone is really Sure :confused: lol, I guess it depends on the board. What do you have?
 
Here's a vote for the Lian Li.

(1) It's the easiest thing in the world to install your own noise dampening: all it consists of is foam panels stuck to the case panels. There are several aftermarket noise dampening kits floating around for the A05 (search King Mod soundproofing).
(2) Better build quality, and it's a beautiful little case :).
(3) Better air flow.

Re: heatpipe motherboard mounting - it shouldn't matter. All heatpipes used in computer components have tiny wicks which draw fluid through them (capillary action) so they function no matter which way up they are.
 
Thanks for your responses.

Cr416 said:
Unsure on this. My friend has an Asus P5N32 SLI board with heat pipe cooling and a Lian li V1000. He has compared the temps to when he used to run it in an Antec 900 and there ins't much of a difference. Arguably though he has changed the way the fans are mounted in the v1000 so the cooling may just be better than it was back in the Antec.

People over at Toms hardware disagree though and state that the boards will overheat:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/210123-12-inverting-heatpipe-motherboards-help

I dont think anyone is really Sure :confused: lol, I guess it depends on the board. What do you have?
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Exactly. There isn't a clear answer ANYWHERE. I have an Abit Ip35 pro. to be honest i'm not particularly attached to the motherboard and I'd be quite happy to bag a cheap p45 board to tide me over in the mean time if it causes the board to die a death. I have also performed a heatpipe mod on the board..

joxang said:
Here's a vote for the Lian Li.

(1) It's the easiest thing in the world to install your own noise dampening: all it consists of is foam panels stuck to the case panels. There are several aftermarket noise dampening kits floating around for the A05 (search King Mod soundproofing).
(2) Better build quality, and it's a beautiful little case :).
(3) Better air flow.

Re: heatpipe motherboard mounting - it shouldn't matter. All heatpipes used in computer components have tiny wicks which draw fluid through them (capillary action) so they function no matter which way up they are.
Click to expand...

I do love the Lian Li.. But they are both good looking cases. Are you suggesting tho that it would need noise dampening?

It's interesting you say that about the heatpipe action. Most people seem to say don't reverse mount but i've never actually seen anyone say "help my motherboard died cos i reverse mounted it". Not that I'm sceptical but do you know if this is true of all motherboards?
 
b.cummins said:
I do love the Lian Li.. But they are both good looking cases. Are you suggesting tho that it would need noise dampening?

It's interesting you say that about the heatpipe action. Most people seem to say don't reverse mount but i've never actually seen anyone say "help my motherboard died cos i reverse mounted it". Not that I'm sceptical but do you know if this is true of all motherboards?
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Nope, I wouldn't need sound dampening but someone who's more sensitive to noise might :). As far as I'm concerned, stock Lian Li fans run with a fan controller are near silent. You could swap them out for even quieter ones. However, I know plenty of people who can hear a gpu fan on 20% encased in a steel case from the other side of the room, and whom insist on foam padding everything. Basically, if you get the case and think it's too loud for you, then you have options.

I wouldn't want to say 'it's fine to reverse mount' but as far as I'm aware, the heatpipe wick is pretty fundamental to all heatpipes (meaning orientation doesn't matter). I guess it's possible that some motherboard heatpipe cooling systems don't have wicks and can only be mounted in one orientation but I think that's highly, highly unlikely.
 
joxang said:
Nope, I wouldn't need sound dampening but someone who's more sensitive to noise might :). As far as I'm concerned, stock Lian Li fans run with a fan controller are near silent. You could swap them out for even quieter ones. However, I know plenty of people who can hear a gpu fan on 20% encased in a steel case from the other side of the room, and whom insist on foam padding everything. Basically, if you get the case and think it's too loud for you, then you have options.

I wouldn't want to say 'it's fine to reverse mount' but as far as I'm aware, the heatpipe wick is pretty fundamental to all heatpipes (meaning orientation doesn't matter). I guess it's possible that some motherboard heatpipe cooling systems don't have wicks and can only be mounted in one orientation but I think that's highly, highly unlikely.
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I know what you mean about the noise, however I'm using a 1200 at the moment so i'm pretty sure it's going to seem deadly silent in comparison.

with regards further to the reverse mounting, seems someone over at XS had this a long time ago and didn't seem to have any problems with it (this is the only reference I could find on this configuration)
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=157227

Looks pretty clearcut to me; I can hopefully get away with the lian li with my current configuration :-)
 
Go for it, and let us know how it works out :). The Lian Li is a stunning case and you can even mod a triple rad in the top. There's about one A05 every week listed as an auction on eBay actually which typically go for £30-40. Though don't bid on the one that's on there now cos I'm bidding on it :p.
 
joxang said:
Go for it, and let us know how it works out :). The Lian Li is a stunning case and you can even mod a triple rad in the top. There's about one A05 every week listed as an auction on eBay actually which typically go for £30-40. Though don't bid on the one that's on there now cos I'm bidding on it :p.
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well it's funny you mentioned the bay cos i just bagged an asus p5q se plus for 26 quid :)

I fancied placating my misplaced fears and I also wanted an excuse for a minor upgrade, so I've definitely laid out the path for a lian li. It's also a much smaller board so it'll make for a tidier fit in the case.

Are you talking about the watercooling modded case that's currently up, cos you won't have to worry about competition there :p
 
b.cummins said:
Are you talking about the watercooling modded case that's currently up, cos you won't have to worry about competition there :p
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Lol I am...I want to snap it up but I have about 4 empty cases sitting in my small student room already. Incredibly tempting though :p.
 
Just a quick update to anyone who was interested, opted for the Lian Li in the end. It'll be arriving today so can't say if I've definitely made the right choice yet!
 
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