Which Case: Lian Li or Silverstone?

Mansize_tissue · 25 May 2007 at 22:22

I'm building my first computer soon and i'm finding chosing a case to be the most difficult decision.

Basically, it's between the following:

Lian Li PC-A16
Lian Li V1000
Lian Li V1200
Silverstone TJ09

I want the case to have exceptional cooling, but i'm unsure which to get. I would like to be able to add an extra 120mm fan into which ever of the Lian Li cases mentioned above, depending on what i get. However, i'd also like to have 2x 5.25" external drive bays available. So, i was wondering, if it was possible to remove the floppy drive thing in the PC-A16, if not there'll only be a single 5.25" drive bay available. I understand this would be impossible with the TJ09, since it only has 4x 5.25" drive bays, but is it possible to get a 4-in-3 HDD bay or 120mm fan mount to fit in the front of the TJ09?

I am also confused as to what the PLUS I, II, III refer to with regard to the Lian Li cases; could someone please enlighten me?

So, ultimately, which boasts better cooling (with or without an extra 120mm fan in the front, because it might not be possible with the TJ09)?

Thank you.

GodMac · 25 May 2007 at 23:49

I having the same discussions on another thread my friend. The recommendations I'm getting are go with the Lian Li. Look at my thread and you'll get some pics and info on cases.

JonB · 26 May 2007 at 00:19

Sorry to Hijack this thread, but what is the difference between the v1000 and the v1200?

Mansize_tissue · 26 May 2007 at 00:49

JonB said:
Sorry to Hijack this thread, but what is the difference between the v1000 and the v1200?

The latter is just a little bit longer; well... 10cm i think.

Arcane · 26 May 2007 at 09:32

Mansize_tissue said:
So, i was wondering, if it was possible to remove the floppy drive thing in the PC-A16, if not there'll only be a single 5.25" drive bay available.

I removed all the stuff from my A16, the module thing at the bottom etc and replaced them with normal 5.25 covers, this allowed me to fit a 120.2 radiator in the front and have 2 5.25's left. There's a pic of it in the case gallery if you're interested.

Mansize_tissue · 26 May 2007 at 19:07

Arcane said:
There's a pic of it in the case gallery if you're interested.

Would you mind providing me a link? Thank you.

Mansize_tissue · 26 May 2007 at 23:04

Out of the PC7 and PC-A16, which would be the better case?

Here are my options, as of now:

Silverstone TJ09 with a 3 x 5.25" Bay Adapter (with 120mm fan).
With this setup i'll have one fan blowing into the graphics card area and the other toward the CPU.

Lian Li V1000B with a side window, HDD bay adapter (with 120mm fan) and blower fan (this isn't the one which draws air out the side of the case, but out of the back instead).
With this setup, there's only one fan blowing into the motherboard area of the case, and another extracting air from around the graphics card area.

Lian Li PC7 with windowed side panel (with mesh), HDD bay adapter (with 120mm fan) and it comes with the good side fan which exhausts air out of the side of the case through the mesh.
This is a good setup because there are 2 fans blowing onto the motherboard, and another exhausting air from around the GPU. (Similar to the TJ09 setup, only with a side fan)

Lian Li PC-A16 with HDD bay adapter (with 120mm fan). I don't think there's a window panel for this model and it already comes with a blower fan.
Even though i prefer this case to the PC7, i can't have a window on it. It does, however, have a very similar fan setup, only with a different side fan which exhausts air out of the rear of the case.

Which of those options would be best? I like the idea of having a fan over the graphics card area in the Lian Li models. However, with the V1000B i'll have to get a blower fan since the normal fan you get with it won't work with a windowed panel which doesn't have a mesh to exhaust the air out of.

By the way, here's the blower fan incase anybody doesn't know what it is.

Here's the good side fan.

How is the cooling the the TJ09? The main drawback, when compared with the Lian Li cases, is that it can't have a blower or side fan.

Arcane · 27 May 2007 at 11:42

Mansize_tissue said:
Would you mind providing me a link? Thank you.

Arcane said:

Mansize_tissue · 27 May 2007 at 21:32

Thank you, Arcane. Do you use the side fan? Also, is your side panel solid metal with mesh on the bottom left? Also, would a 230mm long PSU fit in it? I wasn't sure if there's anything at the top which would obstruct it. One last question, are you happy with the PC-A16 and is the build quality good?

Arcane · 27 May 2007 at 23:23

I don't use the side fan, the 8800gtx runs quite hot but from what I've read, it's running within tolerence so I left it off as it's just another fan making more noise.

The area at the top's pretty long, there's nothing obstructing the PSU area but if you're running an optical drive at the top you may run into issues routing cables if the PSU's not modular, I'm using a 150mm Silverstone and it was a nightmare hiding all the surplus connectors, (with hindsight I'd have bought the DA750 over the OP750), though I think a 230mm PSU would be too long.

The side panel is solid, there's no mesh on it, as far as quality goes, I'm very happy with it, it's nicely built, though many people have been very smug in telling me it's overpriced etc but I'm very pleased overall.

I'd say look at the TJ-07 as well, I think that's really nice.

Mansize_tissue · 28 May 2007 at 23:04

Right, so it looks like i'm choosing between the Lian Li V1000, Silverstone TJ09 and Coolermaster Stacker 832. Any more thoughts?

This rig is going to be air-cooled, and needs it to be done well!

Thanks again.

Arcane · 29 May 2007 at 10:59

They're all nice cases, so it comes down to personal preference really...personally I'd go for the TJ07