|
|
Advertisement:
|
|
Lian Li PC-6077 Case |
|
Join the community - in the OCAU Forums!
|
Usage and Conclusions
Removing the front is trivially easy - simply grasp at the bottom and it pops off. Doing so allows you to get to the screws securing the faceplate cover. The blank faceplates pop in and out easily with no screws to undo, while the floppy-drive converter and the bottom block containing the fan, power button etc are secured by screws in the drive bays like normal 5.25" devices.
When you slide the front section out and unscrew the front, you can see that the intake fan has two removable dust filters to help stop dust being sucked into your case.
Finally, a quick note on the extra bits included with the case. There's plenty of screws along with cable-ties and quite a few of Lian Li's proprietary standoffs (more on those below). There's an instruction sheet that shows the various features pretty clearly and a product brochure listing other cases and accessories from Lian Li's range.
Usage:
Assembling a PC into this case was no big drama, but there were a couple of quirks. Firstly, as mentioned earlier there are no support tabs in the 5.25 bays. This means you can't just slide a CDROM drive into the bay, rest it on the tabs and then screw it into place (on one side only, if you're lazy like me.) No, you have to balance the drive with one hand, while holding the screw in place with another hand and using your third hand to hold the screwdriver. Yet another reason why magnetic screwdrivers are a godsend! Or you could insert the drive with the PC on its side, of course, which is no big deal unless you're strapped for space or are watercooling with a system that doesn't like being tilted too much. You'll need at least one screw in each side of a 5.25 device or it'll sag, again due to no support tabs. I have to say though, the freedom to move the various front-mounted bits of this case up and down to arbitrary locations (or remove them entirely) is very cool, so the fact that it means you can't have the support tabs is something I can definitely live with.
The second quirk is a strange one. Instead of the traditional brass or plastic motherboard standoffs we've seen in every case since the dawn of man (or at least, the dawn of ATX), Lian Li provide folded-steel standoffs.
In the picture above, you can see at left some square holes in the removable motherboard tray where there would normally be screw holes for brass standoffs. In the middle we see a Lian Li standoff installed in the motherboard (inserted from the rear) and to the right we have a standoff resting on the tray to show what the whole thing looks like. I'm at a bit of a loss as to why Lian Li decided to go with this system instead of the traditional hex-drive brass standoffs, or what benefits they feel it provides. I guess the major annoyance with brass screw-in standoffs is the way they sometimes unscrew when you are unscrewing a motherboard screw. These of course won't do that, and maybe Lian Li went to this system because the traditional way to stop a standoff from unscrewing is to do it up extremely tightly into the motherboard, which isn't such a great idea with a Lian Li case because brass standoffs would strip an aluminium screw-hole pretty easily if you overtightened them.
To be honest, I think they're excessively fiddly and too fragile. You can install them fine with your fingers, but pliers would be a better idea. Bear in mind that steel pliers (or even the standoffs themselves) can scratch your nice shiny motherboard tray pretty easily if you slip. If you want to move a standoff from one hole to another, it's easy to crush and deform the folded standoffs. Admittedly, replacing a standoff is a lot easier than de-stripping a stripped screw hole, and Lian Li provide plenty of them with the case. I used ten to mount the NF7-S and had nearly that many left over - so you can afford to mangle a few and still be ok. Lian Li have been using this type of standoff for literally years now and I don't remember any angry mobs complaining about them, so maybe I should just stop whinging. If this is your first Lian Li case, however, the standoffs do come as something of a surprise.
Nonetheless, I built a system in this case without any major problems. Like any midi-tower, and especially with motherboards where the socket is very high on the board like ABIT's NF7-S, it can be fiddly to install large CPU coolers. But this is not Lian Li's fault. I think they've made very good use of the space available.
When the system is running the power LED is the very bright blue colour we've become used to seeing in various cases. The glow from this LED actually spreads a bit, and glows gently through the front grills which is quite a nice effect. The HDD LED is much duller and red. With all 3 included fans running the case emits an audible hum, but it's not loud enough to be annoying. There is plenty of airflow through the case with the included fans.
Conclusions:
Overall, this is a very nice case. Lian Li have a reputation for high quality and the PC-6077 doesn't disappoint. Excellent build quality, attractive lines and some clever features add up to luxury housing for your PC bits. For a small and lightweight case, Lian Li provide a huge amount of space and cooling options. I can't actually find a price online, but no doubt there will be a slight price premium for this case, as with all Lian Li cases. But you're paying for quality and I'm sure purchasers will be happy with this unit for a long time. Recommended!
Many thanks to Anyware Computer Accessories for providing the review unit!
|
|
Advertisement:
All original content copyright James Rolfe.
All rights reserved. No reproduction allowed without written permission.
Interested in advertising on OCAU? Contact us for info.
|
|
