AMD FX 8120, custom test bench, Lian Li First Knight install/case review

[thebig_g3]

Lot of stuff going to go on in this post.

*First pictures of all the parts I just received that I was asked to build for a friend.
*Then a couple of pictures of a custom test bench I made and setting the computer up on it with a few notes on the parts and what came with them.
*The next day I received the tower and fully installed the computer.

Received all this in the mail.


Parts list:
AMD FX 8120 3.1GHz
Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3
GeForce GTX580 1536MB GDDR5
G.Skill Ripjaws X 16GB DDR3 1600
Seasonic X-1050w
Zalman 120mm heatsink

Everything came from newegg in about 10 days, all the way to me in Okinawa, with no damage.



In particular i was very impressed with the Zalman's base, it was highly polished, better than my mirror. The direction were very easy to understand and it even came with a very lightly magnetized alan key to make installation easier. Also the hold down screws were only threaded about halfway up the shaft to prevent overtorque and aid in even pressure on all screws.

Picture of super reflective base:


With hold down tabs installed:


Closeup of the hold down screws and the half threading:


Also the Zalman came with an inline resistor for quieter operation:


Closeup of the RAM:



And the CPU


Now on to putting it together on the test bench. Took me about 2 hours to make this test bench out of some extruded aluminum I found in the scrap bin.



With the heatsink backplate installed the mobo would not sit flat so i had to lever it out FOR THE EMPEROR!!!


Heatsink installed 2 different angles:



GPU installed and everything placed on the test bench:


Wire management like a boss:




After getting this all together I realized that the power button doesnt come with the mobo, it comes with the tower which i had yet to receive at this time. But since I had to test it, it was time to improvise! Knowing that the power switch was just a momentary switch I cut the 2 pin connector off a junk fan I had lying around, stripped the ends, and touched them together briefly to turn the mobo on.

 

[thebig_g3]

This post will be the case and a review of the Lian Li Lancool First Knight mid tower case.

Since I am building this machine for a friend who has little to no imagination he bought the same case I had already picked out so I received 2 in the mail. The case arrived in a fairly sturdy box with thick walls good for preventing damage. Opening one up the first thing I noticed was how carelessly the drive bay covers were installed, luckily this only happened in one of the 2 cases so I doubt it is a common problem.



My initial impression of the case was very good, the paint was even with no scratches and the case was very sleek and simple, exactly what I was looking for in a case mod candidate. And just like lian li style it attracts fingerprints like a magnet.

Pictures of the case once removed from the box:



The case came with plenty of hardware to install just about anything in this case without having to order more screws ect. Also there is a screwless PSU hold-down strap, a USB 2.0-3.0 converter, zip ties, grommets and mobo speaker.

Screw package and USB converter:


PSU strap:


PSU strap installed, I think it is pretty ugly so I opted not to use it:


The individual screw packages:


Other nice features of this case are the wire management rail and the screwless expansion slot hold downs.

Wire management rail:


Screwless expansion slot hold downs, also in this picture are the hose ports for water cooling:


The case came with 3 fans with extra long wires and 4 pin converters on each. For stock fans these are pretty exceptional, good air flow (at least feels good enough to my hand) and extremely quiet, when I first started up the computer I had thought I forgot to plug them in.

Single 120 in the rear with standard hex fan grill (will cut that out in the future) also all fans are pre-installed with rubber grommets:


And 2 140's in the front:



The case came with 3 fan filters, 2 on the intake and one on the bottom of the case for the PSU fan. They are very easy to take out and dont add much if anything to noise, at least when coupled with the stock fans.

PSU fan filter:


I do have a problem with the PSU intake port, it's made of very narrow louvers. Havent been able to test it yet but these might restrict flow or cause excessive noise. I dont see why they didnt just do a full cutout hole like the fans on the front of the case. I plan on cutting these out later.

PSU intake port:


The motherboard tray was sturdy, flat and not very flexible. It also came with the brass standoffs pre-installed and a more than adequate access hole for the heatsink mounts. The gap along the front edge and top were very useful for getting wires out of sight quickly and it lined up well with the back ports. There were ,however, 2 problems I didnt like with it. First was that it was non removable, I have had a couple cases in the past with removable mobo trays and it greatly eases mobo installation. The other problem was space behind the tray for hiding wires, it was barely a half inch, which was barely enough room for the bundle sleeving on the PSU cables. When I was trying to put the back panel on the case it bowed out slightly due to the cable bundles being too thick.

Mobo tray:


Spacing behind tray:




In conclusion, this case more than makes up for its few slight flaws. Weighing in at 16.2 lbs and measuring 8.25" wide, 18.75" tall and 19.5" long it is a good size case with plenty of room for most anything you would want to put in it. And at $139 on newegg it isnt a bad deal for a Lian Li.

Pros:
*quiet stock fans
*toolless design
*modular HDD bays
*sleek clean look
*wire management rail


Cons:
*fingerprint magnet paint
*Little room behind mobo tray for wires
*non-removable mobo tray

Up next, either tonight or tomorrow, the full install.

 

[thebig_g3]

reserved