Looking for a Lian Li.....

[hiiyah777]

Well, I've slowly but surely grown to hate my case, as well as the other cases I have considered, and I am officially sold on Lian Li. Now's the hard part: Which one to pick??? There are so many and they look so similar, I get lost when comparing. And unfortunately their website is not very good at providing a comparison chart or even having a uniform way of distinguishing them. I'm thinking of making my own. I love their brushed aluminum finishes. I'm a big fan of the power supply on bottom, and I like the separate heat zones for power & HDD's and MB and Optical.

Wants:

1. Silence
2. Separate Heat Zones
3. Sleek Front Door
4. Removable Motherboard Tray
5. Inverted ATX Design
6. Top Exhaust
7. Side Exhaust
8. Side Window
9. External Serial ATA Port

Anyway, here are the ones I'm considering:

PC-A10

I like the sleek look on the front of this one, as well as the fan on top. Appears to be the only one with a top fan. But no side fan. Also doesn't specify removable MB tray, something I would like to have. It LOOKS removable, but their website never mentioned it.
Missing: Side Exhaust, Side Window, ESATA, Inverted ATX, and Removable MB Tray

PC-V1000Z

I'm leaning toward the cases with front panels, much sleeker look. However, one thing I like about this one is the side window to show the insides off. I see you can order a 1000 series side panel with a window, is it just for this one or any of the 1000's? Also, no side fan, but it appears to have better sealing between the PS and MB for temperature separation. LOVE the ESATA on top.
Missing: Front Door, Top Exhaust, Side Exhaust, Inverted ATX, and Removable MB Tray

PC-V1100 Plus II

GREAT sleek design. Side CPU fan and GPU fan, a plus. Can I put a side window on this? I like that they market this one as their "Silent Performer". Silence is golden. No ESATA. Is the inverted ATX design something I should be worried about? I think I like it unless someone could give me a good reason not to. Does the heat from the CPU rise to the GPU? Or does the fan blowing out the back take care of that?
Missing: Top Exhaust, Removable MB Tray, Side Window, ESATA

PC-V1110

Once again, I like the sleekness. Looks VERY big and roomy. Angled RAM/CPU fan seems neat, will it do the job? Can I compromise with another case and do without it? Advertises removable MB tray. Could someone tell me from experience how many of these do this? Do they all do it so they just don't mention it? If so then that's one less thing for me to worry about. Also has ESATA!
Missing: Top Exhaust, Side Exhaust, Side Window, and Inverted ATX

PC-V1200 Plus II

Then there's this one, looks like the 1100 only longer? And without the door? I don't know, I'm a noob to Lian Li, only heard of them like a week ago, and no one case seems to be "Perfect" as far as having every single feature I want in one package. Unless there's something I missing in one that someone can enlighten me on or tell me I really don't need.
Missing: Front Door, Top Exhaust, Side Window, Inverted ATX, ESATA, and Removable MB Tray

I have a brand new Thermalright 120 Extreme coming in on Friday, I'm buying a used Decathlon DA650 from someone hopefully by the end of this week. I've gotten rid of my 2 8500GT's and put in one 8800GT with the 670MHz clock, and I'd like to eventually SLI another one. But I'd also like to have a case for the long haul. Right now I'm using an XFX 680i LT SLI with a Q6600 and 8GB of OCZ SLI-Ready RAM, but I'm thinking in a year or two going to 3- or 4-way SLI, with a Quad Extreme and a 1000W PSU. So that's where the extended versions strike my fancy, but could those mid-sized ones have the room I need? It would help if there were a store nearby that stocks these, but I guess I'm SOL on that. Oh well. I need some advice from people that have used/seen these in person, since all I have to go by is pictures.

*****UPDATE*****Also, would be nice if people could add pictures of their Lian Li insides so I can see different layouts. That's another factor in my decision, since there doesn't seem to be much out there with them in action. I don't care if cables are messy or your system's not tricked out, I'm just wanting to see an average case filled up with stuff to get a general idea of how much space I need. Thanks!

 

[meionm]

Did you look at rocketfish's case?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8428604&type=product&id=1183160363476

 

[hiiyah777]

Did you look at rocketfish's case?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8428604&type=product&id=1183160363476

Yes, I like the bottom and top to be separated, and it really doesn't look as nice as the Lian Li V-Series cosmetically, kinda looks a tad bit cheaper

 

[nd4spdbh2]

I have a V2000b Pluss 2 (full tower brother of the V1200b plus2) and i could not be happier ... there is so much damn room its amazing... and it really dont matter which LL case you get, they just blow everything outta the water!

If you want a big psu, and SLI i would recommend going with a longer case like the v1200 ... the extra length will make things ALOT easier. Also the inverted ATX layout is SOOO much better thermally speaking than standard ATX. I <3 my v2000b

 

[Ashura]

I <3 my v2000b

I second this; after moving in to my full tower Lian Li, I can't imagine myself ever moving back to anything smaller.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

I second this; after moving in to my full tower Lian Li, I can't imagine myself ever moving back to anything smaller.

yup i was the same way... at first when i got it i was like... crap this thing is WAY to big... after i moved in to it, i honestly will run my main rig in a standard mid tower again as long as i have the space for this monster!

As for no front door... really the way i have my v2000b all front bezzels INCLUDING fan controler are bushed aluminum black anodized... and as for top exaust when i originally got the case i was going to put a top exaust in but the side fan i made into an exaust and works pefect. And a removable mobo tray is not necessary... you could live inside this case

Also quietness... i am a stickler for a quiet computer, i even suspended the hds in my comp (not pictured) but really i run my yate loons (all 5 at 6v) and its very quiet... not silent but VERY quiet. if you want maximum silentness your going to want something with a front door and no side window so you can put sound deadening on everything.

CHEK IT !

(sorry for the coupla blury pics)

original setup (only differences are 8800gts 640, TR hs's on nb and vregs. and spare part storage in the bottom haha SOO MUCH ROOM!)

(side exaust... pulls cool air in from the back over the gpu fan and out the side)

Bottom... look at the room!! I currently just store 2 hds, and a hd sized box with cables and screws and whatnot down there... even hid my cell phone from my self in my case once... spent half the day looking for it

Hope thats not to many pics

 

[Ashura]

Plenty of room inside, only difference is I now have a 8800GTX in the top PCIe slot and two more sticks of RAM:



The large area below was great for how I wanted to mount the HDs:



Pic of the entire bottom area:



Front:



My two gripes are that the mobo tray isn't removeable and that my motherboard didn't allow me to mount my TRUE so that I could have had it parallel to the rear fan.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

Plenty of room inside, only difference is I now have a 8800GTX in the top PCIe slot and two more sticks of RAM:



My two gripes are that the mobo tray isn't removeable and that my motherboard didn't allow me to mount my TRUE so that I could have had it parallel to the rear fan.

Ya the partition between the mobo area and bottom part could have been a half inch to inch lower at the expense of 2 hd spots in the original config...

My TR ultra 120 barly fits... i got about 3/8ths of an inch between the partition and the hs

 

[ratbuddy]

The ultimate Lian-Li case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163067

 

[nd4spdbh2]

The ultimate Lian-Li case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163067

OUCH on that price... i bought my v2000b plus 2 for cheaper than that... and my case was by no means cheap!

 

[hiiyah777]

Ya the partition between the mobo area and bottom part could have been a half inch to inch lower at the expense of 2 hd spots in the original config...

My TR ultra 120 barly fits... i got about 3/8ths of an inch between the partition and the hs

Plenty of room inside, only difference is I now have a 8800GTX in the top PCIe slot and two more sticks of RAM:

My two gripes are that the mobo tray isn't removeable and that my motherboard didn't allow me to mount my TRUE so that I could have had it parallel to the rear fan.

You two have very excellent points and justifications for going with the 2000 series, and your setups look very nice and spacious. However, you brought up a few things that I don't want.

First, my TRUE has to fit properly. I do not want to compromise for that. That thing's too expensive and too nice to not be used properly and get the maximum performance out of it.

Second, your cases are very big, and I like the room to work with and room for maximum air flow. But they really look TOO big. I can't see myself needing more than 4-5 HDD places. Right now I have a 500GB WD Caviar and a Seagate 320GB 7200.11, I'm close to buying a 750GB or 1TB 7200.11, and I'll probably migrate my 500GB WD to my TiVo at that time. So room for 12 is really overkill. It just looks like a ton of wasted empty space. I try to consolidate when I can.

Third, Thanks for telling me about it not having the removable MB tray. It would just make my life easier if I can take the MB Tray out and do all my work out in the open. Right now my tiny Ultra Grid doesn't let me do that and it's something I really want.

Thanks so much to you both for the pics and insight. Hopefully more people like you will read this thread and give me similar information.

The ultimate Lian-Li case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163067

Ummm... Hate to be the one to break it to you, but that's not a Lian Li, it's a Silverstone. I glanced at the Silverstone's, they seem like nice cases, but I am 99.9% dead set on a Lian Li. So let's try to stay on topic. (Even though I know you were just trying to be a smart a**)

 

[ratbuddy]

Ummm... Hate to be the one to break it to you, but that's not a Lian Li, it's a Silverstone. I glanced at the Silverstone's, they seem like nice cases, but I am 99.9% dead set on a Lian Li. So let's try to stay on topic. (Even though I know you were just trying to be a smart a**)

I was actually half-serious. It has everything you mentioned you wanted, and thought you might not have seen it. If I was going to run a full-ATX system, that would be the case.

 

[hiiyah777]

Almost, ratbuddy. It doesn't have inverted ATX or a front door, although it does have good top fans and I like the airflow concept in the bottom compartment. I still much prefer the Lian Li's. Thanks for the input though.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

You two have very excellent points and justifications for going with the 2000 series, and your setups look very nice and spacious. However, you brought up a few things that I don't want.

First, my TRUE has to fit properly. I do not want to compromise for that. That thing's too expensive and too nice to not be used properly and get the maximum performance out of it.

Second, your cases are very big, and I like the room to work with and room for maximum air flow. But they really look TOO big. I can't see myself needing more than 4-5 HDD places. Right now I have a 500GB WD Caviar and a Seagate 320GB 7200.11, I'm close to buying a 750GB or 1TB 7200.11, and I'll probably migrate my 500GB WD to my TiVo at that time. So room for 12 is really overkill. It just looks like a ton of wasted empty space. I try to consolidate when I can.

Third, Thanks for telling me about it not having the removable MB tray. It would just make my life easier if I can take the MB Tray out and do all my work out in the open. Right now my tiny Ultra Grid doesn't let me do that and it's something I really want.

Thanks so much to you both for the pics and insight. Hopefully more people like you will read this thread and give me similar information.



Ummm... Hate to be the one to break it to you, but that's not a Lian Li, it's a Silverstone. I glanced at the Silverstone's, they seem like nice cases, but I am 99.9% dead set on a Lian Li. So let's try to stay on topic. (Even though I know you were just trying to be a smart a**)

to make sure your TRUE fits just measure... if it overhanges your mobo by more than an 1/8th of an inch then it isnt gonna fit... i have about 3/16ths of an inch between the partition and my mobo.

and not a prob about the pics... any time!