ive been looking around and everywhere i look, Lian-li cases are proclaimed as being the best. why is this? they look really plain to me. im definetly going to get a new case, but im not sure what i wanna get. i wanna go with lian-li but the cases dont seem very convincing from the outside.

No such thing as best. Just personal preferences. You know the cases don't come with PSU?

Wrong, I have my case brought with PSU Installed. Most of Stores provides the reliable PSU but not great one.

Lian-Li is one of the best case around because of their great prices, a great case for modding process and much, much cooler than every case. Lian-Li is perfect for traditional and Water cooling.

Lucan

...and then there's me

Archvile,

I'd like to offer an opinion sort of in-between Bushwacker's and Fishhookz'. I think it's more than simply personal preference since I have bought cases in the past and they turned out to be cheap garbage (the plastic on the front was so cheap it broke almost just by touching it). On the other hand, there are many case manufactures that offer the features bushwacker stated (great prices, a great case for modding process and much, much cooler than every case. Lian-Li is perfect for traditional and Water cooling).


I think that you should get a case that you like - on the outside and on the inside. Some important things to consider:
1. Does it come with the PS?
2. Is it steel or aluminum? (aluminum is always better but more expensive)
3. Does it have enough bays for all your drives?
4. Does it provide enough places for cooling fans?
5. Are the edges smoothed? (easy to get cut if they aren't)
6. Do you like how it looks on the outside?
7. Does it have front audio, firewire, and USB connection capability?
8. Is it a screwless/tooless case (very important for ease of use)
9. Do you want a slide-out mobo tray?

Use www.maximumpc.com to check for reviews of cases.

Good luck.

well their aluminum so it dissipates heat better and they have unsupparsed quality, I want one too :giddy:

Owning 4 PC-60 Lian-Li cases I feel that I am baised somewhat but here goes, once the box is opened and the brilliant engineering inspected, anyone with a hint of mechanical / fitting / engineering knowlwdge will see the reason for their Lian-Li purchase which will be glaringly evident.

They are simply very made well, sure they are expensive, all good things are, sure there is no PSU, so what ? no system uses the same PSU.

You pay for what U get, and the Lian-Li say when compared to a POS Skyhawk case for $100, one look and the reason is so obvious you would have to be blind to not see the way the Lian has been made so well, the simple way to remove your board, your PSU, never mind the HDD cage placed where they should be for proper cooling.

Parts fit together perfectly, no sharp edges, little creature comforts that are extras on others or just not available, a removable board backing plate with the ability to not unplug those board wires and simply slide it out without having to replace all the wiring onto the board without having to pull the entire box apart, 3 way adjustable front dual fans, thumb screws for all internal and external items, a removable 6X HDD cage, a blowhole as std now, the ability to hold 6 HDD's-3 floppy drives and 4 CDROM based drives, a thumb screw removable rear PSU tray, front panel that removes with no screws so the input filter can be cleaned while the system is running, made by computer users so the installed system stays cool, yada yada yada.

Sure they don't look like a London bus or a weird looking space ship, whatever turns ya on, but they are made very well, so much so that many other brand cases simply can't compare with the quality, (talking aluminium cases here), as said put a Skyhawk case and a Lian-Li case together and see which you would buy, knowing the answer allready, trust me Lian-Li are worth every cent.

Systems will come and go as the upgrade bug bites, but buy a Lian-Li and it will stay with you for many systems in the future, I dare to say it may well outlast the user and be passed on to the next generation.

Plain ? not so IMHO, in engineering terms they are Very well made cases, only those that don't own one would have any negative comment about them, sure I also have others, mostly different versions of Aopen cases, a couple of Skyhawk cases for my duals, my XXOS server cases, and the odd cheapie that is just a spare number cruncher or one for the kids to mess with, all modded to fit at least a blowhole, a larger 92mm input fan and if possible another rear fan, have a Dremel ? anything can be done to any case, the only limit is your immagination.
:grinthumb

I'm Sold - LOL

I've purchased several different cases and they all pretty much sucked except my last one, an Ahanix, and it's not exceptional. I the past I've had to mod-in filters to keep the inside clean. You say that the Lian Li cases have built-in filters? I'm sold on that alone.

Not all cases come with included PSU's. The majority of the time, those included PSU's are very low quality (which I'd value at less than $5). I've never seen a decent PSU included with a case (not that you can't find them).

Just keep in mind. If you decide to use a PSU that came with a case. Don't cry if it ends up destroying other components when it decides to die. I wouldn't be suprised when/if that happened. And don't put it under more stress than you have to.

If I'm using a cheap PSU, I intend to have no more than 1 hard drive, 1 other drive (CDR/DVD/DVDR/etc) and no video cards that require a molex connection.

If your adding any lights, extra drives, molex connection required video card (example: 9700 Pro), extra fans, etc.. usually its a good idea to have a higher quality PSU.


I try to stress these things just so people can take this advice into consideration. Better safe than sorry.


And yes, cases are really just preference. You need to take several things into consideration but for the most part cases are almost always standard. Form factor, how many fans you intend to use and what size, number of hard drive cages, etc.

Most people buy Lian-Li cause hey "look cool", usually heavy duty and are modded a bit in some cases.

I've also heard Lan Li cases are of superb quality. I myself have an Antec Performance II that came with an Antec PSU... Most would probably agree that Antec is def one of the best PSU makers out there. My advice is to follow what dgower2 said. Just look for a case that you like and that meets your needs. Try and find reviews of the case from others that have used it. If you never heard of the PSU manufacturer, then it is a safe bet that it is crap and should be promptly moved to the round file, ie: the trash.

I have a Lian-Li PC67 case, love it to bits. It came without a PSU.

Not one of my 4 came with a PSU, To my knowledge no Lian case that is sealed has a PSU fitted, if the box has been opened and one installed that would explain it.

No one PSU would cover all systems, with video cards that require a 480w psu as minimum for the system, add a few more parts and your out of pocket big time for a good quality 500w + unit.

My boxes including duals and Raided duals will work OK with a 450 or 480 Antec and the Enermax 430 will do the job for most basic systems.

As most PSU's only give out 50% - 75% of the rated power can cause huge dramas when the glossy add says it comes with a 400 w PSU, that's great but the 400w generic psu would be lucky to give out 200 w in real terms, as the poor customer wonders why the thing locks up all the time.

No-one can deny it's personal indulgence in the extreme when paying out $400 for just a box, + another $350 for a PSU, $500 or more for a video card, $400 for a couple HDD's, $300 for a board, another $400 - a grand or more for a cpu, $500 for some decent memory sticks, never mind the other drives, software etc etc, ergo why the boxes sold with the lot including monitor, scanner, and printer etc all for a grand are garbage and should be avoided for all but a school kid doing projects, when the add says it has a huge 40Gb hard drive for saving all your photos and a massive 256Mb of super fast "name ?" memory, worry.

Geez just one game on it's own takes up near 4 Gb NP + it's upgrades and patches, that 40 Gb would soon be gone, IMHO 80 Gb and 512 Mb would be the minimum now days.