Lian Li PC-A70F

Testing

Test Rig

Methodology

Testing cases is another one of those odd "benchmarks", as the main test of any case, is what features it has, and whether its cooling options are quiet. The features are detailed in the look at the case itself, but individual ones will be looked into during the testing to highlight any problems or particularly innovations we liked.

We also have a rather unique test termed the case "strength" test. This involves yours truly standing on said case, and checking how it reacts in terms of flexing. This test is detailed more here.

Results

Strength

Interestingly for an aluminium chassis, this case is surprisingly strong not flexing at all no matter what weight was put on it. The bront bezel is kept seperate from the main body of the case by the small plastic clips detailed earlier, and this means that any force applied to the enclosure, shouldn’t affect the structurall less sound aluminium sections found at the front end.

Cooling

Cooling wise, the Lian Li PC-A70F should have you covered, as rarely are cases this stocked with high performance, air pushing impellers. At the front end you have two 140mm fans, at the back, two 120mms. Combine this with the exhausted hot air from the PSU not affecting the rest of the case, and you should have a pretty cool chamber to chill your hardware in.

Noise

Unfortunately, the A70F does let the user down a bit here, as its fans do spin a little fast. The average user isn’t going to be bothered by it, and as soon as you put on any form of music, or other media that ouputs at a reasonable volume, you shouldn’t overhear the case whirring away at all. However, if you’re a silence enthusiast and you want this case, I’d consider investing in some fan controllers as well or this one will just seem a bit too loud for you.

Cable Management

Cable management wise, the Lian Li excels, with the myriad of minor compartments to hide away cables, the plastic clip system at the base of the case, all cabling is kept neat and tidy throughout. The fact that the motherboard tray can be folded back also makes managing the cables far easier, as when installing the motherboard, you can wrap the cables round the back of the tray without having to work your way around the rest of the case internals first.

Cost

Cost wise, this case is about middle ground for a high performance, good looking server chassis, running in at about $200 in the US, so UK customers can expect to pay in the low hundreds for this one. Not too expensive, but definately getting up there.

Cases