Lian-Li Wants Your Feedback for its PC-A51 Prototype

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jhansonxi

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The location of the "front" I/O ports limits it to a floor position. Seems a bit long also, like it's intended to be a server chassis. I like the color scheme and finish.
 
I see a lot of cases constantly, and I find this design of my standard atx cases really generic and flawed no matter how they design it. The care exterior is not to bad looking, but inconsistent.

There needs to be hot-swaps for all drive on cases from now on with all the wiring run off a single line neatly hidden under plastic in the back with the SATA ports only exposed. Have a side panel designed so you can pull the drives directly through the doors easily as an optional part. Hard drive bay setup looks cheap too.
Power supply under hard drives is nice, but the graphic cards will lose a lot of air flow, and will make a tight fit.

esata port on front seems unnecessary.

The front IO panel should be hidden better.

Design it so the power supply faces towards the back(widen case an inch) so wires will not be seen on bottom, a big problem I see on cases looking neat. Air cant vent through the side, and the window can go up two inches for the vent holes running along below the window allowing air for the graphic cards since the drive bays and power supply impede air flow.

Put the hard drives next to the power supply with a metal beam separating power supply and hard drives from the motherboard, and have the motherboard horizontal. This way air can go from the front to the graphics cards and also through a rad at the top for example.

I don't think the PC-A51 design is decent; case designers don't seem very creative or go all the way.
 

Hazle

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AYE;
- it's SOOOOOO CUTE!
- ATX support.

NAY;
-routing the PSU cables to the back looks damn cramped with an ATX mobo. not comfortable with the idea of forcefully bending the cables at such a tight angle.
-no SLI/CF support for cards longer than 280mm with that PSU in the way for those who care (i don't personally). a single card seems possible seeing as those two bottom drive bays look removable.
- drive bay looks kinda flimsy. with what looks like only two screws from the back holding each bays up, they look like they'd shake a lot.
-unless they can be covered up or it has a dust filter, not a fan of top vents. it allows for dusts to just enter when it's not in use.
-windowed side panel.
 

Nighyal

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This case looks good and does a lot of things right (from my perspective) in general. I like that they only included room for a single optical drive and the layout seems solid (Good HDD bay design, no superfluous spot for a second ODD, nice cable management etc).

I like the use of a 140mm rear exhaust fan over the normal 120mm. But perhaps with the extra width available at the front a 180mm intake fan could be employed. This could give the end user more options and should improve noise while maintaining airflow or increase airflow for the same noise.

It depends who this case is targeted at but It would also be nice to see a solid plate that could be installed in place of the top vent for those that don't make use of radiators. I would say that most mainstream builds these days don't require those two extra fans on top. Sealing up the top would prevent dust and debris from falling into the case as well as shift it from a negative to a neutral or positive pressure case (also easier to control dust). It would also mean that the airflow is in one direction rather than having to turn 90 degrees and this should reduce noise.
 

lancelot123

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On a serious note, I have a concern about the fans.

I'm a anti-dust freak. Does the front intake fan have a removable dust filter? Is there also a filter for the PSU?

Making the rear exhaust fan an intake fan instead, while adding a dust filter would help equalize the air flow that comes in and out of the case.

I prefer a little more intake than exhaust, to help combat dust of coarse.
 

Kamen Rider Blade

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As a long time Lian Li customer / user and a fan of all aluminum cases, this seems like a simplified and cheaper "Lian Li PC-V700".
They changed the general outter shape of the V700 and removed the awesome fancy features like 'SATA back-plane' & 'Tool-less PCI card holder'.
That's fine if that is the intention, but the MSRP better be cheaper than the V700

Things to fix:
1) The hole right above the motherboard has no rubber padding; why is that? That seems very inconsistent and should be fixed by adding rubber padding.
2) As for the easy Optical Drive bracket, that's a needless expense IMO and should be removed in favor of the traditional screw / hole pattern that matches the other side.
3) Since this seems like a simple case with basic needs, you should also release a case SKU without the plastic window panel, not everybody likes the plastic window panels, I personally prefer the all aluminum side panels.
4) The rear handle to pull the case panels back for opening is too low, part of the power plug is covering it, the handle needs to be moved to near the center of the case where there is no obstructions to reaching it.
5) There should be some basic casing color options, Black, White, Silver, Red, Blue with contrasting interior panel colorings to make things stand out.
 
not a fan of negative pressure cases, so i would like to see some sort of additional intake... seems like there is lots of room for it. put something on the bottom of the case, like a 200mm fan or something blowing up across the motherboard or something, with all that side window cleaning will be a requirement and all that negative pressure will make it dusty/dirty rather fast inside that case. though it seems a little counter intuitive. The io ports are clearly designed for floor usage, but the window for desk. kinda a confused design really.

Never liked the flat panel front look... those side-vents on the front intake never seem to work all that well, and cleaning the dust and dirt buildup tends to be a chore. lian-li usually hits on some very unique designs but this one is a bit underwhelming.
 

vaughn2k

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I like the way it is designed, it is very clean and nice, and everything (I think without holding one) seems to look accessible. And I also like the fan grill replaced at the back instead of using the usual perforated metal of the case
1. Need to consider moving the power supply further to accomodate longer GPUs
2. The optical drive should have a cover or a rubber sea in front, so to prevent dust from coming in the drive.
3. Do you think the back grill openings (below the output fan, right) should be sealed to prevent the warm air being recycled (disposed by the output fan)
4. Tool less design.
5. Maybe add another optional bracket to hold another fan on the left side of the HDD shelves (push/pull design) and improve the cooling of the HDD (if on needs it...)
6. An optional bracket to hold larger and longer (weight support) card.
Anything else is okay.
So do I get a 50% discount on buying this case, once it flies to the shelves because of this? ;)
 

TheBullet

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I think the psu might be better off at the top, not the bottom. Because I assume the psu is supposed to blow out the air in front, meaning it travels right in front of the front intake(which is already behind a door limiting air intake). Add mesh to the side so air can be sucked in through it, because the only place right now is the front. And that has the drives+the psu and behind a door(with holes in the side, but still).
 

Kamen Rider Blade

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If the Power Supply is on the bottom it better have a intake at the bottom with a filter.
The exhaust at the front better be sectioned off from the intake fan once the front panel is closed, the metal brace on the front panel better have a rubber liner to allow a proper seal.
If it's cost feasible, angle the bottom vents downwards so that the top vents are less likely to suck in warm air from the PSU.

The fan intake better have a easy to remove and clean filter that you are known for.
 

Kamen Rider Blade

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The rear vent above the add-on cards should be made drill hole compatible with your exhaust coolers and the tool less PCI card holder so that the user can optionally mount them when they want those features.
 

Jonnynumero9

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I know this isn't such an "enthusiast" class case; but if it were so, the inclusion of a removable 5.25" drive bay and an extra fan mount on the top of case could give the option of mounting a 360mm or 420mm radiator. Also, with the included pictures, it appears that there is enough room on the rear side of the motherboard tray to include a mount for a 2.5" drive.
 

torka

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It would be more appealing to me if it had a solid side instead of the see through plastic, and I'm not a fan of the red I\O area around back.

Some other things people have pointed out. PSU is great upfront, but it will need a fan hole with a filter underneath.

I really appreciate the cable management, but again, like someone else already pointed out. There is rubber for all of the main wires, but not for the whole above the CPU.
 

MagicPants

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The PSU blocks the airflow to a second video card. Either fix that or switch the mobo to micro-atx (making it shorter and removing a few drive bays), as you really only need full atx for multi-gpu setups.
 

memocz

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Have the power button, reset button, mic, audio and usb plug modular so that you can move it to the top or anywhere on the front of the computer.
 

Darkk

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Not bad looking case. Like to see the option for either see through or solid side panel. My biggest concern about see through panels is lack of RF shielding. I have seen one where they incorporated honeycomb metal mesh onto the Plexiglas which looked pretty cool. Especially if somebody installs LED lights inside the case. Maybe include a metal sheet if we want to put it on.

Also, little nervous about the hard drive holders. Are they solid enough that it can handle vibrations from the hard drive? May not be a problem if the drive is isolated with rubber spacers.

PSU in the front is definitely cool idea but make the case a little longer to accommodate modulator PSU. This would also help with long video cards with the power connector on the edge.

Good luck with it.
 

Darkk

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Not bad looking case. Like to see the option for either see through or solid side panel. My biggest concern about see through panels is lack of RF shielding. I have seen one where they incorporated honeycomb metal mesh onto the Plexiglas which looked pretty cool. Especially if somebody installs LED lights inside the case. Maybe include a metal sheet if we want to put it on.

Also, little nervous about the hard drive holders. Are they solid enough that it can handle vibrations from the hard drive? May not be a problem if the drive is isolated with rubber spacers.

PSU in the front is definitely cool idea but make the case a little longer to accommodate modulator PSU. This would also help with long video cards with the power connector on the edge.

Good luck with it.
 

Hunt4Epic

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So with taking in consideration what you have already designed, I'll only point out what I think could be done better.

Grommet around the hole that you have a power cable coming through in the back.
Ditch the tool less 5 1/4 drive and make it a bracket that more like the other HDD brackets.
Put a shroud on the back of the PSU to force the exhaust from it down through a vent in the bottom.
Reinforce the sides of HDD brackets by doubling up in a complete fold over or in a u shape.
Lose mass from the HDD brackets by eliminating the center area.
Instead of the narrow hook on the HDD brackets, use flat hanger more like a how a pci bracket attaches and use a downward screw.

Over all I applaud the design and appreciate the ingenuity. Thanks for garnering feed back!
 

Halberd388

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Hate the colors, give me flat choices of Silver and Black

Provide an option for a clear panel, I personally hate them.

Ditch the optical drive or replace with slim optical carriage, lift the HDD caddies to allow 2 140mm front fans, give additional space between the HDDs and PSU

Cable management space is too cramped, provide a few extra cm of space between the chassis door and the carriage

Removable motherboard tray a must

Too cramped between Motherboard tray and PSU, not enough space for modular power supply cables

Provide extension cable for 4/6 pin CPU power, most PSUs have cable length dependent upon PSU mounted directly below motherboard, cable route increase distance further.

Additional Fan mounting in bottom of case below motherboard for large slow speed fan (think small, cool and quite). I'd rather have more slower and quieter fans than a few fast and noisy ones

Removable dust filters are a must

The swing flap on top to cover the I/Os has ALWAYS snapped on my Lian-Li cases (I've own 5), get rid of the design for a slide door instead as the aluminum hinges wear out over time but a simple slide-in flap may last longer.

eSATA is a dead standard, waste of space and cabling. Provide Thunderbolt 2 passthrough
 
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