I got my LianLi PC-A05B ! it's Small!

Just finished going through most of the thread again, as my build is in the mail.

I was originally planning on purchasing a top from frozenpc, but thats about 50 dollars so its a no-go.

Here is my question..

Will taking the top off until newegg gets the top in work for now? or..
will the 4.5inch drill press work (what size fan) and lastly

if not overclocking will it be that hot with the lid on?

will be using a 5850
 
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I think you (and the video card) will be fine in the topless scenario. Closing the case up may be survivable, but you may be seeing some rather high temps on that 5850 (Hint: take a side off if you don't like going topless ;) )
 
nojjjj said:
Just finished going through most of the thread again, as my build is in the mail.

I was originally planning on purchasing a top from frozenpc, but thats about 50 dollars so its a no-go.

Here is my question..

Will taking the top off until newegg gets the top in work for now? or..
will the 4.5inch drill press work (what size fan) and lastly

if not overclocking will it be that hot with the lid on?

will be using a 5850
Click to expand...

Yes, running the case without a top panel is fine however the side panels are more susceptible to rattling since they don't really have much to lean against. Temperature wise, it works great as I did the same thing.

The case will inevitably get hot, but I think the 5850 should be able to function properly even though the temperatures will get really high. My 5870 worked with the normal top panel on, but it got too hot and noisy in there for my comfort.
 
nojjjj said:
Just finished going through most of the thread again, as my build is in the mail.

I was originally planning on purchasing a top from frozenpc, but thats about 50 dollars so its a no-go.

Here is my question..

Will taking the top off until newegg gets the top in work for now? or..
will the 4.5inch drill press work (what size fan) and lastly

if not overclocking will it be that hot with the lid on?

will be using a 5850
Click to expand...

I have a 5850 in my case that's not overclocked. My case doesn't get hot at all. I do have two fan blow hole at top with exhaust fans there though :X
 
Alright, so it looks like I'll be going without a top until the elusive top pops back in at newegg.
The rattling shouldn't bother me that much, as I could hear my last computer over the television.

It looks like many of you have done the bottom cutout for the psu. Is this highly suggested? Some were saying there is plenty of room below the actual psu, and others opinions differed.
 
nojjjj said:
It looks like many of you have done the bottom cutout for the psu. Is this highly suggested? Some were saying there is plenty of room below the actual psu, and others opinions differed.
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Really? I thought only a few people did the bottom cutout for the PSU.
 
Jumped on that combo deal with XFX 650 psu... Another impulse buy. sigh...

Also just picked up a 1090T with CH IV, so I thought I'd try very original red/black theme... :D
Just slapped them on to sort of mock up how it would look. Still looking to install dual 120mm fans up top with AC Ryan grill, you know, keeping up with being original and all... Lol.
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Need some opinions from you guys. I'm going to install dual fans up top for exhaust, and plan on having both front and back fans as intakes. With the pcie slot config of the CH IV, my second 5770 is very close to the top. Would it still be effective having the fans right on top of it?
 
Does the fan on your graphics card blow away from the card or blow toward? As long as you don't leave it fighting for air you should be alright, though it may speed up the gpu can if it's too close.
 
That's the thing... They're XFX ones with egg-shaped coolers.. They blow towards the cards, so I'll essentially be creating a mini turbulence at that spot... Might have to think about going single card...
 
wonSR4 said:
At the moment, they're all bundled up right behind the fan controller. I was going to ask you how you placed your temperature probes.
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Probe 1 is held down by the CPU socket clamp under the heatsink and touches the side of the CPU heatspreader. That's as close as I could get it. Temps are about 8° off because modern CPU heatspreaders are so big and far from the actual cores.
Probe 2 is tucked between the GPU core and heatsink over the lip and touching the core. This one is very accurate, about 1° off only.
Probe 3 is tucked into my Northbridge Heatsink touching the bottom of it right beside the NB as well and is quite accurate.
Probe 4 is taped onto the bottom of a middle harddrive in my rack. There's insulating tape on the exposed side so that air blowing past does not give a false reading.
Probe 5 is sandwiched between the heatspreader and a middle ram stick and is very accurate.

All probes are connected to relevant fans for that component so that if I set it on auto, it can auto adjust speeds to cool individual components. IE: Probe 4 goes to Fan 4 which is the front exhaust fan in front of the HDDs. Probe 5 goes to Fan 5 which is a 120mm fan blowing on my ram.
 
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Just got everything put together.

Looking at my GPU temps (5850) with top off, idle is 43. Does that sound about right?
 
Case: Lian Li PC-A05NB
Blow Hole Fans: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F (2)
PSU: Seasonic X-460 Fanless
Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550S
CPU cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems with S-FLEX SFF21D
RAM: A-DATA 8GB PC2-6400
RAM coolers: Thermaltake Spirit RS Heatpipe
GPU: XFX HD5850 HD-585X-ZNFC
GPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Accelero S1
Hard Drive: Intel 160GB G2 SSD
Blu-ray Burner: LG GGW-H20L
Trayless drive bay: Antec Easy SATA
Damping material: Stinger Expert RoadKill RKX4

PC-A05NB_a.jpg


The video card is cooled by an Arctic Cooling Accelero S1, mounted only millimeters below two 120mm blow hole exhaust fans.

To the right of the PCI vent slot covers, there used to be a vent. I blocked this vent with a sheet of aluminum, riveted to the case.

A 120mm fan is mounted on the CPU cooler. Airflow points toward the Prolimatech Megahalems.

Memory is cooled with Thermaltake Spirit RS Heatpipe RAM Coolers. They work very well and the heatpipes can be rotated if needed.

PC-A05NB_b.jpg


The case panels are dampened with Stinger Expert RoadKill. This helps when I use the optical drive or when I plug a bare drive into the Antec Easy SATA.

PC-A05NB_c.jpg


Air doesn't leave the case unless it passes through the Arctic Cooling Accelero S1.

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This shot shows the smoothly cut blow holes.

I used Radiator Templates from www.mnpctech.com for 15mm Fan Spacing. I just printed the template onto self-adhesive printer paper and stuck it onto the case panel.

These holes were cut with a simple nonpowered hand tool: a Nibbler from Radio Shack. Once the holes were nibbled, I sanded the edges with 400-grit sandpaper. To make sanding faster, I wrapped the sandpaper around a large-diameter hole-saw, spinning on a drill. Blue painters' tape was used on the entire case panel during all cutting and sanding - failure to do this would result in horrible marks.
 
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josephclemente said:
These holes were cut with a simple nonpowered hand tool: a Nibbler from Radio Shack. Once the holes were nibbled, I sanded the edges with 400-grit sandpaper. To make sanding faster, I wrapped the sandpaper around a large-diameter hole-saw, spinning on a drill. Blue painters' tape was used on the entire case panel during all cutting and sanding - failure to do this would result in horrible marks.
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Those cutouts look amazing dude. Fantastic job!
 
Hey guys, just wanna share my latest rig. Project envisioned in 2009, finally complete in 2010.

The Platinum Box.

[Components]

Processor: Intel i7 920 @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard: EVGA x58 SLi
Ram: OCZ 6Gb 1333mhz DDR3 Tri-Channel
Harddrives: 2x 2TB WD Green, 1x 1TB WD Green
Graphics: Nvidia GTX280 1Gb
Chassis: Lian-Li A05N Silver

[Cooling]

CPU: Watercool.de HEATKILLER3.0
NB: Koolance x58 Northbridge waterblock
RAM: OCZ Silver heatspreaders
GPU: EK Fullcover GTX280 Nickel-plated waterblock
Radiator: Swiftech MCR360 Radiator
Pump: Swiftech MCP355 18watt with XSPC top
Fans: 3x Evercool Aluminum Fans, 1x Enermax Apollish
Fan Controller: Scythe Kazemaster ACE Silver
Tubing: Tygon Lab-grade R3603 3/8" tubing
Fittings: Bitspower fittings and attachments

Enjoy~

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PlatinumBox003.jpg
 
THAT IS STUNNING. Triple rad! Is the HDD rack secured? It looks like it is just sitting on top of the fans. You don't get any bad vibrations from the HDD rack touching directly with the rad fans?
 
Wow... I'm at a loss for words with that setup... That is truly a work of art right there. I'd love a clearer shot of the inside (maybe just a regular ol side shot.)
 
definitely the most innovative mod on that case I've seen! Doesn't the hard drive rack impede the airflow from the middle fan though?
 
Spare-Flair said:
THAT IS STUNNING. Triple rad! Is the HDD rack secured? It looks like it is just sitting on top of the fans. You don't get any bad vibrations from the HDD rack touching directly with the rad fans?
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It looks like it's sitting on a bracket, I'm pretty sure its the bottom of a lian li cage, flipped upside down.
 
Agreed, a better regular interior shot would be nice. And I had thought about fans on the bottom blowing up ala the Silverstone FT02 but didn't do anything about it.
 
It took me awhile to figure out why a 4 year old thread is this active. Now I'm seriously considering this case for my WHS build :)
 
Thanks for the kind words guys!

I hope my rig was satisfactory =)

Yup managed to squeeze in a triple rad (cooling an i7). Spare-Flair and Nighted are right. The HDD rack is secured into both fans. Yes it IS a Lian-Li cage taken from another casing, the legs at the end of the bracket fit just nicely that the 120mm middle fan at the bottom is unimpeded. The two edges of the HDD bracket sit ontop of the ends of the two front and rear fans. In my original design I bored two holes at each end intending to secure the cage to the fans, but after installing, I realized I couldn't reach the internal screws. (front blocked by PSU), rear blocked by HDDs jutting out. (Didn't manage to envision that problem!)

So the holes in the cage and the bored holes into the fans were not used in the end. In the end I just secured the cage with 3M industrial clear tape. (3m VHB), this tape is amazing, it's clear, ULTRA STRONG, and thick enough that it has some sort of vibrational isolation. The tape peels off cleanly and is so strong, when I tilted the case nearly upside down to bleed the loop, it held on with no issues.

I have a couple of internal shots, but it's ugly. And a pity that the HDD cage blocks the waterblocks and the rams, but I needed the extra storage and the centre space is ideal.

The idea was to have SOME sort of airflow over the HDDs, hence also the design consideration to put them there. In many A05N rigs, the HDDs are usually placed in the single 3.5" bay if the HDD cage is taken out, but there's no ventilation over that area and I am not keen on only putting one drive.

Here's a centre shot.

PlatinumBox013.jpg


All the fans are all rubber-rivet isolated (rear 120mm fan has grommeted screws. More pics for u guys on how I put rubber rivets into the radiator.

Not sure if posting this is appropriate here, but hey great to share.

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Hope you guys like my rig!

I love the A05N casing, there's just so much you can do with it.
 
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Satisfactory? Yes I admit I was salivating at those pictures. I love your creative use of space with the tiny chassis, especially the relocated PSU! I say...more pics!
 
wow! i didn't know there was such a thread here.

i'm planning to get this, a switch from haf922, i need something small but powerful:D
 
Spare-Flair said:
You found a decent ITX board? Or are you going to mod it?
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Bought the Gigabyte h55n-usb3 off Amazon. Had a gift card + cheapest price + Amazon Prime. The Zotac board was too much. Sticking to bare minimums. Build is going to be that board + i3-540 + q08b + whatever 4gb ram. That's it. Done with gaming on PC and the crazy PC modding ways that this forum and other forums get you addicted on :X
 
wonSR4 said:
Bought the Gigabyte h55n-usb3 off Amazon. Had a gift card + cheapest price + Amazon Prime. The Zotac board was too much. Sticking to bare minimums. Build is going to be that board + i3-540 + q08b + whatever 4gb ram. That's it. Done with gaming on PC and the crazy PC modding ways that this forum and other forums get you addicted on :X
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Sorry to hear that. :( I almost went through the same thing when I had to RMA my P5Q Pro last week. Even thought about just getting a laptop and parting my desktop all together. Instead I just went to Fry's and bought a cheap mATX 775 board until my board comes back from ASUS.
 
wonSR4 said:
Bought the Gigabyte h55n-usb3 off Amazon. Had a gift card + cheapest price + Amazon Prime. The Zotac board was too much. Sticking to bare minimums. Build is going to be that board + i3-540 + q08b + whatever 4gb ram. That's it. Done with gaming on PC and the crazy PC modding ways that this forum and other forums get you addicted on :X
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After dead Xboxes and a dead PS3 I have right now, I am done gaming on consoles forever. A PC I can fix myself. A console with a retarded 2 year warranty, I have to send to a stupid Sony contractor that charges $200 to fix a $300 console. At least if my PC dies after 2 years, chances are that it's only one component and I don't have to spend $666 to fix the $1000 computer and I can do it myself.
 
Similar reasons to why I don't like consoles and laptops either. I hate not being able to diagnose and service my own machines without voiding the warranty and in general not having absolute control over my stuff.
 
fochkoph said:
Similar reasons to why I don't like consoles and laptops either. I hate not being able to diagnose and service my own machines without voiding the warranty and in general not having absolute control over my stuff.
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I never thought of it that way I guess. You can do so much stuff w/ a PC besides gaming, even if it's a "gaming pc". What can you do w/ a console besides playing games? Not a whole lot.
 
ebolamonkey3 said:
I never thought of it that way I guess. You can do so much stuff w/ a PC besides gaming, even if it's a "gaming pc". What can you do w/ a console besides playing games? Not a whole lot.
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Agreed, but in my case I won't be gaming on my PC anymore :X
 
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