Lian Li PC-A76X Case Review: The Limits of Aluminum
by Dustin Sklavos on September 30, 2012 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Lian Li
- HPTX
- E-ATX
Conclusion: If All You Need is Performance...
While the Lian Li PC-A76X's cooling design wasn't quite the homerun I was looking for, it was pretty close. Looking at the graphs doesn't really tell the whole story; Lian Li's design is competitive thermally without sacrificing noise for performance. That's the kind of balance we want to see in this price bracket, and the fact that it performs as well as it does without any kind of noise-cancelling material or padding in the panels is a testament both to the smart engineering that went into the PC-A76X's cooling design and to the fact that it's not how many fans you have or how fast they run, it's where you place them and how you engineer the airflow. If you want performance, you've got it, full stop.
Unfortunately performance isn't really the whole story. If that's all you care about and you need a large case, then the PC-A76X is going to be one of the best options available for you. But I have reservations about the build quality, the lack of conveniences, and most importantly, the price tag. However well it performs, it's plain to me that Lian Li is overcharging for the PC-A76X and its slightly less expensive sibling, the PC-A75X. The aluminum used to build the case continues to be fairly chintzy and thin, and I'm not sure it even has to be. This case is not designed to take any kind of abuse; aluminum finishes can be prone to scratching, and aluminum this thin is fairly easy to dent and warp.
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The case may also be quiet now, but it sure doesn't feel sturdy, and when a case isn't sturdy there's a good chance it's going to develop acoustic problems later on. I wouldn't be surprised to see it develop a rattle in the long term, and that's before acknowledging the lack of filters on any of the fans. No filters may improve airflow, but the PC-A76X might wind up being difficult to keep clean in the long term even without considering how easy the finish will be to scuff.
My bottom line is this: when a case costs $210, it needs to be well made. Period. It needs to be fairly easy to build in and failing that, it needs to at least justify the difficulty. The PC-A76X only justifies itself in its performance, performance that I'm not entirely convinced makes up for the lack of conveniences. More than that, I'm skeptical as to just how well it can serve its intended purpose as an E-ATX/HPTX enclosure as the severe lack of cable routing holes in the motherboard tray could very well cause the interior to start clogging up with cabling in a hurry.
There's a very good case waiting to be discovered in the PC-A76X, but this design is in dire need of refinement and Lian Li needs to both get with the times and justify the exorbitant price they're asking for this case. It's not the disaster that Cubitek's HPTX ICE was, where Cubitek wanted $359 for a case that couldn't perform anywhere near as well as cases half its price, but it's a lot of money for a case that's missing the features and polish competing cases have. If all you're concerned about is performance, the PC-A76X is probably going to fine in the short and medium term, but if you want to get the most for your money, this isn't it.
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Iketh - Sunday, September 30, 2012 - link
Thanks for sharing my thoughts, not just on this case but Lian Li in general. I want and have always wanted an all-aluminum case for years, but each time I look through Lian Li's stock, I'm left with that feeling of running your nails across a chalk board and I end up with a cheaper case. And that's coming from someone who bought the original Cosmos years ago...And, please, case engineers, stop including side vents... they're not needed anymore when you have slotted PCI covers... just give us robust intake solutions and that's it. I have never found a side intake fan that didn't rattle the door or make the case humm and I can only imagine how the case in this review would sound with the thin panels...
michaelheath - Sunday, September 30, 2012 - link
I've had a number of aluminum cases over the years, and, to be perfectly honest, the only ones that didn't feel chintzy were the cases that had other materials padding the panels and the frame. There really aren't many realistic benefits to using aluminum aside from weight - which doesn't mean much if you don't move your PC all that often. Aluminum certainly doesn't do much for heat dissipation or noise dampening, and Lian Li isn't alone in winding up with cases with middling performance that rattle and hum (though this particular case seems to avoid that).According to the rather thorough testing from Bit-Tech several months ago in their article, "The Big Air Cooling Investigation," where a Fractal Design Define R3 was tested with practically every reasonable (and a few unreasonable) configurations, it seems one of the most critical fan locations was in the side panel. Then again, as I mentioned before, the side panel is made of layered steel and plastic, not aluminum.
Perforated PCI covers don't really help much when they aren't in the direct path of convection, especially if they aren't in the direct path of moving air. Typically, they sit below most of the sources of heat in a computer case and don't provide any tangible benefit except for allowing another location for sound to escape.
cashkennedy - Sunday, September 30, 2012 - link
You obviously have never had a cooler master wave master , or a cooler master atcs, both are made of aluminum so thick, you cant even bend / dent it if you tried with all your strength. I believe the first year or two lian li was around they made cases out of similarly thick aluminum, and those were the years that aluminum cases got a good reputation, later they all started being made out of sheets thinner then a coke can, and add to that the fact that aluminum helping cool the components was all hype by retards who somehow didnt come to grasp the fact that none of your components are in direct contact with the aluminum (except for possibly the hard drives), so cant be cooled by the case...Iketh - Sunday, September 30, 2012 - link
actually there is obvious truth to aluminum keeping the AIR inside the case cooler... steel will act more as an insulator keeping the heat inside while aluminum will transfer that heat through the panels better, but it's negligible to the point of gimmickyrarson - Monday, October 1, 2012 - link
You've got that backwards. Aluminum is a poor conductor of heat, hence the outside of an aluminum case will likely stay cooler than a steel case. Steel is a good conductor of heat; a steel case gets hotter because it's transferring heat from inside the case to outside through the metal itself.sor - Monday, October 1, 2012 - link
My BS meter just went off. Nearly all metals are good conductors of heat, but aluminum, copper, and silver are among the best. Aluminum simply has less mass and doesn't RETAIN heat well, but it conducts heat just fine.Iketh - Monday, October 1, 2012 - link
sorry, but you're the one that's backwards, and generally lacking knowledge on the subject as illustrated with this statement:"Steel is a good conductor of heat; a steel case gets hotter because it's transferring heat from inside the case to outside through the metal itself."
BiggieShady - Tuesday, October 2, 2012 - link
If steel is a good conductor of heat, aluminum is better. For purely hot air contact it's negligible, however for direct contact it matters - that's why you have aluminum or copper heatsinks instead of steel.johnsmith9875 - Sunday, October 7, 2012 - link
Steel is a terrible conductor of heat. They're used in cases mainly because its inexpensive and easy to fabricate compared to aluminum.picobico2006 - Sunday, August 23, 2015 - link
Conducibilità termica di alcune sostanzeSostanza λ W·m-1·K-1 ρ Kg/m3
diamante 1600 3500 - 3600
argento 460 10490
rame 390 8930
oro 320 19250
alluminio laminato 290 2750
ottone 111 8430 - 8730
platino 70 21400
acciaio laminato 52 7850
piombo 35 11300
acciaio inox 17 7480 - 8000