SPCR

I'm surprised there hasn't been mention of this case yet.

I was all set to buy a Lian Li PC-9F, but stumbled upon this case instead. It's about the same size, but has 2x 140mm front intake fans instead. It doesn't have a top-mounted exhaust, but that's fine with me. A nice bonus is that the USB 3.0 connector for the case is actually a 20-pin connector instead of the funky plug-into-the-back-panel stuff.

I had briefly considered the Antec Solo - it worked well for my current PC... except when I had to replace the PSU. That damned bar at the top made a 5-10 minute task into a freaking ordeal. The Antec Solo II unfortunately kept that evil bar. The PC-K9B is cheaper than the Solo II anyway, and it has removable HDD cages to allow for longer GPUs, so the decision was easy.

That looks very much like an update of the PC-K7B that I've had for several years. The very short story is that the Lancool cases can be used for very quiet systems, but they need a bit of work to get there. The side panels tend to resonate depending on the included components. I have some 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of very thin aluminum 0.012" that have adhesive on one side. Sticking a sheet to the inside of the panel changed the "Q" of the panel dramatically any my system is inaudible to me.

Toan wrote:I had briefly considered the Antec Solo - it worked well for my current PC... except when I had to replace the PSU. That damned bar at the top made a 5-10 minute task into a freaking ordeal. The Antec Solo II unfortunately kept that evil bar.

FYI, the PSU support bar is removable in the Solo II.

Added some images to the original post. It was a bit hard finding information for this case on the Lancool website. The case is under the "First Knight series" rather than the expected "K series". I'm not too crazy about the gap between the USB 3.0 ports -- but that's just me being picky. The cable management looks great though!

Hopefully the side panels won't be an issue as b_rubenstein experienced with the PC-K7B. I couldn't really find any information about the thickness of the side panels to compare, but the PC-K9B is a little heavier (8.28kg vs 7.20kg).

I have just received the PC-9F. It has the internal USB3 header. The only thing I think I would miss from the K9B is the cable management 'channel' or whatever it's called.

Ya its a great case, unfortunatly I got the usb 3 passthrough cable version, hoping Lian-Li can do something for me on this like coolermaster seems to be doing for thier HAF customers.

To me, it's looks like a variation of the Lian Li PC-6, with one extra fan (and grill) at the front and the steel frame:

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/pr ... =62&g=spec

PMcG wrote:Ya its a great case, unfortunatly I got the usb 3 passthrough cable version, hoping Lian-Li can do something for me on this like coolermaster seems to be doing for thier HAF customers.

Atleast Lancool has the options on its website, hopefully some supplier can help you out. *Looking at the pictures it seems you might have to just get hold another cable, for internal header..?
http://www.lancoolpc.com/en/product/pro ... s_index=95
Looks like quite a fine case elsewise, lets hope for good availability (& tests)

To follow up my original post... I just built a new PC with this case:

Asrock P67 Extreme4 Gen3
Core i5-2500k
Noctua U12P SE2 (used one fan on the HS, and the other for the case exhaust)
ATI Radeon HD4850 (carry-over from my old PC -- waiting for the new HD7000s to come out)
Corsair AX750
Crucial m4 256 GB SSD
WD20EARS HDD
2x ThermalRight X-Silent 140mm fans for the front

The case was super-squeaky when I pulled it out of the packaging. Turns out to be a couple, easy-to-resolve issues: HDD cage was not screwed down tightly and the front panel was slightly pushed in, causing it to rub against the drive bay covers (also made of metal). The front panel is a bit structurally weak where all the air holes for the front fans reside -- I just put my foot against the panel and applied a bit of force to un-bend the panel, and that resolved the squeaking.

The bad news is the case is less sturdy than my old Antec Solo. It's also very difficult to close the side panels correctly -- at least compared to the Solo. However, that's eclipsed by several good points.

The cable management holes & channel really worked. Unlike the rat's nest that was my Antec Solo build, this PC-K9B build was fairly clean on top of the motherboard -- most of the cables were gathered into the channel, or otherwise running along the back. The graphics card should have much better airflow in this new build.

I loved the HDD cages -- it was very nice being able to remove one to give the graphics card more space. With that said, the HD 4850 doesn't really need it, but I like the side-effect of giving it more airflow. (The Antec Solo II gives you room for longer graphics cards too.) Additionally, it was great being able to flip the HDD cage around so I could plug in all the wires from the back.

The PSU was very easy to mount with the retention clip. And bottom-mounted PSU is a nice bonus.

The tool-less PCI card retention mechanism really works well. I wish all cases had this. Oh, and the case actually has 8 slots in case you need the room for triple SLI or something crazy.

Overall, it's a pretty decent case. Wish it were sturdier, but it's a pretty good value.

Toan - any update on this now that the Radeon 7000's have started showing up? I too have decided the Solo II isn't a good option for a upper mid-range video card (probably a 7870), so am looking at this, along with all-aluminium Lian-Li PC-6.

thegrommit, you might also want to consider the Lancool PC-K65:

http://www.lancoolpc.com/en/product/pro ... s_index=96

It looks quite similar to the PC-K9.