Mike how would that compare to this case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

The model number is identical except this one has a window. It's on sale too for $160 and I was thinking about taking the jump, though my gut tells me that a window like that isn't good for noise.

Typo, you've doubled up on "Beautifully machined 2-piece aluminum disc feet" in the final thoughts page which effect how many thumbs ups there are

Fixed.

arjunr -- This may be surprising, but if the window is made of a decently thick plexiglas, it will actually have better sound blocking qualities than typical aluminum or steel side panel. Acrylic has much better internal (self) damping than either. Of course, how well it is fitted to the rest of the side panel also makes a difference. All in all, I don't think it's much of a risk -- if the window rattles because of poor fit, you could use clear silicone to fix it better.

So ugly....

The interior panels (and the bottom and back) are not anodized.

They have to be treated to prevent oxidation; they are most probably clear anodized.

That... was disappointing (the case, not the article)


Also, MikeC, you've got mail!

Nice article...lian li makes very attractive cases, but they may have flaws that look quite paradoxical given the great attention to detail overall...

The back panel fan mounting system is a joke right ? You photoshoped it !! I see right through your evil scheme to hurt lian li's reputation !!
What ?
It's not a joke...
...


Power supply clamp...
Fans...
Front intake fan baffle...
Filter on wrong side of fan...

[EDIT : content rephrased]

Well Mike, you gave Lian a road map. Let's see what they do with it!

Hello.

I have a steel case manufactured by Lian Li but under the brand Lancool. I have the same type of power supply clamp which, in my case, are meant to be mounted the other way around. A picture can be seen here:

edit: Found that it's the same case with this case. Here's a link to a picture at the Lian Li website: http://lian-li.com/v2/tw/product/upload ... B25S-f.jpg

A fair review should mention that despite the high price Lian-Li cases, in my experience, carry no warranty in North America. There's no Li-USA or even a phone # to call. If you have a defective or missing part the only remedy is to return the whole thing within 30 days. If you were paying for this case would you keep it with a defective PSU bracket?

I like Li's fans, they're consistently high quality and they last long... and once you've gone aluminum there's no going back

the PSU clamp should be installed perpendicular to the motherboard, not the way it's shown in the picture provided in the article... (http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/ima ... cb25z1.jpg)

2 points of the conclusions are flawed:

1) The PSU bracket works VERY well, it's just not intended to go the way the tester shows in the article but 90º.

2) there are TWO fan controllers with 3 connectors each which makes a total of 6 connectors. The tester missed the front one, on the top

Lian li fan and SPCR reader

Had no idea. Looks like it works! OK, a big edit coming...

Yes, you are totally correct. Go ahead, picture me with egg on my open-mouthed face.

Thanks for pointing this out. There are two Postscripts & added photos in the article (in captions of the assembly pics) to correct the errors. The thumbs up/down list has also been modified to reflect these changes... but the conclusions are not really changed. The front fan controller does nothing different than the back one (aside from independent speed control of front vs back fans, which make no difference in cooling the gaming test rig under load), and the PSU clamp only ensures safer transit with a system installed in the case.

the p182(and p183?) has a power supply clamp... i suspect that companies do that to cut down on vibration.

wrt the top filter: " The inside of the removable top panel is lined with thin foam, presumably to reduce the audibility of the fan. Note the unnecessary dust filter on the fan. This is an exhaust fan — the air blown out of the case hardly need to be filtered."

it seems rather obvious that the filter is there for a positive pressure configuration.

so, can't the fan be flipped around? can't the filter be removed for a negative pressure configuration?

there is a warranty option on the lian li contact page:
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/contact_us/contact_us.php

You mentioned that space behind the motherboard tray is a bit to little. Is it because of the metal-bar separating the upper section from the lower or is the space simply much less compared to Fractal Design R2, Antec P182 and P183?

The front filters are easy to remove and so is the HDD cage and fans to replace but to little space is hard to fix.

It's not a serious criticism, but more of a quibble. I would make the same criticism of a lot of cases. If you don't tape or secure the cables in a well-distributed pattern, putting the side panel back on can be a total pita.

Agreed.
I was refering to the fact that, according to the first review that wa spublished, it seemed there was an error in the design (corrected since then).

As for the top fan filter, if it's an intake, it's a bad idea ! The warm air that just exited the case is just going to get sucked right back in (the little air that makes it past the few opennings in the baffle and then, past the filter).

Definitely NOT an intake. The fan is positioned as an exhaust, and the filter is on the exhaust side of the fan. See this pic (from page 6 of the article), taken from the top with the filter removed:

Do you work for Mr. Li? Everybody knows that Lian-Li does NOT reply to any inquiries through their website.

"the entire case is formed of aluminum, with virtually no plastics." The top cover seems to be made out of plastic, just wondering.

The area around the top I/O panel is a small plastic piece inset into the otherwise all-aluminum cover.

here are a couple of people who were able to get in touch with lian li about warranty issues, albeit with mixed results, lol:
http://www.overclock.net/air-cooling/73 ... -case.html

that fan pic doesn't prove that the fan can only blow in one direction; you can flip it over for positive pressure... air blowing on the cpu cooler can be routed into the cooler with a simple air dam.

i don't agree that you'll suck hot air in from the top, there is too much open area to draw cool air from... but if you are that paranoid, build a simple duct to control the airflow, either on the back fan, or on the top fan.

Of course! No change required except to flip the fan. The end user is free to make whatever choices w/ the case as he sees fit.

But you were arguing before that...

I disagree that this is obvious or that it is LianLi's intent. It's simply another error:
1) if the fan is meant to blow out, there is no need for any filter.
2) if it meant to blow in, it was mounted the wrong way.

it's true that i was playing the devils advocate but the inference in this review is that lian li made the "mistake" of putting filters on all of the top case fans that it sold, which was not logical.

case manual, no mention of any filter on top:
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/tw/product/up ... C-B25S.rar

here is a picture of the top fan, from the lian li website, no filter on top, so the spcr sample case was probably the result of a mistake on the production line:

Coming from using a P182 with quiet fans and PSU (all Sflex @800rpm and HX620PSU) to a Lian-Li X900B, I can truly say that these cases are all about the X-factor.

The build quality is a sight to behold. I had no idea if paying so much for a case made sense until I got to assembling the case. The look and feel of the materials is superb. Don't be discouraged by the review guys, after 2 Antec cases with questionable build quality and cheap plastics, this case is a breath of fresh air. You really get what you pay for with these cases. Looking at it sitting beside my old P182 makes the Antec look like crap. And if you use SSD's, WD GP drives, good fans, quiet PSUs and aftermarket CPU/GPU cooling, you can have a super quiet case with a Lian-Li. Most SCPR users are hardcore and willing to do that anyway

Although I do agree that the fans suck. They look to be made by the same company that makes SilenX fans if I had to hazard a guess. The reason why I say this is the fan blades look similar, both have sleeve bearings, and both emit the same awful smell when breaking in. For this price I want FDB bearing fans. I had to spend 70 extra bucks to replace the 5 case fans in my X900B for S-Flex ones.

Too bad the B25S does not have the sliding hinge door release that the higher end Lian-Li cases have; it is one of the most awesome design features they offer.