Inside my new Lian Li PC-A05N

Show off your quiet rig.

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Potenza
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Inside my new Lian Li PC-A05N

Post by Potenza » Sat Mar 06, 2010 12:30 pm

At the end of last year I decided it was time for a new computer. The one I was using had the honor of serving me for almost 5 years without a single upgrade - impressive! But it became slow, and most of all extremely noisy. Ever since I discovered SPCR I've been dreaming of a new PC, some weeks later it stands right here, next to me. I would like to show you what I made with some remarks and experiences. By doing so I hope to be of use to some visitors who consider buying some of the components I chose. Please keep in mind that so far I assembled the PC, installed Windows 7 and did no more than some general stuff with it. Really using the computer won't happen until I transfer all my data from my old PC. I hope to add some real test results soon, but for now most of my experiences are rather first impressions and a slightly superficial.

Before I start twaddling about each part I think me be useful to give some general information. Whenever I buy something, I need to inform myself as much as possible. I'm a consumer that is always on the look for what people often call 'Best bang for the buck'. Since I'm far from rich, I set myself a budget between 500 and 700 euros to find myself an excellent all rounder that could be my next workhorse for the next 3 to 5 years without upgrading. I'm not a real gamer, although I do fancy a game now and then. Main focus was medium-heavy multimedia work (Office, Photoshop, Premiere). To sum things up: I spent a whole month finding components that combine three things: budget, performance & silence.

This is what I came up with for +/- €675 (Windows 7 Pro included).

Warning, crappy pictures!

Image

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1. CASE - Lian Li PCA05N

I was actually looking for the older version (without the 'N') because it had I/O Firewire, but unfortunately couldn't order it anymore. I chose this case because it combined everything I was looking for. Not big, yet plenty of space to put decent things in and a great design (slightly modified by opting for a black Lian Li bezel). It's one of the sturdiest cases I ever worked with. Easy in use and most of all pure quality, highly recommended.

2. CASEFANS - 2X Nexus 120mm D12-SL-1

Although I never tested the Lian Li casefans I played safe and went for what probably is the best fan on this planet. Added an authentic Nexus 3-Speed Fan cable, fans are now spinning at 7V. I never used casefans before so I was a bit concerned about extra noise, but (joy!) I can't hear them at all. Extremely recommended, especially considering the airflow they're still generating!

3. MOTHERBOARD - Asus M4A758TD-V EVO (ATX)

I opted for Asus because it's a brand I feel I can trust. They've never disappointed me in the past and it doesn't seems like they will this time. Installation went smooth and the overal design of the motherboard was very decent. Excellent manual, well packed and so far no complaints.

4. CPU - AMD Athlon II X4 620

At first I was rather sure of a Phenom, but that was too close to a Core i5 in price (and not performance). I still feel the Athlon X4 is one of the best buys you can have nowadays, a true budget king. Haven't been able to test my CPU fiercely but so far it seems great stuff. Might try to overclock it some day as some people argue you can overclock this to a true Phenom. But that's nothing for the near future anyway. I'm not that hardcore actually.

5. CPU COOLER - Nexus XiR-2300

Because I feared a noisy stock cooler I picked this Nexus. Most reviews I found were positive, but not impassioned. Main problem seemed to be the cooling capabilities compared to it's price. I could have it for a tad more than €20 - which was by far the cheapest option I had. I wasn't sure it was going to be as silent as I was hoping (no 120mm fan) bit at least it wasn't a big thing like a Scythe Mugen and was cheap as hell. Installation was not easy (Northbridge cooler made things difficult) but not hard either. I haven't been able to test temperatures, but I'm happy to report that the noise is no problem at all - so far. It's not dead-silent, but as good as unnoticeable. Hopefully that will stay when the CPU get's to see some action. But as I said before: decent testing is required before I really make up my opinion.

6. PSU - Seasonic M12II 430W

My first intention was a to buy a Corsair HX420W but it was not available anymore. The HX520W seemed a good replacement (although overkill) but that one was out of stock as well. I doubted a long time between Seasonic, Enermax and Nexus but went for Seasonic after all. The complaints about Enermax scared me off and Nexus was not reviewed at SPCR yet. The Seasonic seemed to be the best 400 to 500W modular option - and for now I'm very happy with this PSU. I can't hear it and no power issues so far. Cables and modularity was excellent as well, although I would have loved the 4-pin AUX12V connector and 8-pin AUX12V connector to be modular as well. Furthermore no complaints so far, recommended.

7. GPU - Sapphire HD5750 1GB Vapor-X

One of the first components I was rather sure of was the GPU; a Sapphire HD4850 512mb Vapor-X. Sadly enough I could not get it anymore and after some thinking I went for the HD5750 Vapor-X. It costs more compared to a HD4850, but it's more future proof and has some interesting upgrades. But Vapor-X it had to be because I find a passive cooled GPU almost always too hot and consider the GPU as a noisy part. Once again no proper testing has been done, but so far I'm pleased with it. The fan was a bit noisy at first (50% at idle) so I manually slowed it down via CCC to 25%. Almost inaudible now, and almost no temperature raise. It went from 34° tot 36° in idle - excellent result. Only problem I encountered so far were some vibrations the card caused now and then. I tightened the screws of the motherboard and the GPU istelf, hopefully It's solved now. So far: recommended.

8. MEMORY - Team Elite 2 X 2GB DDR3 1333mhz

Nothing special to mention. One was defective but I received a replacement in no time. It was cheap memory (€82) from a decent brand and so far I have no complaints about it.

9. HARD DRIVE - Western Digital Caviar black 500G

Although a SSD would have been awesome, I find them too expensive. Especially because I don't want multiple drives (more noise!). 500G will be plenty since my old 80G could serve me without problems for 5 years. Should add that my old drive is as good as completely full at the moment, time to transfer everything as soon as possible and start using this shiny new machine! Anyay, I opted for Western Digital because I like their quality. I was thinking about a Caviar Green (less noise and power consumption), but in the end I went for performance. Right now it is definitely the noisiest part of my system. I haven't suspended it because the Lian Li solution in my case seemed fine. The drive makes my system not silent, and perhaps I will try to solve it sooner or later (Scythe Quiet drive?), but for now I'm satisfied. Mostly because it makes noise, but it's only hearable because all the other parts are as good as silent. The performance of it is awesome as well: therefore highly recommended.

10. OPTICAL DRIVE - Samsung SH223C

Nothing special to mention here, it does what it has to do: work without problems and without making an aweful lot of noise.



A massive post, but I really hope this was of use to some people. I will try to add further experiences, but for now thanks for your interest!

ces
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Post by ces » Sat Mar 06, 2010 1:55 pm

How do the Nexus 120mm D12-SL-1 compare with the stock Lian Lin fans in the A05N?

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Sat Mar 06, 2010 2:37 pm

As stated somewhere in my post: I haven't tested the Lian Li stock fans properly. They produce more noise and less airflow compared to the Nexus fans on 12V, but I'm sure they will be fairly quiet on 7V or 5V. But even on 12V they did not seem to make an awefull lot of noise, therefore they are too decent and well-made.

If I find some spare time I'll try to test them properly (compared to a Nexus, on 12V, 7V and 5V).

diver
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Post by diver » Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:44 am

Nice rig, Lian Li cases are beautiful.

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Sun Mar 07, 2010 1:25 pm

Love the PC-A05N, if I was building a new ATX system right now, that's what I'd get. Only thing I don't like is the airflow, but I could work with it. The aesthetics are wonderful, though.

bozar
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Post by bozar » Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:43 pm

frostedflakes wrote:Love the PC-A05N, if I was building a new ATX system right now, that's what I'd get. Only thing I don't like is the airflow, but I could work with it. The aesthetics are wonderful, though.
Is the airflow directed from the front to the back?

I remember a review earlier that stated GPU temps may be an issue otherwise this case seems nice. Looks like there is some room for cable management behind the motherboard tray also.

nyu3
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Post by nyu3 » Sun Mar 07, 2010 3:43 pm

bozar wrote: Is the airflow directed from the front to the back?

I remember a review earlier that stated GPU temps may be an issue otherwise this case seems nice. Looks like there is some room for cable management behind the motherboard tray also.
Airflow is back to front. The main issues with the cooling setup:
1. The exhausts are at the lower front of the case (PSU and an optional fan). The bezel is very restrictive in terms of air flow.
2. Poor exhaust for hot air at top of case.
3. PSU fan is restricted by HDD cage.

These issues can be by some simple mods.

ces
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Post by ces » Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:05 pm

I have this case and I will start using it in a few days.

I think the airflow solution is to buy the top with the blow hole, then have both fans blowing air in and then let the air exit out the blowhole. Probably without a blow hole fan... or at most a very very slow fan.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:24 am

So far I haven't encountered problems with airflow. The design is not conventional, but that was one of the things that attracted me to it. All my components are running cool for now. One of these I'll let CPUBurn and Furmark do their jobs, will be interesting!

bozar
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Post by bozar » Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:16 am

ces wrote:I have this case and I will start using it in a few days.

I think the airflow solution is to buy the top with the blow hole, then have both fans blowing air in and then let the air exit out the blowhole. Probably without a blow hole fan... or at most a very very slow fan.
I wonder if that could work, both fans will blow in opposite direction and thereby preventing each others airflow but if if it did It would probably result in cool temperatures because of the large amount of fans in a relatively small area.

petieken
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Post by petieken » Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:47 am

Here's another A05N owner :) ...and fellow countryman :wink:
I'm still waiting for a few parts to arrive, mainly Scythe Slip Streams to replace the Lian Li case fans.

I'll open a new thread with pictures when the fans have arrived and have been installed. I'm currently undervolting my cpu while I'm waiting for the fans :D.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:29 am

Thanks for all the positive reactions. I do have one question though. I haven't found the time to do some proper testing as promised, but I already found out the hard drive is the noisiest part. I used the Lian Li HDD cage with rubber screws to mount my WD Black Caviar - for those who don't know this system here's a picture I found on the net.

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This way the drive is not exactly suspended, but it doesn't touch the metal either. Would I obtain an obvious reduction in noise if I'd susped it with elastics (as descibed here? I know the only decent way to find out is just give it a try, but I have little time - and if the results wouldn't be fantastic it would be a waste of precious time...

bozar
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Post by bozar » Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:35 pm

You would definitely notice a quieter drive.

I mounted my drives elastically in my P182 (which has relatively good rubber-mounting) and my drives are really difficult to hear now, seeking noise is almost gone despite the fact that I've only mounted one of my drives in a enclosure and suspended it.

Remove the inner cage and you'll have a perfect spot for suspension.

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:48 pm

Yeah, the difference will probably be night and day. I switched from silicone grommets to elastic for my 1TB 7200RPM, and it basically eliminated vibration induced noise.

ryboto
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Re: Inside my new Lian Li PC-A05N

Post by ryboto » Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:37 am

Potenza wrote:
1. CASE - Lian Li PCA05N

I was actually looking for the older version (without the 'N') because it had I/O Firewire, but unfortunately couldn't order it anymore. I chose this case because it combined everything I was looking for. Not big, yet plenty of space to put decent things in and a great design (slightly modified by opting for a black Lian Li bezel). It's one of the sturdiest cases I ever worked with. Easy in use and most of all pure quality, highly recommended.
Should have searched the for sale section! I have one for sale, an A05B, but I probably haven't updated the for sale thread in a year...so..heh. Nice build!

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:39 pm

Shipping it to Belgium probably wouldn't have been very practical. ;)

ryboto
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Post by ryboto » Tue Mar 09, 2010 1:00 pm

frostedflakes wrote:Shipping it to Belgium probably wouldn't have been very practical. ;)
you'd be surprised, I once sold a processor to someone in sweden through these forums for cheaper than shipping across the US...granted, a CPU is a little smaller than a case...

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Tue Mar 09, 2010 1:19 pm

Yeah that's the problem, rates seem to increase exponentially with size and weight. Shipping smaller items isn't too bad, but anything more than a couple pounds gets expensive really quick.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:23 pm

That's bad, but as frostedflakes already stated, shipping costs would have made it rather expensive. And I was looking for the silver version anyway.

Hopefully I can find some time and start thinking about suspending my HD in a clean and useful way.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:38 pm

I hope to suspend my HD somewhere this week, I would like to copy this approach. To me this seems to be the easiest and most effective way without making it look shabby. Hopefully I can find the right materials.

Image

Once I have this done I will post some decent testresults (CPUBurn, Furmark,...) and temperatures.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:03 pm

Got some updates - and unfortunately they're not the greatest.

The Nexus XiR-2300 seemed to be very quiet, but it started to make some serious noise this day. I transferred all my old data, updated my iPod and surfed the web at the same time. That should be a decent, but no terrible load for this system. The CPU temps were quite stable, they went from 31 tot 40°C. Not bad at all, but the noise became horrible. The 92 PWM fan was at some point doing 2157rpm whilest the CPu was only 34°C?!

That's some serious overkill, I'd rather have it not above 1800rpm as long as the CPU remains under 50°C. I tried Speedfan and checked my BIOS, but although I can monitor everything, I can't seem to change the fan speed. Anyone knows how to do this? Thanks!

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:45 pm

Click Configuration in SpeedFan, then the Advanced tab. Select your Super I/O chip from the drop-down menu (it's probably made by ITE) and this will give you access to the PWM modes for the fans. You should be able to change them from BIOS control to software control, and that will allow you to adjust speed in SpeedFan.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Mon Mar 22, 2010 3:54 pm

Many thanks for the aid, I really appreciate it!

I did as you said and I could easily find where I had to be. It has PWM Mode 1 to 5, the first three stood on SmartGuardian, the other two on Software controlled. I set them all to 'software controlled' and checked the box 'Remember it'. Unfortunately, back on the main menu I tried to lower the Speed01 to Speed05 and none of them seemed to have effect.

What am I doing wrong? Perhaps you'd like to see some screenshots?

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:22 pm

Hmm, I don't know. It sounds like you set things up properly in SpeedFan, so it should work.

A screenshot or two might help. If you don't mind, maybe take some with the drop-down menus for the chip and the PWM mode open so we can see all the choices available here.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:00 am

Now it's obvious that the speed of the fan gradually goes up after I started my computer. At first the fan spins at something around 1400rpm (almost inaudible), but after a few minutes it's already at 1600rpm. Finally it seems to stabilise at 2100-2200rpm - way too much for CPU temps between 30°C and 40°C.

I hope this screenshot provides enough information - if you could use more, please ask. I really want this solved! I've toyed with the settings, but nothing seemed to give access to the speed of the fan. If anything needs to be changed please let me know! I also checked my BIOS to make sure everything is OK there too. One option there (Q-fan) auto arranges the speed of fans. I disabled that, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Image

If I could set the fan on 1200-1400rpm idle and let it go higher if there's only a decent load (like the CPU temp goes above 45°C) I'd be totally happy...

danimal
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Post by danimal » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:44 pm

i never found speedfan to be a good long-term solution... i guess that it depends on the hardware it's controlling.

ultimately you should probably get a real cpu cooler.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:47 pm

And what is a 'real' CPU cooler? I won't say I'm totally satisfied with this one, but it ain't bad either. If I could arrange the fan speed I'm sure this cooler will be good enough. Yes, a bigger heatsinkd with a Nexus 120mm fan at 7V would have been the best solution, but my budget was tight - unfortunatly.

Right now I just want to be able to adjust the speed of the fan, I haven't got the money to spend on a new heatsink and fan...

b_rubenstein
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Post by b_rubenstein » Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:00 pm

Either directly through BIOS settings, or PC Probe, you should be able to change to change the CPU fan speed profile [Optimal/Performance/Silent]. At least I can with my Asus Intel CPU MB. The fundamental issue is if the HS/Fan can't keep the CPU cool at low fan speeds, it's going to make noise. Even the 92mm fan, tower style HS/fans like the AC Pro or the XIGMATEK HDT-SD964 (I've tried both in this Li-Lain case with an OC'd E8400.) keep the fan under 1600 rpm and quiet.

Potenza
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Post by Potenza » Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:05 am

There isn't much I can do in BIOS. I can see the fan speed, enable/disable Q-fan, see the voltages and set min. and max. temperature. I tried PC Probe II as well, unfortunately no solution. It monitors everything without problems, but I can't do anything about the fan speed. The treshold was 600rpm, I set it to 1400rpm but nothing changed.

I'm getting really frustrated with this, having a 92mm fan that runs constantly 1800-2200 rpm is extremely annoying! All tips are welcome...

ces
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Post by ces » Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:44 am

Potenza wrote:There isn't much I can do in BIOS. I can see the fan speed, enable/disable Q-fan, see the voltages and set min. and max. temperature. I tried PC Probe II as well, unfortunately no solution. It monitors everything without problems, but I can't do anything about the fan speed. The treshold was 600rpm, I set it to 1400rpm but nothing changed.

I'm getting really frustrated with this, having a 92mm fan that runs constantly 1800-2200 rpm is extremely annoying! All tips are welcome...
Why not just get a Promlimatech or a ThermalRight Venomous X, put two 500 rpm fans on it, and run it straight. It should be able to handle your load. Put two 1200rpm slipstreams at 5 volts and you should get about 500 rpm plus a lot of room to push a lot more air should you need it.

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