Its massive; that’s what she said

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The box that the Lian Li comes in is surprisingly light. Considering its size it weighs just under 13kg which is amazing for a case this size. The secret to this skinny weight is Lian Li’s favourite choice of material; aluminium. This is much lighter than the same quantity of steel, although it’s not quite as strong.

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You get a rather odd selection of bits and pieces with the case, including the unbelievably useful motherboard standoff screwdriver, a whole bunch of screws for all different purposes, seven PCI thumb screws, a couple of cable ties, another power supply shroud, a Xeon mounting plate and the all important manual which consists of a double-sided A4 sheet with pictures.

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Once out of the box you can really see how big this case is. The front is dominated by a Lian Li door which has their logo at the top right, next to the two vertical parallel lines which are the only thing that stop this case from being totally black. The sides of this door have vents in them allowing the two front 120mm fans to get their supply of air. This door can actually be removed, or you can hinge it on the other side, meaning it can open to the right or the left which helps if you have it against a wall.

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Once you open the door, you’ll find the power and reset switches in the centre below the five 5.25” drive bays. These bays don’t have the same tool-less design as the PC-B20 which is unfortunate. Thankfully Lian Li has had the balls to completely remove the now archaic FDD bay. If you need to use one, don’t buy this case and stick with a beige plastic number from the 90’s. The bottom of this panel is a large grill which hides the 120mm fans behind.

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The front two 120mm fans are covered with removable and washable filters which will mean that you only have to clean these rather than taking a toothbrush and a Dyson to every component. Behind these two fans is a framework which allows for seven separate hard discs to be mounted. This cage then has another two 120mm fans behind it, creating more airflow and making sure your valuable information stays that way rather than toasted. Behind these fans are notches which allows for foot-long cards to clip into providing them with a more secure mounting.

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Speaking of secure, there is a vertical pillar running through the middle of the case which has black plastic clips swinging from it. This is a lot more useful that what it would first seem. The idea behind them requires you to use the provided long thumbscrews and using them to secure your graphics card, or any other add-in card. Seems like Lian Li are trying to go for the LAN enthusiast market. If you have a massive CPU cooler, or you have no need for this pillar, remove four screws and it’ll come out.

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The top of the case which is made of the same black brushed aluminium as the side panels and front, has the same I/O door as on the PC-B20 and has connections for USB, FireWire and audio in/out. After using the PC-B20 for a while now, I know that the hinges for this flap are quite flimsy and are likely to break. This is where the aluminium isn’t strong enough. Interestingly, the whole top panel can be completely removed and it’s possible to purchase another one from Lian Li that has another two 120mm fans at the rear for all you watercooling buffs. Speaking of water lovers, there are two rubber grommets at the back allowing you to send hot and cold water pipes out of the case without resorting to the Dremel.

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To get inside this beast, you’ll have to remove the three thumb screws at the back and then slide the panel off. At the top left corner of this case, you’ll find more space for 3 more HDD’s with another 120mm fan behind. This spot can also have another power supply mounted in it thanks to the provided additional PSU shroud. Ordinarily, you’ll mount your PSU in the bottom spot. Both of these use the Lian Li slide-in-from-the-back method which means that you simply have to un-plug your power supply and drag it out the back, rather than bending metal to try and remove it without taking your motherboard out. If you do decide to use the upper power supply spot, then you’ll lose three HDD slots which means you’ll be left with a mere seven which I’m sure is way more than most people need (or most motherboards support). Of course, you could put the upper HDD cage in the bottom PSU spot and use the 'standard' case layout.

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Above the lower PSU mounting spot you get a load of removable PCI blanking plates complete with their individual thumb screws. Above this is yet another 120mm fan which blows out the back.

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Another feature that is often left out of chassis currently is the removable motherboard tray. While you’ll probably only use it a few time, it saves so much time. Lian Li have decided that one of these is the way forward. To remove it, you have to take off the other side panel, slide it towards the front of the case, and it bends outwards. Simple and time-saving.