LIAN LI PC-9F Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Spacious for any mobo
Durable and will not bend unless under sufficient force
Easy HDD and SSD installation
Plenty of room for wire management WITH included cable managers
Front panel is convenient for floor placement
Thumb screws make everything easier
Easily attach a flash disk reader!

It's a Lian Li

Cons: Case scratches easily
Front panel audio has some static
Accidental power and restart button pushes from random objects placed on top of case
Power and restart button located on top of the case

Other Thoughts: This was my first major case purchase from my previous hand-me-down from my cousin. This case accompanies any simple builder's choice and cable management is a little disaster as with any mid-towers.

Prevent scratching by not placing it on its side on hardwood floors and impress your friends at a LAN party by simply removing the thumb screws, showing off your easily accessible gear!

Pros: Bomb diggity case in so many ways. Where do I start, The exterior is amazing, I never new a rectangle could look soo good. I love the finish and the design. It's very simple but gets right to the point. Front detaches easy without risk of breaking tabs. People complained but who's fudging around with the front bezel all that much anyway. . . c'mon already! 3 fans provide adequate airflow and are fairly quiet. HDD cage fits a bunch of disks and supports a 2.5" drive as well. HDD cage can be removed easily if need be and locking mechanism secures drives in place nice! Sturdy design and thumb screws for days. Bottom mounted PSU is great as well. I could go on but I'm not gonna be an addict, it's just a beautiful case and a great purchase. Probably the thing I love most is the fact that it came with a USB 3.0 to 2.0 converter.

Cons: Not much of a con to me because I won't be doing much physical activity around the case but it scratches easily. Anywho put it together and don't be fiddling around with it and everything should be fine. Maybe not the best if you have small kids that might scratch it up by accident but your home should be kid proofed anyway if you have small kids.

Other Thoughts: I bought this case to retire my old socket 754 3700+ AMD Athlon 64 based pc. The case it was in originally was a cheap $30 piece of s*%#! My 1st build and never put a lot of money into it so I want to breath a little new life into her while shes still ticking. Accompanied with my new Corsair CX 600m PSU it's bad a%^ now. Yup gonna hold onto this one for years to come and when it goes down I'll definitely build my new rig inside this beast. Wow and I'm so glad I waited for it to arrive before ordering a USB 3.0 to 2.0 converter because it's supplied in the box. Phewww!

Pros: - Enjoyable Build. Stunning out of the box.
- Not much room behind the motherboard for hiding wires, but his is actually a good thing. You have to keep your wires organized if you want it all to fit, but this encourages tidy assembly and keeps the case size down.
- Buttons feel good to press, not cheap.
- Very light!

Cons: No PWM fans, but that's about it. Everything else is taste or preference.

Other Thoughts: - Giant hard drive rack could be top and bottom half modules that can be installed seperately. I only have two drives installed in the giant rack, so it would be nice to remove some of the rack I'm not using to free up airflow.
- Motherboard tray cutout doesn't line up with LGA2011 boards (but this doesn't matter because with an LGA2011 socket you have no need to access the back!)
- Fan filters flex to much and don't create a proper air seal around the edge.

Pros: Good Looking Case
Easy to install components
Very well finished, inside and out

Cons: Power switch on TOP of case
USB connectors on TOP of case
Audio connectors on TOP of case

Other Thoughts: I have had several LianLi cases, and have nothing but praise for them. They are well designed, well made, and attractive. Unfortunately, the decision to put all the external ports and power, reset buttons on top was a mistake. My tower sits on the floor next to my table, and collects dust on top. You can't just dust it off, because it gets in the connector ports (USB, audio, etc..) and so it has to be vacuumed. I also tend to keep stuff on top of the case sometimes, and if there are things plugged in, I can't do that. The power on light and hard drive activity light are also on top which means I can't see it unless I look under the table. Even if it sat on the table, the same problems would occur. Inadvertent spills (coffee, soda) etc. could also gum up the switches and ports.

The fault is not that of the case, but the design. Any case with the ports or switches on the top would have this same problem. I have never been disappointed with a LianLi case, and I am not really disappointed with this one either, but I should have gone with a case with the usual configuration with the ports and switches in the front.

Pros: This case is awesome. Anyone that complains about a Lian Li case is losing it. These cases are quality from what I've seen. Nice sleek and simple design. Plenty of room for components. This case has 3 pre-installed fans that are very quiet. I would recommend Lian Li cases to anyone that considers building their own rig.

Cons: None really - unless you don't like fingerprints <--- common people clean up and shower dirty geeks.

Other Thoughts: Just get a Lian Li and you will be stoked.

Pros: Every 3 years I buy a new computer, on a cycle - so this time it's my wife's pc, next time will be my own pc. Now that I own two Lian Li cases, I doubt I'll ever need another case for us. These cases are designed to fit practically any motherboard - at least it seems that way.

Plenty of standoffs for supports, plenty of room for expansion and alternate configurations. Very light cases. The rubber washers for the drives are brilliant - makes for a snug, quiet fit.

I don't see any 'bulging' or bowing with the case - you need to give the cable routing some thought - not everything should be or needs to be forced behind the motherboard. Even with all the cases I've wired up before, I still found myself unplugging again and rerouting cords to make for a more efficient/better fit.

The drive case locking mechanism is simplistic and efficient. I like that a lot.

Cons: The aluminum for this case has sharper edges to the sides - this might be an issue as they use thumbscrews, so while screwing/unscrewing your fingers brush up against the sharp edges. I'm not sure for what or when I would use the top mounted SATA port - I thought it was a USB 2.0 port. You may need help installing the mainboard into this case, as the back faceplate sticks a bit when trying to screw the mainboard in place.

Other Thoughts: As far as 'fingerprints' go - wash your hands, make sure they are dry, and who really puts hand prints or fingers on the case all that often? These cases aren't intended for hauling around to LAN parties or the beach. They are aluminum and can be damaged by too much force or impacts - they are a professional looking work of art that belongs near your desk, and requires the slightest care when working inside to keep them in good shape. Always carry the case on the long sides - not the front and back. The front bezel should only ever need to be removed in order to clean the fan dust liners - and depending on how clean your home/office is that should not need to be done very often (I'd guess every 3-6 months for where I live - with hard wood floors).

Pros: This is truly an exceptional case. Once you build with a Lian Li all-aluminum case, you will never go back. The construction, quality, and attention to detail of this (and all Lian Li cases) is superb. I especially like this case because it's simple and has just the right feature set.

The buttons and ports on the top are very sleek and convenient. The large fans in front and single fan in the rear provide excellent airflow. Another thing that attracted me to this case was the fact that the top of the case is closed and does not have mesh. There is an optional opening for a fan, but by default it is completely sealed off with a delete plate.

Cons: The only complaint I have (and it is a common one) is that it attracts fingerprints easily. I have another black Lian Li case with the brushed-aluminum finish and it does not exhibit this behavior.

Other Thoughts: Many people complain that the front panel detaches too easily. This is by design; it is done so that the panel can be detached quickly without having to move the case, so that the fan filters can be accessed. This is a common feature of many Lian Li cases, and is advertised as such. The front panel is not loose or inadequately secured; it only comes off if you purposely remove it.

Pros: Nice brush aluminum finish

Cons: HD enclosure rattle. There's no rubber grommet to prevent metal to mental rattle.
Front panel keep falling off. Can't see to get it snap and lock in place.

Other Thoughts: Let's see how Lian Li deal with RMA

Pros: This case is super-light. It has plenty of room inside for clearance when using OEM type equipment. I can't speak to the clearance when using 3rd party cooling systems, however. The I/O ports on top of the box is a nice touch and to be honest it was the main attraction for me. The case has a nice clean/monolithic appearance. There is a vent just underneath the PSU mount point that comes with it's own filter/cover on the bottom of the case. The top is ported as well and comes with a mesh grille cover to replace the solid piece it ships with.

Cons: It's super-light for a reason... lacks solid construction for exterior panels. The front panel cover does not seat all that well and comes off way too easily. Overall, it feels cheap. If you melted it down, you could pour the whole case into a thimble.

Pros: - Great looking. So much better than cases that use plastic panels. The lit power and reset buttons are a nice touch (if a bit bright). It may be a touch plain to some, but I like simple, straightforward design.
- Great airflow. With the stock hard drive rack removed it's possible to keep the system properly cooled (~30-35 deg. C in regular, non-gaming use) with the case and CPU heatsink fans running at a practically silent ~650-700 RPM. I believe adding the HD rack back in would only require a jump of ~100-200 RPM.
- Solid construction. No noise/rattle problems. Fit/finish generally pretty good (mostly, see below).
- Contrary to the pictures, the case's USB3 ports use a proper motherboard connector. The front eSATA port is a nice touch.
- Simple, effective hard drive mounting.
- The plate to fill in the top fan opening for those of us who don't put a fan here is a nice touch and very clean-looking. I dislike having unused fan grills, as well as grills on the top of the case.
- Priced pretty good for aluminum.
- The dust filters work well for keeping the insides clean.

Cons: In rough order from somewhat serious to nitpicks:

- The front panel is not completely flat. It bows in slightly in the middle. This causes it to hit against the support located between the bottom 5.25" bay and top fan, so it doesn't quite seat properly. I had to work the panel a bit to eliminate some of this bowing at this contact point, as well as push the support back a bit, to correct the panel fit.
- Not enough space behind the motherboard. Even as little as an additional .25" between the motherboard tray/support and the case panel would have been very useful. As it is now it's difficult to get an ATX 24-pin power cable back there without causing the case panel to bulge.
- No vibration-dampening mounts for the rear fan. Somewhere along the line the design was changed from what's in the pictures to eliminate this feature. Thankfully they're still there for the front fans.
- The hard drive rack has a mount point for a 2.5" drive in the middle, but the proper mounting screws are not included. The mounting plate is machined to accept Lian-Li's vibration-resistant HD screws, but none of these screws are the proper M3 size used for 2.5" drives. Instead, all of the included HD screws are the #6-32 size used for 3.5" drives.
- It would have been really nice if the HD rack could have been split in half and the pieces separately installable/removable (like in many Fractal Design and some other Lian-Li cases). This would have allowed for better airflow and/or support for longer video cards than the single unit does.
- The louvred grill for the power supply is set forward a bit too far, possibly impeding airflow as it doesn't line up with the PSU fan. Also, the openings could be larger and should also face towards the back, allowing air to flow in here in the same direction as the rest of the case.
- I wish Lian-Li would either duplicate the toolless 5.25" drive mount clips on the other side of the bays, or eliminate them completely. As it is now you have to screw in the drive anyways on one side so the clips are pretty useless.
- Wiring for the power/reset/LEDs is a bit sloppy. They should have used a single 8-conductor cable and it would have been nicer. I ended up sleaving these wires. They also could have been a bit longer to make routing a bit easier.
- An additional cutout in front of the motherboard for cabling would have been useful. Also, even though the edges aren't sharp, I'd have liked to have grommets in these openings.
- The cutout in the motherboard tray doesn't line up with the CPU heatsink mount. Though this could be the fault of the motherboard itself.

Other Thoughts: Despite the (fairly minor and mostly known prior to purchase) cons I still really like this case. It's the third Lian-Li I've bought. However, had the new PC-7H series been available when I was assembling this system I believe would have gotten it instead. It's almost identical to this case, but has a better hard drive cage, uses 140mm fans in the front, and the front panel is a bit more stylish. Anyone considering this case should also take a close look at the PC-7H.

System specs:
MB: Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe
CPU: Intel i7-3770k
Heatsink: Thermalright Venomous X-RT rev. SB-E
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (8GBx2) DDR3-1600
GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 670-DC2-2GD5
SSD: Crucial M4 512GB
HD: WD Black 1TB
BD-RW: Pioneer BDR-2207
DVD-RW: Pioneer DVR-216D
PSU: Seasonic X-560
Case Fans: Scythe Slip-Stream PWM 120mm (x3)

Currently running at stock speeds, no overclocking.