LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: aluminum, rubber guards for sharp areas, no side window or blaring LEDs for those of us who dont want a flashy case, great construction (does not flex like other aluminum cases.) also the rounded edges in this case allow for minimal air resistance, basically the airflow in this case was designed beautifully.

Cons: can't really think of any except that my memory card reader/usb port that i bought for the floppy drive doesnt have any screwholes which means its slightly moveable in the floppy bays. i guess thats more of a problem with the manufacturer of the memory card reader though.

Overall Review: I installed another 120 mm fan on the side vent for more airflow to my graphics card. very easily installable. all in all great case, great design, great price.

Pros: + Clean lines and brushed aluminum give it an elegant, refined look. + Easy to work inside this case. Both side panels, the top panel, and both 3.5" drive racks can be removed for easy access. The front panel is spring mounted with no switches or wires mounted to it, so it's easily pulled off and put back on. + Sturdy and light weight. The construction of the case with the fully attached motherboard tray and the side supports create a very sturdy case for an aluminum one. Also, the aluminum is a bit thicker than you would find on aluminum cases from some other manufacturers. + The orientation of the hard drive rack from front to back and the open top design allow for better airflow than the side to side orientation found in most cases today. With the side to side orientation, the hard drive cage restricts airflow. With front to back, air flows unobstructed over the hard drives, assuming the fan is blowing in from the front. + The door over the front mounted usb and audio ports keeps dust out of them and gives a cleaner look to the front. The front USB ports on my other machine, by contrast, are full of dust. + This case can be enhanced with matching accessories from Lian Li (see other thoughts). + The two external 3.5" drive bays are usefull for adding additional front mounted ports, fan controllers, or light switches (see other thoughts).

Cons: - The bottom 3.5" drive rack doesn't have anti-vibration grommets. I use this area for SSDs, so that doesn't matter to me. - The two grills on the rear exhaust fan restrict air and add noise. Both the silver fan grill inside the case and the black fan grill on the exterior should be removed and thrown away. Replace them with a standard 120mm fan grill (N82E16811988017) on the exterior only. - Doesn't come with a filter for the front fan, but there is plenty of room behind the front panel to install any 120mm fan filter. I use this one: N82E16811988015.

Overall Review: * I recommend getting the Lian Li HDD Internal Rack Mount Kit, EX-36B1 with this case. It will convert three of the 5.25" drive bays into a rack for up to four 3.5" hard drives with grommets and a 120mm fan. That will free up the bottom rack for SSDs. * I also recommend the Lian Li CD Bezel, C-02. It works and will keep the front looking consistent. I replaced the side panel with the Lian Li windowed side panel, PC-65B, which fits perfectly. * I also mounted the SYBA USB 3.0 Bracket Cable (N82E16812186177) and the Kingwin eSATA Bracket Cable (N82E16812226003) on the external 3.5" drive bay covers, using the bracket as a template for the cutout. Because the covers are aluminum, they are easy to cut with a drill and a nibbling tool. Alternatively, you can buy one of the many front panels for 3.5" drive bays.

Pros: I have the first generation of this case and have owned it for about 6 years now, purchased right here at Newegg. I'd review it directly but they don't exist anymore and this is the closed case. Same internal layout. The brushed aluminum looks and feels of the utmost quality. All of the plastic parts (very few) have withstood the test of time and not a single clip has EVER broken. This, cleaning after cleaning, rebuild after rebuild. None of the threads to the side cover have ever stripped out either. To keep this review as simple as possibe I will say these few words... In 6 years- :Moved 3 times :Trasported to well over 100 lan parties :Opened for 50+ cleanings :4 full upgrade rebuilds :Dozens of single component swaps :Dropped twice This case has NEVER failed me. Nuff said.

Cons: Mine has 2x 90mm fans up front and 1x 90mm in the rear. I finally had to replace my rear fan a couple months ago because it was getting noisy. Other than that its been an amazing case for all these years.

Overall Review: I will ALWAYS buy Lian Li cases from here out. They are more like a beautiful piece of artwork or an old reliable friend than just a simple computer case. If you want the best case money can buy, buy Lian Li.

Pros: Outstanding build quality- Lian-Li really pays attention to the little things, from the die-cast FP door, to the very nice front panel mounts, quality fan-guards and grilles, the attention-to-detail inside & out, metal drive-bay covers that lock solidly into place, real PCI slot-covers(!), thumbscrews in all the 'important' places, good front/rear fans with plenty of cable, a 'joy' to work in even without a removable mobo tray! Side panels come off very easily, and the whole installation area is then exposed. Both 3-1/2" bays are removable for loading (hint: I remounted the bottom HD tray by running the screws up from outside the case bottom- that way you can remove/replace HD's without removing both side-panels. I think it looks better, too!) The black-anodized finish seems very durable so far, as well.

Cons: Not Many! No PS, obviously, but you already knew that; the audio connectors aren't Azalia/HD-audio compatible (since this IS an older case design, naturally- I'm still working on a way around this for my mobo); black thumbscrews would look better IMO, but the threading on these doesn't match any 'aftermarket' t-screws I've found (a minor quibble; hey, I'm diggin' here! :P ); they had plenty of room to add a fourth HD mount to the lower bay, but didn't (I'm really reachin' now!), and that's about it.

Overall Review: This case replaced an Antec Sonata II, which I ended up hating (see my review for details)! this case is VASTLY superior in build-quailty to the Sonata, and is actually QUIETER as well, with the stock fans!

Pros: If you're reading this then you're likely doing your research as I do. I spent a good amount of time reading NewEgg reviews and reviews on other sites before buying hardware. This is my first 'high-end case' and in the past I would just use "whatever" - because it's just a box... right? One of the negative reviews mentioned that the case doesn't use "standard" screws for the case and panels because it uses fine-threaded screws. This is a GOOD THING. Fine threaded screws cost a little more but they are stronger, hold tighter and are less likely to strip. (More threads per inch = more surface contact area) I like how the power supply fits and installs. It's a much nicer system then just hanging the power supply up in the case. There weren't any "sharp" edges but you still need to be careful. Metal sheets are going to have an edge no matter what. The case is absolutely beautiful. I'm a grown up and don't want dragon or alien faces with glowing neon lights on my case.

Cons: It's a little pricey but pick it up on sale and it won't be too bad. One 6-page review (out on the web) mentioned that this is a case that you can keep for life. He's probably right. I have build about a dozen or so systems over the years and here are a few cons. Removing the side panels is easy. Getting them back on was a bit more difficult than it could have been. I was expecting this to be easier. Not extremely difficult - just not as easy as it could have been. The case is light (as in low weight) but who cares? I'm not running a marathon with this strapped to my back. I wouldn't mind a little more weight/support in places where it makes sense. The tray that the motherboard mounts on could have had a little less flex. It's a non-issue once everything is mounted and installed but it would be nice if it flexed a little less. The side panels are a little thin and make a slight amount of noise when my system is powered up. It's just a slight noise but still.

Overall Review: Would I buy another one... definitely. This is sitting in my home-office and it's a beautiful case that fits with the decor. I took the time to make sure that my CD and removable drives all align perfectly with the front panel and it simply looks great. The front panel switches and LEDs look and work great. I wish the front-panel audio and USB connectors were a little higher up on the case. They're okay where they are but a higher location would be even better. The connectors for the LEDs, switches, audio, USB, etc are all nicely labeled which removes a lot of the guesswork of "where does this wire go?" There's more than enough room to install any sort of drives or peripherals that you would ever want. I like having two large 120mm fans instead of several smaller ones. It's quieter and a large fan is able to move more air at a lower RPM than a smaller fan. Overall this is a great case. It's not perfect (nothing is) but it's many positives outweigh a few negatives.

Pros: Good lookin, conservative case. Has everything I need for a simple yet powerful system. Every switch and cable worked, and worked flawlessly. Coulda been a 5 star item

Cons: I have checked, rechecked, removed and reinstalled everything and tightend and retightend, and the thing vibrates like a wash machine out of balance. Ok, maybe not that much, but it is embarassingly loud. I built this for my brother telling him of LIan LI's quality, and now I feel like a dumb***

Overall Review: I suppose I got a bad one, or things got bent out of shape on the way over from where ever, whatever. Vibrates like a 20 pound cell phone. Oh my. I have the stock fans in place, and unplugging those helps somewhat. Both panels are very loose, as pressing on them also helps out. Nobody is goinog to compute on this thing while holding the side panel so it does'nt make so much racket. So, I am very dissapointed. 3 stars because it had potential to be a 5 star winner.

Pros: 1. Both sides are removable for easy mounting of drives 2. Drive bay covers are aluminum and are easy to remove, easy to replace, with no screws. 3. Power supply bracket mounts to supply then bracket mounts to case 4. 3.5" cage removes for easy mounting 5. It is a very plain case with a timeless design. I personally don't like highly stylized cases. 6. It's light because it's made of aluminum, not steel. 7. Very well packed for shipment in a double wall corrugated box with foam inserts. 8. Thumb screws for sides and power supply.

Cons: 1. The slots for the external 3.5" devices are a tiny bit short so devices like media readers don't sit quite flush with the front, but are recessed a couple of millimeters. They could be filed a bit to fix this. I did not put in a floppy drive. 2. They could have put a larger fan grille on the top for a 120mm exhaust fan rather than an 80mm exhaust fan. Some people may not like those holes in the top if they do not mount a fan there. 3. They could have included the top fan since they already include two other case fans. 4. You can't have a disk drive fan on top of the disk drive because of the way the drive mounts into the lower 3.5" cage. However the lower case fan blows directly over the lower drive cage so it's not really an issue.

Overall Review: This is the case to buy if time has value. It is extremely well designed and it makes assembling a system very quick.

Pros: I've owned this case since 6/27/2006, and this is still a great case for my Core i7 3770 based system. I've converted the case to accept a combination radiator/reservoir on the rear 120mm fan slot for water cooling. I've also added sound dampening material to keep it as quiet as possible in my office. This case has now held 3 different combinations of motherboards/CPUs, and I plan on keeping it for years to come. Front USB3 functionality has been added via a Lian Li cable, with slight modification

Cons: My only con is that it only has 3 x 3.5" hdd slots together. I use this as my file server with a PERC 6i, and could use as many as 8 3.5" slots. I've added 2 x 3.5" slots with an adapter from another Lian Li Micro ATX HTPC case that I own. Lack of USB3 support, but then again this case came out around 2006.