Lian Li PC-8FIB Aluminum Midi Tower Case Review

1. Introduction2. Lian Li PC-8FIB (External Appearance)3. Lian Li PC-8FIB (Opening and insides)4. Installing a system5. Testing Methodology and Performance Results6. Acoustic Performance7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

For testing today we are using an Intel Core i7 920 core processor with the Coolit Vantage installed. A full review of the Vantage running on an overclocked Core i7 970 will be published this coming week.

Review System

Chassis: Lian Li PC-8FIB Case
Processor: Intel Core i7 920
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65
Cooler: Coolit Vantage
Memory: Crucial DDR3 1600mhz Ballistix Tracer (6GB)
Storage: OCZ Agility 2
Power Supply: Corsair AX 850W

Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64bit

Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2

Firstly let us have a look at the chassis design and airflow, as it comes ‘out of the box’.

Two fans on the front acting as intakes and one on the rear which is used as an exhaust. The case is not supplied with a 140mm fan installed at the top although Lian Li do supply a dust filter for this position if you want to add one later. We will test first without one. We are glad to see Lian Li including a dual fan intake system at the front however as this is important for overall air flow.

We have placed thermal diodes in 5 case positions – 1; top optical drive bay position. 2; hard drive position. 3; top area between CPU and fan exhaust positions. 4; above PSU, graphics card (s) area. 5; motherboard central ‘dead zone’ area. Ambient room temperatures were maintained at 23c throughout.

These temperatures are fantastic, with the case holding steady at ambient or slightly above in the few dead air zones.

We then increased the CPU core voltage and raised the speed to 4.2ghz.

Diode 3 temperatures rose slightly to 28c after 30 minutes due to a lack of exhaust flow in this area.

We will add the 140mm Enermax Apollish Vegas fan in an exhaust position, set it to a midway point and maintain the same overclock.

Diode 3 dropped 3c thanks to the addition of the exhaust fan, and CPU temperatures lowered by 1c as the ambient temperatures were reduced slightly. As expected the addition of the 140mm fan is worthwhile.

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