Lian-Li PC-B12 Aluminium Chassis Review

There is no doubt that Lian-Li are one of the finest chassis manufacturers on the market. They tend to use the highest grade aluminum and their understated design ethic is very appealing to the high end enthusiast audience. The Lian-Li PC-B12 has a very simple design but is finished in a stylish black. The PC-B12 can cater for 2 x 5.25" Optical Drives, 3 x 3.5" and 1 x 2.5" hard disk drives. Additionally, it features a tool-less design for every aspect of the chassis, and also has sound damping foam on both sides of the chassis. Specifications Model PC-B12 Case Type Mid tower chassis Dimensions (W) 210mm x (H) 472mm x (D) 498mm Front bezel Material Aluminum Color Black Side Panel Aluminum Body Material Aluminum Net Weight 6.4KG 5.25" drive bay (External) 2 3.5" drive bay (External) None HDD bay 3.5-Inch HDD x3(Optional hotswap ) / 2.5-Inch HDD x1 Expansion Slot 8 Motherboard ATX/Miro-ATX System Fan (Front) 140mm Fan x2 System Fan (Top) None System Fan (Rear) 120mm Fan x1 I/O Ports USB 3.0 x2 / HD Audio Maximum Compatibility VGA Card length: 360mm PSU length: 240mm CPU cooler height: 160mm Package Dimensions (W) 532mm x (H) 568mm x (D) 266mm Gross Weight 8.2KG The Lian-Li PC-B12 ships in a dark coloured box, with smaller pictures showing the key features. The chassis has been packaged carefully, with two large Styrofoam blocks at either end. Unlike other chassis manufacturers, Lian-Li include a detailed Installation guide to make it just that bit easier to install a system. There also two extra metal sections which can be installed onto the back of the chassis to create an 'exhaust vent', channeling the hot air downwards. Also included in the bundle is a USB 3.0 header to standard USB 2.0 adapter, great if you haven't got a motherboard with a USB 3.0 header. As you might expect there is an extensive collection of screws and other essentials. The chassis has a simple but functional appearance and is only available in black. You either love the simple 'Lian Li' styling, or hate it. Unlike most newly-released chassis', this Lian-Li PC-B12 doesn't feature any side mountings for fans but instead should offer improved acoustical performance. On top of the Chassis are the I/O ports, although they are hidden behind a small flap. These include 2 x USB 3.0 ports, a microphone socket and a headphone socket. Lian-Li keep the branding simple with only their name at the bottom of the chassis. The back of the chassis has a metallic look and features 8 x PCI slots, as well as a 120mm exhaust fan, and two watercooling holes. As we mentioned on the packaging and bundle page, Lian-Li also include a rear vent which is easy to install and will help to direct heat out and away from the chassis. This chassis is constructed from lightweight, quality aluminum - as we would expect from Lian Li. The case is relatively spacious due to there only being 2 x 5.25" bays. The power supply is mounted at the bottom of the chassis, which features vibration damping mounts. These are raised slightly from the bottom of the chassis. The back of the chassis features 8 PCI slots, 7 of which feature Tool-Less holders, a very simple but extremely effective mounting system. At the front of the chassis are 2 x 140 mm fans, these are set further into the chassis than we'd normally expect. The 2 x 5.25 " bays also allow for tool-less installation of optical drives. The hard drive cage supports 3 x 3.5" drives and 1 x 2.5" drives. Once again this is all tool-less as large thumbscrews have been used. Taking the other side of the chassis off, we can see the CPU-cutout and the various cable routing holes. It should be very easy to install a clean and tidy system into this chassis. We installed a Seasonic Platinum Rated 1000W Fully Modular power supply. To install a 3.5" drive we had to first screw 4 thumbscrews into the hard drives - with anti-vibration silica gel rings. Then it is just a case of sliding the drive into the bay. When you have installed all your 3.5" drives, you have to then slide the locking gate down into place and tighten. Installing 2.5" drives is a similar affair but uses different screws and anti-vibration rings. Only one 2.5" drive can be installed on top of the HDD cage, which is a tad limiting. We then installed a Motherboard a CPU with an Akasa Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler. There is lots of space around the motherboard. We then installed an XFX Radeon graphics card. There is clearly plenty of space for larger, high-end graphics cards. Finally we connected everything up. Unfortunately, and much to our surprise, we were not able to route our 8-pin CPU power cable behind the motherboard tray as it would not fit through the routing hole given the space to the back of the chassis (even without the sides on). Sadly it is also a little difficult to route cables out of sight. Today’s test system will give us a good idea of how well this case works in terms of thermal and acoustical performance. Processor: AMD FX-4170 Quad Core @ 4.6 GHz. Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970-UD3. Cooler: Akasa Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler. Memory: 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1800MHz. Graphics Cards: XFX Radeon 7850 Graphics Card. Power Supply: Seasonic 1000W Platinum Full Modular. Boot Drive: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB. Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB. OS: Windows 7 Home Edition 64bit. Pyle Digital Sound Level Meter PSPL25. We wanted to test the thermal limitations of this case by installing the Akasa Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler to force warm air up to the top of the chassis, and there is just no where for it to go - and there is only limited space before it hits the top of the chassis. If you are using this case it is important to configure the CPU cooler to force air right to left, not upwards. Today, to test this chassis we have set our Sound Level Meter one meter away from the case. We then temporarily turned the two Akasa Venom Voodoo fans off, which leaves us with only the included case fan and very little noise from the power supply fan. As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels. KitGuru noise guide 10dBA - Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves 20-25dBA – Whisper 30dBA – High Quality Computer fan 40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator 50dBA - Normal Conversation 60dBA - Laughter 70dBA - Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer 80dBA - City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal 90dBA - Motorcycle or Lawnmower 100dBA - MP3 player at maximum output 110dBA - Orchestra 120dBA - Front row rock concert/Jet Engine 130dBA - Threshold of Pain 140dBA - Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range) 160dBA - Instant Perforation of eardrum The noise levels are reasonable, although other Lian Li cases have scored a little better in this test. The use of 140mm fans mean a lot of air can be shifted, although they are spinning quite high. We would recommend swapping these out for some of the latest high end BeQuiet fans to reduce noise levels a little further. All Lian-Li cases are special, and the PC-B12 is no exception. The build quality is truly inspirational, and the amount of thought that has gone into every aspect of the design is admirable. For instance the anti-vibration mounting of hard disk drives, which is both easy and functional. We also love just how easily everything screws or slides in place, and all without screwdrivers. The PC-B12 has several other nice features; the hard drive cage can be removed and the rear air duct does allow you to use the chassis in more environments without the worry of restricting air flow. In terms of thermal performance the Lian-Li PC-B12 chassis performed well but not quite at the class leading level. That said, if you were to use a more powerful, compatible CPU Cooler - for example a Noctua NH-D14, then the performance will likely improve significantly. The 2 x 140mm fans and 1 x 120mm fans are moving a lot of air around the chassis but if hot air from the processor is forced upwards, then the case can struggle, due to a lack of top mounted fan. The acoustic performance is very good. A sound level output of just 36 dB is very impressive for a chassis that has 3 fans and as such will appeal to a wide audience. Clearly the sound proofing and high build-quality is paying off. If you were to replace these fans with Be Quiet! variants, then we would expect emissions to drop to around the 32dBa mark. Overall, we really enjoyed building a system into the B12, it is just so nice to work with. The only problem was with the 8-pin CPU Power cable which we just couldn't route where we wanted. The Lian Li PC-B12 can be purchased for around £120 from Overclockers.co.uk which is quite competitive, considering the use of high grade aluminum throughout. Pros: Amazing build quality. very strong feature set. low noise levels. Cons: A bit tight on space for cable routing. A top mounted fan position would help cooling performance. Kitguru says: An excellent case which is built to the highest standards.