I love the early spring season.  With Christmas gone, manufacturers begin to unveil their hot new offerings for the New Year.  Lian Li is no exception.  The good folks at Hampton Technologies were good enough to provide us with one of our highest rated manufacturers latest offering; the PC-7A Plus.  Let’s see what this year brings!

     Regular readers know that here at the Club, Lian Li cases are perennial favorites.  Each case is manufactured from high grade Aluminum providing one of the lightest cases available without sacrificing quality. The PC-7A Plus is an update on the Mid-Tower PC-6 series chassis.  Available in both brushed Aluminum and polished black both with a Carbon Fiber style accent, our review model came with the optional side window installed.

     Just picking up the case brings a smile!  This has got to be the lightest case I have ever seen.  The PC-7A is loaded with standard features not found on most cases, 120mm fans, a blow hole, complete aluminum construction, and excellent craftsmanship! Opening the side reveals the inclusion of two 120mm case fans.  In front Lian Li has again chosen a low-noise ball bearing fan with a removable filter. Keeping with the Lian Li tradition you also get a three position speed control to control the RPM's of any fan connected to the fanbus.  In back the same low-noise ball bearing fan is provided with a four pin system fan end.  An optional 80mm blow hole insure that your case stays well ventilated by helping to remove unwanted/heated air from your components.

     Inside you'll immediately notice the quality and precision that goes into every Lian Li case.  Edges are smooth and rounded with plastic guards for the maintenance areas. All of the separate components fit together smoothly like a glove. Items such as backing plates, the side covers, the front cover, they all fit without any kind of interference and without trying to struggle to make it fasten onto the case.  The Power supply is mounted in a removable plate and attached by thumb screws, this makes for easy removal so you won't have to remove your HSF to swap a processor out.   The 3.5” drive bays are also removable for ease of installation and maintenance.

     Our Install went smoother than expected, this is typical of owning a Lian Li.  They even provided a tool for the motherboard offset screws! These little extras are what distinguishes a Lian Li from other cases  This is a very welcome touch!  I almost feel dirty installing a standard test bed into a case like this.  The PC-7A Plus cries out for cutting edge components like SLI or dual Opterons.  Beige or Black components, you can’t win, good thing Lian Li offers matching covers!