Lian Li PC-6B Mid Tower Chassis Review

Preparing the storage drives for attachment to the removable HDD cage requires a screwdriver to attach 4 screws through a rubber washer, into the drive’s mounting points. Once the screws are attached, drive installation becomes a tool-less process thanks to Lian Li’s innovatively designed HDD cage and its specific mounting cut-outs. The procedure is fairly straightforward but far more time consuming than competitor’s methods.

Building a system into the PC-6B was very straightforward. The pre-applied ATX stand-offs are a time saving convenience which more case manufacturers should use. If you use a micro ATX or mini ITX motherboard, both of which are supported, you will be required to insert the stand-offs yourself. Lian Li’s tool-less design isn’t particularly acceptable for securing the 5.25” drives in their desired locations, I would recommend assistance from the trustworthy screws. Removing the top panel to direct the 8-pin CPU power cable was an inconvenience, but wasn’t difficult thanks to the easy top panel removal procedure.

There is plenty of spare room above the motherboard which allows the case to accommodate extremely wide coolers such as the Thermalright Archon. Lian Li state 160mm as the maximum CPU cooler height, but we managed to fit the 163.5mm tall Akasa Venom Voodoo without any problems and a marginal amount of clearance to spare.

GPU clearance is unmatched for a mid tower case! If you decide to buy a graphics card up to 440mm in length, the Lian Li PC-6B will easily house it in the 5 uppermost PCI slots or every PCI slot if you remove the HDD cage. Our standard length Corsair TX650 power supply had absolutely no problems fitting into position. PSU clearance is a tremendous 300mm.

Cable routing is limited but not overly shabby considering this is a mid tower case. A large cut-out situated alongside the PSU allows you to route your cables behind the motherboard tray to their desired location. 2 cut-outs underneath the motherboard’s lowest expansion slot are priceless additions allowing the front panel cables, audio cable, and USB cables to stay disguised behind the motherboard tray for the maximum amount of time. If you aren’t going to be using an ATX board in the Lian Li PC-6B, then cable management and neatness will become tricky due to the ATX orientated cut-outs.

Organising the cables situated behind the motherboard is an absolute nightmare. There is plenty of spare cable management space near the HDD cage and alongside the power supply, but other than those locations, there is literally an unacceptable amount of space for thick cables. With only around 12mm of clearance between the motherboard tray and right side panel, we would like to wish you the best of luck if you plan on routing your 24-pin cable behind there. An easily overlooked problem that came to our attention was the fact that you may not be able to position you hard drive in the 2^nd slot on the drive cage. The metal bar which extends the entire length of the PC-6B actually blocks the SATA ports making attaching the required cables almost impossible.

A black bezel on your optical drive will compliment the brushed aluminium finish of the easily removable front panel.

The case’s rear is a standard affair with recessed PCI slots and motherboard IO location. 2 grommets are found beneath the guarded 120mm exhaust fan. Each side panel is very easy to remove but is awkward to put back on, even without cable interference. The side panel’s thumbscrews are each connected to a rubber washer which ensures your sexy aluminium side panel will not get scratched. Good thinking Lian Li!