The first thing you notice about the PC-B12 is that its a very clean looking build, there isn’t much in the way of stand out features here, at the top we have a small flip panel that hides the USB and audio input/output sockets, then the reset and power buttons to the right of those. On the front of the chassis we have two 5.25″ drive bay covers and besides that the chassis is featureless till you get down to the metallic Lian Li logo at the bottom.
The side of the chassis is just as clean looking, with a smooth side panel covering the left side of the chassis.
You’ll also find the reverse side has a matching smooth panel, keeping the chassis nice and symmetrical.
This suddenly come to life around the back of the chassis, losing the brushed black aluminium finish in favour of an unfinished aluminium panel, giving the back of the chassis a great high contrast look. At the rear we can see there is a 120mm fan pre-installed, with 2 x water/cable routing cutouts directly below that, allowing you to rear mount a water cooling block. Further down the chassis there are 8 x expansion slot covers, each comes cut with ventilation slots and are fully replaceable.
The base of the chassis also has a the silver aluminium finish to it and features a removable guard and filter as the front as well as a large dust filter at the back for the power supply air intake. The PC-B12 also comes pre-fitted with a set of durable rubber feet, these give it decent ground clearance and help reduce chassis vibration.
I’m currently building in this case with a Gigabyte Z77 mobo and Sapphire Radeon 7970.
Yes, I’d like an extra front 5 1/2″bay for my fan control panel. Yes, this case aluminum is much thinner than my other Lian Li cases. Yes, I’m considering a set of bolt-on wheels to remind me of LL’s outstanding legacy.
But the important thing is: Lian Li survived the economic debacle. What they’re back with isn’t as important as the fact that they’re back.
This case is 95% of what I want; it’s easy and fun to build in, and if I get crazy I can add everything else I want with a Dremel and an afternoon.
Ask me again in 10 years (with 5-6 intervening mobo swaps) if I missed anything.
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Innovation Award for case which has small cut-out for CPU cooler and not too much place under MB? 😉 I’d prefer Fractal Design Define R4 😉
Fractal Design is a cheap plastic/steel case. It has clever features and it’s great for the price, but it’s still made cheap and that’s how it feels like compared to aluminium cases like Lian Li.