Lian-Li PC-7 SE-B III Aluminum ATX Case Review

Cases & PSU/Cases by jmke @ 2007-12-20

PC-Cooling.de send us an affordable mid-tower case from Lian-Li, this light weight aluminum case comes with three silent 120mm fans preinstalled and lots of tool less features. Let´s find out if a high end system can be kept cool inside.

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Test Setup and Test Methodology

Test Setup and Test Methodology

Intel Test Setup
CPU Intel Core 2 E6400 @ 2.8Ghz (from CSMSA)
Cooling Coolermaster Hyper TX
Mainboard Intel 975X Bad Axe (Modded by Piotke)
Memory 2 * 1Gb PC6400 OCZ
Other
  • XFX Geforce 8800 GTX
  • Coolermaster Real Power M520 520W PSU
  • 2x Western Digital 74Gb Raptor SATA HDD


  • Room temperature was 20°C during testing, ambient noise clocked in at 37.8dBA. Noise measurements were taken at 50cm from the front of the case.

    Realtime HDR and Orthos were used to stress the Dual Core system; Core 2 Temp was used to monitor Core temperature (duh) and Speedfan to check the temperature of HDD and Motherboard. Rivatuner’s temp monitor checked the G80 GPU at regular intervals. Maximum values were recorded.

    The Intel Bax Axe motherboard features several thermal sensors, the “mobo” values are those recorded by the sensor which can be found between the DDR2 memory banks, marked A in the overview:

    Madshrimps (c)


    Cable routing & Fitting larger video cards

    We found enough room behind the HDD bay, motherboard plate and 5.25” bays to hide most overly long cables, so airflow will not be restricted a lot here:

    Madshrimps (c)


    In order to fit a large 8800 GTX video card we had to turn the HDD bay 90°, so that it faces the side panel, this allowed room for the GTX to fit without interfering with the SATA/power cables:

    Madshrimps (c)


    The case is wide enough as to accommodate the side panel fan bracket and large video cards (in height), we moved the fan towards the rear of the bracket to cover the in-take of the 8800 GTX cooling fan.

    Madshrimps (c)


    Onto the performance tests ->
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    Comment from Sidney @ 2007/12/20
    I like the one with F/R fans only; wonder if I can get a side panel without fan hole. I am still using PC-60 with 80mm fans running 7v. Still like the classic look.
    Comment from Rutar @ 2007/12/20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sidney View Post
    I like the one with F/R fans only; wonder if I can get a side panel without fan hole. I am still using PC-60 with 80mm fans running 7v. Still like the classic look.
    You're not the only one who likes that , but it really does look better in silver as I have it from PC-Cooling (which is one of the cheapest sites to order cooling gear, cases and power supplies, and they have a huge selection).

    I am surprised it didn't get a value award because for an all alu case with 3 decent fans (review needs to mention it btw, that is a PC-Cooling special version) this is serious value.
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/12/20
    Value is debatable, as imho the Coolermaster 690 gives better Value for money (~$70) with more expansion slots and more cooling options; but Mainstream is between Value and High End, which this case certainly is, affordable for most people who are building a PC and want a quality ALU case
    Comment from Rutar @ 2007/12/20
    CM 690: 10 kg
    LL 7 SE III: 5.5 kg

    They can both be the best value depending what you look for and mainstream doesn't really do this product justice.
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/12/20
    for an enthusiast product to get in spotlight of mainstream, that's quite an accomplishment, can only be gotten if price is right AND features are good

    Weight isn't everything, you know

     

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