Assembling a small kind issue PC could be a ache within the rear generally. Even in case you usually get pleasure from such builds, you may nonetheless end up briefly cursing since you’ve put in one thing out of order—and it’s an order that didn’t turn into crystal-clear till that second.
Happily, now you can largely keep away from such construct annoyances with Lian Li’s launch of the A4-H2O, an 11 liter case created in collaboration with DAN instances.
This scaled-up model of DAN’s standard 7.2L A4-SFX (a case well-known amongst SFF fans) not solely supplies help for as much as a 240mm AIO cooler, but in addition options a few design tweaks to simplify constructing. Instances that share the A4-H2O’s sandwich structure could already appear simple, however Lian Li amplifies that vibe tangibly.
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In a typical sandwich case, you’ve got two lengthy chambers, with one aspect allotted for a PCIe growth card (a GPU, for instance) and the opposite the motherboard and energy provide. That makes all of the parts very accessible. Nevertheless, you may nonetheless run into stickiness across the appropriate time to plug in energy and information cables, or routing them and your AIO tubes alongside essentially the most very best paths. The inevitable end result: It’s a must to backtrack and uninstall parts, which burns further time.
The A4-H2O helps you bypass that headache with the inclusion of extra detachable panels than traditional. Lian Li enables you to pull off the entrance panel and backside panel, not simply these on the highest and sides. It makes for extra forgiving builds, the place you don’t should plan your steps with laser precision. Getting burly graphics playing cards into the case is less complicated, too, particularly for the reason that A4-H2O helps triple-slot playing cards as much as 322mm in size.
That’s to not say you may go at your construct fully willy-nilly. You’re nonetheless constructing in a small-form-factor case, in spite of everything. However between its surprisingly good guide and people additional detachable panels, people new to SFF ought to have a a lot much less irritating expertise. And outdated palms will respect the decrease psychological load.
There’s one catch with this case, nevertheless—it’s a must to watch out about which graphics card you select. An particularly chunky card could provide you with a tough time for match. I element my very own misadventure (and failure) with one notably Hulk-sized Radeon RX 6800XT in our video above. Our hands-on tour additionally covers extra constructing suggestions and methods, like one of the best kind of energy provide cables to make use of on this case and a radiator-bracket set up mistake to keep away from.
However general, the Lian Li A4-H2O is a implausible case no matter its measurement. It’s not simply straightforward to construct in, however inexpensive too. The PCIe 3.0 riser cable model prices $130 USD, and one with a PCIe 4.0 riser cable is $165 USD. (You’ll find each the black and silver variants at Newegg, Caseking, and Overclockers UK.) This pricing places the A4-H2O in the identical vary as mid-tower ATX instances of comparable high quality. That’s a stable win, particularly given how high quality SFF instances usually go for a lot larger costs.
