The PC modding scene has come and gone like tidewaters after the moon, leaving behind a hard-core enthusiast group that carries on with their modding and PC – embellishing long after most other people has stopped adding blinking lights to their rigs.

This is a group of PC enthusiasts who doesn’t have to be told that 3 different blinking lights going off at the same time in their casing doesn’t equal good-looking, it equals confusing.

This group of enthusiasts knows what style is about, and what better expression of their sense of style than their casing? Sure, the big-ass video card with a humongous fan gets its fair share of gawking, and the monitor is after all where all the action comes out, but the so-called “center of gravity” of a computer rig always is the casing / enclosure. The type of casing used by an enthusiast tells the story of what kind of stylistic sense, if any, there is to a lovingly-built computer rig.

                                              A "standard" casing.

The Lian-Li PC-A01 is a medium-sized aluminum case that is available in both black and “bare silver”. As with all Lian-Li casings, the theme of its design is in the minimalist / industrial school of thinking, with clean lines and tidy dimensions. In this model’s case, it is about three fifths the size of a typical upright medium ATX casing, although it can also be laid down on its side and act as a three-fifths sized desktop casing. Also common among Lian-Li products, this casing is thoughtfully designed and built, with emphasis on “thoughtful”.

Quickly describing its layout, when viewed from its open left side, the PSU sits at the bottom part, with the 3.5” drive cage to its right, at the front of the case. The middle of the case is open, with provision for a single 80mm fan in front. The top part is most interesting: it has the normal motherboard tray, but sitting on top of it is an “air cage” that can hold the optical drive, plus serve as an air tunnel for the CPU – the cage practically sits on top of the CPU fan, save for the adjustable hole through which a standard Intel or AMD fan can poke through. When closed, a filtered mesh-opening lines up with the “cage” and effectively isolates the CPU fan intake from the rest of the heat-producing parts of the computer.

                                              Lian Li PC-A01 Black casing.

This casing is of course not for everyone. Aside from reasons of style preference, which I will get to later, this casing has some notable limitations in that it can only support a micro-ATX motherboard, unless you can get the PCI slots / etc out of the way of the PSU. At the same time, the air tunnel / air cage limits the aftermarket cooler that can be used – basically anything smaller or the same size as stock.  Finally, its trim size limits the number of components you can cram into it, which is fine for those minimalist types I mentioned, but not for any other hardware – obsessed buyer.

                                              Some go the "ultra-minimalist" route - "where's the casing??"

Going back to “stylistic sense”, there are PC enthusiasts who simply want to see how high an overclock they can get, or simply wants an “un-modded” look. They typically use a standard casing without a window, but you can be sure their hardware and cooling is top-notch. On the other extreme, we have the enthusiast who doesn’t overclock, but rather “over-loads” on modding stuff, such as the guy who stuck 10 blue cold cathode lights into a Shuttle-type casing. He turns down his monitor brightness to the minimum. This kind of modder never gets enough power molex connectors due to the number of components he keeps plugging in. He typically has a large casing (Thermaltake comes to mind-) with a lot of molded plastic in front, and many graphics and many wires strung around everywhere.

                                             A bit cramped, but serviceable.

Then there’s the guy who strikes a balance between extravagance and exquisiteness, a balance that’s well complemented by Lian-Li’s design constants. With a Lian-Li’s nooks and crannies specially made for running wires, a clean setup can be ensured. This casing is best for those after a minimalist, tidy setup that reflects efficient power and usage.

I’m not that “balanced” though. I’m itching to put a dremel to this casing’s nice paint job and put in an acrylic panel to show off the innards of the beast system I’m building (in my mind). The good news is, Lian-Lis lend themselves to modification, with its aluminum material making things manageable. I want to be a bit extravagant too, so I’d like to stick in a cathode or two. The casing’s unique layout and perforated design also aids cooling, which is good news for overclocking nuts – although your heatsink choices are definitely limited.

                                             Beautiful. That's a Voodoo-modded Lian Li by the way.

All in all, the Lian Li PC-A01 is flexible enough for a bit of crazy as well as for a lot of cool, as long as you don’t lose control and put in all the colors of the rainbow into its lighting arrangements.