2003 Winter Case Review Part 2: The ATX Avalanche

Lian Li PC-6077, Continued

Overall, the PC-6077 had excellent results in our cooling tests and was among the leaders in temperature management, according to our testing results.

A look at the front-mounted ports on the PC-6077.

The PC-6077 is the first case we have received from Lian Li that included front-mounted, 1394/Firewire support, as well as a headphone and MIC jack. It is about time that Lian Li caught up with this innovation and incorporated it into their designs. The port door that covers these ports is made from aluminum, using a plastic type hinge. While the door feels exceptionally stiff, the hinges, on the other hand, felt somewhat sloppy; this led us to less than satisfactory door action. The tab used to open and close the door is somewhat on the small side. Lian Li could make this tab a little larger.

As we discussed in the drive bezel section, the PC-6077 includes Lian Li's integrated aluminum bezels for both the floppy and a single CD-Rom drive. The CD-Rom bezel, in particular, as we pointed out earlier in this review in among the best performing and high quality of these type of devices that we have seen. Much of this is due to Lian Li's method of bolting the bezel to the chassis, instead of relying on some sort of plastic or "stick" type of mechanism to permit movement of the front bezel during drive operations.

While only one optical drive bezel is included, Lian Li offers additional optical drive bezels that can be added to the PC-6077 at additional cost. The PC-6077 from Lian Li may not set the world on fire, as its innovations over previous Lian Li models come in smaller doses and fewer configurational changes than have been seen with the revisions of other manufacturer's cases. Still, there is much to like about the PC-6077. While it may not be "perfect" and still has a few 'nitpick areas' that we can find fault with, there is far more to like than to not like with the PC-6077. Lian Li does an excellent job in keeping with their traditions: a well manufactured case, an easy to understand, single sheet installation guide, and innovative features that distinguish Lian Li from its competition. While the PC-6077 may not appeal to everyone, many will find it to be an exceptional case for many applications. While we wish the PC-6077 would have had a window and some of the LED lighting on previous Lian Li models, normally Lian Li is not known for their aggressive approach. This is unfortunate, as we wonder what Lian Li could do if they tried to design an all aluminum chassis targeted at gamers with a far less mainstream conservative slant.

Still we can't find any reason not to recommend the PC-6077, as Lian Li continues to build its reputation for building very high quality cases with new features that consumers may find interesting.