Antec miniP180 or Lian-Li A05B

[TSIMonster]

Simple question...


This: Antect miniP180

or

This: LianLi A05B

[blackup]

Pros:
The Antec looks much better (subjective) and with that top fan will probably cool better. I see dust filters.

Possible Con:
Not as long as the LianLi, in case you plan on stuffing a long expansion card in there.

I'm probably wrong here, but I am just looking at the photos: The LianLi has a very odd PSU placement... it's up front, and the intake looks like it would be blocked by the drives above it (unless you modded the case for a bottom intake).
I look forward to seeing a build in one of these cases. Would love to do a mini-ATX P55 or H55 myself.

[TSIMonster]

Things to consider on your pros/cons:

The LianLi fits a standard ATX motherboard... hence the PSU placement. The miniP180 is mATX.

Here are my pros/cons:

miniP180 Pros:

Better airflow
Better cable management
More hard drive slots
slightly quieter (maybe?)

miniP180 Cons:
mATX board only
possible interference with certain graphics cards
heavy


LianLi Pros:
Full ATX board
Large graphics cards = easy
All brushed aluminum = light

LianLi Cons:
Drive bay door is $14 extra (required to keep the brushed look consistent)
Airflow is great... until you add a GPU the expells hot air out the back (the A05NB sucks air in from from the back and pushes it out the front via the PSU and hard drive cage fan.)
only 3 hard drive slots.

[TSIMonster]

oh, and I already have the A05B myself, but I am building a system for a friend out of some various used parts for a friend and I'm trying to decide on the case. The CPU is a PII 810, an HD4770 for the graphics card (or maybe an 8800GTS 320), 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, my old Xigmatek Dark Knight, and a OCZ modstream PSU. Motherboard and case are the only two things that will be new and I am undecided ...

[billdcat4]

oh, and I already have the A05B myself, but I am building a system for a friend out of some various used parts for a friend and I'm trying to decide on the case. The CPU is a PII 810, an HD4770 for the graphics card (or maybe an 8800GTS 320), 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, my old Xigmatek Dark Knight, and a OCZ modstream PSU. Motherboard and case are the only two things that will be new and I am undecided ...

Well, you seem to know the pros and cons of the Lian Li

I built my 1st build in the MiniP180 2yrs ago
I have the rig downstairs

It has 3 filters: two in front and one in the psu area that can all be removed easily

1. Airflow is very good

2. the case is surprisingly large for a mATX, not much smaller than my P182

3. If you don't use the middle HD bay, there is a LOT of room for a GPU, I can measure if you want me to

4. There was one really annoying problem installing the DVDRW, but nothing a drill couldn't fix.

5. Build quality is very good and has held up well as my family's main PC

Personally, I like the looks of the Lian Li more, but as you said, to maintain the look you have to buy expensive accessories

And here is the build:

[TSIMonster]

sweet. Thanks for the insight!

[billdcat4]

sweet. Thanks for the insight!

any questions, just let me know
the case is just downstairs

oh, and cable management is excellent as you can see

That system is cooled entirely by the top 200mm fan on low. The fan on the HSF is set to turn on at 40c which takes 5min of prime95 to achieve
the only other running fan in the case is the one in the PSU. The rig is pretty quiet overall.

oh, and the white version is selling for $75 shipped on newegg although I have seen it for $50 AMIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-044-_-Product