Assembly

Installing the mainboard may be done outside of the chassis - thanks to a removable tray. I have installed it within the PC-B71 because there is plenty of space to do so. Even though I used a mATX board in this review, there is more than enough space remaining to the right of the board for long GPUs. The PC-B71 can actually fit EATX boards, so you may install multi socket motherboards as well. Even though I only used a small graphics card in the case, the locking mechanism snapped into place with so much force, that this is indeed the best screw-less system I have ever seen. I can finally say goodbye to screws, without loosing sleep over it.


Preparing the hard drive for the front bays is quite easy. Simply secure the handle with the special screws, then slide it into place. Finally, push down the plastic looks to secure the drive. The handle makes removal and exchange of the drives very easy.


To install the optical drive, you have to remove the front of the PC-B71. After removing the two thumb screws, you may pull the front frame off gently. This gives you access to the front drive bay covers. I have installed a beige ODD in the top slot and covered it with the included part. Due to the construction of the black cover, it was not able reach the round eject button of the LG drive used. You may want to make sure this setup works with your drive, before connecting everything and closing the PC up.


Installing the power supply was trouble free. As you can see, the 650 W unit is just as long as the opening in the bottom of the chassis.


Once everything is installed, there is still plenty of space to work around in. Turning the enclosure around, you can clearly see how well the plastic cable management system works - nice and clean.

Finished Looks

Upon turning things on, you could only hear a nearly silent, clean air moving sound. Just as we all have come to expect from Lian Li, working with the PC-B71 should be a joy. Taking a quick look at the rear, all the parts are easily accessible, even with the fairly unique layout.


The two front fans have blue LEDs. These are actually quite bright and cannot be turned off. This may be a nice feature for gamers or home users of the chassis. Those who use the PC-B71 in a professional setting may be inclined to exchange them for LED free units instead.