Lian Li’s $70 small form factor case just became my daily driver

I adore small form factor cases. The idea of fitting high-end hardware into a compact package really appeals to me. As a bonus, they don’t take up a lot of space on your desk. Of course, one has to deal with challenges like hardware compatibility, thermal limitations, pricier components, and the added effort of managing and routing all the cables.

To offer the best of both worlds, Lian Li introduced the A3-mATX case earlier this year. It is the second case from the company that has been made in collaboration with Dan Cases and follows the A4-H2O. It isn’t an upgrade, as it is almost double in size. Rather the A3-mATX is one of those rare ‘smallish’ PC cases that can fit large components, including micro-ATX motherboards, 360mm radiators, ATX power supplies, and four-slot graphics cards. And it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than most ITX cases.

I got an early preview of the case at Computex this year, and I was intrigued by what Lian Li had to offer. After finally experiencing the case and using it as my daily driver, it’s clear the A3-mATX is the best mATX case released this year.

Specs and price

The A3-mATX is priced at just $70, which is commendable considering the build quality and the modularity prospects. You can purchase the case in black or white. A special Wood Edition is also available for an extra $10 and features a walnut trim front panel. This particular front panel is more functional too, as it features a mesh filter behind the wood trim that can provide additional airflow. Sadly, Lian Li is not offering a wood front panel for the white variant of the case, but I have seen custom ones being sold on Etsy.

Lian Li is also selling a tempered glass side panel for $13 and a vertical GPU mounting bracket with a PCIe Gen 4.0 rise cable for $50. Both of these accessories are sold separately. By breaking out extras like the wood front panel and tempered glass side panel, Lian Li is able to vastly reduce the cost of the A3-mATX compared to other small form factor cases.

Design

With a total capacity of 26.3 liters, the A3-mATX doesn’t technically qualify as a traditional small form factor case, but it is smaller in terms of height when compared to most micro-ATX cases. It measures 443 mm in length, 194 mm in width, and 304 mm in height (17.8 by 7.64 by 12.66 inches)

You get steel mesh panels on both sides and the top, with additional ventilation from the bottom and rear. The front panel is made of plastic and is the only part of the case that feels cheap. To address that, Lian Li released the previously mentioned wood-finish front panel version of the case a few months after the original.

The case looks and offers a very similar layout to the popular Cooler Master NR200P and the Asus Prime AP201, but it is far more versatile. In fact, its tagline, “the compatibility is strong with this one” holds, as it offers a variety of internal configurations and support for large hardware components.

Starting with cooling, the case can accommodate three 120mm or two 140mm fans at the top and bottom and a single 120mm fan in the rear. The included side-mounting bracket allows you to install up to three 120mm or two 140mm fans, but doing so only makes sense when using the mesh side panel instead of glass. The top mounting rails also support up to a 360mm radiator for liquid cooling, while the side bracket can also be used to install up to a 280mm radiator.

The case can fit some of the best CPU coolers thanks to its CPU cooler clearance height of 165mm, which is tall enough for most all-in-one (AIO) pump heads and beefy CPU air coolers like the Deepcool Assassin IV or the Noctua NH-D15.

If we look at the airflow pattern, the case pulls in air from the bottom and pushes it out from the top and rear. Lian Li has included a mesh filter that can attach magnetically to the bottom, while the two large feet offer enough clearance for the fans to pull in fresh air.

Though it’s a relatively small case, the A3-mATX supports graphics cards up to 415mm in length, which is pretty insane. For reference, the Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 has a length of 358mm, and while technically it should fit, I do not recommend one in such a compact case. Notably, the compatibility of the GPU varies depending on the power supply unit (PSU).

The case supports SFX, SFX-L, and ATX power supplies, but the mounting bracket is removable and can be installed at the front or right next to the motherboard thanks to multiple height options. Similarly, there is a removable tray to install up to two 2.5-inch SSDs at the front or side. The combination of where you install the brackets and the size of your PSU determines what length of GPU can fit. Lian Li has shared a detailed infographic on its website with all configurations to make things easier.

As for the front panel I/O, you get two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, the power button, dedicated 3.5mm jacks for audio input and output, and a USB 3.1 Type-C port. Apart from the removable SSD tray, the case can accommodate a 2.5-inch SSD or a 3.5-inch HDD at the bottom. The three-pin power plug at the back comes with an extension cable that goes all the way to the front to plug in the PSU. This cable can be tucked into the dedicated channels right above the motherboard.

Overall, the build quality is surprisingly good, which is expected from a brand like Lian Li. I did not find any imperfections or flaws, and particularly liked the all-white front panel cables with white connectors.

Building

The build process looked fairly easy, but halfway through, I realized some quirks that need to be addressed. Before that, let me take you through the parts I used.

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790M Aorus Elite AX m-ATX
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 32GB DDR5 6000MHz
GPU: Zotac Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super 6GB
Cooler: Lian Li Galahad II Trinity 240mm AiO
PSU: Asus ROG Strix 850W White Edition
Storage: Seagate Firecuda 530 500GB NVMe PCIe Gen 4.0
Secondary storage: Kingston NV1-E 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0
Additional fans: Corsair iCUE Link QX120 RGB

The side and front panels pop off quite easily thanks to a tool-less mechanism, while the top panel has two thumb screws that help make the disassembly process quite simple. The case supports micro-ATX and mini-ITX motherboards, although the length of the front panel cables is more suitable for micro-ATX. Before securing the motherboard, it is best to make a plan for routing cables for your fans, as there isn’t enough space behind the motherboard tray. It gets even more complicated if you need to install a fan or RGB controller.

I initially went ahead with Lian Li’s AL120 RGB fans, which feature a daisy chain design. Despite that, the amount of cable mess just put me off as I had additional cables from the AIO. I then swapped them out for Corsair’s iCUE Link QX120 fans, which reduced cable clutter by a huge margin. If you cannot live without RGB lighting on your fans, you will have difficulty managing all the connections.

Next, I installed the power supply and was immediately met with another challenge: taming all the power cables. I would highly advise using an SFX or SFX-L power supply as it allows more room to work with the cabling. If you do choose an ATX power supply, ensure that you get a small one, preferably with modular cables. Using some cable ties and Velcro straps, I managed to tuck all the extra length of the cables neatly under the power supply. Next, I secured the AIO radiator at the top, followed by the case fans. Finally, I installed the GPU.

As with any small form factor design, there are challenges with managing all of your cables while fitting the hardware you want inside. Given the variable space you’ll have depending on your power supply, it’s a good idea to plan ahead with your fans and power supply if you want to build inside the Lian Li A3-mATX. Otherwise, you may be blindsided by a cable mess that’s tough to tame.

Performance

Having an understanding of the airflow pattern is crucial to get the best performance out of any PC case. Thus, I installed two fans at the bottom and one at the rear as intake, while the two radiator fans on the top were set as exhaust. While there is scope for installing more fans, you are going to struggle for room, especially when it comes to cable management.

To test the thermal performance, I set the fans (case and radiator) to 100% (2,400 RPM) and the AIO pump to 80% (3,000 RPM). The CPU was set to run at 5GHz on the P-Cores and 4GHz on the E-cores to restrict CPU power consumption to 225W. I ran Cinebench R23 for 30 minutes to stress the CPU. At 25 degrees Celsius ambient room temperature, I recorded the CPU package going up to 91 degrees Celsius with an average of 87 degrees Celsius The CPU cores also went up to 91 degrees Celsius with an average of 77 degrees Celsius

For the GPU, I kept the case fan speeds at 80% while the GPU fans were set to run according to the default fan curve. Running Furmark at 4K resolution for 30 minutes, the GPU temperature went up to a maximum of 62 degrees Celsius with an average of 61 degrees Celsius, while the GPU hot spot went up to 75 degrees Celsius with an average of 73 degrees Celsius.

Running the same tests with the glass side panel, the results were very similar. The CPU package went up to 91 degrees Celsius with an average of 88 degrees Celsius and the CPU cores went up to 91 degrees Celsius with an average of 78 degrees Celsius.

As for the GPU, temperatures went up to a maximum of 63 degrees Celsius with an average of 61.5 degrees Celsius, while the GPU hot spot went up to 76 degrees Celsius with an average of 74 degrees Celsius.

Airflow performance is quite good, especially for a case of this size running a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU. I was surprised to see only a minor difference in temperature when using the glass side panel, which is great if you like to showcase the internals. The only downside of using the mesh side panel is that you get more fan noise, which is crucial especially when gaming.

Should you buy it?

There are quite a few good micro-ATX cases out there, but the Lian Li A3 m-ATX stands out for multiple reasons. It offers wide compatibility with large GPUs, CPU coolers, and power supplies, while still having enough room to install additional fans. Build quality is excellent (barring the front panel), while the modularity aspect of the PSU, SSD, and fan brackets are a bonus.

With a price tag of $70, I would highly recommend this case for your next build unless you are a novice at building PCs. It may require some extra skills to fit all your parts correctly and routing the cables is a task. But if you want a fairly compact case that can fit them all, you won’t be disappointed.