The Case

Lian Li PC-777B is a lightweight aluminum chasis with state-of-the-art design features. The Lian Li name is highly respected by computer builders all over the world.

Inside the Case

The left side of the case is removed. This side is where you'll do most of the build such as adding the power supply unit (PSU), hard drive disk (HDD) and motherboard.

Right Side

Here you see the back of the Motherboard Plate. The hole pattern should match up with the holes on your mother board

Drive Bay, left side

The floppy disk drive (FDD), on the bottom, is secured inside the the drive bay by two screws on each side. Above the FDD, I've installed a Temperature Monitor.

Standoff Bolts

Lian Li, just as most case manufacturers, provides standoff bolts and a special hex tool to install them on the motherboard plate. The bolts are usually made of brass or copper.

Standoff bolts screwed into case plate

It's important that there is a standoff bolt for each motherboard mounting hole. Typically, on a standard ATX format motherboard, there should be nine (9)mounting holes.

The "Brains" of your computer

Central Processing Unit (CPU) - in this case a Pentium 4, 3.4MHz unit - is a highly sensitive, complex piece of technology. Handle with care, and as little as possible. It can only be placed on the Motherboard in one correct direction. The mobo is "keyed" to ensure no mistakes.

Thermaltake Blue Orb II Fan

This huge fan will be attached to the CPU to keep the temperature cooler.

CPU Fan

The flat copper plate of the fan transfers heat from the CPU through the large blue aluminum fins

Asus P5N32-SLI Motherboard

I chose this Asus motherboard because of its features and memory capacity. It's a motherboard that can be upgraded to 16 GB of RAM and two graphics cards for better graphics and gaming, if necessary.

Ultra 600W Power Supply

Your choice of PSU should always take into account your motherboard and its requirements, as well as the power stats of the devices (DVD drive, monitor, etc.)

Installing the Power Supply

More often than not, the Power Supply is installed at the top, rear of the case. In this Lian Li case, the PSU is installed on the bottom.

Power Supply Cables

The Ultra PSU gives you a monotone, flexible selection of cables that are easily adaptable to your ATX case and motherboard.

PSU Mounted in the Case

The PSU is mounted in a standard ATX placement at the rear of the case.

The I/O Template

This template comes with your motherboard and is the shield that frames the various ports at the rear of the computer

External Panel Connectors

Usually located at the lower front of the case, these connectors are located at the top of the LianLi Case.

Left to right, Power Switch, Reset Button, Firewire, Connector, 2 USB Connectors, Ear Phone Jack and Microphone Jack.

Top Panel Connector Cables

These cables will be connected to the Motherboard

Labeled Wiring

Panel wiring like Power & Reset switches are labeled to make connections to the motherboard easier. The motherboard is also clearly labeled (though you may need a magnifying glass to read it)

Motherboard inside Case

With the Motherboard mounted, the computer building task becomes a simple matter of connecting devices like the DVD Drive, Floppy Drive, Processor, Graphics Card and other accessories.

Connecting Panel Cables to MoBo

The connectors for the Audio, Firewire and USB cables are located along the lower edge of the Motherboard.

Installing the Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

The drive bay has the capacity to hold 6 Hard Drives, but we are installing only one 250GB drive by Western Digital

Hard Drive cable connections

The red cable is the Serial ATA (SATA) to the Motherboard. The silver cable is the power cable directly from the Power Supply Unit (PSU).

Installing Floppy Disk cable

The floppy disk connector is located in the same position on most motherboards. We are using a round FD cable as opposed to the flat ribbon type of cable. It promotes greater air flow inside the case.

Panther Mascot

While waiting for the Memory modules, Graphic Card and CPU, I thought it would be a good time to add the Panther Mascot. This is my second computer build, and the second black aluminum case. Like the first, I named this computer PANTHER, and I found the perfect bronze figurines with which to adorn this massive computer.

The Panther Sentries

Like the two lions at the New York Library, my Panthers serve as sentries at the base of the computer...

Panther Stalking Prey

...and at the top of the computer roams my Panther Mascot.

View from the top

I love the detail of this bronze figurine, and it will be the statuette on each computer I build in the future.

Adding Monitor & Speakers

I've purchased a 21" Samsung 214T, with excellent specs, as my first flat screen monitor. Also added a Creative 2.1 speaker system with subwoofer, for unbelievable detail in audio performance.

2GB Memory Set

Just received my first set of Memory sticks totalling 2GB. They will be installed in two of the 4 available slots

Corsair XMS2 Pro Series

The Corsair brand is consistently rated at the top

RAM installed

Later I'll add another set of RAM, bringing the total up to 4GB.Note that only Win XP Pro 64-Bit will fully recognize more than 2GB RAM

Installing CPU & Fan

I've installed the Intel P4 CPU, but I used a Thermaltake Blue Orb II cooling fan. The Blue Orb is a much better fan... and it even looks cool.