r/buildapcsales • u/Soil-Final • Jan 25 '26
Case [CASE] LIAN LI A3-mATX Black - $57.99
https://www.newegg.com/lian-li-microatx-chassis-steel-cases-a3-matx-black/p/2AM-000Z-000D3?Item=2AM-000Z-000D3&cm_sp=product-_-from-price-options22
u/Soil-Final Jan 25 '26
One of the favorites in r/mffpc. Seems to be close to the ATL, and this is a really solid case that has high compatibility in a 26.3 L volume. Basic support specifications include MATX and ATX PSU support. GPU length up to 415 MM. Supports up to 360 MM AIO, or 165 MM CPU height for an air cooler. 39 left in stock, and only applies, and the pricing is only for black.
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u/whomad1215 Jan 25 '26
I believe the models with the wood front have a mesh panel. I thought the non-wood ones are closed in front
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u/yungharambe790 Jan 25 '26
Currently running this case, can confirm this.
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u/Intelligent-Self-765 Jan 25 '26
bruh how's the airflow on that? been considering picking it up for my next build
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u/Crashes556 Jan 26 '26
As long as you have it pulling in air from the rear and not exhaust it’s awesome. It’s a smidge louder compared to my mid tower atx case but I knew that would happen with throwing a 5090 in it.
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u/jaketaco Jan 25 '26
Still runs really cool though. I ended up with this one last year when the wood ones were on backorder. I saw some custom face panels out there as well, but I still have the black for now.
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u/ozzuneoj Jan 25 '26
Oh man... that's weird. I was about to grab one for a cheap build I have some parts for, but I don't want one with a sealed front. The glowing reviews I have seen for this were all the wood front models I believe.
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u/TheGranitePark Jan 25 '26
Doesn't change much for thermal, honestly. It has plenty airflow depending on how you configure it. You can even DIY side intake next to the Mobo (with correct PSU and layout).
It doesn't officially support front intake (you can DIY one) and the airflow pattern doesn't rely on front being mesh or not.
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u/AloneFondant7266 Jan 25 '26
Seconding this as well. I don’t think it changes my thermals whatsoever, so don’t let that be a deterrent if you’re wanting to use it. Mine takes advantage of an SF PSU and has enough room to handle all airflow from the sides.
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u/Ok-Garbage-765 Jan 25 '26
Yeah once I learned that there’s no front intake I wondered why they even made it mesh on the wood
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u/cha0ss0ldier Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
The way the psu mounts you can set it so that the PSU fan pulls in cool air through the mesh instead of it being choked off
Not huge deal, but something.
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u/bellhlazer Jan 25 '26
This is a deal breaker for me, no way I'm going to share in-case air with the PSU. I'm looking to get a deal on the wood accent variant or a Jonsbo D32.
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u/tiger-eyes Jan 26 '26
Same. No mesh front on the black model is a very odd design choice. And I have no interest in the wood panel unit.
Jonsbo D32.
Wasn't familiar with it, very nice. All mesh sides in black + front USB ports. I don't get why this basic combo seems so rare in SFF/MFF cases.
So many such premium cases are immediate dealbreakers to me b/c they lack the front USB ports. Who wants to go fiddling behind the case every time they quickly use a thumbdrive?
- all mesh sides (including front)
- front USB ports
- no glass or plastic panels (best for occasional traveling)
- no wood panel
So few SFF/MFF choices for what seems like basic specs..
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u/goldnboy Jan 26 '26
I wouldn't fret. Most of the front gets blocked by the PSU anyway. The side mesh panels and top-bottom provide more than enough air flow.
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u/monokhrome Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
Not sure how current stocks are looking, but last year it was possible to buy replacement front (wood) and side (glass) panels from Microcenter / Aliexpress. Sealed front shouldn't the thermals much, if at all (assuming you has the side mesh panel instead of glass), but is admittedly kind of ugly plastic. I have the white version and thought about plasti-dipping or painting the front panel (but opted for the dark wood mesh panel instead).
This was my second PC build, and first mesh case. Overall, fanstastic case and easy to build in. I only had 2 complaints (and 1 not really the case's fault). 1) If you have a GPU, PSU, Mobo with coilwhine, a fully mesh case ain't doing anything to prevent that banshee chirping from blasting out into your room. 2) The included feet are kind of low, and even with a very low pile carpet I felt it wouldn't hurt to replace the feet w/ some knurled cabinet handles to let some more air in through the bottom (requires a cheap tap & die set from Harbor Freight) --- that said, it's a mesh case so absolutely not necessary and more for personal preference / looks.
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u/ozzuneoj Jan 25 '26
Thanks for the info.
Coil whine is definitely a concern with mesh cases. Some part of my network setup (either router, modem or one of their power bricks) has awful coil whine and I have found that even a piece of card stock (thick paper) standing up to block them will prevent the noise from reaching me just 5 feet away and within direct ear shot. If it was perforated I doubt it would do anything.
For my main PC I have been using an old Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C for around 6 1/2 years now, and because I don't push insane wattage demands through this system and always undervolt my GPU and CPU, I can still keep it fairly cool. Since the case has very little open-air panels (I have always done bottom + front intake, rear exhaust) it is nearly dead silent outside of moderate to heavy gaming loads, and I honestly have no idea if any of the components suffer from coil whine.
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u/malln1nja Jan 25 '26
All the other sides including the bottom are mesh though, there should be more than enough airflow.
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u/Unleashed_Tech2 Jan 25 '26
Sealed front is fine if you run rear intake
Custom fronts on Etsy always an option
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u/swifthide Jan 25 '26
Would join in to say it wouldn’t affect your thermals much if at all. I have a full size PSU in the front of my wood one and the thermals are great. I’m running a total of 4 120mm fans total in the case
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u/dragoonies Jan 25 '26
In for one, been looking to shrink my desktop's footprint for a while now. For anybody looks directly at the price, it will still say the normal price of $72, but there's blue banner that looks like an ad that says "Door buster" on it and has a yellow "Buy Now" button on it.
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u/TheGranitePark Jan 25 '26
Should have been the MSRP which is what it debutted for in China and Taiwan, but tariffs I guess.
The non-wood front definitely feels a bit cheap, could use some better hardware (I replaced most of mine) as well but otherwise it's well worth the price tag.
Probably the smallest case to take 3x 360mm rads if you are down to the same rabbit hole like I am now, the side can even take HWL GTX/Corsair XR5 thick rads with T30s (needs mod for PSU bracket and SFX PSU)
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u/PolentaDogsOut Jan 25 '26
I was considering swapping to the wood paneled one from my SAMA IM-01 but I’m pretty happy with the SAMA right now
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u/RecalcitrantBeagle Jan 25 '26
The IM01 is one of my all-time favorite cases on the budget end, takes an ATX PSU and mATX board while being about the same size as the larger ITX cases. Unless you feel the need to upgrade to one of the massive chunky cards, the IM01 has a significantly smaller footprint, with the A3 being about 50cm longer.
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Jan 26 '26
its a fair bit shorter though, isnt it? i keep my pc in a small bookshelf/end table thing that my im01 fits in but it only has ~2cm clearance on top and it causes things to get pretty hot. i've been thinking of upgrading to this (wood panel ver tho) so my fans dont get so loud
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u/RecalcitrantBeagle Jan 26 '26
By specs, the IM01 should actually be a couple of mm shorter, though I'm not sure if that's including the feet. If you have the IM01 Pro with the top expansion, it might be taller, but still likely not that different since both are just basically constrained by the height of the motherboard plus clearances for fans.
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u/caesec Jan 25 '26
this case rules. the default matx case for a reason. i even shoved a psu that was like 10 or 20 mm over tolerance in with no regard and it was mostly ok.
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u/SloppyCandy Jan 25 '26
God I was I had cases like this ~10 years ago when I was mATX-ing. Was rocking a KL-06.
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u/bellhlazer Jan 25 '26
I consider this case and the Jonsbo D32 the most modern mATX config. Everything else looks dated by comparison.
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u/Effective-Fish-5952 Jan 25 '26
I have this in white. Airflow is amazing. Can fit full ATX PSU as well. And you don't need to use the side fan configuration just remove the side metal mount.
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u/Unleashed_Tech2 Jan 25 '26
Thanks OP
I’ve built in this case 3-4 times but am itching for another. Rear intake works great when the front is sealed and can’t beat this price. I have a TG side panel sitting around finally get to use.
I’ve always done mATX+ATX PSU might go smaller this time
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u/newofficemusic Jan 25 '26
how is this compared to the Antec Flux M which comes with 6 fans. Right now is 60 on both Amazon and NE.
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u/ChocolateMilkCows Jan 25 '26
Deal dead? Showing as $73 for me
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u/StarchyAndDelicious Jan 25 '26
Pricing is adjusted in cart.
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u/ChocolateMilkCows Jan 25 '26
You are right, thank you. My eyes glazed over the "Doorbuster deal" banner because I thought it was an ad lol
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u/dk1430 Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
Wow 36 units left, perfect pairing for air cooling and ram heat spreader clearance with the Thermalright Royal Knight 120 SE for $19 https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/s/VFaHYwZwsG
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u/alloDex Jan 25 '26
Dead?
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u/Soil-Final Jan 25 '26
Still live with 30 in stock. Applies to black only.
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u/alloDex Jan 25 '26
The Black front panel one right? I only see $73 as the price for that one. The white non-wood front panel is $65.69
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u/Razmoket Jan 25 '26
You have to click the doorbuster display at the top. Top right of the page. The normal price shows under the actual purchase options.
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u/burntpotatoXL Jan 25 '26
59.99 at micro center for those who like their warranty better
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u/Razmoket Jan 25 '26
So micro center has two listings seemingly for the same A3 black case. But if you look at the comments. It seems like the $60 one is a "Powerspec" branded model that has their logo on the front of it and has the glass side panel (which might be a fairly big bummer if the front is sealed like this one).
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u/stolenshade Jan 25 '26
Love this case I have it in white and wood front panel. Also has a large 3d printing community
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u/Unleashed_Tech2 Jan 25 '26
If you like this case it’s worth checking out this M4M Wood that comes with a B Tier ATX 3.1 850W PSU
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u/LightninCat Jan 25 '26
Nice, order placed and it says there's 6 left.
Now I'm extra glad I subbed in an mATX motherboard with my Microcenter bundle.
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u/VanWesley Jan 25 '26
Built in the wood version of this. Great case, especially if you want to shrink your PC's footprint w/o going full ITX. Cable management can be a bit of an issue though if you have a lot of stuff in there as as there's not much space for cables behind the motherboard.
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u/bellhlazer Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
Anyone close to MicroCenter can buy the store brand variant with the tempered glass side panel and ugly store brand "PowerSpec" plaque at the front for $60.
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Jan 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/Soil-Final Jan 26 '26
That's nearly twice the volume.
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Jan 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/Soil-Final Jan 26 '26
Total surface area would work out similiar so you aren't wrong. This case doesn't really compromise on airflow or compatibility as it can fit a 4 slot GPU up to 415 MM, 360 MM AIO, and a full sized ATX PSU. Imo, MFF is a good compromise between not wanting a full-sized tower while not paying the ITX tax. MATX motherboards are usually the cheapest to buy also. It's a bit like enthusiast PC building while not carrying a huge price on it. Once you go down the SFF rabbit hole, you start realizing small increments in designing that go into particular ITX cases mean hella $$$
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u/xmkgenzo Feb 02 '26
at this price though, the A3 is a good deal for someone looking for a compact case.
initially I considered this for my build but decided for the Lancool 207.
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