Lian Li A4-H2O Small Case – Mini ITX

This case is absolutely amazing, punching well above its weight class. Let’s start off with what I have inside mine — an i7 12700K and am RTX 3090 TUF, powered by a Cooler Master V850 SFX PSU. Man, does this case make it happen.

The H2O is able to handle this kind of power because the CPU is liquid-cooled, and the GPU sits on the other side of this sandwich style case. The case itself is rock solid, utilizing a near tool-less snap-together design and plenty of ventilation for its size. It is larger than the previous model (Dan A4 SFX), due to the intention of this being water-cooled.

I opted for an MSI CoreLiquid 240R ARGB V2, since the water block is small and offers ARGB. It tames the temps well on my 12700K. You’ll need to make sure your AIO will fit in this case, as there are many that won’t — either because the pump/water block is too tall or because the hoses are too thick. You’ll also want something that has hoses on swivel elbows. Otherwise, routing the hoses and closing this case will be next to impossible. This was hands-down the hardest aspect of building in this case — managing the AIO hoses.

The A4-H2O gets a lot right. You can cool some higher end CPUs, use a full length GPU, and a semi-pleasant building experience. To top it off, it looks amazing, and the parts are high quality. Just keep your hands off the case, as the finish shows off fingerprints well.

This case is an excellent competitor for the NR200, because it’s 8 liters smaller, and has nearly all-metal construction. To me this one is the obvious choice. Also in this form factor I would avoid i9 CPUs entirely. They eat up too much power, and make too much heat.

My experience with this case has been fantastic, but it did leave me wanting more. Having a liquid-cooled, 11.24-liter PC means it’s going to be a tad heavy. It’s also too big to fit into my DSLR camera bag. I also think this case’s width dimension would be a tight fit in a carry on-size tough case like one from Pelican.

If you need a small form factor PC for saving desk space, this is an excellent option. That’s the niche this serves for me, and it delivers.
Maybe you can make this a portable powerhouse for more than gaming. Its too big and heavy for me. Personally, I’ve found my 8.1-liter KXRORS S300 case to be a better road warrior, because it fits in my DSLR bag and weighs less. Sure, that one can’t be as powerful, but it games very well, albeit a little louder.

“Da fehlt doch was” – dachte ich mir, als der Karton durch Amazon zugestellt worden ist.
Nein, das Gehäuse ist einfach KLEIN. Wenn andere von einem Schuhkarton sprachen, lagen sie damit richtig.

Eine kleine Herausforderung (nach der ich gesucht habe, wer will schon einen Tisch füllenden PC mit 12 RGB-Lüftern an allen Seiten).

Verbaut ist ein ASRock B550M AC/itx AM4, ein Ryzen 5-5600 (gekühlt von einem Noctua NH-L9a-AM4), Corsair LPX 32GB DDR4-3600 C16, eine Crucial P5 Plus mit 2 TB und eine Asus ROG Strix RTX 3090 OC 24GB – und die passt tatsächlich auf den Millimeter in dieses Gehäuse! Statt einer 240mm AIO sind oben im Gehäuse zwei Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM chromax.black.swap verbaut.

Zum Vergleich: Ein Razer Core X eGPU Gehäuse ist deutlich größer, im DAN A4 H2O steckt aber der komplette Rechner!

Absolute Kaufempfehlung für alle, die einen Aufpreis für eine kleinere Bauform/Verarbeitung zahlen wollen.
Gerade hinsichtlich Grafikkarten aber auf die Abmessungen achten, es gibt 0 Toleranz – wenige Millimeter zu lang und das Frontpanel schließt nicht mehr.

This case is very attractive. It’s so tiny. You can fit a lot of horse power in this tiny case. Even though it’s tiny it still has sufficient cooling. The 4070 Super looks extremely tiny in this case. You can fit much bigger graphics cards.

Update: I have had this case for a little more than 5 months. The temperatures have been great. My i5 13600k accompanied by a Kraken 240mm AIO, has never gone over 73C while gaming and any other tasks. Typically the 13600k will be around 34C while idling and around 67C while doing heavy extensive tasks. My 4070 Super will not go over 70C while gaming, it usually hovers around 64C while gaming. This case has no problem keeping temps under control. Sure, you can get better temps with a case that is larger in volume, but you can’t beat the form factor that this case has. That is a tradeoff that I am willing accept.
another thing to note is that my PC doesn’t get incredibly loud. It’s not audible while idle and doing web and streaming.
This case has been a dream come true. It is very attractive and is very good at keeping temps under control. This is a true SFF and you would not go wrong with this case.

Il case sarebbe ottimo tranne per tre punti:

1) non hai modo di fissare i cavi al case creando problemi nella loro gestione, visto gli spazi limitati.

2) il telaio interno è ti ottima fattura ma i pannelli esterni non sono all’altezza per un case che costa più di 160€.

3) ci sono dei modelli, come quello che ho ricevuto, con il cavo riser troppo lungo.

In conclusione, se volete fare mini itx super compatto con un aio da 240mm non sp se ci sono alternative migliori, ma un NR200P che costa meno della metà è superiore in tutto.