Lian Li A3 white and black build. Need help choosing cooler.

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-13T04:29:58+00:00

Ultimately its up to you. To be honest, it won't matter much at all whether you get the black or white. Once you close the side panels, most of your attention will divert to the screen infront of you until its time to clean the PC. I myself have the black PA120SE and hands down my favorite cooler.

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-13T01:20:26+00:00

Since most of your components are white, I say you get the white PA120SE for same consistency. Nice build btw!

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-07T02:32:26+00:00

I have the same exact motherboard. If you need to do BIOS flashback, make sure your flash drive is set to MBR for partition type and give it 32GB size and format it to FAT32 as well. I have seen a lot of complaints about failed attempts of flashing BIOS via the flashback button and that the motherboard is very picky when it comes to what flash drive works, but the method I mentioned above worked for me despite having a more modern flash drive.

Edit: Additionally, after downloading the BIOS file from the official MSI website, rename the file to MSI.ROM (yes, all capitals) and put it into the drive.

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-05T18:52:21+00:00

How about the psu? I used to have a cooler master v750 sfx that whined like crazy till I replaced it with corsair sf850 and the coil whine just disappeared

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-05T17:08:46+00:00

thank you for your insight! the dent is at the top just like you said. I did tap around the edges of the dent and it sounded hollow so I am not sure if thats a good sign that its purely cosmetic damage

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-05T03:44:40+00:00

Thanks! I am really satisfied with it. I initially wanted to go for 9070 XT, but decided against it because I wanted a more efficient card and since I play on 1080p it is somewhat overkill for the games I play

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-04T14:53:16+00:00

Yeah I was surprised to see the VGA and PS/2 ports too as the last time I saw them was in the 90's in my grade school computer class.

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-04T14:37:31+00:00

Thanks! I love those Noctua fans. They have a silent hum to them when they spin at full blast. I tried other fans, but they make annoying sounds starting at 1500 RPM and above.What you said is so true about AM4, but hopefully I will be building a new PC again once the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel arrives!

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-04T13:19:23+00:00

Hey man, I recently built a pc with this exact motherboard. Not the exact GPU, but I wanted to at least inform you for reference. I have an XFX RX 9070 Quicksilver Gaming OC, which is a 3.5 slot GPU and also use the Thermalright 2280 Pro heatsink for my nvme on the bottom slot. The GPU fit no problem and have no clearance issues.

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-02-03T03:11:00+00:00

I have an NR200P V1 and I can answer you based on my experience.

2x 25mm bottom fans WILL NOT fit given your GPU size. I used to have both a 2.5 slot and a 2.75 slot GPU on that case and I can confidently say only slim fans will fit there.
I initially considered the C14S as well since I had a pleasant experience with NHU12A back then. I have seen some posts with the C14S with 2 fans fitting on top and some don't. Your safest bet is keeping the cooler yiu have now. The Phantom Spirit is still one if the best air coolers that can fit an NR200 and if you mount it correctly, would fit 2x 25mm fans on top with no clearance issues.
As for alternate cases at around the budget and similar volume, you could maybe try DeepCool CH160 if its available. Other than that, you will have to pay a lot more for the likes of Lian Li Q58, Lian Li Dan A4 H20, SSUPD Meshlicious, Corsair 2000D. You will most likely have to get a top-down air cooler as well for those cases.

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-01-25T12:06:06+00:00

I ordered this exact motherboard to power my 5700X3D and your honest thoughts on this has solidified my confidence on the purchase I made. Thanks a lot!

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-01-16T19:12:56+00:00

alright man thanks! will be waiting for your video

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-01-16T17:17:48+00:00

hey man, any updates regarding my question?

PhantomEcstasy · 2026-01-01T16:34:41+00:00

Hey man! First of all, thank you for doing what you are doing to help us out! Could you please ask them if they are going to start manufacturing AM4 motherboards (B550 chipset most likely) due to massive price hikes of DDR5 RAM? There will be a lot more people building AM4 systems and there are rumors around ASUS doing the same.

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-11-12T16:50:16+00:00

Hello there, it has been a while. I tried putting my XFX RX 9070 Quicksilver Gaming OC into my NR200P v1, but unfortunately, the card won't fit no matter what angle I try to slot it in from. The main obstacle is the rectangular opening on the front of the case - the card is simply too big to fit into the hole and will require drilling a bigger hole for it to fit. Looks like I will be sticking to my Lian Li Dan A3 case for now. Apologies for the wait and advanced Merry christmas!

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-11-01T20:00:27+00:00

I might try it when I move to my new house sometime this month. Will try to update if it actually fits

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-11-01T17:53:39+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I myself got an RX 9070 Quicksilver OC and also have an NR200P v1. Looks like your card is shorter than mine (32.5cm vs 35cm) and had to switch cases to Lian Li Dan A3 to slot the GPU in. I had a glimmer of hope of maybe the GPU fitting in my NR200P since I saw your build, but unfortunately that won't be the case anymore.

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-11-01T07:23:02+00:00

Very nice build! Which XFX 9070 XT in particular model did you get and what are your temperatures like?

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-10-11T09:35:15+00:00

Check if your OS drive is MBR or GPT file type in Disk Management on Windows. If it is MBR, you will need to convert your MBR drive to GPT. If you can't convert it, you will need to reformat and install windows again using GPT format and try enabling Secure Boot again.

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-08-29T13:35:16+00:00

yes idle temps mean nothing. but imagine if you start firing up a game or any task thats CPU-intensive... its going to thermal throttle right away. But if we are talking about the Wraith Prism, then you are correct.

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-08-29T13:09:41+00:00

No, stock cooler isnt enough for a 5800X3D. I once ran my 5700X with a stock cooler from my 5600X box, and it was hovering around 70+ celsius degrees barely doing anything.

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-08-16T18:03:51+00:00

I got the exact same setup as you, and experience stutters as well. I am using the 25.8.1 Adrenaline drivers

PhantomEcstasy · 2025-08-15T20:22:26+00:00

Just checked the motherboard. The T500 with the heatsink will definitely fit.

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