Lian Li A3 airflow configuration plan
Picture of my plan for my Lian Li A3 Wood mesh airflow:
https://i.imgur.com/n6pMtcO.png
So basically I am planning bottom 3x intake, rear 1x intake, top 2x exhaust, side 1x exhaust. PSU intakes from front and exhausts at top with the assistance of the other top exhaust.
I am also planning on doing some testing with blocking different parts of the mesh, shown in the picture as yellow. For example in the Matt Lee video with airflow visualizations with smoke, you could see how the airflow "short circuited" in the front of the case, as some of the air got pushed from the front and immidiately pulled back from the bottom. Also Gamers Nexus had video, where side intake harmed the GPU thermals, so I figured that exhaust would be great for GPU.
I am also planning on getting a dust filter on the rear as they cost only like 5 €.
Other components (not final, might change because of local pricing, finding good deals on used parts etc):
- Case: Lian Li A3, white, wood, mesh side panel
- CPU: The latest Intel Ultra (5 or 7) series
- CPU cooler: Phantom Spirit 120
- 32 Gb of DDR5
- GPU: AMD 9070 XT
- 1000 W ATX PSU
- Arctic P12 and P14 case fans
Do you think this would be good build? The other components might still change, but the main point is to validate the plan for airflow.
I was also thinking about the Fractal Design North (maybe XL?), but I feel like the A3 does everything as the North while being cheaper and smaller. A3 feels really strong as I can go mATX without sacrificing anything while saving like 100 €.
Posted Apr 6, 2026, 1:15 PM UTC