this case both looks and performes GREAT. the only problem that i havnt seen anyone point out is...dust.. with all those holes your bound to get dust build up... but this case is great. everyone posting obvioulsy just slappes in components to a case and calls it good.
if you dont like the look...change it. add a front blowhole. put some lighting behind those holes to make some glow effect. alot of you guys that are complaining about looks, are what i like to call "lazy builders". so who cares if it looks like a G5. what about all the other cases that look like ...well, all the other cases. lian li helped break the mold of the normal case look that you guys are so intent on sticking with..your bunch of fallowers is it...learn to be a leader.
the case performes great (better than the rest) and it looks exactly how lian-li wanted.
Personally I'm ok with G5-copy look to it (aluminum, lots of hole .. you can't tell me this isn't "inspired by a G5). I'm even ok with the price for it.
However ...
I will not now nor will I ever buy a tower case with the USB/Audio/Firewire ports on BOTTOM of the friggin case! As much as I would love to buy a new tower case and build a new system, this floor placement of the ports it totally unacceptable. Heck, the cable for my headphones would never reach from the floor to my head! Much less the task of plugging/unplugging my digital camera or iPod. No, I'll keep my $200 thank you very much
This case seems to be ok. The one thing it tends to prove is that off the cuff ideas of what is correct is often proven wrong by real engineering. Just looking at a case and thinking,"I don't know, it doesn't look like the cooling should work", is meaningless.
By the way, having holes all over the front is not a new idea. Dell's servers have a fully perforated front just like Apple's do.
Most other servers I have seen over the years either have a mesh front, or a completely open front with the hard drive cases constituting the front panel and such. The idea isn't to create a tornado, but a constant flow over all areas with several fans in the rear. I've never seen these servers using filters, as that just cuts the air flow. Usually these are in conditioned, and filtered rooms to begin with, and aren't on a dirty floor. Vacuum once a week!
How do you manage to review a case, complete with a dozen or more pictures of the empty case, but then provide NO pictures of the case with installed motherboard and other components?
#9 - I would like to see pics of the assembled system as well. I bought one of those floppy bezels on my PC69 and happen to think they don't look good when there's an actual drive installed there.
#13 - I agree that they could be more creative with the placement of the USB/audio ports, especially with the new "upside-down" layout where the extra USB headers on the board will probably be closer to the top of the case anyway.
It definitely borrows from the G5 look, but I have no problem with that, and seems to perform pretty well. But no removable motherboard tray, no reset button, no 2nd 5.25" bezel, and the cabling nuances mentioned above keep it from being the perfect case. And I would only consider spending $200 on a perfect case. ;-)
I think it'd be a decent case, but it falls short on several things. Number one is price. That's ridiculous, and I'm not willing to pay it.
The second issue I have is the cooling design. Separation of the hard disks from the rest of the system is a good idea in my mind provided it actually separates their heat from the CPU compartment, but both areas have to have ventilation systems dedicated to cooling them separately. I don't see that this case is really well designed for that. I was surprised by the cooling results being as good as they were, while the holes probably allow for good circulation, I was sure they would hamper adequate suction for the fans.
Finally, most serious enthusiass now have both a CD/DVD-reader, and a separate writer. A second CD-door faceplate ought to come with this, especially at that price..
Kinda funny that at a site like AnandTech, there was absolutely no reference mde to the G5 (extensvely commented on) or that fact that this isn't some new design for a case but an attempt at an amalgomation between ATX components and the new BTX form factor design.
Come on guys --- cover how much it is like a BTX case and what we can expect with the new format!
I t amazes me no one seems to notice you have this nice ventlation then you put a soild block of alumium across where the air should be fowing, evenly through out the case. That is horrible constrution I don't care if it sturdier, as more weight and heat sitting on the most expensive componets is a bad idea in the long run.
well, it was only a matter of time that someone copied the G5. too bad they made an INCREDIBLY UGLY copy of it. they kept the least attractive part (the cheese-graterishness) and left out everything that makes the g5 great. hmm. sounds a bit like Mac OS and Windows.
I'm amazed at the thermal properties. I guess 10 pounds of aluminum and a porous skin is a good thing. Maybe someone can take a IR pic of one running to see how much heat radiates versus blown out the back. More important is the lack of reset button, and massive traffic jam of cables going through that eliptical plastic hole. If parallel cables are in your future, this case is not for you.
This design has to be the worst I've ever seen from Lian Li. Forget the looks (I never really cared about that), but all the holes? That's insane. I have a filter on my fans for a reason. Although I don't smoke in the room that my computer is in (wish I could, but that's not an option), there's a ton of crap in the air still and taking a look at the filter every day proves that. Now, short of having a completely filtered ROOM (don't even bother opening a window), your entire motherboard + perhiprals will get not only dust, but anything under 2mm on them (that happens to be in the air). This just seems absurd.
Sure, even with a filter your stuff will eventually get dirty, but nothing like this.
dang I was hopping the "value" lable on lian li website meant it would cost around 80-150 oh well..... wounder how much the V2000 is going to be thats the on I want
First, I still like the design of the PC-60 through P-65 & the PC-70 thorough PC-75 the best. Second, Why do they neve place all the USB and audio ports on the top or the sides? I don’t know about you but I don’t know about everyone else but I like to keep my desktop klean, and that relegates the floor for the system. Placing the connection on the side or top seems more logical then at the bottom of the case. Third, I am glad that the PSU is now at the bottom of the case, I have been waiting a long time for that to happen. Forth, to improve Air flow why don’t they cut out back where the fan is? This would reduce the noise the most. It’s the fan against the cheese grater back that it producing all most of the turbulence in the air, hence the noise. There is also lese resistance. For the air flow.
I second the notion that I'd rather get a real G5 chassis and build a PC out of it than get this. And there are just too many not-well-thought-out touches (lack of Reset button, inproper mounting of IDE drives, PSU area not large enough, etc) for it to be a great case.
If I've got that much money to spend on a case, I'd still go with a Silverstone SST-TJ03 Nimiz for the time being.
#6: That very same method of drive mounting has been used in HP servers for a good deal longer than G5 has been around... doesn't change the fact that 95%+ of cases out there cost <$30, and this monstrosity will sell *maybe* a few hundred units. It's no TNN-500, but for $270, one can get a whole *computer*.
#8: We actually did benchmark the V1000 with a standard sized power supply, the TTGI 520Watt, in the pictures we wanted to show an over sized power supply like the TTGI TT-550SS, or any other for that matter, would not properly fit into the mounting.
In general: While the V1000 does look similar to the G5's case by look, when you open the case up and look at all of its functionality and features, you'll notice 2 completely different designs.
Can we see a picture of the entire install? I'd like to see how the completed rig looks like with the side open. There are only closeups of certain places, a shot of the whole thing would help put stuff into perspective.
I'd argue that testing with that silly oversized power supply completely invalicates any cooling testing. Who is going to use one of these when they buy one of these cases, rather than a standard size that looks right and makes a proper seal against the back of the case? And why in the world doesn't Anandtech have a standard sized Antec, Enermax, or other power supply in their lab that would do this job?
It really tries to look like the G5 cases. I wonder how long it will take for a C&D letter to show up at headquarters. Based on it's lower temperatures, I would say that it validates both its and the G5's design.
I am a big fan of Lian-Li cases - I've loved them from the start and still use my pc60. I think the internal case design is great - I fix a lot of computers and the hard drive bays are easy to swap drives in and out of. The only other good quality case with this feature is the Antec Sonota. I gotta admit... the case looks pretty ugly for Lian-Li. If it looked better, I would swap it with my Antec.
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32 Comments
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beachbum86 - Tuesday, September 27, 2005 - link
this case both looks and performes GREAT. the only problem that i havnt seen anyone point out is...dust.. with all those holes your bound to get dust build up... but this case is great. everyone posting obvioulsy just slappes in components to a case and calls it good.if you dont like the look...change it. add a front blowhole. put some lighting behind those holes to make some glow effect. alot of you guys that are complaining about looks, are what i like to call "lazy builders". so who cares if it looks like a G5. what about all the other cases that look like ...well, all the other cases. lian li helped break the mold of the normal case look that you guys are so intent on sticking with..your bunch of fallowers is it...learn to be a leader.
the case performes great (better than the rest) and it looks exactly how lian-li wanted.
racolvin - Monday, July 26, 2004 - link
Personally I'm ok with G5-copy look to it (aluminum, lots of hole .. you can't tell me this isn't "inspired by a G5). I'm even ok with the price for it.However ...
I will not now nor will I ever buy a tower case with the USB/Audio/Firewire ports on BOTTOM of the friggin case! As much as I would love to buy a new tower case and build a new system, this floor placement of the ports it totally unacceptable. Heck, the cable for my headphones would never reach from the floor to my head! Much less the task of plugging/unplugging my digital camera or iPod. No, I'll keep my $200 thank you very much
melgross - Sunday, May 9, 2004 - link
This case seems to be ok. The one thing it tends to prove is that off the cuff ideas of what is correct is often proven wrong by real engineering. Just looking at a case and thinking,"I don't know, it doesn't look like the cooling should work", is meaningless.By the way, having holes all over the front is not a new idea. Dell's servers have a fully perforated front just like Apple's do.
Most other servers I have seen over the years either have a mesh front, or a completely open front with the hard drive cases constituting the front panel and such. The idea isn't to create a tornado, but a constant flow over all areas with several fans in the rear. I've never seen these servers using filters, as that just cuts the air flow. Usually these are in conditioned, and filtered rooms to begin with, and aren't on a dirty floor. Vacuum once a week!
MajorKong - Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - link
How do you manage to review a case, complete with a dozen or more pictures of the empty case, but then provide NO pictures of the case with installed motherboard and other components?MWWInc - Saturday, May 1, 2004 - link
#9 - I would like to see pics of the assembled system as well. I bought one of those floppy bezels on my PC69 and happen to think they don't look good when there's an actual drive installed there.#13 - I agree that they could be more creative with the placement of the USB/audio ports, especially with the new "upside-down" layout where the extra USB headers on the board will probably be closer to the top of the case anyway.
And speaking of the layout, it seems like if you install hard drives in that bottom cage, your ATA cables are going to go on forever. (Pic: http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cases/Lian_...
It definitely borrows from the G5 look, but I have no problem with that, and seems to perform pretty well. But no removable motherboard tray, no reset button, no 2nd 5.25" bezel, and the cabling nuances mentioned above keep it from being the perfect case. And I would only consider spending $200 on a perfect case. ;-)
Brucmack - Saturday, May 1, 2004 - link
Something tells me the case would look better in black. Then the holes wouldn't be quite so loud, if you know what I mean.At least they put a filter over the intake fan, since that's where most of the air would come into the case, I would think.
Eug - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
This is definitely a knockoff of the G5 externals, except that it doesn't look anywhere near as good.I like the G5 case, and I like Lian-Li's other cases, but this one is just Meh.
KristopherKubicki - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
jdepew:It is pretty simple; the case isnt a G5 knock off (thats why it wasnt mentioned). Please check this out:
http://www.apple.com/powermac/design.html
Besides the little ventilation holes, there isnt a single resemblence between the two cases.
Kristopher
LoneWolf15 - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
One more thing. Thanks Purav, for clearing up that power supply question. Much appreciated.LoneWolf15 - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
I think it'd be a decent case, but it falls short on several things. Number one is price. That's ridiculous, and I'm not willing to pay it.The second issue I have is the cooling design. Separation of the hard disks from the rest of the system is a good idea in my mind provided it actually separates their heat from the CPU compartment, but both areas have to have ventilation systems dedicated to cooling them separately. I don't see that this case is really well designed for that. I was surprised by the cooling results being as good as they were, while the holes probably allow for good circulation, I was sure they would hamper adequate suction for the fans.
Finally, most serious enthusiass now have both a CD/DVD-reader, and a separate writer. A second CD-door faceplate ought to come with this, especially at that price..
jdepew - Friday, April 30, 2004 - link
Kinda funny that at a site like AnandTech, there was absolutely no reference mde to the G5 (extensvely commented on) or that fact that this isn't some new design for a case but an attempt at an amalgomation between ATX components and the new BTX form factor design.Come on guys --- cover how much it is like a BTX case and what we can expect with the new format!
katka - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
$200 is NOT a value, I guess I will wait for the knock offs. :(jiulemoigt - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
I t amazes me no one seems to notice you have this nice ventlation then you put a soild block of alumium across where the air should be fowing, evenly through out the case. That is horrible constrution I don't care if it sturdier, as more weight and heat sitting on the most expensive componets is a bad idea in the long run.jiulemoigt - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
LtPage1 - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
well, it was only a matter of time that someone copied the G5.too bad they made an INCREDIBLY UGLY copy of it. they kept the least attractive part (the cheese-graterishness) and left out everything that makes the g5 great. hmm. sounds a bit like Mac OS and Windows.
madgonad - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
I'm amazed at the thermal properties. I guess 10 pounds of aluminum and a porous skin is a good thing. Maybe someone can take a IR pic of one running to see how much heat radiates versus blown out the back.More important is the lack of reset button, and massive traffic jam of cables going through that eliptical plastic hole. If parallel cables are in your future, this case is not for you.
Murst - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
This design has to be the worst I've ever seen from Lian Li. Forget the looks (I never really cared about that), but all the holes? That's insane. I have a filter on my fans for a reason. Although I don't smoke in the room that my computer is in (wish I could, but that's not an option), there's a ton of crap in the air still and taking a look at the filter every day proves that. Now, short of having a completely filtered ROOM (don't even bother opening a window), your entire motherboard + perhiprals will get not only dust, but anything under 2mm on them (that happens to be in the air). This just seems absurd.Sure, even with a filter your stuff will eventually get dirty, but nothing like this.
Falloutboy525 - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
dang I was hopping the "value" lable on lian li website meant it would cost around 80-150 oh well..... wounder how much the V2000 is going to be thats the on I wantKristopherKubicki - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
This case has very little to do with the G5 design. It really doesnt even look like one, particularly on the inside.Kristopher
mkruer - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
Four things,First, I still like the design of the PC-60 through P-65 & the PC-70 thorough PC-75 the best.
Second, Why do they neve place all the USB and audio ports on the top or the sides? I don’t know about you but I don’t know about everyone else but I like to keep my desktop klean, and that relegates the floor for the system. Placing the connection on the side or top seems more logical then at the bottom of the case.
Third, I am glad that the PSU is now at the bottom of the case, I have been waiting a long time for that to happen.
Forth, to improve Air flow why don’t they cut out back where the fan is? This would reduce the noise the most. It’s the fan against the cheese grater back that it producing all most of the turbulence in the air, hence the noise. There is also lese resistance. For the air flow.
GokieKS - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
I second the notion that I'd rather get a real G5 chassis and build a PC out of it than get this. And there are just too many not-well-thought-out touches (lack of Reset button, inproper mounting of IDE drives, PSU area not large enough, etc) for it to be a great case.If I've got that much money to spend on a case, I'd still go with a Silverstone SST-TJ03 Nimiz for the time being.
Gromis - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
#6: That very same method of drive mounting has been used in HP servers for a good deal longer than G5 has been around... doesn't change the fact that 95%+ of cases out there cost <$30, and this monstrosity will sell *maybe* a few hundred units. It's no TNN-500, but for $270, one can get a whole *computer*.PuravSanghani - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
#8: We actually did benchmark the V1000 with a standard sized power supply, the TTGI 520Watt, in the pictures we wanted to show an over sized power supply like the TTGI TT-550SS, or any other for that matter, would not properly fit into the mounting.In general: While the V1000 does look similar to the G5's case by look, when you open the case up and look at all of its functionality and features, you'll notice 2 completely different designs.
nitromullet - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
Can we see a picture of the entire install? I'd like to see how the completed rig looks like with the side open. There are only closeups of certain places, a shot of the whole thing would help put stuff into perspective.LoneWolf15 - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
I'd argue that testing with that silly oversized power supply completely invalicates any cooling testing. Who is going to use one of these when they buy one of these cases, rather than a standard size that looks right and makes a proper seal against the back of the case? And why in the world doesn't Anandtech have a standard sized Antec, Enermax, or other power supply in their lab that would do this job?Mickey Mouse work, IMHO.
buleyb - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
What's the deal with the need for removable motherboard trays in ATX cases.Every case I've had that had a removable tray rattles now, its just another thing to vibrate and make noise.
Oh, and this is a pure G5 copy...no argument there
makron - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
Yeah, and the "screwless drive mounting, with special screws, is ripped straight out of the G5...I'd much rather get a surplus G5 case and put a pc in it....
Chuckles - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
It really tries to look like the G5 cases. I wonder how long it will take for a C&D letter to show up at headquarters.Based on it's lower temperatures, I would say that it validates both its and the G5's design.
00aStrOgUy00 - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
Yep, first thing when I saw this case, it reminded me of the "cheese grater" G5 case...WileCoyote - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
I am a big fan of Lian-Li cases - I've loved them from the start and still use my pc60. I think the internal case design is great - I fix a lot of computers and the hard drive bays are easy to swap drives in and out of. The only other good quality case with this feature is the Antec Sonota. I gotta admit... the case looks pretty ugly for Lian-Li. If it looked better, I would swap it with my Antec.bigboxes - Thursday, April 29, 2004 - link
Did you seriously not notice that this is butt ugly?tthiel - Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - link
Did you seriously not notice that this is a copy of the Mac G5?