Print this article

Lian Li PC-05


Date
: 06/30/03 – 10:03:36 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cases

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Lian Li
Price: $75

Introduction

Lots and lots of Lian Li cases have pasted through the O² lab during the existance of the website. I'm pretty confident to say that O² reviewed every single model that Lian Li released the past few years (not counting bigger or smaller models of the same type of course). The reason I have always been a big fan of their cases because is because aluminum cases are very light making them easy to carry around and also Lian Li offers very high quality cases to its consumers. Lian Li has also been a trendsetter, releasing new ideas into the hardware scene that got copied by many other manufacturers around the globe. The sad part is, that these "features" and "extras" come at a price, and that translates in a higher retail price compared to more normal cases … Because of that, not everyone was able to afford a Lian Li case, but today things changed and Lian Li has released a brand new budget minded aluminum case. The case is tagged the PC-05 and offers almost all the features that can be found in other Lian Li cases, but at a much lower price … I had the pleasure to check this newcomer out and share my thoughts with you. Let's get the ball rolling …

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

- Dimensions: 210x450x492mm (W,H,D)
- 4 5.25" external drive bays
- 3 3.5" external drive bays
- 3 3.5" internal drive bays
- Cooling: three sleeve fans preinstalled
- Supports all ATX / P4 motherboards (max size: 12" x 9.6")
- Model name: PC-05
- Other features: toolless, thumbscrews, removable front bezel

Judging by the dimensions, the PC-05 fits right in the mid-tower section of computer cases. The case has a total of ten drive bays: four external 5.25" bays to accomodate your cd-roms, zip-drives, …, three external 3.5" bays to house a floppy drive or perhaps a small baybus and last but not least, it features three 3.5" internal drive bays to install hard drives. These expansion options should be adequate for the average computer user out there and for those who don't have enough with this, you need to shop in the full tower section ;).

When you pack the PC-05 with hardware, you can bet your cat on it that heat will be building up really fast inside the case. And that's why the case comes prefitted with a total of three sleeve bearing fans: two in the lower front bringing cold air in and one at the back of the case, right underneath the power supply, sucking hot air out of the case. Although more expensive Lian Li cases feature a built-in baybus to control the fan speed (low, normal or high speed), the PC-05 has to do without this feature.

Both sidepanels are removable and are kept in place with those nice aluminum thumbscrews we've come accustomed to with Lian Li. The same screws are used to keep the add-on cards in place and results in a toolless design. The only reason why you'll need a screwdriver, is to install the motherboard and the 3.5"/5.25" devices.

Talking about a toolless design, the front bezel, which is made out of plastic on the PC-05 whereas the more expensive Lian Li cases feature a aluminum bezel, is easy and fast to remove thanks to a screwless mouting system. The motherboard tray is also removable and held in place with the same thumbscrews used in other places on this case. Did I ever mention I adore removable motherboard trays :)?

Talking about the front bezel, besides the fact that it is made out of plastic, it features a bunch of holes at the bottom to make sure air can pass freely through the fans behind it (there is a washable filter installed to keep dust particles away from the hardware). The front has two buttons with chrome finishing, making them look awesome. Both the power and reset button are big enough to make it easy to push them (I've seen several cases where the reset button is so tiny, you need a pencil to push it). Something you'll not find on the front bezel, is a USB/FireWire port … This is yet another feature that is reserved for the more expensive Lian Li cases.

Page 3 : Testing

Testing

The PC-05 is a well built midi tower case that could serve as an ideal housing for a home computer or game rig for the kids. When I was reviewing this case, my girlfriend had just purchased all the hardware needed to put together a new rig (the old one was based upon a P3 … need I say more?) and since she was still on the lookout for a case to put all the toys into, I decided to use the PC-05 for her new workstation.

Installation proved to be as easy as I'm used to with Lian Li cases and everything was up and running within half an hour after starting removing the side panels ;). Thanks to the thumbscrews, it was easy to remove everything and install the add-on cards onto the motherboard. The removable motherboard tray added to making things fairly easy too …

Once the system was up and running, the system was audible, but I don't want to call it loud. The sleeve fans are very silent and still manage to supply a good amount of airflow. Quiet PC people will prefer the bay bus Lian Li supplies on their high end line, and allows you to turn the fans down even more … Although the PC-05 does not allow this since it lacks that bay bus, this could be a great opportunity to install an add-on bay bus with flashy LEDs and switches ;).

Page 4 : Conclusion

Conclusion

The Lian Li PC-05 is Lian Li's first attempt at delivering a high quality aluminum case at an affordable pricetag. The PC-05 does just that and although it has been "castrated" from features like frontal USB ports, an aluminum front bezel and the famous bay bus … If you think you can part with these things for a good price, then the PC-05 is just what you need … It comes with the same high end quality finishing the other Lian Li cases have, but it just lacks a few features … But for a price of $75, I doubt anyone will complain ;).

Good

- Price
- Aluminum
- Cooling
- Toolless design

Bad

- No frontal USB/FireWire ports
- No bay bus