Lian Li PC-C30 Enclosure

Introduction:

    Lian Li: enough said. We all know the quality of the products and their nice lines and curves; they are some of the best in the business. Lian Li has an enclosure for just about every application, from towers to desktops, cubes to mini towers and enclosures for server systems. The case I have for review this time around is the PC-C30, which can be used as a desktop or HTPC enclosure with the optional I-Mon accessory that includes a remote control. So without further ado, let's move on to the review.

Company Profile:

    Lian Li Industrial Co., LTD was founded in 1983. We are the one of the largest and most reputable manufacturer of aluminum PC case in Taiwan . With over twenty years of experience in the computer products field, our dedicated team of engineers, production specialists and administrative staff provide the finest quality accessories available on the market.

In 1993, Lian-Li Introduced the new lines of computer hardware, including bracket( for case & interfaces), Mobile rack(for H.D.D.), mounting kit(for FDD & HDD), aluminum PC cases, IPC, external cases, server cases and more. We also provide OEM & ODM services, you are assured of designs that will meet your exact specifications, innovative ideas in manufacturing that will give your products an essential market edge.

Specifications:

	5.25" x 2 (CD-ROM only), 3.5" internal x 2
	8cm ball bearing fan x 2
	ATX M/B (Max size : 12" x 9.6" )
	USB2.0 x 2, IEEE1394 x 1, MIC x 1, EAR x 1
	435 x 167 x 443mm (W.H.D)
	PCI slot x 7

Packaging:

Retail Front

Retail Side

Shipping Protection

    The package arrived in its retail box from the home office in Taiwan without any tape on the flap. I was surprised not to find any damage to the enclosure or some bricks taped together in place of the PC-C30. The front and back of the retail box have the same picture, while the sides have the enclosure specs.

Exterior:

Front Bezel	Optical Opening	Front Panel Door
Front Panel Plugs	Power/Reset/LED's	Side Panel Vents
Real Panel	Fan Opening	PCI Slots

    The Lian Li PC-C30 is an all aluminum enclosure that comes in Silver and Black, and by the looks of the pictures I have the Silver enclosure. Like always, let's start off with the front bezel... and this one is very simple. Two 5.25" external bays are present across the top. The bottom right half has a small door that pushes open and stays locked with a small hidden magnet. Behind that door are the front panel connections, which consist of the Audio ports, two USB ports, and a single IEEE port. The left half has the power and reset buttons and two LED's - one for hard drive activity and the power LED. The side panels each have some venting towards the rear. To close out the exterior portion, let's look at the rear panel, which has two 80mm fan openings along with the typical PCI, PSU, and motherboard I/O openings.

Interior:

Inside	Cages Secured	Cage Mounts
Drive Cages	HDD Rails	Optical Door Cover
Buttons/LED's	Dual 80's	PCI/w thumbscrews

    To gain access to the interior, a single thumbscrew on the back needs to be removed and the top panel slides back and then lifts off. The interior is roomy to say the least, and the two drive cages are constructed from aluminum which helps lessen the weight. The cages are secured by sliding them into place and tightening them down with a thumbscrew that stays attached to the cage (so it won't get lost.) The drive cages each hold one hard drive and one optical drive. The area for the power supply can handle a full size unit.

Installation:

Mobo installed

HDD hardware

Installed on HDD

Locked and loaded

    Installation couldn't be easier. With the top panel off, there is plenty of room to get down and dirty. A full size ATX motherboard can used and I suggest installing that first. With the motherboard installed, next up would be to plug in all the wires and cables to the motherboard, along with installing the RAM and CPU and heatsink fan. With the drive cages out of the enclosure, it's now time to load them up with some drives. I tossed in the hard drives first, and found that included with the screw kit from the enclosure are some rubber grommets to help isolate vibrations from the hard drives. To install the hard drives, first install the rubber washers to the hard drive, then align the grooves in the rubber washers to the rails on the cage and press down to secure in place.

Double sided tape	Cover attached	Optical caged
Peaking	Both drives caged	Everything installed

    The optical drive installation is a bit different from other enclosures. First off, the covers on the openings to the case are screwed in place. These screws need to be removed and the removed cover needs to be fastened with double sided tape to the optical drive tray. When that is done, slide the optical drive into the cage and reinstall everything into the enclosure. The last things to do are toss in a power supply, make the final connections, and power up the system.

Conclusion:

    The Lian Li PC-C30 is a down to earth enclosure, without too many bells and whistles to get you all confused. The all aluminum construction of the enclosure is pieced together well, and the center brace really adds to the rigidity of the entire enclosure. While moving the enclosure around, I didn't notice any movement to its structure. 

    The optical door attachment is not one of my favorite things here. I would instead liked to have seen a spring-loaded setup on here, as a lot of other enclosures like this have, and not need to use double sided tape to attach the aluminum cover to the optical tray. The easy access to the interior really allows for quick installation of components. Thanks to the well placed vents and exhaust fans, the temperatures remain stable, plus the enclosure itself will act like a giant heatsink, absorbing the heat from the air inside the enclosure.

    Overall, the PC-C30 is a nice, solid, aluminum enclosure that takes the minimalist approach to the desktop home theater setup. I would like to thank Lian Li for sending this unit out for VH to review.