Lian
Li PC-30 Aluminium Case Review
Date : Monday, 07 May 2001
By : Wolfman
Product : Lian Li PC-30 Aluminium Case
Provided by : PCMods.Com
Introduction
Today at Virtual Hideout, we're gonna take a look at another
one of those sleek Lian Li cases available out there, the Mini-PC30. The reason
why it's called "Mini" is simply because it's a smaller version
of the popular PC60, the all aluminium
offering from Lian Li. And being small, or mini, the PC30 is the perfect solution
for LAN-goers or for those thinking of assembling a simple LAN box that can
be carried around easily. But don't be fooled by its' size though. The PC30,
despite its' size, can still pack a mighty punch in terms expansion capabilities.
Which in this case, is much more than you'll find in some of the mid tower
cases out there. Unmodded of course! :OP
This review unit is kindly provided to us by the good guys
over at PCMods.Com, one
of the few US online retailers carrying them. Being a small case, I would
expect a smaller-than-standard packaging but boy was I surprised to see the
case-box when I received it from the UPS guy! It's almost of the same size
as when I got my Lian Li PC-12! The
reason behind this is that the PC30 still has the same case depth as all the
other Lian Li cases. It's short, yes, but at the same time, deep. Here's a
quick look at the specs of the case....
Specification
-
Aluminum panel and use original aluminum
color.
-
Size: 455(L)x208(W)x357(H)mm.
-
Total 7 device bays: two 5.25", two 3.5"
and three hidden 3.5".
- Two ADDA 80mm fans included.
- Built in fan filter and fan controller unit.
-
Power supply not included.
As with all Lian Li's, the PC30 is very light,
weighing in at a measly 4.6kgs without PSU. The front bezel is the same simple
basic design with the PC60, providing
2 X 5.25" drive bays and also 2 x 3.5" bays. The Power, Reset, and
LEDs area all located to the right of the 3.5" external bays. Power button
is just the right size for most users, so is the Reset button, so you don't
have to use any sharp objects to poke at it, if the need arises! :O)
At the bottom of the front bezel, you will find
small punched holes, acting as a cooling vent for the fans behind it. All
these and the nice brushed aluminium finish gives the case a cool look. Now
that we've taken a look at the exterior, it's time to tear into the innards!
Accessories
and Getting Inside
The case comes with the standard pack of screws and mounting
stand offs for the motherboard. Lian Li also provides some zip ties or cable
ties for organising your cables. And like all Lian Lis, access to the case internals
is made simple with the use of thumbscrews. You will find a bunch of it here
and there, even on the expansion slots in the case. The only problem I see is
that the case does not comes with a power supply unit. This could be a drawback
for some, while being a plus to others. If you already have a good PSU, then
it wouldn't be much of a hassle. Or you can have a choice of your own PSU to
fit into the case. But for those looking in to buying a case with a PSU already
installed, you'll be dissapointed. For that kind of price of the Lian Li, a
PSU SHOULD be included.
To remove the side panels, simply unscrew the 4 thumbscrews
that are holding it together and slide it backwards. Once inside, you'll find
the smooth and shiny interiors, showing you the high level of finishing in the
case. No sharp edges to be found within the case, so you would not hurt yourself
while working with the case. Lot's of room for you when working within the case
and the expansion capabilities of this case exceeds some of the mid tower cases
you'll find out there. OK, so there's only two 5.25" bays, but altogether,
there's a total of 6 3.5" drives bays for you to work with, with 3 of them
being mounted on a drive cage right in front of the 2 x 80mm intake fans mounted
at the lower front of the case. A great way to cool your hard drives too!
Being smaller in size, the mounting of the PSU has to be done
vertically. In other words, the PSU is mounted over the top half of the motherboard.
Again, this method of PSU mounting does have it's advantages and disadvantages.
While this method allows the case to be built smaller and more compact, as in
the case of the PC30, it also blocks the access to the motherboard, especially
the CPU, RAM and power supply connector. I've worked with some cases like this
and it's a pain in the ass to have to remove the PSU before accessing this critical
parts of the motherboard. Lian Li attempts to counter that with a inclusion
of the removable motherboard tray and to a certain degree, it succeeded.
At the bottom of the front bezel, there is a kind
of "handle". Pull it towards you and the front bezel will pop out.
No Power/Reset and LED cables to mess around with here. You'll also find the
standard Fan Speed Controller unit next to the 3.5" drive bays. A plus
if you like to have some peace and quiet, but it should not have been placed
behind the front bezel, but instead on it. Who the hell wants to remove the
bezel everytime you want switch the fans up/down? Not me! And with the supplied
fans, the control unit doesn't seem to make any significant different when switching
from "Hi" to "Low", and vice versa. Maybe with a better
fan like the Sunons or Deltas....
Peripherals
Installation
The motherboard tray of the case is an absolute joy to work with.
I've had a lot of cases with motherboard trays that it's an absolute MUST to
have it! Simply remove the thumbscrews holding the tray to the case and slide
it out. You'll find a number of square holes punched into the tray for the motherboard
standoffs. Also note that this new revision to the Lian Li cases are pentium
4 compatible. That means it has the 4 stand-offs right around the CPU socket
for you to mount the P4 heatsink. Although looking at the current price of the
Intel P4s right now, I wouldn't go for it! Even if I do, I wouldn't be putting
that in this small case. :O)
The motherboard standoffs provided with the case is of the spring-clip
type. I personally prefer the screw-on types simply because they are more secure
and has a better grip onto the motherboard tray. The normal practise that I've
seen with a lot of Lian Li users is to squeeze the clips and try to mount it
onto the motherboard from the top. While this should look pretty simple, it's
way too easy to grip too hard and ending up squashing the stand offs. It's actually
way simpler to mount the stand offs from the back of the motherboard tray. Just
push into the holes in the tray until the clip snaps into place. All you need
to do next is mount your motherboard and secure it with the provided screws.
Expansion card installation is also very simple. Remove the plate that's covering
the expansion slot and install your cards into the motherboard. Even the securing
of your cards is done by thumbscrews!
One of the good points of the case is the little connector for
your case Power/Reset and LEDs leads. Instead of the individual wires, Lian
Li has bunched them up together into a single unit, so you only need to unplug
the connector in the middle of the bunch and leave the connectors still intact
on the motherboard leads.
Now comes the horror, or the bad points. :) First up, if you
still have that good 'ol SB AWE64 or 64 Gold sound cards, you will find that
after installing them onto your motherboard, you can't slide the whole assembly
into the case. The sound cards' edge hits against the case!! Arrgghh! I sluv
my AWE64 Gold so I'm really looking forward to using it in this case! Looks
like I've got to use the Vibra128 PCI this time! You can always install the
card after the tray has been installed, but it defeats the whole purpose of
the motherboard tray... not a biggie.
Another area you have to look into is the CPU HSF itself. If
you don't plan to overclock or anything, a low profile HSF like the Taisol would
fit the case easily. But if you overclock/tweak a lot and use a big-ass HSF
like me, you'll have a close call with this case! As you can see from the pics
above, my Swiftech MC370-0A JUST
clears the case structure near the PSU location. Some of you might have bigger
HSF than me and it would not fit into this case. And due to the design of the
case, the PSU is situated very closely to the HSF after installing it. Another
drawback is the way the PSU is mounted in this case. Because of the orientation
of the PSU screw holes at the rear of the case, my AOpen 300W PSU is mounted
with the vents pointing out, and not at the CPU. I was hoping to have it draw
the heat from the CPU and exhausting it out at the back! Damn! It gets worse
for ENERMAX PSU USERS!!! due to the extra
fan under the PSU so if you use one, beware of this problem.
Drives installation is pretty simple. Slide your
5.25" drive into the bays and secure them with the supplied screws. 3.5"
drives can be installed in the same manner, although I find that installing
them is a a little with the drive cage removed from its position. I also prefer
to mount my hard drives on the lower drive cage so that the fans in the lower
front of the case would help to cool them down.
Cooling
Cooling in this case is achieved by the two 80mm fans provided
in the front. Blowholes are already cut for the fans and Lian Li also provides
a removable/washable filter to prevent dust from collecting into the case. A
nice touch indeed. The cooling vents in the front bezel also has holes drilled
in them to facilitate the airflow into the case.
For exhaust, there are 3 positions for you to mount 40mm fans
next to the expansion slots in the case. Although I doubt having the fans there
would do much in helping with cooling of the case. Most, if not all, of the
air entering the case from the front would be forced out of them anyway. Decent
airflow, but more can be done!
Mod
Possibilities
That's where modding comes in! :O) What is really needed here is proper air
exhaust vents. And since this case is so small, the only place you could slap
on extra fans is at the top. Although it's gonna be a tight squeeze! There is
just about the right amount of space at the top of the case for you to mod 2
x 80mm fans into. You can place it directly in the center of the case or offset
it a little so that the fans are exactly above your CPU and RAM slots. so that
it'll suck out all the heat from them. Standard 25mm thick fans should fit in
well in the top.
Another area thatcould be improved in terms of cooling is the
expansion slot areas. Instead of mounting 3 x 40mm fans on the location already
provided by Lian Li, it's better for you to mod the slide panel to include a
single 92mm or 120mm fan to help cool your AGP and PCI expansion cards. The
fan would also help in cooling your motherboard. As for windows, well....I don't
see much benefit as the power supply unit is already blocking half of your motherboard!
:OP
Performance,
Testing and Conclusion
Here's a quick look of what I had in this case.
-
Abit KT7A motherboard
- AMD Duron 700 @ 900 via 1.75V
- Swiftech MC370-0A HSF
- Infineon PC133 128MB
- Matrox G400 32MB DH
- CL Vibra 128 PCI Sound Card
- Adaptec 2903 PCI SCSI Card
- 3Com 905B NIC
- Pionner 32X SCSI CD-ROM
- Yamaha 4260 SCSI CDRW Drive
- 1.44MB FDD
- IBM 10.1GB HDD
- AOpen 300W PSU
As you can see from the pics above, with all the peripherals
installed, cable management is a real challenge. I used spiral wraps for all
the PSU power leads to keep the cables a little tidy. Another good solution
is to use cable ties or zip ties to route all the cables to reduce cable clutter
and also reduce the interference with the case airflow. Since the 5.25"
bays are all filled up already, :O) I had to use my Senfu
Temperature Probes to get the readings of the case and ambient temperature.
Ambient room temperature was kept at constant 30°C (I
know! It's hot down here in Singapore!!!) I put the case thru my normal daily
duties with it like surfing the Net, playing some MP3s and also a little Serious
Sam and Quake III Arena. And also a few rounds of 3DMark 2001 too! No matter
what he application is, the case temperature never fluctuates outside the
36°C to 38°C mark. Decent cooling but nothing to shout about mainly
due to the cases' size and the lack of any exhaust fans in the case. You should
get a much cooler interior temperatures with the mods I've mentioned in the
previous page.
Conclusion
The Mini PC30 is not a case for everybody, but rather appeals
to a select group of users, namely the frequent LAN-Goers! The size and aluminium
construction makes it very light and easy to carry around. Only two 5.25"
bays is present in the case, but there's a total of 6 3.5" bays! Much
more than you'll find in some of the Mid Tower cases out there. Cooling is
decent, but could be better with a little mod for exhaust fans. Power supply
unit mounting is a little awkward and due to that, some large HSF would be
obstructed by it. It get's even worse if you have an Enermax PSU and you'll
find that the extra fan on the PSU will face outwards instead of facing the
CPU and sucking out the heat from it. The fan grill from the extra PSU fan
would also cause an obstruction to some HSFs. Price is another factor to consider
here. The Mini PC30 cost US$179.99 over at PCMods.Com's
Products Page, but the larger and more popular PC60 will only set you
back for another US$10! It's all up to you...
Pros
Cons
- Price is a little steep for some
- No PSU included
- PSU mounting is overhanging above motherboard and orientation
not suitable for Enermax PSUs.
- No exhaust fans
- Case structure causes abstruction to some cards, like my
AWE64 Gold
- Some large heatsinks+fans might not fit onto the case
A big thanks to Carl and BJ over at PCMods.Com
for this review unit. If you're looking in to one of these sweet Lian Li cases,
head on down and check out the full range over there!
