Friday, September 26th 2014
Lian Li Shows Off PC-05, PC-06, and PC-07 Case Prototypes
Lian Li showed off prototypes of its new breed of cases, which can be used either as flat-bed open-air cases, or as towers. These include the mini-ITX PC-05, the micro-ATX PC-06, and the ATX PC-07. Their design is extremely simple. A tub-shaped metal structure holds key PC components along its tray, while a tempered glass panel tops it off. You can either place the case flat-on, making it an open-air case with its clear-acrylic panel removed, or you can place it along its side, to resemble a tower. The three feature a forward-oriented standard ATX PSU bay, a slimline optical drive bay, two or more 3.5-inch/2.5-inch drive bays, and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 riser, letting you install a graphics card. Lian Li is seeking feedback that will help it perfect the three. Leave them in the comments.
30 Comments on Lian Li Shows Off PC-05, PC-06, and PC-07 Case Prototypes
My only problem is that its so open, there will be (visible) dust in there in no time
I like the layout and the half of the face that's actually there, but I think I'd completely rework it functionally to be more like Q19B with magnetic filtered intakes.
Give it feet that lift the whole chassis up .25-.50 inches, and add an exhaust vent (or 2) on that side. Flip the PSU around so it can draw filtered air from the steel side, and add filtered intake on that side. Having the PSU mount bracket accept the PSU in both orientations allows you to retain the ability to convert into an open air bench.
The acrylic piece should cover the front and rear face openings to create a full enclosure.
Not sure how to achieve a filtered intake for the CPU cooler though. If there is a way to have both filtered airflow and visibility, use that method on the portion of the acrylic over the motherboard. And on whatever side the GPU ends up facing (GPUs look cool from the front, but they also draw air from the same side =/ ). An additional challenge I do see in that route is that you'd have to optimize either for a blower or an open air GPU cooler.
TL;DR The biggest problems right now are the lack of airflow and dust control when the acrylic panel is installed. Once the acrylic goes on, all the benefits of an open bench are lost, while none of the advantages of a case are gained.
But I'm excited about this (in case the length of post doesn't convey that).
Beautiful job, Lian Li.
First, you have to have dust first to, later, get dust in this baby. Some people live in deserts or next to environmental hazards (ok, read: kitties), others not.
Second, if you (ok, we) have time to burn in forums, maybe we also have time to clean now and then the PC? These cases at least show if cleaning is needed, unlike others where you have to dismount first to check, resulting in not dismounting and opening at all, and that resulting in massive amounts of accumulated dust...
This is more style then substance IMO.
Thats not to say I think it looks bad. In fact I think they look quite good but realistically I am long past caring about looks and put my focus on function.
Also, for what its worth, not all necessary connections are made in the photos. The video card is just dangling there with no connection whatsoever. Whatever mechanism they use to connect the PCIe card in that orientation may not play well with the continuity of the "superficial" esthetics they are shooting for.
Also, IMO, there doesn't seem to be much to the case overall with respect to materials. I hope this thing is cheap given that but I expect it will be anything but.
This case reminds me a little of a book that most kids read when they are young. The title of that book is "The Emperors New Clothes".
Why would you buy a board with 4 to 7 expansion slots which then will be blocked by the riser card?!
We can do that smaller! :D
Anyway, b-e-a-utiful case! Can I has that ITX version pls, you know, for "review purposes ":rolleyes:?