A Closer Look - Inside

Before we dive into the interior, Lian Li actually sent us an updated I/O panel (pictured on the left in both shots above), which is interesting as there is nothing wrong with the original one. The only difference between the two is how the USB-C connector is embedded, giving the user a few more millimeters of space for their GPU in the process. On top of that, the new connector for that port has a white center piece to further eliminate any non-white elements as the full-size USB port already sports a white center piece.


To access the interior, first remove the top cover. You can now flip open the panels on both sides. This is great if you just need quick access during normal operations, but for the assembly process, pulling them off the hinges is best.


On the right half of the Lian Li Q58 is the SFX PSU towards the front of the case, with the rear space intended for your motherboard. On the other side, it is all about the GPU; the general layout within the chassis can thus be considered a "classic sandwich."


The motherboard area comes with a large opening, so you should be able to get to the cooler mounting plate by simply removing your GPU. With the PCIe ribbon going over the top edge, your motherboard is mounted upside down as well. Towards the front, the SFX PSU bay can be set to two different heights, which means you may use the SFX or larger SFX-L form factor. Look closely and you can see a gap between the middle dividing panel and PSU bracket through which you may route cables. Lian Li has placed cable-mounting hooks on the PSU frame, which is odd as that whole thing is removable. These would have been better placed on the dividing plate since it is not removable. For additional cable management, three Velcro straps have been pre-attached to the side of the PSU bay.


As there are three expansion slots on the GPU side, you are free to use 2.5 or 3-slot GPUs. The updated I/O bracket increases the maximum length for the graphics card by 3.5 mm, from 316.5 to 320 cm. Looking at the dividing plate where the PSU bay is located, you can see mounting holes for a 2.5" drive, which may be the reason the cable hooks are on the PSU frame itself. That said, there is still enough space for them to have been put to the left and right of the hard drive bay.


The I/O in the front is padded with foam as a layer of separation between it and any sizable GPU. Then there is that one centered 2.5" drive bay, which is pretty cool as it comes with a SATA power and data plug. It means you could hot-swap this drive by simply taking off the top of the case and pulling it out of the bay.


On the floor, the lowered HDD tray comes with rubber grommets for another 2.5" drive. This puts the total storage capability of the Lian Li Q58 at four with a few compromises, which is more than enough for most users.


All the cables within the Lian Li Q58 are sleeved black, with the USB I/O leads being nice and flat. The front panel connector being a single plug instead of individual connectors will make your life a little easier as well; seeing this finally catch on is great.


Before diving into the assembly process, there is still that ATX frame for the ceiling. Before installing it, remove the current one and the SFX PSU frame, which are replaced by the all-in-one design of the separate accessory. Once installed, the ATX unit takes up all the space where the SFX PSU frame was, including the cable-routing gap, and you are limited to a single fan of up to 140 mm or a 120 mm AIO cooling unit in the ceiling. While this setup is nice to have as an option, I don't see it as a very attractive one. You may save some money on the PSU, but half of it will be blocked by the glass panel on the side. It would have been better to simply sell the frame as a separate accessory and pass any savings on to the end user.