Give us your opinion on the PC-V850

[Lian Li Tech]

We have shown off the prototype PC-V850 at CES, CeBIT and Computex, and now we would love to hear what you think about the PC-V850 and its unorthodox thermal design.

Feel free to tell us what you like, dislike and what you would like to see on this case?

So take a look at the the pics below and let us know what you think. Your suggestions may influence the final design of the PC-V850.

[Momonishiki]

Love the wheel and feet combination! It would be nice to see more widely used. I hope the wheels are strong as sometimes assembled systems can be rather heavy. But this doesn't look like an "Extreme" airflow design.

[Lian Li Tech]

Love the wheel and feet combination! It would be nice to see more widely used. I hope the wheels are strong as sometimes assembled systems can be rather heavy. But this doesn't look like an "Extreme" airflow design.

Regarding the airflow, it is designed to provide the airflow straight to the components, while still having a fairly silent operation. Also, to help in noise reduction, the panels will have noise dampening foam.

[El Mano]

Is it possible to use a 20cm fan on the door?
It would be cool if you could use a 360 rad top rather than a 240.

[m_jones_]

Honestly i'm not a big fan of the case overall, I would much prefer tradition sidepanels but you can't do this due to the fan thing over the motherboard.
The whole 4 fans thing blowing over the motherboard seems a little bit silly to me, they should be on the side panel if anywhere and have blanking slots.
Don't like the motherboard tray too much, wish it was a solid piece like in previous cases since it looks much better but has obviously been done to cut costs.
Not a fan of the internals too much overall.
Alternatively I would much rather have extra airflow I would much rather sick a fan where the HDD bay area ends like on the Lian Li a70.(my current case)

[prava]

The usability of this case is terrible, seriously. As of late that is the very same problem all Lian Li cases are exhibiting: fantastic aesthetics and materials... but not a thoughtful usability. And I don't want to sound disrespectful or anything, but the fact is that Lian Li cases aren't aren't as recommended as they were before, simply because they lack the ability to accommodate properly modern hardware.

What am I talking about? For starters, the ability to be able to include, AT LEAST, a CLC that features a 240mm rad in big cases, or a 120mm one in smaller ones.

In this particular unit, I have no idea why are you including filters in the spots where the fans aren't placed... when all the fans are sucking air into the case and, thus, all dust will be kept inside (filters on parts where there won't be any fans only makes sense on negative-pressure cases), not to say the fact that there are 4 fans aiming at the HDD's (when they aren't actually that sensitive, not to that point).

I don't know, I love the aesthetics of the Lian Li products... but I see so many compromises and things that haven't been properly thought about that I can't get to buy one without having to mod the crap out of it, and although that is part of the hobby, one shouldn't have to mod a case just to install, lets say, a Corsair H100i.

IMO, you should do far more research into what hardware put people into their cases, and try to make it easier for users to get such hardware into place, and not harder. Also, It wouldn't hurt if you checked the simple mods people do to their Lian Li cases (for starters, to add a top fan on the AWESOME Lian Li A05, a classic on its own... and not make a "weird" non-inverted version that makes no sense to me, since doing so didn't fix anything), because doing so will give you a very valuable (and free) information about what people needs, and the lengths people will make to get such beautiful cases as the ones you sell into proper usable cases.

[Lian Li Tech]

The usability of this case is terrible, seriously. As of late that is the very same problem all Lian Li cases are exhibiting: fantastic aesthetics and materials... but not a thoughtful usability. And I don't want to sound disrespectful or anything, but the fact is that Lian Li cases aren't aren't as recommended as they were before, simply because they lack the ability to accommodate properly modern hardware.

What am I talking about? For starters, the ability to be able to include, AT LEAST, a CLC that features a 240mm rad in big cases, or a 120mm one in smaller ones.

In this particular unit, I have no idea why are you including filters in the spots where the fans aren't placed... when all the fans are sucking air into the case and, thus, all dust will be kept inside (filters on parts where there won't be any fans only makes sense on negative-pressure cases), not to say the fact that there are 4 fans aiming at the HDD's (when they aren't actually that sensitive, not to that point).

I don't know, I love the aesthetics of the Lian Li products... but I see so many compromises and things that haven't been properly thought about that I can't get to buy one without having to mod the crap out of it, and although that is part of the hobby, one shouldn't have to mod a case just to install, lets say, a Corsair H100i.

IMO, you should do far more research into what hardware put people into their cases, and try to make it easier for users to get such hardware into place, and not harder. Also, It wouldn't hurt if you checked the simple mods people do to their Lian Li cases (for starters, to add a top fan on the AWESOME Lian Li A05, a classic on its own... and not make a "weird" non-inverted version that makes no sense to me, since doing so didn't fix anything), because doing so will give you a very valuable (and free) information about what people needs, and the lengths people will make to get such beautiful cases as the ones you sell into proper usable cases.

Hi Prava,

Thanks for your comment. We appreciate honest feedback.

Yes, it is true that many of our older cases do not support AIO radiators, however the PC-V850 does support a 240 rad up top.

As for the air filter issue. The filter is on the bottom there (see below pic) as the air will be coming in through that vent in the bottom of the case. This filter will prevent the dust from coming in. There are other vents to allow the dust to leave, as you said before, this is a positive pressure case. Sorry if the thermal designs where not clear before.

[Bobsama]

Not bad, if you can stand the width of the chassis. Aside from that, I'd like to see 2.5" bays and possibly some SATA backplanes (simplifying SATA power connectors etc). Otherwise, even just a SATA power chain optimized for the drive bays.

[Michalius]

This is pretty much how I see most of the (english speaking) enthusiast world right now in terms of high end chassis.

If your case is $300+, you better natively support 600mm of radiator space.

This looks like a great air cooling case. I don't know anyone looking to spend that much on an air cooling case. This is coming from someone who loves Lian Li cases.

It's like the V750. $430 USD, but you have to cut the case up to get any proper watercooling support. Compare that with the Caselabs SM8 and Little Devil PC-V7, which are in the same price range.

Lian Li has so many air cooling cases that are high end. Why not offer something that will truly be a hit with the enthusiast market? These cases certainly aren't being gobbled up by enthusaists with a closed loop 240mm radiator on their CPU. By crossing off watercooling from one of the potential customers for this case, you are taking a niche category of enthusiasts, and making it even more niche by making it for enthusiast air coolers.

I just don't get who will buy this case.

[3lfk1ng]

I have to agree with Michalius on this one.

For this price point and for the enthusiasts you're looking to attract, this case or the next needs to have a larger focus on liquid cooling capabilities.

I have owned a total of 3 Lian-Li cases in the past and for the first time in many years, I am making the switch to a competitor. My previous two Lian-Li cases, while sexy, had to undergo a ton of drilling to remove all the rivets and unneeded fluff preventing me for installing multiple radiators.

[Michalius]

Yep, exactly.

I'm not even suggesting that this is what you should do with all of your cases moving forward, but even just offering *one* that is intended for the watercooling crowd (which means people who are willing to spend $250-500 on a case) would be a huge step forward in making Lian Li relevant again.

Everytime I start thinking about a new project, Lian Li is the first set of cases I browse through. I get all sorts of ideas, and then I become saddened as I think about how much I will have to detroy the case in order for it to work.

In terms of watercooling support, most Lian Li cases are even outclassed by the $130-180 NZXT and BitFenix full towers. That shouldn't be a reality.

[EniGmA1987]

I had an interesting thought, and I will measure tonight to see if it will work. But not a lot of people use DVD drives anymore on a daily basis, the enthusiast market probably only has 1 drive at most and really only to install Windows or if they use Bluray disks. I dont think 4 DVD drive slots are needed, only 2 at the most Id say. But my idea was, will a SSD flipped onto its side fit (height wise) in the same space as two 5.25" DVD drive slots in a chassis? Im just wondering cause it may be possible to turn two of the four drive bays up top into a SSD bay that could fit somewhere between 6-8 solid state drives, assuming the height works outs. Ill measure it in a little bit and see.


My other thought, and I don't have the case to measure so hopefully you could do that, would be to see if there is enough room on the side panel where the four fans go to fit both a 25mm thick fan and a 25mm thick radiator and still have clearance for the graphics card(s) to be mounted. I think it would be a VERY interesting idea if those four side panel fans could be turned into mount points for dual 240mm radiators. But Im not sure how it works out spacing wise on the width of the chassis, as to do that it would have to be pretty fat, a lot fatter than most towers.


What will the price point be on this tower?

[3lfk1ng]

Yeah, I agree, none of my computers in the last 4 years have had an optical drive.

You can put SSDs on the backside of a motherboard tray, there is no reason for them to occupy space within a case anymore.

[Lian Li Tech]

I had an interesting thought, and I will measure tonight to see if it will work. But not a lot of people use DVD drives anymore on a daily basis, the enthusiast market probably only has 1 drive at most and really only to install Windows or if they use Bluray disks. I dont think 4 DVD drive slots are needed, only 2 at the most Id say. But my idea was, will a SSD flipped onto its side fit (height wise) in the same space as two 5.25" DVD drive slots in a chassis? Im just wondering cause it may be possible to turn two of the four drive bays up top into a SSD bay that could fit somewhere between 6-8 solid state drives, assuming the height works outs. Ill measure it in a little bit and see.


My other thought, and I don't have the case to measure so hopefully you could do that, would be to see if there is enough room on the side panel where the four fans go to fit both a 25mm thick fan and a 25mm thick radiator and still have clearance for the graphics card(s) to be mounted. I think it would be a VERY interesting idea if those four side panel fans could be turned into mount points for dual 240mm radiators. But Im not sure how it works out spacing wise on the width of the chassis, as to do that it would have to be pretty fat, a lot fatter than most towers.


What will the price point be on this tower?

The 2.5" drives in the two 5.25" bays is an interesting idea, I believe that they would barely fit. The issue would be on the mounting system.

For the inner side panel the radiator and fan set could definitely be put on the top two spaces. For the bottom two spaces, the a radiator and fan set would get in the way of a VGA card.

The price point has not yet been set on it yet as we are still modifying.

[EniGmA1987]

Alright thanks for the info.
I looked at the SSD sizing in the DVD drive slots myself and while it does look close, the solid state drives are just a couple mm too tall to fit, and that is without the mounting as well :/ In order for it to work there would have to be a little bit more serious modification to the sizing of that area than just some slide in adapter bracket or something.

[Michalius]

I think moving away from the front->back fan system that has been standard for so long is great. I love that you've been able to do it without sacrificing understated Lian Li design as well.

If this case comes in at $200 USD, I think you might have a good seller.

I have a feeling this will be in the $350-450 range though.

[UrbanVoyeur]

The 2.5" drives in the two 5.25" bays is an interesting idea, I believe that they would barely fit. The issue would be on the mounting system.

Have you seen this:

http://www.supermicro.com/products/a.../CSE-M28E1.cfm