Print this article

Lian Li PC35 Case


Date
: 02/7/02 – 06:20:02 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cases

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Lian Li
Price: $200

Introduction

Lian Li has become a very respected case manufacturer over the past few months, manufacturing sweet mid-towers like the PC20 and PC60, server cases like the PC626, and many others. Although many companies copied the Lian Li cases, the quality was never up to their level. Today I am reviewing another new computer housing made by Lian Li, featuring some sweet and useful gadgets. I am discussing the PC35, which will be a hot item in many computer grounds. The case is not too big and can easily sit next to your fine 22" monitor. Add to that built-in removable hdd racks, a removable motherboard tray, case cooling, and you know you're in for a treat. Strap yourself to your chair, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the show.

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

Let's take a look at the spec list, like we always do:

- All aluminium design
- Dimensions: 189X360X410mm
- Removable motherboard tray
- 2 removable hdd racks (UDMA133 compatible)
- One 80mm cooling fan included with dust filter
- 2 frontal USB ports
- Thumbscrews all over the place
- 1 exterior 5.25" drivebay
- 2 exterior 3.5" drivebays

Just like all Lian Li cases out there, the PC35 is made entirely from aluminium, resulting in an ultra-light case with good looks. The PC35 has no sharp edges so you won't hurt yourself too much when installing hardware :). Something I really like about the Lian Li cases (the small ones anyway) is that they all come with a removable motherboard tray. Being able to install your motherboard, ram, cpu, and add-on cards without getting annoyed by your case is a blessing! Just put everything on the tray, when finished slide the tray in, secure it and you're all set! Lian Li also includes that handy connector that let's you connect all the LED's and buttons before you slide in the motherboard tray. Next time you remove the motherboard tray, just unhook the connector. No more looking for that missing manual to find out which wire goes where.

Now what makes this case so special? Why is it different from any other Lian Li case we have laid our eyes on? Easy. The PC35 comes with a pair of removable hard drive racks! These beauties are compatible with the latest UDMA133 standard and allow you to remove your hard drives and take them with you. Why do you need this? One example might be to keep your little sister/roommate/wife/[enter annoying person here] from tampering with your rig … another reason you might want to look at this is to swap large amounts of data. Just think of the possibilities if your best friend also has a PC35. Want to swap some mp3s, pics, or movies? Just take along your drive, slide it in his rig and start copying! The possibilities are endless! Note that each rack has its own activity LED, power LED, lock, and three keys are included in case you lose one … or two ;).

Another sweet addition to the PC35 are the two frontal USB ports. These have been showing up on all Lian Li cases lately, and to be honest, I like the idea! Personally I don't have much use for them as my case sits on the floor, but people who install their case on their desk will enjoy these ports for sure. Imagine connecting your USB joystick or digital camera; no more crawling behind the case getting trapped in the wires! Just push the connector in the front port and you're on you way to happiness.

As you may have noticed in the specs, the PC35 doesn't have many exterior expansion bays. Only one 5.25" bay is available, which makes it pretty hard to install both a cd-rom and a cd-rewriter. And then I'm not mentioning other stuff you might want to install like a LiveDrive. Besides the one 5.25" bay, there are two 3.5" bays present. More then enough if you ask me. One of these will be dedicated to a floppy drive (in case you still use it, I don't) and the other one could be used for an internal Zip drive or something. Of course no one is stopping you from installing more hard drives in these bays, in case the two removable bays are insufficient.

The cooling department is being taken care of as well. Lian Li delivers the PC35 with one 80mm fan in the front bottom of the case, sucking fresh air in. The output will have to happen through your powersupply fan because there are no other fans preinstalled (there is no more room for fans anyway).

Note the fine looking power and reset buttons, accompanied by two LED's (a green and an orange one btw). At the right top of the case sits an embedded Lian Li case badge, making the case look real slick.

Page 3 : Installation

Installation

As with all cases ever reviewed at O², the only way to test if it is any good is by building a computer out of it. I'm sure there are sites out there who just review the case, but IMHO you have to "get related" to a case before you can make up your mind on it. Get my drift?

Anyway, let's get on with the show. Here is a list of what hardware I decided to throw in:

- IWill DVD266u-RN motherboard
- Dual Intel P3 933
- 512MB DDR memory kindly supplied by Crucial
- 2x 30GB IBM DeskStar hdd's
- Gainward GeForce 2 MX400
- AOpen 24/10/40 Cd-ReWriter

As you can see I was about to install a serious amount of hardware in it, and with this case being one of the smaller series I was kind of worried to get everything in. After 30 minutes of playing around I got everything installed, but not without problems. With the hdd racks and cd-rom bay sitting vertically instead of horizontally, they are blocking a lot of space. I was only able to use one memory slot on the IWill because all other slots were totally blocked off by the hdd racks. The remaining slot was usable, but the ram was really cramped in there. I think I had less than 1mm left between the top of the memory module and the rack. Talk about a tight fit heh ;).

All the other hardware installed fine, even the hdd's. The racks are very easy to use and installing a hard drive in them is just as easy as installing one in a regular case.

The powersupply is sitting vertically as well, which means that it will be hanging above your motherboard, blocking access to it. Make sure all cables are connected in the top section of the motherboard or you might end uphaving to remove the PSU again like I had to.

Page 4 : Conclusion

Conclusion

The Lian Li PC35 has managed to impress me with its cool features like the removable racks, the USB ports, and the removable tray. But I was also a bit disappointed by the fact that there is not much expansion room available. What does this mean? It means that the PC35 in NOT the ideal case for those who sit at home with half a dozen hard drives in their rig, a dvd-rom, a cd-rom, a cd-rewriter, a LiveDrive, a zip drive, a floppy and anything else I forgot to mention. The PC35 is intended for use at offices, for people who don't have much hardware and who like a small case that can easily be integrated in their room or for LANners. Indeed, I think this case could be a real winner at LAN parties. It's size and weight make it easy to transport and the removable racks could be handy to swap data (or to plug in a new hdd when the first one is filled up).