Lian Li's PC-V353: Lighter Than Air
by Dustin Sklavos on September 28, 2011 4:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- MicroATX
- SFF
- Lian Li
- Mini-Tower
Conclusion: Only if You Plan to Move It
I was honestly really looking forward to getting Lian Li's hardware in house. The company is held in high esteem, and their case designs are both well regarded and oftentimes very unique. I actually have two more cases en route that look to be extremely interesting to review, but the PC-V353 seems like a miss.
Like many, I fear change and the unknown, and that's a small part of why the PC-V353 just didn't work for me. Deviations from traditional enclosure design should never feel arbitrary: they should either feel like an experiment or at least like a smart and intuitive alternative to existing approaches and design tenets. I don't think a side-mounted optical drive is necessarily a bad idea, for example. Virtually no one keeps their tower directly in front of them at home, so it would make sense to be able to mount the drive to the side. The problem is that the PC-V353 doesn't make a very convincing argument for the change, either, and it actually comes more at a detriment to aesthetics. Given the button placement on the PC-V353 (along with its generally diminutive stature), it seems like the case is designed to be placed on your desk, in which case having the ports and optical drive in the front would actually make more sense.
There's also the wasted case depth. While video cards that connect their power leads from the back are probably going to be fine, ones that connect from the top may run into serious problems. Likewise, given the way everything is perforated, wouldn't it make more sense to vent the side where the video card's fan is going to be? Blower-type coolers will probably be okay, but other ones are liable to be that much more problematic.
Finally, there's the asking price. $169 for the PC-V353 is just way too much. It's a nice and unique piece of aluminum, tremendously light and easy to move, but this case honestly would fare a lot better with fans. Lian Li offers the appropriate fan mounts, yet at this price I feel like optional fans should at least be included. SilverStone's Temjin TJ08-E is $69 less and performs better in every metric except weight and overall size. The PC-V353 isn't necessarily a bad case (there are no bad products, only bad prices), but for the price you just don't get enough. Unless you're married to the aluminum finish or want a new case to tinker with and modify, I'd recommend looking elsewhere in Lian Li's line.
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Dustin Sklavos - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
It never ceases to amaze me what some people find offensive.IlllI - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
i find your post offensive!!i DEMAND you change it because i find it offensive! you have lost all credibility with me because you spoke your mind!
actually i agree. some people get too damn butt-hurt over the littlest things
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
+1cjmurph - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
"but surprisingly they don't advertise what may be one of its more interesting aspects: the enclosure is comprised almost entirely of aluminum"Umm, it's a Lian Li case dude, what else is it going to be made out of, chicken feet?
aznofazns - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
That line had me confused as well. Anyone who knows anything about Lian Li cases should realize that the all-aluminum construction is practically their main selling point.But the part that bothered me was the conclusion. "It's a nice and unique piece of aluminum, tremendously light and easy to move, but this case honestly would fare a lot better with fans." Dustin, I think you're missing the point of this case. It's designed to be a silent case, so it'd probably be wise to use a fanless PSU (Seasonic SS-400FL, anyone?), large, passively cooled CPU heatsink (or a really quiet one like the Scythe Big Shuriken or Zipang 2), and a passively cooled graphics card. Or better yet, install a Llano A8 chip.
I do agree that Lian Li didn't make the best use of space in the V353, as with most/all of the V3xx series, but the end result is a pretty slick looking microATX rig.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
Having lots of ventilation (and no sound dampening) flies in the face of building a silent PC.aznofazns - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
Lack of sound dampening seems irrelevant when the components inside are silent, don't you think?aznofazns - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
Just to hammer this point home, read Lian Li's own description of the PC-V353:http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php...
"The PC-V353 is designed to be a silent case.
To use lots vents instead of fans to cool components."
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
How about "quiet case" as opposed to silent, because small and compact with no sound dampening but still using a CPU fan (necessary given the cramped quarters) means that this won't be "silent".aznofazns - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
Well it depends on what components you're using.For example, a low power Zacate, Llano A4, or dual core Sandy Bridge chip would be able to get by with a large, passive heatsink. The ventilated case would be enough to keep those chips from overheating. With no case fans, a fanless PSU, and an SSD, the system would literally be silent (save for possible capacitor squeal).
On the other hand, a higher power CPU/APU could use a heatsink with a large, low rpm fan. In that case it would be "quiet," but having case fans would still add to the noise.
Either way, Lian Li designed this case to be cooled passively.