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Review by Manaz Quite some time ago now (close to a year I think) CoolerMaster released what was really the first serious attempt at a commercial quality, commercially available all-aluminium case - the ATCS series. When I first saw the specs and features (of the ATC-200, and now the new ATC-201), I drooled - an all aluminium ATX compliant mid-tower case, with thumbscrews everywhere, exceptional default cooling, a removable motherboard tray, and more internal 3.5" drives than you could poke an IDE RAID set-up at. I continued to drool until I saw the price - they cost around USD$300, and my mouth dried up suddenly. The high price, and the fact that there doesn't seem to be anyone importing them into Australia, meant that my dreams of owning one would sadly have to remain as dreams. Recently though, Lian-Li have released a line of Aluminium cases, which while they're not cheap, are more affordable than a CoolerMaster, and even more importantly, they're being imported into Australia.  click for larger image AusPCMarket currently sell the Lian-Li PC-10 (beige), PC-12 (black) and PC-60 (brushed aluminium) models - the PC-10 and PC-12 have a plastic fascia, the PC-60 is made entirely of aluminium. As I said before, they're not cheap - you're looking at paying $313.50 for the PC-10 and PC-12 without a power supply, and $396 for the PC-60 - but compare that with approximately AUD$600 plus shipping for the ATC-200 from the US, and you see why I was so happy for the Lian-Li cases to appear in Australia. I picked up a PC-10, mainly to match my drives - I think the black or all-aluminium cases look pretty good, but I don't have the time (or patience) to paint my drives to match. PC-10 Specifications.
The first thing I noticed about this case is that it's LIGHT. The aluminium construction leads to a good weight reduction - I picked the box it shipped in up, before it was even opened, and I thought it must have been empty. As a reference, the shipping weight of my KF-45A (OEM AOpen mid-tower, which is significantly smaller) weighs 6.6kg without a PSU. Even though it weighs a lot less than a similar steel mid-tower, it's surprisingly strong - I haven't tested it as such, it just "feels" solid and well built. Another thing I noticed about it is its size. It's quite large for a mid-tower - bigger than my KF-45A (approximately 420mm x 200mm x 410mm [H x W x D]), but there are bigger mid-towers available. I actually have an OEM mid-tower of unknown origin which is about 50mm taller, though not quite as wide, and certainly not as deep, and the Chenbro Genie, at 541mm x 226mm x 475mm [H x W x D] is definitely bigger, and is classified as a mid-tower. Due to its size, there's certainly a lot of room inside - as evidenced (at least partly) by the number of drives it supports, and also by the size of the motherboard tray. There's plenty of room for even a large ATX motherboard (like my A7V, which only just managed to squeeze itself into the KF-45A when it was in there). The depth would lead you to think that you should be able to fit a good number of full length cards in it (do they even exist any more?), but thanks to the way the 3 internal drive bays are implemented, and the lack of a card guide, this case really isn't suitable for full length cards. Accessing the inside of the case. Access to the case is mostly good, with a few minor bad points. The first good point is the extensive use of thumbscrews - only the drives, PSU and the motherboard are secured with regular screws. Even the power supply is secured partly with thumbscrews (more on that in a moment). To remove the side panels (which are individually removable), you remove two thumbscrews each, and come across the first negative (albeit minor) aspect of this case. You slide the panel back about 2cms, then tilt the top of the panel outwards, and then lift it upwards to remove it completely. That's too complex for my liking - even my OEM case of unknown origin allows you to simply pull the panel off once you've slid it backwards to release it - I don't know why Lian-Li use this complicated system, but I suppose it's really only a minor gripe. Another really minor gripe (and certainly not the fault of Lian-Li) is that when you touch the bare aluminium, it leaves rather obvious fingerprints. I guess giving the bare aluminium a coat of lacquer would stop that, but it's really not necessary unless you intend on displaying the inside of your PC, and want it to look the best it can. Once the side panel is removed, access to the inside of the case is good. There's no crossbar to get in the way, and all edges are nicely rounded or protected with a plastic edging, so there's no slicing of fingers/hands as you work on your system. Access to the drive bays is through the front of the case. The front fascia is completely removable - you simply pull it off, and the clips at each corner release, leaving you with clear access to the external drive bays, and their EMF covers. The 5.25" covers are a bit difficult to remove - no thumbscrews here, they're held in with surprisingly resilient (and resistant to removal) plastic clips - I suggest the use of a pair of pliers here. The 3.5" bays are housed in a removable cage - this is held in with thumbscrews - three of them to be precise - and the bay covers, while they come out very easily, are quite secure.
Removing the front fascia also lets you see one of the special features of the Lian-Li cases - a 3-way sliding switch for adjusting the intake fan speed between preset high, medium and low settings. A nice touch - at least it seems so - I'll deal with that later. Also visible from the front of the case when the fascia is removed is the intake filter, and through it the two 80mm intake fans. The filter is best described as a loose, messy plastic mesh - but it seems quite effective at trapping dust and letting air through. |
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