Lian Li Armoursuit PC-P80

At long last, David Hollingworth gets some armour.

We’re coming to this behemoth of a case from Lian Li a touch late, but given the current resurgence of ATI, it’s probably a better time to look at it now than ever before. And what does a Lian Li case have to do with ATI, you ask? Well, this special edition case is actually cross-branded with ATI’s Spider platform logo, so it’s certainly not one for the NVIDIA fanbois out there!

It’s a also an absolute monster of a case, enormous in practically every dimension and coloured an imposing red that simply screams “I AM VERY SERIOUS ABOUT MY COMPUTING! YAH!” And the Spider branding, though some will say it’s over the top (and the Atomic team may agree), is at least very well executed. We really hate seeing windows on PC cases that are made of cheap plastic. The spider-shaped window on the PC-P80 is proper old school Perspex, and the spider outline is on the inner surface, safe from damage.

The rest of the case is similarly up to Lian Li’s usual level of design elegance, and like last month’s Tyr case, even the interior is fully coloured. Hell, even the external thumb screws are colour-matched!

Inside it’s the usual Lian Li story of well-machined aluminium and thoughtful design touches, but closer inspection suggests that something may be off... for one thing, the general finishing of the edges is a little rough, and the 5.5in drive enclosure mechanism seems a little on the cheap side. Trust us, the last thing you want from a case that costs nearly a thousand dollars if even one component that feels a little nasty. The 3.5in HD bays, at least, feature a novel little anti-vibration solution involving little rubber slugs that slot into the bays themselves. Kind of low tech, but very effective.



The case is designed from the get-go with enthusiast-grade usage in mind, but again, there are some problems. Sure, there’s room enough and then some for a water-cooling rig, plus two pairs of outlet grommets, but those grommets are really nasty hard plastic.

On the up side, though – and there is more good than bad about this case, to be sure – it’s as roomy as hell. This is a case that, thanks to a removable mobo backplate, facilitates easy upgrading, excellent cable management and great airflow thanks to a mess of 140mm fans. They are a touch on the noisy side, though, and with no sound-dampening in the case, it is a slight issue. The three front fans are also curiously mounted in the case door, so opening the door during operation will of course drastically hinder ventilation. The door itself, however, is solid, and can be swapped to open from either the left or the right.

There’s no doubting that this is a good case, but it’s not quite up to the usual Lian Li standard. Similarly, the styling of the case will certainly not appeal to those on the NVIDIA side of the fence. And, lastly, there’s the cost... it’s simply a difficult case to recommend to all but the most ardent of fans.