Lian-Li PC-V300

Shiny aluminium case-masters Lian-Li have a go at a home theatre case.

The moment we clapped eyes on this aluminium beauteous case we knew we had to get it in for review. Bill, our designer, turned his head when it arrived and his eyes lit up, meaning either he liked it, or the cardboard box got a bit wet and he was looking for somewhere else to live. We assume the former.

Casually straddling the fence between mini-server box and HTPC, the PC-V300 measures 351mm (D) x 285mm (W) x 242mm (H). Obviously this means it can only fit micro ATX boards, rather than full-sized ones, however for everything else you can happily use standard sized parts, even the power supply. Those with full length video cards like the X1900XT, 7900GTX and 7900GT will have trouble though – and if you must have the case and a full length card, then be prepared to hacksaw one of the drive bays off to accommodate.

Clearly it’s not your standard HTPC box as the form factor is far too cube-like to fit the bill. However it does look somewhat like an attractive aluminium speaker, and so wouldn’t look entirely out of place among the rest of your AV equipment. One could even say Lian-Li has pioneered a new form factor – the ‘media’ box, something that happily has enough storage for all your Lost episodes, but is still small, and works both angles aesthetically.

A single black strip down the middle features nothing but a power and reset button, in what is now a common Apple-inspired element across all Lian-Li cases. Which is more than fair, considering how much the G5 case borrowed from Lian-Li.

Disappointingly the front is equipped with two 80mm fans, as well as one on the side – fortunately these aren’t too loud, but we’d gladly have had a slightly bigger case for a triumvirate of 120s. The perforated front, although looking nice, won’t do it any favours for noise either.

Drive wise there’s some interesting innovations. An external 3.5” and two 5.25” bays are featured on both sides rather than on the front – meaning you can kick the box against any corner and still easily access your drives. Sadly you have to pick one side or the other, as the opposite sides are connected via a single tray, meaning there’s only enough width for one drive per bay level.

A further two internal 3.5” bays sit at the back above the motherboard backplane, complete with quick release rails – mind you, this is also a bugger to access due to it being blocked off by a grill secured by four screws. In fact it’s surprising how many screws are on here considering Lian-Li pretty much pioneered the screwless approach.



The case features a removable motherboard tray, and unlike most other cases you’ll actually need to use it as there’s no other way to get the darn thing in. Removing the side panels is a pain, with six screws needing to be removed to get access – which you will likely need to do to insert your drives. The usual assortment of USB, Firewire and audio jacks line the front.

The PC-V300 is a pretty darn nice case, but a few flaws keep it from greatness. We look forward to the next revision, where no doubt Lian-Li will get it just right. For now if you’re not too bothered by the inconveniences and love the aesthetics, it will do nicely in any lounge room next to a massive LCD TV. It’s just that damn pretty.