Lian Li PC-V352 Cube

Zitat: Pros: + Very well made and nice looking + There’s actually a lot of room in the case + Fans are quiet and cool well + Mostly tool-less installation + USB 3.0 and card reader built-in + Can be used from either right or left side Cons: - Tall videos cards won’t fit - You’ll need a very small CPU Cooler - Tight running wires from optical drives Lian Li makes some excellent products, there’s no doubt about that I’m sure now. I’ve never had the chance to review on until now and I’m impressed, overall the case is very well made with a great deal of attention to detail in both aesthetes and the design of it. Installation can take quite a while, but patience is the key when working with a small style case, yes it’s cramped but that’s the design of it. You’ll need a small CPU cooler to use with it, or a little bit more work may be involved as I had to do. My video card had a large cooler on it so it’s not typical of others, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Zitat: Let me start by praising what I did like, and there is a lot I liked. The modular feel of the build; loved the way you can slide groups of components into the build in one step, simplifying the process. On top of that, the way all of the devices mount into their respective compartments is made simple and at most requires a Phillip’s head screwdriver to make your way through the entire build. The cooling is impressive for such a small enclosure, and the fact that the fans include fan guards and dust filters keeps things clean and safe inside. Having them easily slide in and out of place for easy cleaning of the dust filters takes things to another level of ingenuity. It is very apparent that every square inch of the interior is very well thought out, and laid out with all things considered prior to the final placement in the design. The things I ran across that are worth mentioning aren’t issues by any means, just things I noticed along the way. Limited CPU cooler clearance may be a make or break point in the buying decision, but I already realize that with a HTPC, or small cube design, they aren’t geared to house the most powerful PC on the planet, even though they offer plenty of room for you to attempt it. The other thing that I didn’t really like is that the sides had to be screwed or unscrewed to get access or close up shop. I noticed that there is very little room for any sort of door catch mechanism, so with space at a premium, they did use the next best solution. That in itself isn’t so bad, but when I attempted to mount the door panels I noticed I had to loosen the rear tray and PSU screws to allow the case to “relax” and the holes to line up. Not a deal breaker, but it was still a bit of a time taker to get it all back to square. Once I got everything mounted I got to use the chassis for a bit of time to see just how well things stayed cool inside and how things got if it were in smaller confines found in a typical HTPC setup. With the fan switched to low, the system is very quiet, and there is enough airflow to keep even my aged components within reasonable temperature ranges. When I switched it to high there was a bit of noise emanating from inside, but the temperatures of the CPU, VGA, and the HDD dropped. At first glance I wasn’t so sure that the small areas of drilled holes were going to be enough to let this chassis breathe very well, but during testing the flow out of those areas was very good, and judging by what I saw in temperatures dropping, they are sufficient enough to allow for ample flow both in and out of the chassis. If you are looking to add simple elegance to either your desktop or your home theater room, the Lian Li PC-V352 should definitely be considered for almost any situation with a micro-ITX or mini-ATX motherboard.