Lian-Li PC-V1000 Aluminum Case

Ooooooohhhh Ahhhhhhhhh!! No, we aren’t in a museum, but we may be looking at a work of art with the Lian-Li PC-V1000 all-aluminum case. Come take a closer look at a smooth and sleek case that you may want to add to your arsenal of hardware.

Introduction

So you like the engine, the interior, stereo, cupholders, and those awesome heated seats for the wintertime to keep your butt nice and toasty…..so why the heck is your car so freakin’ ugly!?!??!?! You have the innards, but the outards are not too good-looking to please those old tired eyes of yours. As with cars, the same could be said with your PC. You have the latest vid card, a terabyte of storage, and the biggest and baddest processor on the block, but that case looks like an old Apple IIe that just died its last death. Don’t keep killing your style with that ugly case of yours; get something with a little more flair, pizzazz, and any other redundant word you want to use to describe a sweet looking case like the Lian Li PC-V1000. All-aluminum, sleek, fast, and flashy as hell! This is just what you need to put a new spark into your blah PC life. Oh yeah, it’s functional too; don’t want to leave that out, do I??!! The great people at Monarch Computer Systems have been generous enough to allow me to take a look at the PC-V1000 and its add-on window side panel. Many thanks go out to them for their contribution.

Specs and Features

Specifications

• Dimensions:210x490x525mm(W,H,D)
• Drive bays: 5×5.25″, 6×3.5″ internal
• Fan: 2 x 12CM ball bearing fans
• M/B type: ATX & Pentium 4
• Front I/O: IEEE 1394 port x 1, USB 2.0 x 2, MIC x 1, EAR x 1
• Slot: PCI Slot x 7

Product Feature / Commentary:

• Interior three zones design for better heat dissipating
• Multi-Ventilator for heat dissipating
• Sliding tracks for easy assemble hidden H.D.D.
• Easy assemble device for side panels
• Aluminum casters with brake
• Crenulate edge of side panel
• High quality stainless power button
• Removable sound damping cover for the fan in the rear.
• CD/DVD ROM bezel x 1 ; 5.25″ to 3.5″ convertor with floppy bezel x 1

Right from the start, I can tell this is a case to be reckoned with. Lian Li is synonymous with high quality cases. Those who have drooled over them for years only hoping that they will have one know exactly what I’m talking about. The all-aluminum construction is all you want with a high-quality case. It’s solid as solid can be. There is nothing flimsy about any of the parts of this case. The side panels are very light but strong like a bull!! No wobble, no bending. You could bake cookies on these things, and they would come out of the oven just like they went in. Along with the PC-V1000 came a windowed panel to replace the plain ol’ solid one that was there originally. This is definitely an optional add-on that you may want to purchase to add to the looks of your case. It sure beats cutting the window out yourself. Let’s fill this thing with some hardware.

Installation

It didn’t take long to run into my first issue with the case. I went to put the windowed panel on and ran into a little problem….LITERALLY!! The little pegs that are on the panel that fit into the holes on the case were a little bit off. They were off by several millimeters and the panel would not go on AT ALL! Well I’m not one to just give up that easy so I went for the screwdriver and put a little elbow grease into that hole in the case. A little stripping, a little pushing, and a little grinding later and the panel was on. Yes it was a bit of a pain, but a quick five minutes of unexpected work gave me the results that I wanted.

The window panel is a great addition to the case. Being able to show off the innards of your PC is a great addition to the overall experience of working with PCs. Can you imagine washing and waxing your car, then driving it around with a car cover on it the whole time? Take a peek inside the case to see what is really cooking under that sweet skin.

The PC-V1000 is one of the new cases on the block that likes to flip things around a bit. Everyone is used to the standard “I have my PSU on top, PCI slots below, and HDDs right in the middle.” If you aren’t apt to change, don’t look at this case. The motherboard is upside down, HDDs are at the very bottom, and PSU is right next door to the HDDs at the very bottom of the case. Why such an interesting design you ask?? Well part of it is for the benefits of cooling. The Lian Li case has three separate cooling zones with the two large fans included in the case. The lower portion containing the HDDs and PSU is cooled with a large fan passing air over it from the front to the back. The perforated front portion of the case allows a huge amount of air to flow through the case and be pulled all the way out the back by another fan in the rear of the case. The concept seems very logical and effective.

The case is also mobile. Yes, I said it’s mobile. No, not cellphone mobile, just really easy to move around. This baby has places to go and people to see! The four wheels on the case do not swivel, change directions, rotate, spin, or change their vector in any way. It’s a front to back motion, but it moves around the room really well. There is even a brake on the back set to keep it set in its ways once you find a good spot for it. Never mind that the case is light enough to pick up and move from one area to another, the wheels add a little extra function to the case that can be used more often than you would believe. You could even add a little pull string to the front and tow it behind you wherever you go. Okay…..well maybe not.

I wasn’t exactly sure how I would feel about the “upside-down” motherboard and was a little bit worried about some of the cables, especially the SATA for my HDDs, not being able to reach their final destination. Overall, I didn’t have a single problem. Everything ended up fitting really well within the case with plenty of breathing room to spare. It is not cluttered, and I haven’t had any problems fitting any of my PC parts into the case with ease.

 

This case is exceptionally quiet to top it all off. The construction and fan placement keeps the case nice and quiet. I didn’t have any problems with the case “drowning out” TV, music, games, or even giving me a headache while I was doing simple office related tasks or web browsing. I think my video card provided the most noise inside the entire case.

Mods

While I was testing out the case, I wanted to see what kind of simple mods I could do to give it a customized look. With the windowed panel already present, and the overall design of the case already being awesome, I had trouble deciding what I wanted to try. I settled for a simple cold cathode light add-on into the front of the case. I was able to squeeze some blue cold cathode lights into the front between the side panels and the drive bays. Booyah, this was a sweet little addition to the case. Bright blue glow eminating from the front all the way through the inside of the case really kicked the looks into high gear.

 

Final Thoughts 

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This is my first experience with a Lian-Li case. I have heard the praise they have received in the past and had very high expectations coming into this experience. I am glad to say that my expectations were met and exceeded at the same time. The PC-V1000 is an awesome case that anyone can enjoy. It has a kick butt set of features, spanning looks and functionality. It’s light, quiet, cool, and has a ton of room for mods and add-ons to sweeten up the deal even more.

It is pricey though. Cost of the PC-V1000 runs in the $200 range (click here to see Monarch’s current price). That can put a dent in anyone’s wallet, especially when it doesn’t come with a power supply. I still can’t get over the fact that there is no reset button. I guess that feature could be important to some, but I don’t see how it is critical to the quality of the case. The problem with the windowed panel could have been a simple manufacturing defect that was very random. I had a chance to speak with someone that has the same case with a window panel, and it fit perfectly straight out of the box. While it may have been random, it may not be isolated and there could easily be problems showing up with other panels and cases. The windowed panel typically costs $50-60 online (also available at Monarch).

Pros:

     + Great looks

     + All aluminum makes it light and cool

     + Very quiet

     + Plenty of opportunities to mod

Cons:

     – Pricey as most Lian-Li cases are

     – No reset button (may make some scratch their heads)

     – Window add-on panel didn’t fit at first

I really like the Lian-Li PC-V1000 case. It’s gorgeous, quiet, and functional…three qualities I can’t live without when it comes to my case. I highly recommend the PC-V1000 and give it a 9.5 out of 10 and the Bjorn3D Golden Bear Award.