Well, this case is not really meant to be air cooled. I mean look at the top - you see three removable 12cm spots. Which means - 360 radiator. Put the rest of the water cooling kit somewhere in the case, and you got an internal 360 radiator with water cooling loop.
"Raising the height of the case is what Lian Li calls a VGA pillar bar; a strut of aluminium that can be used to support the weight of larger graphics cards. However, the fittings for doing this are fiddly and the fact that the pillar bar intrudes into the case reducing CPU cooler clearance considerably means that its a waste of aluminium. "
Unless you're watercooling and have 7 full cover GPU blocks... not like I could ever afford, or need that, but still, there are those who can and do (well, say they do :p)
@tigertop1: you know, plastic&steel vs aluminum... For you who don't mind the difference in materials, it is really not worth it.
Oh wait, you missed the main reason this case exists. Please, put your glasses on, do your math and count the number of PCI slots this case handles. Then look at NZXT Phantom and tell me where do you put your EVGA SR-2 in it. Because this case is designed for EVGA SR-2, not your average ATX board.
Can we get a retest with an sr-2 board + water cooling setup and the 4 gpus people are gonna stick in it instead of this stupid test setup that proves nothing as no one will spend £400 to put a £100 motherboard in it.
And what comparison would be useful with all that enormous hardware which only fits in one case?
With plain-old ATX hardware it's a useful comparison on its raw air-cooling performance, if it can't cool a single CPU system decently what difference does piling it full of gear make?
Originally Posted by rollo Can we get a retest with an sr-2 board + water cooling setup and the 4 gpus people are gonna stick in it instead of this stupid test setup that proves nothing as no one will spend £400 to put a £100 motherboard in it.
Please retest with correct hardware
Do you seriously expect bit-tech to go to all that cost & effort for one case test?
Originally Posted by Krikkit With plain-old ATX hardware it's a useful comparison on its raw air-cooling performance, if it can't cool a single CPU system decently what difference does piling it full of gear make?
You know, there are lots of cases which suck as air-cooling cases, but excel as watercooling cases. This case is exactly this - a perfect water cooling case with place for 360 rad at top and lots of space for the rest of the water cooling kit - all internal, no external radiators needed.
Originally Posted by rollo Can we get a retest with an sr-2 board + water cooling setup and the 4 gpus people are gonna stick in it instead of this stupid test setup that proves nothing as no one will spend £400 to put a £100 motherboard in it.
Please retest with correct hardware
Do you seriously expect bit-tech to go to all that cost & effort for one case test?
Although the tone is inappropriate, he does have a point. Either do a test for a 400£ case with hardware that would justify the cost or just don't bother. Btw I think that it is probably too much effort to put an SR2 and a 3-4 GPU setup with waterloops for testing what is a very niche product. And I don't think anyone has the time or money to do that anyway. But testing it as a standard aircooling case is not what this case was designed for I think.
Originally Posted by Krikkit With plain-old ATX hardware it's a useful comparison on its raw air-cooling performance, if it can't cool a single CPU system decently what difference does piling it full of gear make?
You know, there are lots of cases which suck as air-cooling cases, but excel as watercooling cases. This case is exactly this - a perfect water cooling case with place for 360 rad at top and lots of space for the rest of the water cooling kit - all internal, no external radiators needed.
If this is such a great case for watercooling what is it doing with 5 big fans???!!! 'Cos no one is going to use it in an aircooling role with so meany cheaper and better aircool cases around
Bit tech test methods are well known i like them in a standard atx case
When your reviewing something that is designed for sr2 duel CPU and many gpus all of which will end up under water cooling then you expect a bit more effort than the bog standard air tests of which prove it's a poor air cooling case most enthusiast on this site could of told you as much without the review.
Due to the huge gaps between the fans and the hardware
There is less than 5 e atx cases that you can buy in the uk many resort to building there own or importing big case mods which can cost more than this.
Value comparison to what please is there another competing product in the uk or reviewed by this site. But tech have reviewed the sr2 I'd hazard a be they still have it even if they just tested it under air we would see a better extract of what is been sold
Lian Li ... check
Removeable motherboard tray ... check
External radiator support ... check
Support for largest motherboard in the known universe ... check
Wallet ... FAIL
Originally Posted by tigertop1 If this is such a great case for watercooling what is it doing with 5 big fans???!!! 'Cos no one is going to use it in an aircooling role with so meany cheaper and better aircool cases around
Whatever i do, i count just 4, 3 of those are responsible for hard drive cooling, 1 is outtake which every water cooled case needs. Even if you have water cooling, you still need some airflow above components not in loop.
And good morning, did you ever seen a cheap highend Lian Li ?
Get a grip everyone asking for a retest with a watercooled loop... Bit-tech just hasn't the materials at their disposal whenever they wish so. Makers send them review material, they test how they know and it's better suited to everyone. I want to use watercooling on my pc but it's expensive and not everyone has a deep wallet to buy the parts in a single purchase.
I reckon for the price and aircooling, it's a no no. For deep pockets, watercooling even without SR2, is a go.
So much space and possibly removable caddies and some people might use that VGA bar. There always is someone in the flock that has deep pockets so when that person buys one, ask them to send photos and test results.
If someone has the money to spend on a i7-980 or 990, 3 SLi or 4 Crossfire, large sums of TB, surely he has some for this case.
So I ask, if someone really buys this aluminum gorgeous, please provide some photos with watercooling. If not, I rest my case and keep planing my PC's WC loop.
I would like to add that w/c installations vary enormously so there will never be a w/c test where everyone is happy. It would lead to "why didn't you use xyz pump/fans/rad's/res/blocks etc - you get the picture.
Bit-tech test cases as they come from the manufacturer - as you or I would buy them. For those wanting to air cool, we can see the result of how it comes and make our own mind up. Some of us wait for other sources to test with more fans for example, or we wait until someone buys the case and posts their own results.
For those wanting to w/c this case, the air cooled test results with their test kit are meaningless. What is more important is the space for rad's/pumps/res's etc and bit-tech were very clear in that respect, they mentioned the space for the triple rad in the roof and the high-res photos let you come to your own conclusion about the internal space for the rest.
tldr; bit-tech test the cases as they come, draw your own conclusions about whether it is suitable for your own personal requirements.
I'm astonished so many readers are willing to give bit-tech a free pass for this (almost) worthless review. Why are readers so concerned about how much money or "work" its going to cost bit-tech to do a proper review of this case (or any other product for that matter)? Bit-tech is a for profit enterprise! Its unfortunate that they've decided not to invest time and money in order to give their readers some useful information. Or, maybe they have no idea how to properly test a case designed to house a water cooled rig?
I'm a generous guy, so for whenever they have the opportunity to review another water cooling case, they should try to answer some of these questions:
- With a rad mounted in the top of the case, how much clearance is between it and the motherboard?
- Would a push/pull setup fit? And how about with deep fans?
- How much work would be required to mod the case in order to fit a quad radiator in the top? Would you loose the use of the top 5.25-inch drive bay?
- Would a 120mm radiator fit on the back?
- Would H50/70s fit anywhere?
- Would a radiator fit in the front?
- etc.
Don't get me wrong, I read bit-tech almost every day, but surely they could have done better on this review.
.
Comments 1 to 25 of 30
ReplyAny chance of including the Lian Li PC-V1020 in your case charts? You reviewed the case here:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2011/01/06/lian-li-pc-v1020-review/1
Scrub that! I see you have? My eyes >.>
Unless you're watercooling and have 7 full cover GPU blocks... not like I could ever afford, or need that, but still, there are those who can and do (well, say they do :p)
Thanks.
Oh wait, you missed the main reason this case exists. Please, put your glasses on, do your math and count the number of PCI slots this case handles. Then look at NZXT Phantom and tell me where do you put your EVGA SR-2 in it. Because this case is designed for EVGA SR-2, not your average ATX board.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/03/17/lian-li-pc-v2120-review/3
Please retest with correct hardware
With plain-old ATX hardware it's a useful comparison on its raw air-cooling performance, if it can't cool a single CPU system decently what difference does piling it full of gear make?
Do you seriously expect bit-tech to go to all that cost & effort for one case test?
You know, there are lots of cases which suck as air-cooling cases, but excel as watercooling cases. This case is exactly this - a perfect water cooling case with place for 360 rad at top and lots of space for the rest of the water cooling kit - all internal, no external radiators needed.
Although the tone is inappropriate, he does have a point. Either do a test for a 400£ case with hardware that would justify the cost or just don't bother. Btw I think that it is probably too much effort to put an SR2 and a 3-4 GPU setup with waterloops for testing what is a very niche product. And I don't think anyone has the time or money to do that anyway. But testing it as a standard aircooling case is not what this case was designed for I think.
If this is such a great case for watercooling what is it doing with 5 big fans???!!! 'Cos no one is going to use it in an aircooling role with so meany cheaper and better aircool cases around
When your reviewing something that is designed for sr2 duel CPU and many gpus all of which will end up under water cooling then you expect a bit more effort than the bog standard air tests of which prove it's a poor air cooling case most enthusiast on this site could of told you as much without the review.
Due to the huge gaps between the fans and the hardware
There is less than 5 e atx cases that you can buy in the uk many resort to building there own or importing big case mods which can cost more than this.
Value comparison to what please is there another competing product in the uk or reviewed by this site. But tech have reviewed the sr2 I'd hazard a be they still have it even if they just tested it under air we would see a better extract of what is been sold
Removeable motherboard tray ... check
External radiator support ... check
Support for largest motherboard in the known universe ... check
Wallet ... FAIL
Whatever i do, i count just 4, 3 of those are responsible for hard drive cooling, 1 is outtake which every water cooled case needs. Even if you have water cooling, you still need some airflow above components not in loop.
And good morning, did you ever seen a cheap highend Lian Li ?
I reckon for the price and aircooling, it's a no no. For deep pockets, watercooling even without SR2, is a go.
So much space and possibly removable caddies and some people might use that VGA bar. There always is someone in the flock that has deep pockets so when that person buys one, ask them to send photos and test results.
If someone has the money to spend on a i7-980 or 990, 3 SLi or 4 Crossfire, large sums of TB, surely he has some for this case.
So I ask, if someone really buys this aluminum gorgeous, please provide some photos with watercooling. If not, I rest my case and keep planing my PC's WC loop.
I would like to add that w/c installations vary enormously so there will never be a w/c test where everyone is happy. It would lead to "why didn't you use xyz pump/fans/rad's/res/blocks etc - you get the picture.
Bit-tech test cases as they come from the manufacturer - as you or I would buy them. For those wanting to air cool, we can see the result of how it comes and make our own mind up. Some of us wait for other sources to test with more fans for example, or we wait until someone buys the case and posts their own results.
For those wanting to w/c this case, the air cooled test results with their test kit are meaningless. What is more important is the space for rad's/pumps/res's etc and bit-tech were very clear in that respect, they mentioned the space for the triple rad in the roof and the high-res photos let you come to your own conclusion about the internal space for the rest.
tldr; bit-tech test the cases as they come, draw your own conclusions about whether it is suitable for your own personal requirements.
I'm a generous guy, so for whenever they have the opportunity to review another water cooling case, they should try to answer some of these questions:
- With a rad mounted in the top of the case, how much clearance is between it and the motherboard?
- Would a push/pull setup fit? And how about with deep fans?
- How much work would be required to mod the case in order to fit a quad radiator in the top? Would you loose the use of the top 5.25-inch drive bay?
- Would a 120mm radiator fit on the back?
- Would H50/70s fit anywhere?
- Would a radiator fit in the front?
- etc.
Don't get me wrong, I read bit-tech almost every day, but surely they could have done better on this review.
.
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