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Lian Li X1000 case seems almost perfect

Published on 4th June 2009 by Richard Swinburne

Lian Li's X1000 is a gorgeous bit of anodised aluminium with many issues fixed since the X2000 was released.

COMPUTEX 2009: We've always had a soft spot for Lian-Li's X2000 as, despite the price tag and slightly limited feature set, it was an utterly beautiful bit of news. The X1000 improves on the X2000 by simplifying the design, bringing down the cost (although no specific price was yet given), while retaining the elegant tall design, which makes the X-series unique.

Lian Li has listened to criticism of the original design and has moved the optical drives to face the front. There's support for six hard drives, space for a pair of 2.5” SSD drives, support for long PSUs (although with high efficiency solutions now it shouldn’t be needed in this day and age), as well as the option to pack out the motherboard with graphics cards thanks to the two large 140mm fans right behind them. Despite having no side fan, the graphics cooling should be very similar due to this chassis design, but the advantage of no side fan means its elegant clean looks aren’t spoiled with an ugly grill.

The downside of a tall case means that its centre of gravity is higher, although with the PSU in the base that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. We hope Lian Li remembers that PSU cables still need to be long enough to read the optical and hard drives in the top though.

Discuss in the forums.

16 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

TomH 4th June 2009, 13:52

Very, very nice. :)

oasked 4th June 2009, 13:52

That thing is absolutely massive, what do you need all that space for?

Skiddywinks 4th June 2009, 13:54

I haven't read anything about the X1000. What kind of watercooling potential does it have, and is the X2000 any better suited?

Paradigm Shifter 4th June 2009, 14:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by

I really like tall cases. Some of the current 'high end large' cases get cramped when they're full of kit. The more room to play, the better IMO. :D

Flibblebot 4th June 2009, 14:17

A big case will also have better airflow because they're less cluttered. Either that, or there's loads of room for watercooling kit :D

Skiddywinks 4th June 2009, 14:40

How about room for mount at least one triple rad? I have to admit, it looks very tempting. I will definitely be doing a lot of research when we get some reviews out.

TGImages 4th June 2009, 14:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by oasked
That thing is absolutely massive, what do you need all that space for?

I have to agree. In days past I had giant cases so I could put all sorts of stuff in them but never came close to utilizing that space. Many open slots and bays that never got used. For the last few years I've preferred something that will hold a handful of drives, 4 including optical usually being more than enough for me. As long as the case is also easy to work on and has decent cooling you've pretty much met my requirements.

For someone who wants to cram in a bunch of drives and cards I can see where this would be a useful case but when most of it sits empty..... well......

I-E-D 4th June 2009, 16:58

Sexy, wouldn't mind finding out the cost of one of these.

knyghtryda 4th June 2009, 19:26

Im seeing quite a bit of room... but still no way of conveniently mounting a triple radiator. I took a jigsaw to my current case for that to fit, but I sure as hell dont want to cut this beautiful case.

HourBeforeDawn 4th June 2009, 20:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGImages
Quote:
Originally Posted by oasked
That thing is absolutely massive, what do you need all that space for?

I have to agree. In days past I had giant cases so I could put all sorts of stuff in them but never came close to utilizing that space. Many open slots and bays that never got used. For the last few years I've preferred something that will hold a handful of drives, 4 including optical usually being more than enough for me. As long as the case is also easy to work on and has decent cooling you've pretty much met my requirements.

For someone who wants to cram in a bunch of drives and cards I can see where this would be a useful case but when most of it sits empty..... well......

ya Im growing out of the server size and larger cases, I try to stick around a mid tower range to a smaller full tower size.

Paradigm Shifter 4th June 2009, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by

Eh, after a mate had his nice, light, small uATX system stolen when his flat got broken in to... I want big, heavy, back-breaking cases that no quick-on-his-feet burglar is gonna be able to tuck under and arm and run with. :D

mrb_no1 4th June 2009, 22:15

lol.... my tower is a massive server one, but it has wheels so they could sit on it and push it down the street to their van if they wanted...i just like more space, so then it can be made to look nicer and allow for a slightly greater build up of heat that one might be punished for in a smaller case. plus i have 6hdd's and not all smaller cases accomodate that! love the look of this lian li though, if i can find some money again in the economic depression, i'd turn those front fans around, stick a 360rad in there and have me a wc setup, then it'd be front heavy :P

peace

fatman

Elton 5th June 2009, 05:00

I'm starting to get more and more fond of large cases.

If only because I'm sick of working in the cages they call the Antec 300 and the CM690...

Sublym3 7th June 2009, 09:36

Although it is pre production, the addition of tool-less optical bays and expansion slots are good. But in general it looks worse than the X-2000 imho.

Should remove the 2 SSD bays they just look out of place, and should the internal layout back to how it was with the X-2000. Do we know if they are going to put hot swap HDD cage in this one?

naokaji 7th June 2009, 10:20

I don't like the position of the SSD mounts, I'm sure they put them where they are so you can easily show off your bank account breaking ssds to your friends, but I bet most people don't have any friends (or even enemies) that would recognize a SSD as such, so they could have just integrated the SSD mounting in to the regular HDD mounting.

Rocket_Knight64 2nd July 2009, 22:24

http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=336&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61

Not seen it mentioned elsewhere, but the official product page is now up with more detail.

This is one case I'm certainly getting assuming the price if right or does not take eons to make it to the UK.