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And here it is... My review of the Lian-Li V300.
**NOTE* This review doesnt include installation due to the lack of a dremel**
"The Package"
When i got this case out of the box, i was quite suprised.
First off, i wasnt sure if it was bigger then i had thought, as i didnt want something 'Too big'.
Second, ive always been a big fan of black cases, so i was a bit skeptical of getting a silver. But im glad, as the case looks brilliant.
What do you get for your money... i hear you say
Along with the case, you get 3 internal 80mm fans, and a load of hdd screws, spacers and a screwdriver(Spacer screwdriver not crosshead), which all comes in handy if you dont have all the tid bits around.
"The Quality"
I am really suprised with the build of this case. Lian-Li are known well for their high quality builds, but wasnt to sure if they would skip in certain places to get the price down to what it retails at.
Thankfully, when i got the case out i could see that i was sorely mistaken, as the case has a wonderful finish and looks beautiful.
The case is very sturdy and could probably withstand a lot of weight... though i didnt want to be proved wrong on that aswell.
Unlike some cheaper cases with dodgy side panels which can be very troublesome to remove or put back on, the side panels were nicely made. They are attached to the case with 6 crosshead screws, and this simplicity makes it easy for any modder to get their own custom made or modded side panel (like i plan to do when i remove the excess floppy and cd caddy).
On the right side panel, theres a thin 80mm extract fan. The fan seems to be a small 20mm thick fan, and from the looks of things you wont be able to squeeze a 25mm thick fan there instead.
Fear the old school ruler
Once you have stripped down the case to its main chassis, you will notice that its quite spacious. To me i think when everything is installed, it will be even more roomy then the q-micra... then add that it looks good and you got a winner.
The removable mother tray is nothing special.
Its a solidily built motherboard tray, with a nice finish. You also have to 2 40mm fan mounts at the back which would be great for getting a push pull airflow going in your case.
I did notice something though whilst putting it back in.
The motherboard backplate seems to be warped. Im not sure if this is just on mine as i had mine brought from the states, or if i was a bit to careless. Hopefully its not a manufacturing fault as it just meant the thumb screws sometimes got a bit funny.
From the back you will notice the grill just above where the psu will be housed.
Now i havent tested it but im guessing it will leave room up above the psu, let alone i dont think it will reduce temps much. But i thought that if they moved the psu up more, it would of given people extra room to get some beasty CPU coolers in there no problem.
The HDD caddy is also a nice touch. Easily accessible, albeit a bit different. Its not made out of some useless material either that will break quite easily, like other screwless HDD caddies.
Good thing about this design that even a monkey could work it out
I did notice something when i was exploring my case which is going to be just a bit annoying.
The fans seem to be screwed in from the grill side... but the grill covers the screw head. Lucky enough it looks like you can unscrew at the bottom of the side chassis which will release the panel mounting the fans, usb/audio dongle thingy, and also the reset switch, which could be handy for modders.
Also whilst here i decided to measure how much room there was at the front. I got this case purely cause i was almost positive i could rig a dual 120mm radiator and fans at the front, which made this case easily the better buy for me as i want to watercool in the coming months.
The 80mm fans on the front are your basic 80x80x25mm.
Next was seeing how much you are going to have to mod out to see if a 120mm fan would fit.
As most people with watercooling will have higher end cards, then the chances are they will have to mod the floppy caddy.. i just thought why not remove it seeing as hardly anyone uses it.
With the floppy caddy modded out there would be amples of room to fit the fan in. There is also easily enough width on this case aswell.
Only problem is you will have a slight fan obstruction in the centre due to the black 'bezel', though as the fan mount is sat back by about 1cm it means that it wont be too much of a hinderance.
My other problem with fitting watercooling would be if there would be enough free space between the fan mount and the removable motherboard tray?
Im lucky enough to say to you modders out there that it can house it perfectly. If you say you have 70mm to work with to get the rad and fans in there then youre laughing.
"Conclusion"
As you can see from the pictures the quality of the build is superb and you do really get value for your money, let alone its half the size of a normal ATX case. Its a sturdy case, with what i think are great looks, and a fantastic price.
I think Lian-Li have made a good product with the V300, but they overlooked things that could of put this as the peoples firm favourite SFF Case, which are:
Lack of 9" card support. This is a serious foul up by the design team. But with a tiny bit of modding its easily rectified.
Floppy Disk Drive. I think im with the majority of people here that make them near enough useless. If it wasnt there this case would be a modders dream.
Apart from those points i think this case is superb, and is better then the Q-Micra (though i havent actually owned one), but for value for money, build quality, and potential, it sure is close.
I know this review doesnt have the installation of components, but i will post a project log and link it on from here that will show what you can do with this case once that floppy caddy is out of the way.
Also just to give you a reference of what its like size-wise and style-wise compared to some other desktop components i thought id chuck this in.
Hope you liked the review
**NOTE* This review doesnt include installation due to the lack of a dremel**
"The Package"
When i got this case out of the box, i was quite suprised.
First off, i wasnt sure if it was bigger then i had thought, as i didnt want something 'Too big'.
Second, ive always been a big fan of black cases, so i was a bit skeptical of getting a silver. But im glad, as the case looks brilliant.
What do you get for your money... i hear you say
Along with the case, you get 3 internal 80mm fans, and a load of hdd screws, spacers and a screwdriver(Spacer screwdriver not crosshead), which all comes in handy if you dont have all the tid bits around.
"The Quality"
I am really suprised with the build of this case. Lian-Li are known well for their high quality builds, but wasnt to sure if they would skip in certain places to get the price down to what it retails at.
Thankfully, when i got the case out i could see that i was sorely mistaken, as the case has a wonderful finish and looks beautiful.
The case is very sturdy and could probably withstand a lot of weight... though i didnt want to be proved wrong on that aswell.
Unlike some cheaper cases with dodgy side panels which can be very troublesome to remove or put back on, the side panels were nicely made. They are attached to the case with 6 crosshead screws, and this simplicity makes it easy for any modder to get their own custom made or modded side panel (like i plan to do when i remove the excess floppy and cd caddy).
On the right side panel, theres a thin 80mm extract fan. The fan seems to be a small 20mm thick fan, and from the looks of things you wont be able to squeeze a 25mm thick fan there instead.
Fear the old school ruler
Once you have stripped down the case to its main chassis, you will notice that its quite spacious. To me i think when everything is installed, it will be even more roomy then the q-micra... then add that it looks good and you got a winner.
The removable mother tray is nothing special.
Its a solidily built motherboard tray, with a nice finish. You also have to 2 40mm fan mounts at the back which would be great for getting a push pull airflow going in your case.
I did notice something though whilst putting it back in.
The motherboard backplate seems to be warped. Im not sure if this is just on mine as i had mine brought from the states, or if i was a bit to careless. Hopefully its not a manufacturing fault as it just meant the thumb screws sometimes got a bit funny.
From the back you will notice the grill just above where the psu will be housed.
Now i havent tested it but im guessing it will leave room up above the psu, let alone i dont think it will reduce temps much. But i thought that if they moved the psu up more, it would of given people extra room to get some beasty CPU coolers in there no problem.
The HDD caddy is also a nice touch. Easily accessible, albeit a bit different. Its not made out of some useless material either that will break quite easily, like other screwless HDD caddies.
Good thing about this design that even a monkey could work it out
I did notice something when i was exploring my case which is going to be just a bit annoying.
The fans seem to be screwed in from the grill side... but the grill covers the screw head. Lucky enough it looks like you can unscrew at the bottom of the side chassis which will release the panel mounting the fans, usb/audio dongle thingy, and also the reset switch, which could be handy for modders.
Also whilst here i decided to measure how much room there was at the front. I got this case purely cause i was almost positive i could rig a dual 120mm radiator and fans at the front, which made this case easily the better buy for me as i want to watercool in the coming months.
The 80mm fans on the front are your basic 80x80x25mm.
Next was seeing how much you are going to have to mod out to see if a 120mm fan would fit.
As most people with watercooling will have higher end cards, then the chances are they will have to mod the floppy caddy.. i just thought why not remove it seeing as hardly anyone uses it.
With the floppy caddy modded out there would be amples of room to fit the fan in. There is also easily enough width on this case aswell.
Only problem is you will have a slight fan obstruction in the centre due to the black 'bezel', though as the fan mount is sat back by about 1cm it means that it wont be too much of a hinderance.
My other problem with fitting watercooling would be if there would be enough free space between the fan mount and the removable motherboard tray?
Im lucky enough to say to you modders out there that it can house it perfectly. If you say you have 70mm to work with to get the rad and fans in there then youre laughing.
"Conclusion"
As you can see from the pictures the quality of the build is superb and you do really get value for your money, let alone its half the size of a normal ATX case. Its a sturdy case, with what i think are great looks, and a fantastic price.
I think Lian-Li have made a good product with the V300, but they overlooked things that could of put this as the peoples firm favourite SFF Case, which are:
Lack of 9" card support. This is a serious foul up by the design team. But with a tiny bit of modding its easily rectified.
Floppy Disk Drive. I think im with the majority of people here that make them near enough useless. If it wasnt there this case would be a modders dream.
Apart from those points i think this case is superb, and is better then the Q-Micra (though i havent actually owned one), but for value for money, build quality, and potential, it sure is close.
I know this review doesnt have the installation of components, but i will post a project log and link it on from here that will show what you can do with this case once that floppy caddy is out of the way.
Also just to give you a reference of what its like size-wise and style-wise compared to some other desktop components i thought id chuck this in.
Hope you liked the review