Lian Li PC50

EdwardTeach · 19 Mar 2010 at 00:09

Does anyone have one, if so how do you find it?

I was curious as to what the negatives of this case were.

e.g why is the pc50 cheaper than the B10 or B25 -what does it lack?

You are paying more for an aluminium case, so aside from the material is the PC50 inferior in some way to a non-aluminium case in the ~£100 bracket from the likes of antec?

pastymuncher · 19 Mar 2010 at 14:22

I have one and i have mixed feelings about it. It look's good, has excellent cooling and being aluminium is nice and light. It does'nt have a removeable mobo tray, cable management is a bit of a pain behind the mobo tray due to a lip on the bottom of the tray. The side panels are bloody terrible to fit/remove. Probably the worst design i have ever come across. They rattle a little as well. Overall it's not up to the hype that everyone associates with Lian Li cases.

If i knew that the K62 Dragonlord was coming out i would have got that instead as it's basically the same case but in steel and is much better value for money.

EdwardTeach · 20 Mar 2010 at 10:25

Is the rattle audible under 'normal' use or only when the fans are on max? I want a light case, but quieteness is also a priority.

pastymuncher · 20 Mar 2010 at 14:24

It's worst at startup, although it also does it when launching a game. I believe is linked to the DVDRW spinning up. It's not the Hdd's as they are fitted with rubber grommets. Likewise the psu is insulated by rubber as well. The stock fans are pants and i changed all of them for Yate Loons (120 & 140mm). All are on a fan controller running at 660rpm and are practically silent. While it's not a bad case i would'nt recommend one.

EdwardTeach · 20 Mar 2010 at 17:13

interesting, what do you wish you had gone for instead?

pastymuncher · 21 Mar 2010 at 13:23

Like i said earlier, if i knew it was coming out i would have got the K62 Dragonlord. It is essentially the same case but in steel and significantly cheaper, although being the same design is likley to have similar faults. If i was buying a new case now i would probably get something like a Silverstone Fortress FT-01B, Antec P183/193 or even the Coolermaster CM-690 Advanced Dominator.

cook001 · 21 Mar 2010 at 15:07

Hi
Having used both cases on different builds i would say go for the Lancool k-62.
The hdd bay in the Lancool is better to use (on the pc50 you have to remove the hdd cage to install drives).Plus the K-62 has a 140mm intake fan the pc50 only has a 120mm.
The side panels don't rattle on the lancool k-62 case and for £84 great value for the money.
Hope this helps

EdwardTeach · 21 Mar 2010 at 21:50

Thanks cook, did you also find that the lian li's side pannels rattled?

cook001 · 21 Mar 2010 at 22:51

EdwardTeach said:
Thanks cook, did you also find that the lian li's side pannels rattled?

Yes the pc-50 side panel did rattle a bit but most aluminium cases are prone to this.

EdwardTeach · 22 Mar 2010 at 13:28

With the rattling pc50, was the case placed on a solid surface or on a carpet?

i was thinking that perhaps on a carpet it wouldnt rattle.

pastymuncher · 22 Mar 2010 at 13:36

Solid surface but the case has soft rubber feet. If placing on a carpet you will have to raise the case somehow due to the psu air intake being underneath. It is filtered but airflow will be severely restricted by the carpets pile.

Freddie1980 · 22 Mar 2010 at 20:51

pastymuncher said:
It's worst at startup, although it also does it when launching a game. I believe is linked to the DVDRW spinning up. It's not the Hdd's as they are fitted with rubber grommets. Likewise the psu is insulated by rubber as well. The stock fans are pants and i changed all of them for Yate Loons (120 & 140mm). All are on a fan controller running at 660rpm and are practically silent. While it's not a bad case i would'nt recommend one.

I have the same rattle problem I'm not sure what's causing it but I find a light tud with my palm to the front of the drive bays soon fixes it!

Overall I'm really impressed with the case, it's very light and has excellent cooling I was a bit put of at first as it lacked a fan controller but the stock fans are pretty quite so it's not an issue for me (but not silent).

pastymucher has also pointed out the cases other fault - the side panel. My previous case was 6 years old (and cost £120 when new) and had a much better design and was much easier to remove and put back on, on the PC50 you have to carefully line up the lips with the bottom of case and slide it on which isn't great if you like to tinker with your hardware a lot.

Other then the side panel issue the case is easy to work with and cable management would benefit if you have a modular PSU. Routing the motherboards 8pin power connection through the top hold requires a bit work as you have to take of the top section (easy as it just unclips when you pull it) then unscrew the front I/O panel then unscrew the top lip that's holding the fans.

What I have noticed with this case it my temperatures have gone right down due to better airflow and overall design but looking back if I knew the Lancool cases were coming out I might have got one of those instead. Zalaman also has a really good budget mid sized tower case which shares a lot of the features found on the PC50.

Stelly · 23 Mar 2010 at 01:37

I have the Zalman for my server at home, its an amazingly nice and quiet case, definately worth it, even though the cable management is not there!

Stelly