The Lian-Li PC-8N is a high quality medium range aluminum case with a sober design at an interesting price level.

INTRODUCTION

Just a couple of weeks back I had the immense pleasure to review the LanCool Dragonlord PC-K58 case and as I mentioned in the introduction to that review, LanCool is a member Lian-Li family of brands.

The Lian-Li PC-8N is a medium tower case without too many “extra” features. It is a sober looking case made in aluminum that should attract anyone looking for a high quality case at a reasonable price level.

Let’s have a look at its specifications:

From what I can read from the specifications above, this case is not one of those high end cases with a ton of interesting features. Instead, Lian-Li have focused on building a high quality case in aluminum which includes a rather small portion of innovations. However, it seems from the specifications that they haven’t held back on the cooling system and the noise dampening features.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The accessories included with the case are: a manual; an anti vibration kit for the hard drives, screws, plastic bridles to organize cables, a small key and a system loudspeaker.

LIAN LI PC-8N IN DETAIL: THE OUTSIDE

The first thing that hit me when taking the case out of its packaging was that it’s really light compared to other cases I have reviewed in the same class. Of course this is due to the aluminum.  The second thing that hit me was the sobriety of its design.

In the upper part of the front there are four 5.25 inch expansion bays for optical drives, fan monitors, card readers or whatever you choose to install. Under these bays there’s a 3.5 inch expansion bay, below which the power and reset buttons are located. The power and HDD LEDs are located at the top right section of the front, to the right side of the 5.25 inch expansion bays, check out the pictures below to see what I mean.

Perhaps one of the aspects in which Lian-Li has missed out on the PC-8N is the fact that the front external ports only consists of 2 USB 2.0 ports and two audio jacks. I would have appreciated an eSATA and a FireWire port as well.

Under the front ports, there’s a metallic grid behind which a 120mm fan is located.

The back part of the case is quite conventional. This case hasn’t any pre drilled holes or any other features supporting a liquid cooling system which means you will have to be a bit handy if you want to outfit this case with such a cooling system.

The upper zone has a hollow for the PSU as you can see from the images below. Under the PSU, there’s another hollow for the motherboard I/O ports. To the right of the I/O shield hollow there’s a 120mm fan which blows the hot air out from the case. In the bottom zone, there are seven PCI card expansion slots.

As you can see from the images, Lian Li have not used the usual “bee wax cake” looking metallic grid for the fan, instead they have used a circular type of grid which lets more air out of from the case.

The top and bottom sides of the case are both almost totally solid metal. The holes that you see in the image of the bottom side of the case are intended to be used for fastening cables to the bottom of the case.

Just like the top and bottom sides, the two side panels are made of solid metal. If nothing else, they give a striking feel of quality and robustness.

THEY ROLL LI PC-8N IN DETAIL: THE INTERIOR

The inside of the case seems very simple at first but there are quite a few smart details as you will see.

The interior of the box follows the same principle of simplicity as the outside. The 120mm fan placed in the back has a rather dense grid to avoid that any cables get stuck in it.

The upper part looks like a wind tunnel but its function is actually to work as a storage area for the left over cables from the PSU. This is great because it leaves the rest of the case free from cables prohibiting the air to flow through the case.

The front expansion bays do not hold any bigger secret either, but I am a bit puzzled over why Lian Li did not include a “Tool-less” mounting system for the 5.25 inch bays, while they have included other nice details such as the white protector plastic as you can see in the image below.

When I removed the front panel of the box, I found a dust filter on the front fan which is great because this fan sucks air into the case and the filter will thus leave the dust on the outside of the case.

Another nice detail is that it’s possible to remove the external front ports, which means that you will have fewer cables to worry about inside the case.

The two 120mm fans that Lian Li has included with this case are the same and their model number is: LI121225SL-4. Their rotation speed is 1200rpm and they consume on average 3.24W. They have a very low noise level which is great but it also means that they don’t move too much air.

ASSEMBLY

During the assembly of the equipment I will show you some of the nice details which the Lian Li PC-8N has to offer.

This first task was to install the hard drives; one 3.5 inch unit and one 2.5 inch. A nice detail is that the screws have rubber anti-vibration rings. To install the 2.5 inch drive, I had to first remove the metallic bay and mount the drive in it outside of the case.

To install the PSU, you start by fastening a back plate to the PSU and then you fasten the plate and PSU to the chassis. It takes a little longer than usual but on the other hand it goes a little more effortlessly.

I was little bit worried about that it would be a somewhat painful experience to mount the motherboard and the rest of the hardware in this case. I guess the main reason for my concerns was the fact this case doesn’t have all the little extra features that I have gotten used to. But I was wrong in my expectations; the installation went without any troubles at all. As you can see from the images above, the final result is quite OK, but I would have liked to see a more extensive cable management system.

The above images shows how it looks from the opposite side and as you can see; the arrangement of the cables is not optimal.

CONCLUSIONS

It is always hard to sum up a review of a PC case because there are so many options available on the market today and one has to consider that all consumers are looking for different features and functions. All I can do is to as objectively as possible give you a fair view of my own experience with this case.

Most advanced users are picky about what material the case is made of and the favorite material amongst advanced users is aluminum. The reason for this is that aluminum is a light metal and the finish is normally great. I also suspect that there is another factor called vanity which plays a role here.

All in all, Lian Li PC-8N is a high quality medium range box which offers great materials, low weight and an excellent finish. It has some good details like the anti-vibration system for the hard disks; the fans and their anti dust filters and grids… but I can’t help wishing it had a decent cable management system and that the installation was tool free. If it had those two features it would be a practically perfect case. Still the case is quite spacious and the fans are quiet which lifts the overall score somewhat.

The Lian Li PC-8N is not a cheap case; it goes for around 100 bucks at Newegg. The main reason for its rather high price tag is of course the aluminum and if you want a case in this material you will have to put up this much cash.

Pros:

• Aluminum
• Finish and quality
• Anti-vibration for hard disks and side panels
• Quiet cooling system

Cons:

• Lack of eSATA port
• Better cable management system
• Tool free installation
• Hefty price tag

The final score is 85 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Lian Li PC-8N″ our Recommended Award.

Thanks goes out to Lian Li for letting me review this case.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

For the moment Testseek.com has collected 10 reviews of the Lian Li LanCool PC-K58 and it has received 9 awards (!) and a staggering 85% average score. Those numbers says a lot but I wanted to know what the fuzz was about so here’s my own review of it.

INTRODUCTION

When one looks for a case for a new high end PC building project, Lian Li always comes up among the interesting manufacturers. It is my opinion that Lian Li is synonymous with quality; design; elegance and exclusive features. This time I will be looking at a case which has all those features but also a reasonable price tag.

The LanCool is really more a brand of itself than just a Lian Li product series. Lian Li is by most considered as a high end brand, so to diversify into the medium range consumer market without negatively affecting the Lian Li brand, they started the LanCool brand. It is in some places sold without the “Lian Li” in the product name. Anyhow, what really matters is that Lian Li targets lower price level market with the LanCool brand/series.

One of the differences that I have noted about Lian Li versus LanCool cases is that Lian Li mostly uses aluminum while LanCool uses SECC steel for the construction of their models.

OK, so here are the technical specifications of the LanCool PC-K58:

Even though the price tag is not very high for this case, I would like to put this case in the high end segment due to all the extra features. One big plus of this case is that it is quite spacious and supports high end graphics cards.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The LanCool PC-K58 comes in a very large and heavy card board box. And it’s normal since it is a large case and it is mainly made of steel and is thus quite heavy.

The accessories include; a printed manual; an anchorage adapter for the power supply; a mainboard speaker; a plastic cable management clip, one molex adapter and some screws. If anything, the accessories made me more curious about the assembly process to come.

LANCOOL PC-K58 IN DETAIL, THE OUTSIDE

My first thought about the design was that it looked like something from a SF movie but still sober. I guess it’s the block build style which makes me think of SF. I really liked the design which is of course my subjective opinion. Anyhow, the finish is absolutely top of the line.

The entire outside of the case is completely black, except for the back of the case which has the old gray steel look. The sides of the case is very simple, there’s no window or side cooling system. It is actually possible to acquire a side panel with a window and the logo of the “Dragonlord” series printed on it.

Something that I have seen coming more and more with high end cases is the metallic grid in the front. It’s great because it enables the air to move in and out the case more easily yet it keeps the dust on the outside.

The back part of the LanCool Dragonlord PC-K58 is quite interesting. The first thing I noticed was that the PSU is placed at the bottom near the floor where the coolest air always is. Above the PSU hollow, there are eight expansion slots. Note that all the slots have back plates with grids to increase the ventilation. The location of the tubes for the liquid cooling system is placed more or less at the medium height. This is good because it allows us to keep the circuit short. Another good detail is the screws for the fan which have an anti vibration function patented by Lian Li.

The bottom and the top of the case share an essential characteristic: the build of the fan slots. Unlike other manufacturers LanCool has a metallic grid which looks more like a sun screen window on an old house than the typical bee wax cake look. The bottom fan also has a dust filter which is great since it will keep dust from the floor on the outside.

The front connectors are located at the top of the case in the middle of the power and reset buttons. The connectors are two USB ports, one mic and one audio out. Take a look at the images below to check it out.

LANCOOL PC-K58 IN DETAIL, THE INTERIOR

When I removed the side panels I was surprised by their rigidity, they are really thick and heavy. Not a bad thing I suppose. LanCool hasn’t bothered with painting the back or the interior of the case which has the traditional grey metallic color.

The first thing I noticed was the fact that this case has a cable management system. There’s also a hollow in the motherboard back plate for the CPU. Another detail I noticed what the LanCool has already fastened the separator (between the motherboard and the motherboard back plate).

The bottom of the case is mostly occupied by the space for the PSU. As you can see LanCool has placed a rubber vibration dampener for the PSU.

Another one of the great details that this box incorporates is the tool free installation of the expansion slot cards. The system that LanCool uses with this case is very easy to work with and provides a safe anchorage for the expansion cards.

In the upper part of the back there’s a 120mm fan with a 1000rpm rotation speed which naturally makes it produce very little noise.

In the “ceiling” of the case are two places where you can install 120mm or 140mm fans. As you know, hot air wants to rise so these fans would be turned to blow air out of the case.

The inside front of the case is divided in two clear zones. The lower zone is dedicated to the installation of hard disks and the upper part houses the optical units or other systems that use the 5.25” expansion bays.

The rack for the 3.5” units holds a maximum of four drives, both 3.5” and 2.5”. LanCool has a great solution for the installation of the hard drives. You just put the drive in the tray; snap the plastic adapters tight and the push the tray into place. The trays are held by rubber fasteners so no vibration will be transferred to the case.

If at all present, most manufacturers have a 120mm fan in the front. LanCool has chosen to place a 140mm fan in the front and this is great because it manages to cool the hard drive trays perfectly as you can see from the images above.

From the other side of the case there is not much to talk about except maybe the cable management system.

The problem of dust seems to be very hard to completely avoid no matter which case you try. I believe that the best way to avoid it is the use of dust filters in one form or another. In this case, LanCool has really taken it to another level by placing dustfilters on all the air intakes of the case. The front of the case actually has a double dust filter, one which is removable and can thus be easily cleaned.

INSTALLING HARDWARE IN BOX LANCOOL PC-K58

I began with the optical unit, which was easily installed thanks to the tool free system. The installation of the hard disks was no mystery either, I just pulled out a tray, inserted the hard drive and made sure it was secured and then I just put the tray with the hard drive installed back in place in the rack. No screw driver needed.

The installation of the power supply was also easy thanks to the unique anchorage system. You just place the PSU on top of the rubber feet and snap the anchorage arm in place. It holds the PSU firmly in place without any risk of it gliding to either side.

The case is very spacious and I am glad to report that it does support expansion slot cards with a length up to 290 mm which means that it does supports all graphics cards on the market except the Radeon HD 5970 cards.

The fans that LanCool has chosen for this case are very quiet, mainly thanks to their large sizes and low rotation speeds.

CONCLUSIONS

This was actually my first experience with the LanCool brand/series of products and I must say that I am very impressed. If I had to choose one thing about this case that I really appreciated, it has to be the fact that the installation procedure is entirely “tool free”.

In my opinion there are two things that LanCool can improve with this case. First they need to paint the inside and back of the case and secondly why no add an eSATA port amongst the front connectors? Of course, as always the more extra features we ask for the more expensive the product becomes.

In all other aspects I can do nothing but praise the work of the LanCool designers. All in all the PC-K58 is a high quality case with great features such as: super easy installation; nice finish and good looking design. Maybe the best thing of all is its price at around $80.

Pros:

• Build quality and finish
• Spacious
• Wiring management system
• Plenty of anti vibration thinking
• Installation 100% tool free
• Good price level

Cons:

• -No eSATA support
• -Do not support HD 5970

The final score is 95 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Lian Li LanCool Dragonlord PC-K58″ our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks goes out to Lian Li/LanCool for letting me review this case.

Check out our case category for alternatives!

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

NZXT M59 case is best described as an aggressive looking case with interesting features and a high build quality.

INTRODUCTION

To me, NZXT’s lineup of cases is rather typical for most case manufacturers with several product lines with different characteristics and price levels. A couple of months back I took a look at the NZXT Beta which is a case from one of NZXT’s lower priced series. The case which I will review today, the NZXT M59 is part of their “Classic” series which is a step up from the lower budget models.

The NZXT M59 is a medium range case which is oriented towards PC builders interested in modding. Here are the specifications:

As you can see from the specifications you get a lot of nice features with this case even though it is only a medium range case. I am especially intrigued by the cooling system which can be really extensive if you install fans at all the possible places.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

NZXT uses the catch phrase “Cool Clean Black” on the card board box in which the M59 case comes in. I am prepared to agree.

The included accessories are: a printed manual; anchorages for the 3.5 units and all the screws of different types.

NZXT M59 IN DETAIL, THE OUTSIDE

If I had to choose two things worth mentioning about the design of the NZXT M59, then I would choose the front and the side window. These two characteristics really define the case and make it stand out from the crowd.

The front of the M59 is mostly made of plastic. NXZT has placed the power buttons and the front connectors in the middle angled slightly upwards. Above the connectors there are some 5.25” expansion bays and below the connectors there is a metallic grid behind which a 120mm fan is placed by default.

The front expansion bays are illuminated by a LED light at the top of the case.

The left side is equipped with a window of rather big dimensions which really shows off the inside of the case. NZXT has also added a 120mm LED fan which is located on about the same height where the graphics card will be placed.

As you can see from the shot of the back of the case, the PSU is placed at the bottom of it. At the very top you can see the two pre drilled holes for installation of liquid cooling. Directly below those two holes there’s a 120mm fan. The backside is covered with a metal grid in most places to facilitate the cooling of the case.

In the ceiling of the M59, NXZT has made it possible to mount two 120mm or 140mm fans. As I said above, the power supply goes in the bottom of the case. As you can see from the image below, there’s a metallic grid intended to work as the air intake for the PSU. This air intake is protected by a dust filter which is a nice detail.

The rubber feet of the M59 give the case a bigger elevation over the floor than what I am used to see with other cases. I guess the intention with the higher feet is to facilitate for the PSU to draw in fresh air from the floor.

NZXT M59 IN DETAIL, the INTERIOR

I took of both sides to investigate the inside of the case. Apart from the window and the fan on the left side there’s not much to talk about.

A good thing about the included case fans is that they have several different types of connectors which facilitate the wiring and the administration of the fans.

I really like that the interior of the case is painted in black because it will make the system look cooler through the side window once it’s running. Another detail which I appreciated at first sight was that the motherboard back plate is very well thought through with hollows for the cable management and another hollow for where the CPU will be placed which makes it easier if you ever need to remove the CPU cooler.

I wouldn’t say that the case is small inside but the max graphics card length it can support is 290mm, which means that Radeon 5970 will not fit.

You can fit in a total of seven 3.5” units in the front bays which is not bad at all. I like that NZXT has turned the bays 90 degrees which makes it easier to work with the drives (5 units fit in this drive bay). NXZT has included a 2.5” adapter which may come in handy if you want to build a system with a SSD startup drive.

The NZXT M59 has four 5.25” bays of which 3 are equipped with anti-dust filters. The forth is covered by a black plate which is intended to be fastened on the drive front. This means that you can use a drive of any color and it will still look good.

There’s quite a lot of wiring coming from the front connectors and the power and reset buttons, we’ll see later if it causes a problem.

The PSU will rest on four rubber pivot points which serves as vibration dampeners. Above the PSU you can see the seven expansions slots. Note that all the expansion slots have back plates that allow air to pass through.

On top of the expansion slots there’s another 120mm fan of the same type as the one in the left side.

It’s possible to place two 140mm or 120mm fans in the ceiling of the case.

The M59 has a cable management system as you can see from the image above. There’s room for another 120mm fan in the lower part of the front, just below the front panel connectors.

INSTALLING HARDWARE IN the NZXT M59

The installation of the hard drive is facilitated by two adapters which you fasten on the sides of the hard drive and then you just slide the drive into place. The installation of the optical drive is similarly easy thanks to the screws which you can fasten with your hands, i.e. no screw drive is needed (check the accessories above).

The installation of the rest of the components didn’t give me any problems at all. The case feels fairly spacious and all the small smart innovations in this case helps a lot, like the fact that there’s hole in the motherboard back plate where the CPU goes.

I would say that I ended up with quite a clean looking installation thanks to the cable management system. Check out the images below to see what the case looks like in operation. I personally liked the blue LEDs in action.

In operation both case fans were so quiet I didn’t feel it was necessary to use any kind of fan control system.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the second case from NZXT that I have reviewed and I am as impressed with this one as I was with the first. I feel the biggest benefit with the NXZT cases is all the smart innovations which make them so pleasant to work with.

Another remarkable thing about the M59 case is of course its somewhat unusual design. I’m sure that it’s not for everyone but I love the aggressiveness in its design. It looks especially good when it’s running in a dark room.

The price for this case is around $60 which I think is very good considering all the extra features it holds. I cannot do anything else but give the NZXT M59 my highest recommendations.

Pros:

• Interesting design
• Excellent finish
• Spacious (although it’s not compatible with Radeon HD 5970)
• Extensive cooling system
• Good cable management system
• Excellent price

Cons:

• None

The final score is 95 out of 100 owls, and we give the “NZDT M59″ our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks goes out to NZXT for letting me review this case.

Check out our case category for alternatives!

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson