Hardware Lian Li PC-V358 Review

We check out Lian Li's latest cube case that offers micro-ATX support and room for water cooling .
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2014/01/20/lian-li-pc-v358-review/1

 

There seems to be some kind of magic going on here. I fail to understand how it can have those dimensions and yet still look absolutely enormous. I know it is only 3cms larger than a Prodigy and yet it looks as though the Prodigy could bounce around inside. It's damn voodoo I tell you.

 

Tardis tech.

 

Nice review, but is anyone else totally and utterly bored by almost everything that Lian Li puts out these days. Its all so similar. Yawn.

 

It does look like pretty standard Lian Li, but for some reason I suddenly want to build a mATX system in that case, hmm, as 240 rad in the side, a slimline 240 at the front and you should be able run a fast CPU and single graphics card both water cooled pretty damn silently.

 

I quite like Lian Li cases, and I like mITX. But for some reason, this really doesn't appeal to me - it looks really dull, and I don't like the squareness of the front cross-section. I prefer cases that are either a bit more tower-like (taller and narrower) or more like hi-fi separates (wider and shorter), but this one just seems too square which makes it, to my eyes, unattractive.

 

"Looks superb" ? Not compared to any of previous PC-V35x cases.

 

Oh, it's not magic, you silly billy - despite it's billing the Prodigy is actually a µATX-sized case, so it's logical the two share similar dimensions. Mystery solved.

I also enjoy apples and oranges. This is an µATX case, not...erm...another µATX case marketed as m-ITX...? Ok, guess I can totally see how you'd come to that conclusion considering the number of µATX hulks passed off as m-ITX. Apologies, sir.

I agree, and the author pointing out how Lian Li has overextended their milking of the "aluminium" thing for a while now was spot on. That said, however, I really, really like where they're going with the hinges, ball joints and flourishes - not enough to excuse the ludicrous asking price, of course, but these smart details do set them apart from the pack. It's still a boring, off-puttingly ugly and ungainly cuboid, but the neat stuff going on design-wise suggests there may be hope for them yet (and the NCASE was a neat thing for them to be involved with, too)...

 

What happened to your Corsair SSD? Looks like it's been dunked in a cup of coffee

 

Far prefer their black models, I've got a 351 at home, very nice cases, even if looks like they are just a bit 'square' (in every sense of the word.
I guess if it ain't broke...

 

yes, and most of their cases either lack good cable management, fan filters, and other useful features that can be had in much cheaper cases...

 

That's exactly the problem I've with cases like the Prodigy, but we've had this talk several times allready.

Anyways, I liked the earlier versions like the V351 more, with the PSU above the motherboard, as they had more efficient cooling imho. Allthough I never liked the 5.1/4" bays on the sides, and I don't like this new model having the front I/O on the side either.

Mix and match the V351 with this new one, i.e. have the mobo on the bottom, the optical in top front, with some bays for HDDs and switch positions of the PSU and the fan in the back.