Hardware Lian Li Armoursuit PC-P80

It's pretty bad when Lian-Li is releasing this, while ThermalTake and Cooler Master are releasing understated good performers. That said, I got a Cooler Master Mystique (though mine has the windowed door with the 120mm fan mount) and I wouldn't trade it for this ThermalTake Lian-Li if you paid me. No matter that they both have doors, they both have a small lump on the top, etc. At least the doors on the Mystique are classy and the lump serves a purpose (door gears.)

I mean, seriously, I can understand this if it was a one-off promotional case, but are they actually expecting to sell this thing, considering how badly Spider is doing up against the Intel/SLi team?

 

I think you'd be in the minority on that, man! Around here, Thermaltake's not exactly a cool thing to mention, lol.

Um, actually this one is a promotional version. They're only available in black and silver, like any other Lian Li.

 

This thing is ugly, I'd rather buy some cheap Sweex case (or anthing else in the $40 region)..

But I do think it can be modded to look awesome

 

Nah, it'll be available in this colour too, at about 50 percent above the £199 asking price for the Black version.

 

the price and the look just dont go together, the target audience for that look are 12 year old uneducated kids form very low social levels, the ones that would usually buy trash like this, or this., but its priced for people who are able to pay a bit more than average and would usually buy good cases like this, or this.
so what is their target audience again? a working class kid that has 400$ to spare? or someone who wants to ruin the looks of his expensive home with that ugly piece of sh**?

 

Fugly as sin!

Somone kill it.. Quick!

 

This company makes most of the craziest cases on the market. Brilliant designs they've got. This is probably one of the nicest stock cases I've seen. I wonder if they sell a model without the ATI side panel, window or without, the ATI logo looks kinda like an advertisement - cheesy I'd say. Not like it matters its still a kick ass case.

 

Well, the official case is black, not red with a spider on the side. That is apparently just what Lian-Li sent Bit-Tech. Go to their website to look at official pics. But it still has the blu-blinking fans. It is clearly aimed at the gamer market.

But if you want something more professional, cleaner, simpler, it helps to do a little bit of Froogling.

Lian-Li V1200 Plus II (ATX/EATX case) from Sundial Micro: $205
* 1 x CD-ROM bezel
* 5 x 5.25" bays
* 6 x 3.5" internal(removable) slots [11 drives bays, 5.25" + 3.5", total]
* USB2.0 x 2, IEEE1394 x 1, MIC x 1, EAR x 1
* 7 x PCI Slots
* 210 x 490 x 625 mm (W,H,D)

Lian-Li V2000 Plus II (ATX/EATX) from Sundial Micro: $228
* 1x CD-ROM bezel
* 7 x 5.25" bays
* 12 x 3.5 bays (removable) [19 drive bays, 5.25" + 3.5", total]
* USB2.0 x 2, IEEE1394 x 1, MIC x 1, EAR x 1
* 7 x PCI slots
* 210 x 617 x 625 mm (W,H,D)

Lian-Li PC-80B (ATX/EATX case) from Sundial Micro: $376)
* 12 x 5.25" bays
* 6 x 3.5" bays ( using 6 x 5.25 [18 drive bays, 5.25" + 3.5", total)
* 10 x PCI slots
* USB 2.0 x 4; IEEE1394 x 1; E-SATA x 1; HD+AC97 Audio
* 220 x 633 x 610 mm ( W, H, D)

So, it seems to me like Lian-Li has excellent alternatives that are a lot cheaper, $148 - $170 cheaper depending on if you go with the V1200 or V2000. If you can live with "only" 11 total drive bays, and "only" 7 PCI slots (vs. 10), go with the V1200. If you can live with "only" 7 PCI slots (vs 10) and think that extra drive bay is more important (19 vs. 18) go with the V2000.

Personally, I think that the PC-P80 is really over-priced for functional purposes. The reason it commands a $148 price-premium over the arguably equivalent V2000 is because it looks more flashy, and has more "bling".

But if you want a good value, and still a huge tower with plenty of room, go with the V2000 Plus II. I think it's the highest quality case that Lian-Li makes (although every Lian-Li case is basically the highest-quality case on the market in it's category), and it's also a much better value than the PC-P80. It's also a better value than the V1200 Plus II, at just 23 dollars more with 8 more drive bays.

 

naokaji,

Well, the tastes of teenaged boys who's parents will fork over insane amounts of money to them are always getting more expensive. Remember, these are the same kids who are working over their parents that getting that $1,000 CPU is really necessary, otherwise their computer will be junk. And they also have to have an $500 GPU with 756 MB of GDDR4 RAM on it, and a 320GB WD Raptor Hard-drive. Oh wait, that WD Raptor isn't good enough anymore -- now, they need a Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB or a Hitachi DeskStar 7k1000 1TB (which are about as fast or faster than the Raptor for desktop us). And that'll just be for storing their ripped DVDs or Blu-Ray / HD-DVD's (did I mention they'll also *need* an $400 Blu-Ray / HD-DVD writable drive?). For installing their OS and applications, they'll *need* a $3,400 128 GB Memoright 2.5" SATA SSD drive. They'll also probably need an $300 motherboard, and 8GB of RAM, of which they'll want DDR3 (even though M/B's only support up to 4GB of DDR3), so that'll be another $400.

So, that'll come to about $8,100 dollars (assuming 2x $300 1TB HD's, after all they need RAID...not in the configuration for redundancy, but configured for l33t performance). And after $8,100 on the system -- oh wait, I forgot, they'll need an $1,000 30" 2560 x 1900 HP or Samsung LCD, so make that $9,100 -- oh wait, never mind, HP and Samsung LCD's aren't good enough, they'll need a 30" Eizo flexscan SX3031W, for $2,950, because after all, they want the best, good stuff, even though they're not professional photographers -- no, scratch that, that monitor's only 4 megapixels, they'll *also* need a 9 megapixel monitor, like the $7,100 T221, and to power that LCD, they'll need a $2000 Matrox Parhelia HR256. So make the final price on their system, less the case, $8,100 + $2,900 + $7,100 + $2000 = $18,150. So, after their parents spend $18,150 dollars, why not spend another $376 on the Lian-Li Armorsuit PC-P80? That makes it just $18,526.

 

On the plus side, one thing I do like in particular about the Armorsuit is that the USB / Firewire bezel port is on the top of the case. A case this big is most likely going to b put on the floor, so having those bezel's pointing upwards is a good idea.

That's one thing I don't like so much about the V2000 Plus II. The USB / Firewire bezel is way on the bottom. You're not likely to have this case on your desk -- although that'd be a good location for it if you were -- so it'd be better to have that bezel on top, like in the Armorsuit. At least, Lian-Li should provide the option.

 

I have purchased this case and have now just finished the initial water cooling tests (leak testing, etc).
The thing I want to get over to you all is that you simply can not judge this case on images, you need to see it and feel it.
The quality is amazing and it looks amazing compared to all of the online images, I am referring to the black version by the way.

I am building a very extreme gaming computer into it, check out the project at exterbis.parahelix.org.

 

I think all of us LiLi alumni probably know this.

In all seriousness, it all comes down to what one prefers. As a classic LiLi lover/user, I can't say it's my cup of tea by far. But again, I'm positive the build quality is top-notch as usual.

Congrats on your build.

 

Either that, or we work and go to college at the same time, like me lol

 

I had to think for a good long time of how I would set up my liquid-loop (CPU only) but one thing is for sure, there is hella enough room! This thing is huge, I nearly Web-O-Gasamed when it turned up at my door. I am thinking that I should move the radiator to the bottom of the case as at the moment it is at the front, certainly don't want to put it externally, what a waste of a huge case that would be. Any improvements that you think could be made to this are also appreciated. I am in the process of installing nice UV lights and cutting the case window at the moment.

http://other.parahelix.org/PICT0011.jpg
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I know I am several years out of date, but I have been trawling the archives! I have the smaller black P-60 and its a superb case.

Very unique with the fans in the doors. Sounds like a steam train (not so good).

However until you sit next to a Lian Li you can not judge its looks. The black aluminium is so beautiful and classy to look at close up.

Have had a cheap plastic case before and Lian Li screams quality to anyone who gets up close to it.