Project Iceberg (v1)
Choosing a case took some time. Aluminium cases used to be quite rare (and thus expensive), but demand is now so high that there are several manufacturers offering a wide range of configurations, at reasonable prices. Aluminium has three major advantages over the traditional steel:
- Lightweight. Aluminium is much lighter than steel which is important if you move or carry your case a lot (for example: to LAN parties).
- Thermally Efficient. Aluminium conducts heat more efficiently than steel - and the cooler your computer runs, the less physical stress on its components.
- Aesthetics. Clean, polished, brushed aluminium looks gorgeous, beige-coloured steel boxes don't. Need I say more?
My new case would have to offer good cooling potential, plenty of expansion room, ease of access and be drop-dead gorgeous. Enter the Lian Li PC-6089. The PC-6089 has been extensively reviewed elsewhere on the net, so I won't be reviewing the case here. However, I would like to highlight a few key features:
- Beautifully machined both inside and out. There are no sharp edges inside the case, with every edge folded and smoothed. A difficult-to-machine curved edge has a trim along its length. So you're not going to cut yourself to ribbons while working in this case.
- A removable motherboard tray.
- Cooling is taken care of with two 80mm speed-adjustable intake fans and two 80mm extractors - one at the rear and one at the top of the case (heat rises remember).
- Bays for four 5¼" devices (with external access) and eight 3½" bays (3 of which have external access). Five of the 3½" devices mount in a removable cage for ease-of-access.
- The thoughtful designers and engineers at Lian Li have used thumbscrews throughout, so the vast majority of operations within this case can be performed without tools.
- Two front-mounted USB2 ports.
- Lian Li supply the case with a decorative side window pre-installed (a side window is a prerequisite for any self-respecting modder).
- Perspex door (with a blue tint) that adds to the overall aesthetic appeal. The door has a cutout to provide easy access to the front USB ports. A frosted area covers the 5¼" drive bays, so that beige devices don't mar the cosmetics too much (with the door closed).
- The case has a blue LED for power, a red LED for HDD activity and a strip on either side of the 5¼" bays, the entire lengths of which are illuminated by blue LED's.
This case looks terrific!
You can comment on this, or read what others have written (5 comments).
W3C VALIDATE XHTML
W3C VALIDATE CSS