PC-9300 Aluminum: Lian Li Enters the Small Form Factor Race

Conclusions

There were a lot of interesting features on the PC-9300.  A unique mix of the old and the new, this case gave us good dose of headaches and smiles.  The removable components were very disappointing.  We mentioned earlier that the motherboard tray was removable, but once unscrewed, almost impossible to get out of the case.  The case cover also had several sharp edges and provided a nostalgic, yet annoying, experience when removing.

With those two severe strikes in mind, the PC-9300 had a lot to make up for.  Fortunately, since we have only seen a few cases like the PC-9300 before, Lian Li finds dozens of opportunities to do so.  Lian Li went the extra mile on almost every detail of the case, from the carbon fiber trim to the blue LED bar on top.  As we mentioned earlier, the PC-9300 looked more like a piece of stereo equipment than a computer.

There are two apparent markets for this case.  The first category being the DIY (do it yourself) population looking to play DiVX, MP3's, etc on an entertainment center.  With a little bit of elbow grease and the right hardware, the PC-9300 makes a good starting point for a DIY Audiotron. 

The second market for this case is the LAN party enthusiast.  Shuttle went a long way to innovate this market with their cases and computers,  and Lian Li would like to do the same.  The lightweight, sleek design and small footprint really give the PC-9300 the style edge over a bulky Chenming variant case.  Unfortunately, without the ability to put a large PSU over 200W in this case, do not expect to bring a new power-hungry P4 3.06GHz to that LAN party.

The lack of drive bays and PSU restrictions make this case somewhat unattractive for everyday use.  Performance-wise, the PC-9300 performed well, but keep in mind the hardware we used was much smaller and cooler than previous benchmarks.  The largest performance advantage was the low noise emission, which we can account for by its two exhaust fans.  Of course, the major drawback of this is that the system runs a little hot.

Possibly you fit into one of the two markets we deem this case desirable for.  The small form factor and light weight could be perfect for some other application you know of.  As a highly specific case, in our opinion the PC-9300 is going to best appeal to the buyer with a lot of creativity. 

The case retails for about 150USD, which is a little steep for a small form factor case for most people.  Even though the PC-9300 is smaller then the Cooler Master ATC-610, it does not quite demonstrate the same maturity.  As we saw at Comdex, Lian Li has two more small form factored cases should be hitting the market soon.  If all goes well, according to Lian Li, the new offerings that should be hitting the mainstream market very soon.

A special thanks goes to Xoxide.com for providing us with the Lian Li PC-9300.