Lian Li Shows Off the Roomy PC-9N Case
Lain-Li has announced a new chassis, the PC-9N. While the PC-9N is a mid-tower chassis, it is absurdly roomy inside and has clearance for the most bizarrely huge components.
Lian-Li's new PC-9N chassis is built using almost all aluminum parts. The outside is brushed aluminum, and comes in two colors, silver in the PC-9NA and black in the PC-9NB.
Lian Li has also opted for a number of interesting features. For starters, it has a rather new and innovative motherboard mounting system. Rather than a giant motherboard tray with a cutout behind the CPU socket, Lian Li has opted to go for a rail based mounting system. This rail mounting system should offer better thermals and more practical cable management. The rail system also uses fewer resources, thus making the chassis lighter and ever so slightly cheaper to build.
The enclosure can house up to three 5.25" optical drives, three 3.5" hard drives and a has a single mounting spot for a 2.5" SSD. The drive cage for the hard drives and the SSD is modular, so it can be rotated for airflow optimization or accessibility. Moreover, the mounting system is done with quick access thumb screws, and it has a system that should reduce noise and vibration. The optical drive bays are also of tool-less design.
An interesting bit is that the chassis has a massive amount of internal space for graphics cards and power supplies. First of all, the case features a grand total of 8 expansion slots, and as a result users could fit up to four graphics cards in the enclosure. Moreover, because there is nothing obstructing the length of the graphics cards, users can mount graphics cards that are up to 430 mm long. The only thing blocking the length of the power supply is the hard drive and SSD bay, so as a result PSUs can be up to a staggering 300 mm long. CPU coolers can be up to 170 mm tall.
The case also comes with two fans: a front 140 mm fan, and a rear 120 mm fan. As a result, the chassis will have a nice positive pressure, preventing the system from sucking in dust through spots other than the air filter in front of the front fan. The front panel of the chassis can also be removed without tools, making for easy access to the air filter.
The top I/O of the case is built using a small door, underneath which hide two USB 3.0 ports and s pair of HD audio ports.
Availability is set for end of February in the U.S. with a MSRP of $109.99.


And this at $110 MSRP seems to be a rather good deal.
Knowing Lian-Li there's probably gonna be a seperate loose side panel with a window for sale at some point. At least, Lian-Li did that a few years ago, not sure if they still do that.
I find their cases to be over rated and over price. If you where to spend the same amount on another case, you may get a lot more features, than what they have.
I remember working on a Lian Li itx case or something and the side panel was hold on with like 10 screws. After removing the side panel, I spend like over 15 minutes try to get that panel back on as the holes will not line up properly. Also those screws are cheap, they strip easily.
I have used Lian Li cases for ITX up to dual socket extended ATX. Never had a problem like you described.
Lesson learned I say...
Yay aluminum!..... -_- All form & not much (in my opinion) functionality compared to other brands.
Most other manufacturers that offer well designed cases (in terms of wiring guidance, airflow, mounting etc.) insist on covering the chassis in a montage of odd angles and sticking out bits as though it were designed for a 13 year old. Nothing wrong with that if it's what you're in to, but Lian Li just make more professional looking cases.
You may want to talk to a therapist about that...unless you meant it as a compliment. I imagine you prefer plastic? Thermaltake has some cases just for you.
The corsair however has: excellent cable management, painted interior, filters, tool-less drives and side panels, heatsink cut-out, noise dampening, better front I/O placement, and is not a finger print magnet like the Lian Li.
Well worth the extra $30. Sure it weighs more, but its not like I'm carting it off to LAN parties or something.
Lian Li just feels overpriced when all you get is a lighter chassis and a clean look.
I still have it, next pc I build is going in there since my AMD Barton cpu and Abit Nforce board finally passed on.
Really great, solid, clean build. Hard drive bays secured with thumbscrews for easy install and removal.
I've tried Antec and Thermaltake cases in the same price range along with a fewand a few budget cases for the kids' pc builds and the Lian Li is my absolute favorite head and shoulders above the rest.