Lian Li Prototypes PC Case That's Doubles as a Desk
This case kills two birds with one stone -- building a new PC and hunting for a new desk.
Over on the TweakTown forums, chassis maker Lian Li posted a thread revealing a PC case/desk hybrid. For now this combo is merely a prototype, and features a glass top so that the PC's innards can literally shine through your paperwork or drawings. Unfortunately, a matching chair is not included.
"Since desks and PCs have always had a symbiotic relationship, we decided it would only make sense to combine the two – in our new desk chassis prototype: DK01," reports Lian Li. "Constructed mostly out of aluminum, our newest prototype is unlike anything we have designed before, yet includes many of our familiar high-end features, including a brushed aluminum finish, modular HDD bays, tool-less mounting, and a minimalistic design."
LEDs, glass cover and monitor mount are planned to be included, the company confirms. The actual dimensions are 31.5 inches wide, 31.3 inches tall, and 23.6 inches deep. There's even enough room to install 14 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch hard drives, and 10 expansion cards.
According to the specs, the body is made out of aluminum, comes in black or white, and supports E-ATX, ATX and Micro-ATX motherboards. The maximum card length is 11 inches, the max PSU length is 11 inches, and the max cooler height is 7.1 inches. This prototype can even play host to seven 120 mm system fans.
On the front, this PC case provides a lock, power button, a headphone jack, a microphone jack, and four USB 3.0 ports. The hardware resides within a drawer, making troubleshooting and upgrading as easy as unlocking and sliding the drawer out. This configuration is also good for system builders looking to upgrade their existing rig and purchase a new desk at the same time.
To see the full load of screenshots, head here. Given this is a prototype, there are no release dates and pricing, so stay tuned.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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qlum It looks far to slim for a good desk, while I do admit that a desk of 2.90M is a bit big I do think its far to small for a desk, maybe nice for a secondary table to put some stuff on next to your main desk like I have now on my right with a pc on it some controllers on it and some drawers and a amplifier underneath but as a main desk it would be far to small.Reply -
nadavp3 no one said that you have to use the red legs, I bet you could fit the case part in a much nicer frame\legs setup (be it wooden or metal)Reply -
hotroderx Looks really cheap almost like dime store furniture. I would seriously worry about putting expensive computer components in something like that.Reply -
fatedtodie I think the main thing people are missing is the weird air flow. The only entrance or exit for air is in the back. It lists spots for radiators, which is handy, but normally there are fans mounted to those and ... with nowhere for the air to go but a small channel that funnels everything to the back, it will heat up very quick.Reply -
-Fran- I'm worried about heat with that particular design. Also, what about liquids on top of it?Reply
I'm afraid to get my gonads near that thing when the video cards are being taxed, lol.
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bryonhowley Does not look like it could handle my 360mm rads other than that it would be nice. But with my XSPC EX 360 water cooler and 3x Asus 27" monitors I would need something larger than this. To bad I do like the looks guess I will have to keep the desk I have for a while longer.Reply