Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic Chassis Review: Affordable Luxury
Benchmark Results & Conclusion
For the purposes of comparison, we are using the NZXT H700i, the Bitfenix Enso, and the be quiet! Dark Base 700. The cases used for comparison are of similar sizes and feature sets, and all have tempered-glass side panels.
Comparison Cases
The lack of airflow in this chassis is due to the fact that the PC-O11 Dynamic ships with no fans. Although we are fully aware that this is done as a cost-cutting measure--and enthusiasts prefer to add their own fans--we still think Lian Li should have included one intake and one exhaust fan to provide some airflow into the chassis.
To be honest, we expected higher temperatures from a case that has no fans and is equipped with tempered-glass panels. Temperatures were higher than the cases we used for comparison purposes but, this is quite literally a worst-case scenario and temps can only get better with the addition of a couple fans. Our budget quad-core i5-7500 processor running at 3.8 GHz peaked at 52°C over the ambient temperature of 25°C. Those of you running highly overclocked systems will no-doubt want to take advantage of the water-cooling-friendly design by adding a custom water cooling loop or an all-in-one cooler. GPU temperatures also elevated at 63°C over the ambient room temperature.
Most enthusiasts are aware of the benefits of panels made of tempered glass and its ability to reflect sound back into the chassis. That, combined with a complete lack of cooling fans, means that this chassis is almost inaudible at idle. Under load, the PC-O11 Dynamic generated very little noise and is easily the quietest case in the bunch. Unfortunately, glass panels also lead to higher system temperatures. This can be remedied by the addition of one or more intake fans, but that would almost certainly negatively impact the acoustic results below.
We openly admit that our Performance Value results can be a bit misleading, even now. Anyone buying this chassis will no doubt add cooling fans and/or fans attached to radiators and all-in-one cooling solutions. Installing fans would add to the overall cost of the case, and that in turn would affect the Performance Value rating. Also, even though fanswould improve overall thermal performance, it would certainly introduce more system noise and negatively impact our acoustic-efficiency rating.
Those of you that already have an all-in-one cooler picked out for use in this chassis won't need to buy as many extra case fans, so that is something to take into consideration as well. Also, anyone buying this chassis must factor the cost of cooling fans into the total price of this chassis--unless you're carrying spinners over from a previous build. That said, even with the added cost of cooling fans, the sub-$100 asking price low enough that the PC-O11 Dynamic is still a great value.
The PC-O11 Dynamic is a reasonably priced, full-featured chassis that would be a fantastic foundation for an exceptional system build. From mild to wild, this chassis can handle it all...provided you fill it with your own choice of third-party fans.
Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic Chassis
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I'd like to read an article on setting up a PC with two power supplies.
So, how about the Q-10 then?
How much noise will it make with fans? How does not having front and rear intake fans affect cooling? I understand that there is a bunch of variables in a case set up but why not test cases with all optional fans installed at controlled speed (and use control fans as well). Would be a far more realistic representation of how a case would perform.
There are thousands of fans and combinations from dozens of manufacturers that can be installed in this (or any other) chassis. What if the fans we choose for benchmark purposes perform better / worse than the fans in the system used for comparison purposes? Is that fair. Of course not.
That is why we test cases as they are shipped. Thanks again, we sincerely appreciate you comments and feedback.
I appreciate the reason why you tested this case the way you did. I agree that it would be unfair to cherry pick a superior case fan. You would be forced to replace all of the case fans in every case you review from here on. In other words, it opens a door that would be really difficult to close again.
I can see where serge.m and dexmonster are coming from though. Ultimately, we walk away from this review not knowing how this case will perform at home after we're configured it in a way that's reasonable for a system builder.
I wish there was a middle ground that would satisfy everyone. Maybe you could pick out some fans to stick in this case and then add a warning paragraph before the testing results that details what fan you used in the case and that the results are only supplied for the sake of showing this cases' potential. **Results may vary**
I've also wondered about this before. Most case manufacturers (including us) will typically use a 7-blade 1,000RPM 120mm fan when including a standard non-LED case fan, so something with those specs could be a good base reference if this kind of testing is ever done. And if it's from an OEM manufacturer like Yate Loon or Adda, then you don't get any of the extra little airflow benefits from more advanced designed by Noctua and others.
This would create extra work for the reviewers though, and the testing they already do can take hours or even a full day. First the full tests would have to be done in the stock configuration, and then all of the tests would have to be done again with all fan openings filled with the reference test fans. This wouldn't tell you what the cooling potential is with high-performance fans, but it could give the reader a better idea of what the case can do.
I actually asked OCC about that once when we sent them a case for review. The answer was the same as Steven's though, and I understand the reason, so I won't complain.
Lian-Li is also releasing an "airflow" version of this case, This specific case was designed for AIO or custom loop cooling specifically. The airflow version will be designed more for aircooling and static pressure fans.
There are plenty of variables... including hardware, ambient and cooling equipment. This article should at the very least address what can be attained with a conventional(popular) setup. I'm interested in possibilities, not standing on arbitrary principles. I respect the reviewer, but I'm dissappointed by this review. Please consider how this case was designed to perform... and that sure as heck isn't without case fans.
True, and I'm sure that's what Lian Li was also thinking. It was able to keep components you'd find in a mildly powerful gaming PC cool without fans though (aside from what's on the CPU and GPU heatsinks), and that's pretty respectable when you think about it. With efficient parts and the right heatsinks, you could actually use this effectively for a silent fan-less system.