Lian Li PC-Q30 Case Review: A Mini-ITX Chassis With Flair

Name: PSU: Be Quiet! SFX Power 350 W - Lian Li PC-Q30 Case Review: A Mini-ITX Chassis With Flair
Author: Igor Wallossek

by Igor Wallossek November 18, 2013 at 10:00 PM

39 Comments

PSU: Be Quiet! SFX Power 350 W

Naturally, a case this small requires an SFX-based power supply. There are a number of these available, though they aren't particularly common. Our U.S. team has had good luck with SilverStone's offerings in the past. But in Germany, be quiet! is a familiar vendor. The team there went with that company's BN134, a 350 W, 80 PLUS-certified unit with a PCI Express auxiliary connector for discrete graphics.

Technical Specifications

Model Number

be quiet! SFX Power 350 W (BN134)

Form Factor

SFX 3.2

Voltage

100-240 Volt, 50-60 Hz (Full Range)

Power

350 Watts

PFC

Active, Power Factor 0.9 under Full Load

Compatibility

Supports Intel's C6 Mode
(C6/C7 for Intel's Haswell CPUs not Confirmed)

Power Consumption at Standby

<1 Watt (Erp/EuP Ready)

Temperature Range

10 to 50 °C (Overage Service Life of 100,000 Hours at 25 °C)

Rails

+3.3 V	20 A
+5 V	22 A
+12 V1	14 A
+12 V2	16 A
-12 V	0.5 A

Power Output

Maximum Power 12 V: 300 W

Maximum Power 3.3 V + 5 V: 125 W

Hold-up Time at Full Load

17 ms

Safety

OCP Over Current Protection

OVP Over Voltage Protection

UVP Under Voltage Protection

SCP Short Circuit Protection

OPP Over Power Protection

Connectors and Cables

No Modular Cable Management, All Cables Completely Sleeved

1 x 20+4-Pin Motherboard (35 cm)

1 x 4-Pin CPU (35 cm)

1 x PCIe 6-Pin (35 cm)

1 x Molex/PATA (Three Connectors, 1 x FDD, max. 50 cm)

1 x SATA (35 cm)

Fan

80 mm, Up to 4000 RPM (Temperature-Controlled)

Street Price

Approximately $90

Opening be quiet!'s SFX Power 350 Watt reveals the power supply itself, as well as a power cable, manual, screws, and cable ties. In short, it doesn't leave you wanting for anything.

The cables are sleeved well and long enough for our installation.

The SFX Power 350’s fan is audible when the system is under full load. However, most of that noise is redirected back into the case, so you won't hear the power supply over the other fans in taxing situations. If you're only using an APU, and no discrete graphics card, the PSU shouldn't be audible at all.

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Summary

About the author

Igor Wallossek

Igor Wallossek is a Senior Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware DE. He tests and reviews CPUs, GPUs, games and headsets.

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Top Comments

gofasterstripes 4 years ago

Lian Li proving, again, that they're a little less sane than everyone else...

I kinda like it, nice concept. There's too many boring PC cases!

Other Comments

afrobacon 4 years ago

It's hideous.
gofasterstripes 4 years ago

Lian Li proving, again, that they're a little less sane than everyone else...

I kinda like it, nice concept. There's too many boring PC cases!
jimthenagual 4 years ago

Doesn't quite do it for me. Good for them for trying something new, but it's not something I'd buy.
monsta 4 years ago

Yuck....
bemused_fred 4 years ago

Ugh. How incredibly gauche.
jimthenagual 4 years ago

It makes me want to play donkey kong on the screen.
killerclick 4 years ago

I like it. Then again, everything is better than a laptop.
JohnMD1022 4 years ago

Ugly with a capital UG !!
vertexx 4 years ago

Does that thing dispense Bitcoins? It looks like it should be dispensing something....
rolli59 4 years ago

Definitely a matter of taste.
edmoncu 4 years ago

UGLY! I don't understand the 'uniqueness' of this being a thing of beauty. it's a total opposite! Being different is not just about being different!
clonazepam 4 years ago

So a designer at Lian Li was sitting around feeling all nostalgic about his Macintosh (1984-1993), and was looking at all the interesting slideshows of said computers that had been turned into fish bowls, or just a hideout for cute cats. Then the idea for this came to him/her.

It's not something I'd do for myself. I can see how plenty of people would appreciate the design. I know my 8 yr old daughter would absolutely love that fan. Get some software to turn your monitor into a strobe light, and you have a party in the making! lol

Igor's awesome. Good job. Could a 140mm fan be rigged up to that CPU(APU) cooler?
warezme 4 years ago

Tell your grandpa, it's a new fangled microfiche, he'll get it.
g-unit1111 4 years ago

It looks like an airport or store kiosk.
ta152h 4 years ago

Whoever thought this was an attractive case should not be allowed to do any decorations in the house.

It's ugly as Hell. Different is easy. Different and attractive is difficult. This is different, sure, because no one else wanted to build something so ugly.

Their train is different and pretty. They normally miss, that's for sure, but every now and then they get it right. I have the train,and love it. This ugly thing? I'd sledgehammer it. It would look better that way.
g-unit1111 4 years ago

Anonymous said:

So a designer at Lian Li was sitting around feeling all nostalgic about his Macintosh (1984-1993), and was looking at all the interesting slideshows of said computers that had been turned into fish bowls, or just a hideout for cute cats. Then the idea for this came to him/her.

It's not something I'd do for myself. I can see how plenty of people would appreciate the design. I know my 8 yr old daughter would absolutely love that fan. Get some software to turn your monitor into a strobe light, and you have a party in the making! lol

Igor's awesome. Good job. Could a 140mm fan be rigged up to that CPU(APU) cooler?

Actually I'm thinking more some designer at Lian Li travels a lot and was thinking "Hmm...... how can I get my PC to have the feel of that machine at the airport that prints out your boarding pass?"
cobra5000 4 years ago

Lots of negative posts but I think its pretty cool. A case like this, demands a stylish cooler and gpu, if you add one. I have been itching to do a small form factor..
nekromobo 4 years ago

Any suggestions whats the cooler of choice to replace that case-fan? Something like Noctua NF-A15 ? For that absolutly silent service..
RedJaron 4 years ago

I don't mind the look of this. The cooling solution doesn't make much sense to me, though. The exhaust fan is effectively under the board. That means the flow has to go past the edges, but not across. That seems really inefficient, and possibly eddy inducing right above the board. And I'd forget trying anything but a blower-fan GPU in that case ( though that should work quite well considering the fan intake is right up against the case vent. The passive cooled card's fins are right next to the vent too, but they're not inline with how the air wants to flow.

It just seems clumsy from a thermal/airflow perspective.
DanglingPointer 4 years ago

Get the most powerful Kaveri and pair it with a 7850 next year! Or whatever the most powerful GCN card that can fit!

Mantle enabled games that are multi-gcn-gpu aware will be able to take advantage of assymetric AFR (assymetric crossfire rendering)!!!! Then you'll be able to play BF4 on high quality on 1080p!

But that's only if Mantle lives up to the hype! It is still all theory on slides from AMD and DICE.