Lian Li PC-Q10 Mini-ITX Case

[Lawrence Lee]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Lian_Li_PC-Q10

[baii]

Hmm, not really a fair test tbh. Ultimately the loudest component is gpu fan, when you shift the gpu heat elsewhere, everything just ain't apple to apple anymore. The rest of the result show correlation with gpu rpm and spl.

I do like bottom in, back out alot, wonder no big case manf do more of this type of case. Back when I use a laptop ( a precision m6600), bottom intake supress the fan noise much better compare to say side intake or exhaust. Psu no longer need that much cooling now that we have 80 gold or platium for reasonable price.

Hmm, I wonder if I can move my psu into the front in my define s and have 2 fan directly blowing on the gpu...

[object88]

From the bottom of page 3...

There seems to be several erros in Lian Li's specifications.

There's some erros here, too.

I wonder if Lian Li is suggesting mounting a radiator on top of the case...?

[CA_Steve]

Hmm, not really a fair test tbh. Ultimately the loudest component is gpu fan, when you shift the gpu heat elsewhere, everything just ain't apple to apple anymore. The rest of the result show correlation with gpu rpm and spl.

Except that:
- the closest competitor, Bitfenix Prodigy, has it's gfx card's fans running 400rpm slower than the card in the PC-Q10 and both fan profiles are set for 85C temps.
- While the two cases have different coolers, they are both around 12dB at their given speeds.

It really comes down to the Lian-Li having only one case fan versus the Prodigy's two, and better unrestricted airflow.

[baii]

Hmm, not really a fair test tbh. Ultimately the loudest component is gpu fan, when you shift the gpu heat elsewhere, everything just ain't apple to apple anymore. The rest of the result show correlation with gpu rpm and spl.

Except that:
- the closest competitor, Bitfenix Prodigy, has it's gfx card's fans running 400rpm slower than the card in the PC-Q10 and both fan profiles are set for 85C temps.
- While the two cases have different coolers, they are both around 12dB at their given speeds.

It really comes down to the Lian-Li having only one case fan versus the Prodigy's two, and better unrestricted airflow.

1. They are not the same fan on the GPU.
2. 85c on a 175w card vs 300w card?

[MikeC]

1. They are not the same fan on the GPU.
2. 85c on a 175w card vs 300w card?

The Lianli cannot fit the longer Strix 980 card, which is why an HD7870 was used. But effort was made to compensate for the lower GPU power draw -- bottom of page 6 in the review:

"A properly cooled system with our usual reference GTX 980 draws around 280~290W. Our HD 7870-equipped PC-Q10 enters this power consumption range when a third thread of Prime95 is added as a stressor, coming close to compensating for the difference in GPUs."

iirc, the Strix 980 is a quieter card all around than the HD7870 we used, so you might even say the comparisons were slightly biased against the Lianli.

Personally, I think the difference in appearance between the Prodigy and the PQ10 is huge, and that will influence buying decisions far more than slight differences in potential cooling or noise. I'd never use a Prodigy if I had to see or look at it often (like on my desk) while I'd have no such qualms with the Lianli.

[baii]

I did read that part, which I said "gpu heat move else where", hence the not "fair".
The gpu heat output is directly correlate to gpu fan noise, which tends to be the most important factor for noise in a load test. Adding cpu power draw does not compensate for a less hot gpu. (I.e you don't even need to ramp up the cpu fan after the compensation)

The conclusion seems to suggest the lian li would be more quiet with same components vs others, which isnt directly supported. Unless the case fans dominates the noise level?

[Xyvotha]

Thanks for the great article!

- Not sure if i missed it, are there no filters in the case vents?
- It would be very interesting to see how this performs with a quieter fan.
- I've been thinking how to mod the front panel to be able to fit larger GPUs but seems not an easy task.
- Talking about the exterior panels, how good/bad are those on scratches/dust?
- I understand the lack of an SFX PSU adapter is limiting for many people but, on the other hand, having enough space for an ATX PSU is great for some of us who couldn't find a single SFX power supply in the whole country.

(does it look like i'm considering to buy this case? lol this one looks almost perfect just like NCase but easier to find/buy)

[wwenze]

Am I the only one here who feels that this case could have easily fitted in a mATX mobo if not for the position of the PCI-E 16x slot on most mATX mobos?

[xan_user]

Am I the only one here who feels that this case could have easily fitted in a mATX mobo if not for the position of the PCI-E 16x slot on most mATX mobos?

hannah montana say what??

[nagi]

I wonder how well even more meshed cases would fare, like the Cougar Gaming QBX Kaze. Then again, maybe Lian Li achieved a better balance of shielding from noise and providing ventillation.

Aaanyway, it is great to see that mini-itx cases that can handle more than a weak celeron are on the rise.

[Nice Marmot]

So when they say "3.5 HDD x2, Slim ODD or 3.5 x1", does that mean you can have at least two 3.5 drives, and an ODD or third 3.5 HDD in addition? Or does it mean you can only have one 3.5 HDD if you're using an ODD?

[MikeC]

3.5 HDD x2 or 2.5 HDD x3 -- on bottom, but they interfere with all but a single slot card. Even with a single slot card, cooling might become an issue.

Slim ODD or 3.5 x1" -- in front you can have one or the other. You might be able to fudge a 2.5" here too.

[ggumdol]

It seems to have potential to be one of strong candidates for ITX builds. However, I think Lian Li should have released PC-Q10 earlier because there does not seem to be much demand for middle-sized ITX chassis when it comes to living room use, i.e., light gaming and home theater. With the advents of Skylake CPUs and Nvidia Pascal, Lian Li would better be focused on redesigning their compacter ITX chassis such as PC-Q11 and PC-TU100 (I think PC-TU100 is a decent chassis and used it for my family member but it needs more space for graphics cards bigger than 193mm and also standard ATX PSUs).

I use PC-Q11 which is about 20% smaller than PC-Q10 where the overclocked GTX 750Ti (boost clock: 1400MHz; VRAM clock: 3200MHz) turns out to be more than enough for 900p gaming. I usually get 40-60fps for most AAA games in high settings, which are approximately ultra settings minus the likes of PCSS and HBAO+ (Nvidia proprietary functionalities). That is, the additional space for graphics cards with more prowess (e.g., GTX 960 and 970) is not really necessary any more. Though the slightly out-of-fashioned i5-3450 is barely cooled by Scythe Big Shuriken Rev. 2 where the peak temperature hovers around 62-64 Celsius while NF-F12 rotating at around 1100-1200 rpm, I speculate Skylake i5 CPUs can be cooled with far less difficulties. That is, there does not seem to be any need for gigantic aftermarket heatsinks other than Scythe Big Shuriken Rev. 2 when it comes to Skylake CPUs.

The adoption of slim ODD is also quite disappointing, not least because of higher cost of Slim ODD. Most people will have to buy new slim ODDs only to fit them into PC-Q11. I find the seemlingly prevalent trend to adopt slim ODD among Lian Li chassis hugely impractical. Also, as compared with PC-Q11 where at least you have a single front fan pushing fresh air into the chassis, the adoption of rather passive rear fan is simply a bad design choice, which I can't really fathom out.

I personally wish Lian Li could design a new chassis based on PC-Q11 with tool-less chassis installation and a window, rather than going for enlarged chassis such as PC-Q10.

[Gadgety]

Nice review. I like Lian-Li cases, as I already have two, at each end of the size spectrum, HPTX and M-ITX. I totally agree with this assessment: "That being said, the PC-Q10 gives off a vibe that suggests it was designed by engineers focusing on the big picture, rather than PC hobbyists putting extra effort and consideration into the little things." You could replace "PC-Q10" in that sentence with most Lian-Li cases. It's like they get impatient in their development or they don't quite care. Not including dust filters is another design feature of recent Lian-Li chassis, despite potential buyers providing feedback to Lian-Li to include them. Furthermore, Lian-Li rarely hone their chassis for a Gen II version, but rather prefer to design entirely new, and sometimes spectacular, cases instead. There are a few exceptions to this, for example the PC-Q21 and Q20, being honed versions of the PC-Q02, which incidentally probably, all three of them, at 149mm wide, are easily slimmer than "the PC-Q10... keeping potential storage to a minimum. With a total volume of under 19 Liters... it's easily the slimmest... Lian Li enclosure ever." Sorry couldn't resist that one.