Lian Li PC-Q19

[T487]

I quite like the Gigabyte Brix.

 

[T487]

Okay, just seen Linus' review of the Gigabyte Brix.  I can see why it is not quite there yet, so to speak.

[Deeprafter]

you migh wanna review the Lian Li PC-O5S then. I think that's the "Console Killer" case you might be looking for. It is a kind of expensive though

 

If you ditch the 3,5" mounting, you can fit a Titan X i guess and then there still should be enough room for watercooling to create a beast of a mashine.

[MageTank]

you migh wanna review the Lian Li PC-O5S then. I think that's the "Console Killer" case you might be looking for. It is a kind of expensive though

 

If you ditch the 3,5" mounting, you can fit a Titan X i guess and then there still should be enough room for watercooling to create a beast of a mashine.

 

You understand you just necro'd a 6 month old thread, right? 

[Deeprafter]

You understand you just necro'd a 6 month old thread, right? 

 I do, but i see no reason why it wouldn't be the right place to post it... but go ahead and clear me up...

[MageTank]

 I do, but i see no reason why it wouldn't be the right place to post it... but go ahead and clear me up...

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/300200-what-should-i-review-next/

 

You click on "other" on the poll, then post what you want them to review. When others agree with you in mass, it is more likely to happen. I highly doubt they go back and read their old video threads, which is why they have a dedicated single thread to make sure they see what people want them to review.

[Deeprafter]

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/300200-what-should-i-review-next/

 

You click on "other" on the poll, then post what you want them to review. When others agree with you in mass, it is more likely to happen. I highly doubt they go back and read their old video threads, which is why they have a dedicated single thread to make sure they see what people want them to review.

then thank you very much

[bsones]

I'd love to see Linus revisit this case, because I think he made a critical mistake in his testing. He says that the case's airflow strategy doesn't make any sense, and the way he had it set up, it doesn't. But that's because the PC-Q33 isn't intended to be a positive pressure case. If it were, then it wouldn't need all of those filters on the vents. If you set that top fan to blow out as intended, however, then the case basically becomes a chimney. Negative pressure in the top of the case pulls warm air up from the bottom sections and vents it out, and convection assists with this airflow, because warm air naturally wants to rise. In this configuration, hot air will be much less likely to linger around the video card, because the fan just above it is going to be pulling it up and exhausting it from the case. There should also be a column of air rising in the front section of the case, which is a long open channel from the bottom vent up to the exhaust fan--or at least it would be, if Linus hadn't stowed the excess power cabling where he did. Needing an extension for that cable is a legitimate gripe, but the excess should be pulled up and stowed somewhere near the PSU, where it wouldn't be blocking the case's main intake vent.

 

In theory, this should provide a lot more ventilation for the video card--possibly enough to keep it reasonably cool (though again, I'd love to see this tested). Consider that a full-sized ATX case doesn't need external venting right next to the video card, so long as the case airflow design keeps air circulating over it--usually coming in through the front of the case and exiting out the back. This case works sort of like that, except the air flows from bottom to top. Which, in theory, should be even more efficient because of convection.

 

Reversing that top fan so that it blows IN, however, kills the airflow in this case. Now you have positive pressure in the top of the case, which means that you are trying to make the "chimney" work in reverse. But all of the hot components are in the bottom sections of the case, so you are fighting against the natural convection currents, trying to force hot air down and out through the bottom vents. Which would probably be a bad idea even if you had a lot of positive pressure, but in this instance you are trying to do it with a single 120mm fan. 

 

Given all that, the test results are unsurprising. Air is stagnating in the center section of the case because it has positive pressure from the top of the case pushing down on it, and hot air from the bottom of the case pushing up. In the motherboard area, some air can escape out through the venting, but in the video card area, it's trapped. Thus, the video card cooks. I have no idea if this case will have great thermal characteristics if you switch that top fan to blow out again and route the excess cabling away from the main airflow channel, but I'd bet cash money that, at the very least, you would see a significant improvement. 

 

 

Other things that might help:

 

1. Replace the top fan with a better one. Ideally one with high CFM and high static pressure. It's the only case fan (though technically the CPU cooler fan is also helping to draw air into the case in Linus' build), so it needs to be as good as it can be. 

 

2. Trim excess material off the PCIe riser card. That card is much larger than it needs to be--there's a lot of surface area that is unpopulated by circuitry, and thus only serving to block airflow to the video card. I'd get a fine-toothed saw and cut off these portions:

 

 

 

Just a thought. In any event, it would be cool to at least see Linus retest the case with the fan blowing in the intended direction, and the cabling out of the way.