Re: Offtopic: on case

[Stan Hoeppner <stan@hardwarefreak.com>]

On 10/19/2012 9:32 AM, Carabetta Giulio wrote:
> Sorry for the OT, but...
...
> You are right, I know that very well... 
> Also I'm looking for a compromise between temperature and noise: what do you think about this case?
> http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=480&cl_index=1&sc_index=26&ss_index=67&g=f

It should keep six 3.5" SATA drives within normal operating temp range,
even though the hole punched cage frame is inefficient, along with the
lateral vs longitudinal orientation.  Going lateral saved them 2" on
case depth, which is critical to their aesthetics.  They could have
eliminated the side and bottom intake grilles and the top exhaust fan,
by rotating the PSU 180 degrees, reversing its fan, and adding a small
director vane on the back of the case.  This would decrease total noise
by 3-5 dB without impacting cooling capacity.

There are two reasons I've never been big on Lian Li cases:

1.  You pay a 3-5x premium for aesthetics and the name
2.  Airflow is an engineering afterthought--aesthetics comes first

Point 2 is interesting regarding this case.  I'm surprised to see a huge
blue glowing front intake grille on a Lian Li.  They've heretofore
always been about the Apple clean lines look, brushed aluminum with as
few interruptions as possible, which is they they had typically located
media bays and device connectors on the sides, not the front.

-- 
Stan