1970s hi-fi or futuristic PC cube?
What can we say? Just wow. What a case! This is the PC-O8 windowed chassis brought to us by Lian-Li. Coming in at an incredible $390, this cube-like design by the world-renowned Taiwanese case maker follows the company’s long tradition of utilizing a full-aluminum chassis in conjunction with its entry point into the high-end premium market. And as far as cases go, it certainly doesn’t disappoint—although, would you really expect anything else at this price?
The PC-08 is phenomenally well constructed; even the raised feet are formed from solid blocks of that versatile metal. On top of that, the brushed finish is beyond words. It almost feels delicate, giving the roof and frame a beautifully premium finish. And considering the design of the chassis, it’s incredibly strong, even minus the reinforced glass panels. There’s some clever engineering going on, or some seriously thick aluminum—either way, we’re impressed.
Of course, we have to talk about those windowed side panels. Laminated glass is the name of the game here. Specifically, two smoked sheets of the stuff adorn the front and side of the chassis, showcasing all of the cleverly laid-out internals within the entire case. The intake fans, visible behind the front-facing panel, pull in air from a dust-filtered side vent. What this means is that, although at first glance this triple setup of 120mm air-pullers does seem rather pointless, they have more than enough room to breathe, and actually serve an interesting dual purpose, due to the design decisions behind the interior layout of the case.
All three 120mm fans pull in cold air from outside the chassis, at the same time dumping some of the warm air generated by all of your hardware from the main compartment out and into the rear hard drive compartment of the chassis as well. This is incredibly innovative, as although the case lacks any obvious intake, the circulation and flow of air around the whole case is more than enough to circumvent any thermal problems within Lian-Li’s closed-off cube design.
As far as watercooling is concerned, it’s admittedly not the best case for your H2O pursuits. You’re limited to a 360mm radiator in the front, 240mm in the roof, and a 120mm in the rear of the case, maximum. Although it’s not impossible to delve into those murky depths, you’ll need to think out your runs very carefully. Especially if utilizing a radiator in the front of the chassis, because there’s not a lot of space between the front glass panel and the radiator assembly, once fully installed. There’ll be some tight 90-degree bends involved, that’s for sure.
Ideally, this case is best suited for those looking to build a quick, clean, show build, with a solid and dependable AIO CPU cooler. It’s crisp, it’s clean, and it’s phenomenally well constructed. If you’re thinking of just throwing some reference graphics cards in there, a single 240mm AIO liquid cooler, and a hell of a lot of hard drives, this might be the most ideal case in the world. But for watercooling, you might want to rethink those ideas, as the PC-08 simply doesn’t cut the mustard. That said, it’s a fantastic case, and we’d love to see a design from Lian-Li integrating these intuitive features in a fully watercoolingready tower chassis. Zak Storey
SPECIFICATIONS
Form Factor E-ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX
Dimensions and Weight 13.4x16.9x15.9 inches; 21lb
Cooling Front: 3x 120mm (included), Top: 2x 120mm, Rear: 1x 120mm (included), HDD rack: 2x 120mm
CPU Cooler Clearance 6.7 inches
Graphics Card Max Length 14.6 inches
Storage Support 6x 3.5-inch HDD mounts; 2x 2.5-inch SSD mounts