It’s been years since I have actually used a desktop case, the last one I used probably held my 468SX2. Now there are not many desktops being made or used because everyone is using towers, but I still like the look of a desktop case. I have wanted to review a Lian-Li case since I started OCmodshop almost a year ago and I finally have gotten my chance. Xoxide sent me a Lian-Li 9300 which is one of Lian-Li’s desktop cases. Most of you already probably know that Lian-Li makes some of the best aluminum cases on the market right now in both looks and function. I wanted this desktop case for an upcoming project that I am going to do and be writing a guide on, but I am not going to say what its on. The Dimensions of this case are 360 x 132 x 430mm and it will hold a Micro ATX motherboard (MAX SIZE: 9.6″x9.6″). It has 2 x 5.25″ and 2 x 3.5″ drive bays, 2 ball bearing 40mm fans, 2 USB2.0 ports, and comes with some aluminum bezels, and a 3.5″ mounting kits for a floppy drive.
The box is pretty plain like most boxes with a picture of the case and a few features listed on the sides of it. When I opened it up I found a good amount of styrofoam which will do a great job protecting this case during shipping. The packaging style of this case is very similar to that of the Cooler Master ATC-101-SX2. The bottom of the case also has feet which are identical as far as I can tell, I like these feet they look cool.
The front of the case is very cool looking; it has two exposed 5.25″ drive bays and two front USB ports which will support USB 2.0. There is also a power button, reset button, and a LED for each. Along the top of the front part of the case runs a blue plastic strip which lights up with a blue LED. Taking a look at the back you can see that there are four expansion slots and on the opposite side a place for a SFX power supply which is also called a micro ATX power supply. The case has a traditional I/O back plate and the case comes with two 40mm fans which are connected to a fan speed controller. You can also see that on both sides of the back of the case that there is a thumbscrew so that you can get in and out easily.
I like the power button and the reset button, they are both a good size and easy to push, the reset button could have been a little bigger but it’s fine. Lian-Li has a tradition of using carbon fiber panels on their cases or at that’s what it is supposed to be. The carbon fiber is on the side of bezel on the front of the case and looks really cool. I have always liked the carbon fiber look Lian-Li on cases. There are also two USB ports on the front of the case which can supoprt USB 2.0 as long as your motherboard does.
To open up the case you need to unscrew both thumbscrews then slide the top back about 2 inches, then you need to pull it up. The thing with the top of the case is that you kinda need to flex it out to the side to get it off of the case. This in itself isn’t a bad thing but if you are not careful you can end up damaging the top of this case. I’m not exactly sure why the case doesn’t just slide off like it should but none the less you need to.
Inside the case is a box that says “3½” floppy drive mounting kit” and a case installation guide which basically tells you how to install the USB jumpers for the front ports, how to take off the top of the case, and how to take the drive bay cages out and how to install drives to them. I like when everything has manuals because not everyone out there knows how to do this stuff and this will make it much easier on them.
I figured that the 3½” floppy drive mounting kit box would only have something lame to mount a floppy drive into the 5.25″ bay, but when I opened the box I was very surprised. Not only was there a kit so that you could mount your floppy drive to one of the 5.25″ bays but there was a four-pin Molex adapter to a “berg” floppy connection. I don’t plan on using a floppy so the coolest thing that was in this box was aluminum faceplates for the floppy drive and CDROM drives which is really cool. There are three different types of faceplates for the CDROM drives because not all CDROM drives are the same. I really like the fact that these are included because now you don’t have to go out and buy them to make your case look how it should.
The jumpers for this case are the kind that I like, they are all fused together with the exception of the PC speaker because it is not in the same location. The USB cable also looks good because the pins are individual so that it will fit on any motherboard. My only concern with this cable is that it might not be long enough if a motehrboard has the jumpers at the very back.
There are four expansion slots on the back of the motherboard which should be enough because most Micro ATX motherboards don’t even have that many slots on them. The expansion slot covers have some holes in them so that air can move in and out of this case a little easier so that it will be a little cooler inside. There are two 40mm fans on the back of the case which are both connected to a PCB which has three resistors on it. Basically this is about as simple as you can get for a fan speed controller but it does the job just fine. Each resistor provides a different amount of resistance so depending on which level you chose you will get a different speed. It’s nice that all of this is included but if you are going for a silent PC you will want to take these out.
One thing I really like about Lian-Li is that they always provide a removable motherboard tray, at least with all of the cases I have seen. This desktop case is no exception to that, the only difference is this one comes out a little different than desktop cases would. There are five screws which hold this try in place, all you need to do is loosen each screw, slide it back and pull it out. You all should know that I love removable motherboard trays because they make it so much easier to work with the computer, especially a small one.
The LEDs and switches are attached to the front of the case and there is a blue and white wire that run back to the PCB so that it can be powered. The blue and white wire has a LED attached to it and when the case powers on the LED lights up the blue plastic strip on the front of the case. Unfortunatly I was unable to test out any of the LEDs because I dont have a mATX motherboard or a SFX PSU which sucks because they are blue which is awesome. I will be using this case for an upcoming project at which time I will update this review.
There are two removable drive bays inside of the case, which work really well. On the top of each drive bay are four thumbscrews, if you unscrew them you can remove the top half of the bay which will hold a 3.5″ hard drive. If you want to remove the cage there is a screw on each side of the bay which you losen after which you can slide out the whole thing. With the cage out you can see that you can put any 5.25″ drive in there that you want. I found it a little odd that to get the drive flush with the case you had to angle it up a little.
Conclusion:
I really like this case a lot for many reasons, the most obvious is that it is brushed aluminum and looks awesome. This case would work great for a multimedia system or anything that isnt going to be super powerful. It comes stock with blue LEDs which is cool because they look the best, and has two 40mm fans which are attached to a fan speed controller. I was suprised and exited that it came with matching faceplates for CDROM drives because they will make the case look so much better overall. Of course a very cool feature is the removable motherboard tray and removable drive bay cages. Anything in a case that can be removed so that it can be worked with is a plus. This little desktop has a ton to offer and the only thing that it is lacking is a power supply which you can pick up for about $20. I have always kinda liked desktop cases but before now they all looked horrible and like they were from the 1980’s but with this brushed aluminum Lian-Li the old clunky desktop of the past has become something very cool and well worth the money. Overall I am going to give this case a 9.5/10 and award it the OCmodshop Seal of Approval, I would like to thank Xoxide for sending this case over for me to review, head on over and pick one up. Again I will be doing a cool guide involving this case as soon as I get everything else I need and some free time.
Pros:
Cons:
|