Lian Li Launches the PC-Q33: Another Hinge Chassis, but mini-ITX
by Ian Cutress on December 20, 2013 6:04 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- Lian Li
It seems that this is a week of Lian Li press releases – first up was the PC-V358 micro-ATX case that uses hinges to make accessing the components easier, paving a way for an upgradable system. Today it is the turn of the PC-Q33, built on a similar paradigm with a hot-zone on top featuring the motherboard, CPU and GPU, with a cool zone underneath with the power supply and storage.
This case comes in 229mm x 328mm x 240mm (WxHxD) dimensions, or ~1 foot tall, and is made solely from Lian Li’s favorite material, aluminum. This also means a total unladen weight of 2.18 Kg (4.8 lbs), and a variety of storage configurations – the hinged panel has room for 3x2.5” or 2x2.5”+1x3.5”, and the side storage locker has room/fixtures for 2x3.5” or 1x3.5”+1x2.5”, meaning up to five drives in total.
In terms of available dimensions, Lian Li have given the PC-Q33 a maximum PSU length of 200mm, VGA card length of 220mm (8.66"), and maximum CPU/VGA height of 180mm (7.08"). The front panel is typically light as most Lian Li cases are, with two USB 3.0 ports and audio jacks. The system comes supplied with one 120mm fan in the rear, with the side mesh providing an intake point of fresh air.
Available in black and silver, the PC-Q33 should be available by the end of the year at a MSRP of US$99.
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meacupla - Friday, December 20, 2013 - link
Why would you want a bigger (and hotter) GPU when there is only 1x120mm exhaust fan?If you add a front intake fan on top of making it 1 to 2" longer on the inside, you would end up with this overly long case and lose the footprint and volume advantage it has.
chaos215bar2 - Monday, December 23, 2013 - link
The GPU is it's own exhaust fan. Why does it matter that there's only one other?bryanb - Friday, December 20, 2013 - link
Wish it had a 5 1/4 bay for a standard optical drive. My current Prodigy is more practical, but I'd much rather have the Lian-Li quality.meacupla - Friday, December 20, 2013 - link
Why? If you add a standard size 5.25 bay, that would make it a Q08.and Q08 was overly chunky and ugly for what it did.
bryanb - Monday, December 23, 2013 - link
The Q03, Q07, Q08, Q27, Q28, TU100, and TU200 all have the same problem of placing the power supply directly over the ITX motherboard. Thus, only very low-profile or stock CPU coolers can be used. This Q33 design, like the prodigy, allows a much taller cooler (such as a tower cooler or other large heat-pipe coolers with 120mm fans.)Gadgety - Friday, December 27, 2013 - link
I agree. I'm putting together a system for my kid and that will require an optical drive. It would be so cool if it had a slot drive either at the bottom, or transversally in that fold out cover. I know Lian-Li uses a modular system and I haven't seen any slot drives in Lian Li chassis, still that's what I'd like to see in this one.Gadgety - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
I wish it had an optical drive, or a PC-Q33O version, too. Building it for the kids, and they need an optical drive. Lian-Li could just make a different version tilt cover, with a slot drive mounted on the upper part, where the drive mounts are, feeding in/out the discs vertically, like a toaster.Gadgety - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
Or alternatively, having a slot in the front, and mouting the optical drive vertically in line with the drive cage beside the motherboard.Lors16 - Friday, December 20, 2013 - link
Does Lian Li make cases that doesn't have their name on it? Never really been a fan of providing free advertisement. Also, what are those hole looking things next to the case fan for?vykos - Friday, December 20, 2013 - link
Tubing for a watercooling radiator.