Lian Li PC-D8000

[Darksaber]

The Lian Li PC-D8000 is easily the biggest Lian Li chassis we have ever had on our test bench. With the ability to swallow HPTX motherboards, up to twenty 3.5" hard drives and loads of cooling fans, along with the biggest components money can buy, we ask it to open its mouth wide and say "ahh".

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[Rowsol]

That's a lot of porn.

Seriously though, I can't imagine needing more than 6-8 hard drives in a case.

 

[micropage7]

its like 2 case made into 1 case
why dont they make it slimmer and little bit higher
i dont like looks like being greedy using 2 cases for my pc

 

[Lipton]

Looks fine and thanks for the review! Would have wished to see a bigger motherboard and far more hard drives being put in for this review however, since that's part of the reason one would buy it. I understand that's not something everyone has access to, but still...


And something not that related to the review per se, but are there any cases out there with support for multiple motherboards? Ideally I'd like to have one box host two machines. I've tried to look around a bit, but it basically boils down to making one yourself if you're not willing to go the rack-mounted route (which I'm not).

 

[Darksaber]

Looks fine and thanks for the review! Would have wished to see a bigger motherboard and far more hard drives being put in for this review however, since that's part of the reason one would buy it. I understand that's not something everyone has access to, but still...


And something not that related to the review per se, but are there any cases out there with support for multiple motherboards? Ideally I'd like to have one box host two machines. I've tried to look around a bit, but it basically boils down to making one yourself if you're not willing to go the rack-mounted route (which I'm not).

Thanks for the feedback! I do agree, that filling the chassis would have been good, but in the end, this case is a one time thing. Usually the samples do not require such boards. In the past I was able to borrow parts from a larger shop in the area (like an EVGA SR2), but this is no longer possible. And who really has 20 hard drives lying around - or even 10? ^^

Anyways, as for a chassis that can hold more than one system:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xilence/XQ_Interceptor_Pro/

As this is just a rebrand of an asian manufacturer chassis for the German/European market, you may find it under a different brand in the USA for example.

 

[Lipton]

Thanks for the feedback! I do agree, that filling the chassis would have been good, but in the end, this case is a one time thing. Usually the samples do not require such boards. In the past I was able to borrow parts from a larger shop in the area (like an EVGA SR2), but this is no longer possible. And who really has 20 hard drives lying around - or even 10? ^^

Anyways, as for a chassis that can hold more than one system:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xilence/XQ_Interceptor_Pro/

As this is just a rebrand of an asian manufacturer chassis for the German/European market, you may find it under a different brand in the USA for example.

Haha, yeah I probably have a few too many lying around at home that I really should eBay. Well, the IDE drives would probably be better off in the electronics recycling bin...


Thanks for the tip. That case actually seems like a smart solution to my problem (sans actual looks). Will definitely look into it, and even better that you've reviewed it!

 

[EpicShweetness]

And something not that related to the review per se, but are there any cases out there with support for multiple motherboards? Ideally I'd like to have one box host two machines. I've tried to look around a bit, but it basically boils down to making one yourself if you're not willing to go the rack-mounted route (which I'm not).

http://www.mountainmods.com/CYO_picker.php?osCsid=ehdk73m5m9or3v55d28bllafd2

Theses guys do just pick either the U2UFO/Extension or Ascension/Extension, and select the back panel config to "duality"

I would very much like to replace the playroom computer with one of these, no more kids on my laptop.

 

[Gadgety]

Hptx

"Take a hard look at all the other excellent HPTX-capable offerings Lian Li has as they tend to offer much better bang for your buck."

I agree. I don't need the server space of that many disks, but the stealthy LianLi PC-90 can still hold 12 disks, and an HPTX board, despite its diminutive size and, by Lian Li standards current bargain basement price.

One thing I'd like to ask of Lian Li is to spend some of their resources to continuously refine their chassis. Hone them. The PC-90 v2 could use better cable management by just increasing the width of the case by 0.5 inch.

 

[Frick]

That's a lot of porn.

Seriously though, I can't imagine needing more than 6-8 hard drives in a case.

Some might make use of it. Not a big market.

 

[progste]

I don't get why would they use easily breakable plastic pins on an high end case like this one

 

[Tonduluboy]

Lian Li is not for a common desktop user...
Most of Lian Li cases look like outdated and not appealing...
The expensive price make it more worst.

 

[Steevo]

Thanks for the feedback! I do agree, that filling the chassis would have been good, but in the end, this case is a one time thing. Usually the samples do not require such boards. In the past I was able to borrow parts from a larger shop in the area (like an EVGA SR2), but this is no longer possible. And who really has 20 hard drives lying around - or even 10? ^^

Anyways, as for a chassis that can hold more than one system:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xilence/XQ_Interceptor_Pro/

As this is just a rebrand of an asian manufacturer chassis for the German/European market, you may find it under a different brand in the USA for example.

I have 8 now. Almost 20TB of storage.


But 4.5 of that is integrated wap attached or nas.

 

[progste]

Lian Li is not for a common desktop user...
Most of Lian Li cases look like outdated and not appealing...
The expensive price make it more worst.

the only visual part I don't like is the raw interiors, i wish they painted it but other than that they look great and there are many models designed for a more common user unlike this one

 

[marcnz]

I bought one of these and it does look big.

I had to add a few accessories, such as a multi fan controller and a SSD enclosure taking one of the OD 5.25" bay.

I can tell you that I swore quite a few times as it is almost impossible to screw anything that is in the inside middle section! If you have big hands, just forget it!

I cannot understand Lian Li would have not thought about providing something a bit more convenient to put in screws. I personally like to have my accessories well tight, not wibbly-wobbling when touched because one side has no screw.

Also something I found annoying is that I cannot move my 5 to 3 hdd cage to this case because of the 5,25" support plates on each side. The cage I have is full with no cuts for these, so I cannot insert them. I miss 5 3.5" HDD in my final build... Just annoying as I really hoped I could fill it up. So now I have this $150 hdd cage with its fan sitting on a shelf doing nothing good.

These plates seems quite hard to bend, especially as there is not much room to access from the middle side section.

Another very annoying think are the screws on the top cover for the fans section. Why on Earth putting screws that are so hard to unscrew (not the usual screw type) that I had to bring a plier to pinch them and twist at least a bit so I can finish manually. Also I thought "great, I can pile other stuff on that top cover!"... Unfortunately, with these screws poking out, it is not possible to lay anything down flat on top of it. I thought my PFSense firewall and my Wireless router would fit nicely on top... big mistake.

Oh, and another thing I didn't like. If you remove the screws from the vertical sliding bar that locks the hard drives in place, and you want to screw them back, that bar is pushed away as it is not in an enclosed rail! You need to keep it pushed against the front, the screw holes in the right place, in order to screw these bolts back in!

I would also have loved the option to have both the wheel casters or some plain rubber feet. If one intend on putting this case on top of a desk sized filing cabinet, it is not great to have the wheels. Some rubber feet would have been best suited. They

Although it is all aluminum, I found this case very light. I thought it would be much heavier. My Lancool K58 model was much heavier, which is weird. Plastic is heavier than metal it seems So the weight make this case feel wrongly cheap. Just a personal opinion.

Would I recommend this case to my friends? Maybe the ones I don't like much... Although it is generous with 20 drives and 5 usable external 5.25" bays, there are a lot of design flaws that are not making this the case of the century.

At AU$550 naked, plus all the fans needed (about 7 or 8), bringing the total at about AU$700, and if I lived in the USA, I would rather purchase a Caselabs case than this one.

Caselabs is way too expensive to be shipped to Australia unfortunately. It will definitely my next choice once this one is filled with all backups, movies, musics and other digital contents we accumulate over time.

In this situation, I might have been better off buying a Norco RPC-4224 with 24 3.5" hot swap bays! It would be another AU$300 to add the hot swap backplanes on the Lian Li PC-D8000 case for the 20 hdds!