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Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO XL

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer
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Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phoenix GS
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The Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO XL may not be for everyone, simply due to its sheer size. But, for those who want to use multiple 420 mm radiators, the O11 Dynamic EVO XL should make it to the top of your list. Once you consider all the additional features and intricate details, there really isn't much in this space that can compete.

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This case is in its own league from the beggining, and yet I've seen nothing come even close to it. This version highlights it even further, with amazing QoL details. The price isn't really a big deal considering innovation and engineering intelligence involved. Superb product and a worthy investment for an enthusiasts alike.
 
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I got this some months ago moving from the Fractal Define 7, which was too cramped and i got fed up with the stupid PSU shroud blocking air flow.

The Evo XL was such a pleasure to work with due to it's size, everything can be reached easily and hardware actually has breathing room.

I don't even use watercooling and have a Noctua NH-D15 which fits perfectly, and barely needs to run it's fan to keep the CPU cool due to the insane amount of air volume in the case. I run it with 10 Noctua NF-A12x25 fans which also barely have to spin, making it a dead silent combination. This is a case i will never have to replace again.

And seeing how modulair it is i wonder if Lian-Li will release more addons, like wooden side strips. Though wrapping it yourself is possible since everything can be removed from the case itself.
 
I had the first Dynamic in white and I had also the Dynamic XL special silver edition.
I loved both cases and for watercooling just perfect. I even got a double loop in the XL.
But I always dreamed of the Sma8 case from Caselabs and wanted to buy it just when the company went down :(
Then Lian Li came with the V3000+ case, witch looks like the Sma8 from Caselabs but upgraded.
It was a absolute nobrainer for me and I couldnt be happier :)

No they come with the Evo versions witch are beautiful also but for me the case stays history.
Ive got 2 of them already and that is enough. The V3000+ stays here for a long time :D
 
I got an O11D XL to replace my aging Silverstone Raven case because it really didn't lend itself to water cooling for air cooling it was fantastic though but it was getting old and time for a new case
I love working in it plenty of room bit peeved I didn't get an GPU bracket though but everything else was great
 
This is how i currently have mine set up with just air cooling.

Lian-Li X Noctua (1).jpgLian-Li X Noctua (2).jpg
 
These cases are indeed very nice.

If I were to build a new tower from scratch, I would without a doubt use the smaller edition (versus literally every other single case I've ever seen, which are many), but for those that need it, this appears quite choice.

Thanks for the review.
 
Probably won't be XL enough for the RTX5090... that's prolly XXL.
 
Is this one the first release of the XL?

Are you planning to review the Thermaltake CTE 600 MX
 
Very nice case. One thing that I don't understand is the I/O panel on the bottom. Dust will get in there, wires will need to be extra long, and I can't plug in a USB drive without getting out of the chair and kneeling down on my hardwood floor.
 
I own and use still the older Rog XL version. I'd never seen a case with such horrible temperatures inside. I have to run my system without the glass panels to have more normal Temps inside. With that case i made some decisions for my next builds:
1. I watercool virtually everything to keep heat out of the case.
2, I will never ever buy that case and successors of it.
3. I will choose only cases where the IO Panel is on top.
It looks good but the technical datas like the airflow are crappy. When i took a look at the temperature measurements you provided it seems that LianLi didn't learn anything. There are lot of heat sources inside. PCIe 4.0 SSD, GPU, VRM,... And one cannot get the heat out. Even when using all fans mounted.
 
I own and use still the older Rog XL version. I'd never seen a case with such horrible temperatures inside. I have to run my system without the glass panels to have more normal Temps inside. With that case i made some decisions for my next builds:
1. I watercool virtually everything to keep heat out of the case.
2, I will never ever buy that case and successors of it.
3. I will choose only cases where the IO Panel is on top.
It looks good but the technical datas like the airflow are crappy. When i took a look at the temperature measurements you provided it seems that LianLi didn't learn anything. There are lot of heat sources inside. PCIe 4.0 SSD, GPU, VRM,... And one cannot get the heat out. Even when using all fans mounted.

You tried chimney airflow? In bottom out the top. Thats how i had my O11D XL setup with both air and water, and temps were very good.

This evo XL is the pinnacle of this O11D case, i would buy this in a second if i was going water again.
 
1. I watercool virtually everything to keep heat out of the case.
2, I will never ever buy that case and successors of it.
3. I will choose only cases where the IO Panel is on top.

1. Samish, but you said you care about SSD, GPU, VRM cooling, well but those are under water block then if you cool everything. There is no point blowing when you do nothing, let it be silent, allow the water to rise let the rads accumulate heat while you do nothing, that's the whole point of doing WC, it is a capacitator. If you do game, then ramp it up it will disipate much faster also when the ambient air delta is larger. I use dual temp target PWM profile(CPU/GPU) and my pump also doesn't even brake a sweat in idle. There is no difference if your water temp is 32C or 42C at idle.

2. No problems, my non XL is stupid in some bottom mounting regards as reviewers tend to use midgetATX sized boards, you have to drill and cut it, and that's my objective hate for this case, the usual mistake that water cooling people put the front vertical fan trio as intakes, the holes in the metal rear cover are too restrictive, you have to use intake only bottom and back and those must be strong 140mils like TT Toughfans and the top and front side are 120mm, my Typoons and T30. I have placed 360ies at top and front and 280 at bottom, make the feet taller, put more few mm of rubber. In case of problems I thought of doing double 360 at the front side, space allows to screw two rads together there. If the next gen GPUs will be much over 500W then I may consider to increase my heat capacity. I won't even touch MO-RA3 people, we have plenty of those here. They allmost don't care for airflow :D only utility. Want to talk about shit airflow, let's talk about some Phanteks, you have to laser cut it to make it right and perform black magic to even put something in.

My Evo tends to rattle in some places, slide in inserts are cool and all that but put more screw holes so the joints don't get the chance to resonate. I have to put rubber pads in some places etc... I don't need to think about it but you LianLi. A generic reviewer should pay attention more to such things. I think it is absolutely the same with this XL. Doing fast aircooling and bye... well I understand it doesn't get paid much, but when doing some PR pics, put the damn ruller besides to get some usefull info for custom loop builders. We get pretty pics from google already, what's even the point doing them then.

It is water cooling oriented case, I find it amusing when people use it for air cooling instead of more tailored for airflow cases. So keep your bitching aside peps, what fits for all fits for nothing.
 
I change my CM Sorm Trooper case with this case, after 1 year of looking at CM Haf 700 , be quiet DB901 pro, and Lian li xl evo
I can say in my opinion Lian li Evo xl is the best option for people ho like this design.

Pro
Good build quality case
Good airflow if is use a mesh front panel
Many configuration
Suport 420 mm aio
The best case money/performance/modularity witch we can buy
Cons
the paint scratches quickly where there are unprotected screws
Without front mesh panel not good airflow
The USB ports aren't iluminated night is hard to insert some device
Not enough suport for HDD for some of us
The right panel has poor construction, buckling
 

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Why I didn't get this case. Lian Li simply made it worse than predecessor. Drive cages are total mess. Old had normal, external hot-swap (or not). This new "brilliant" idea with hot-swamp from inside is utterly dumb. Another downer was the fact that there is no front panel intake (even if smaller brother got mesh panel).

Got V3000+ in the end, case with its own problems, but at least it's not lame 25th clone of previous products. For another build thinking about CTE750 because it has space for 4x200mm fans and 90 degree rotation board or AltaF2 from Silverstone.

In the end LL is no longer LL I remember from times of A71 or D8000. They are just another Thermaltake, just overpriced.
 
Why I didn't get this case. Lian Li simply made it worse than predecessor. Drive cages are total mess. Old had normal, external hot-swap (or not). This new "brilliant" idea with hot-swamp from inside is utterly dumb. Another downer was the fact that there is no front panel intake (even if smaller brother got mesh panel).

Got V3000+ in the end, case with its own problems, but at least it's not lame 25th clone of previous products. For another build thinking about CTE750 because it has space for 4x200mm fans and 90 degree rotation board or AltaF2 from Silverstone.

In the end LL is no longer LL I remember from times of A71 or D8000. They are just another Thermaltake, just overpriced.
They sell a front panel intake kit for this Evo XL.
 
Why I didn't get this case. Lian Li simply made it worse than predecessor. Drive cages are total mess. Old had normal, external hot-swap (or not). This new "brilliant" idea with hot-swamp from inside is utterly dumb. Another downer was the fact that there is no front panel intake (even if smaller brother got mesh panel).

Got V3000+ in the end, case with its own problems, but at least it's not lame 25th clone of previous products. For another build thinking about CTE750 because it has space for 4x200mm fans and 90 degree rotation board or AltaF2 from Silverstone.

In the end LL is no longer LL I remember from times of A71 or D8000. They are just another Thermaltake, just overpriced.

You shouldn't comment in ignorance, this change is a definite improvement. As an owner of the previous XL I can tell you when this case is fully loaded it weighs north of 50lbs or at least feels like it, so moving this hefty girl to get to the backside is a PITA, cables certainly didn't help either as they snagged and I just ended up shutting down anyway (defeating the purpose of hot swap bays) and unplugging the cables. This set up is much better, bypasses the need to move the case and subsequently any need to unplug any cables just a side panel.

You tried chimney airflow? In bottom out the top. Thats how i had my O11D XL setup with both air and water, and temps were very good.

This evo XL is the pinnacle of this O11D case, i would buy this in a second if i was going water again.

Hope he had his fans setup that way as that's the only setup that works, any other arrangement just has the hot air sucked right back into an intake.
 
I understand is well build and has features, but $229 is a something for a case without fans and it should feature pricey on the cons.
 
You shouldn't comment in ignorance, this change is a definite improvement. As an owner of the previous XL I can tell you when this case is fully loaded it weighs north of 50lbs or at least feels like it, so moving this hefty girl to get to the backside is a PITA, cables certainly didn't help either as they snagged and I just ended up shutting down anyway (defeating the purpose of hot swap bays) and unplugging the cables. This set up is much better, bypasses the need to move the case and subsequently any need to unplug any cables just a side panel.



Hope he had his fans setup that way as that's the only setup that works, any other arrangement just has the hot air sucked right back into an intake.

Like this-
IMG_01459.JPG
 
You tried chimney airflow? In bottom out the top. Thats how i had my O11D XL setup with both air and water, and temps were very good.

This evo XL is the pinnacle of this O11D case, i would buy this in a second if i was going water again.
If you name the measured temps in this review good you must have been read a different review about a different case.

I don''t know exactly what you mean with chimney airflow. But i had my radiator (360mm, only CPU) on top blowing out. The rear fan also did blow out. The bottom and the side fans did blow in. I also used other configuration. But there hasn't been good temps. The good old Sabrent Rocket SSD i used is now curved. Not flat. It got rounded by the temperatures. The board i use is a crap (Gigabyte Aorus Master 1.0), The case is also a crap. All in my own opinion. I decided to get away from Gigabyte. My new rig gets an Asus ProArt. I change the case. Right now i have an anidees here. But it could be that i will have to buy a new one as it is possible that i don't have enough space inside the new case. Also i got three Samsung 990 Pro SSD's. All the coolers etc.

The story is written. In south germany we say "Der Drops ist gelutscht". This means "it is as it is". More exactly: "the hard candy is eaten".
 
If you name the measured temps in this review good you must have been read a different review about a different case.

I don''t know exactly what you mean with chimney airflow. But i had my radiator (360mm, only CPU) on top blowing out. The rear fan also did blow out. The bottom and the side fans did blow in. I also used other configuration. But there hasn't been good temps. The good old Sabrent Rocket SSD i used is now curved. Not flat. It got rounded by the temperatures. The board i use is a crap (Gigabyte Aorus Master 1.0), The case is also a crap. All in my own opinion. I decided to get away from Gigabyte. My new rig gets an Asus ProArt. I change the case. Right now i have an anidees here. But it could be that i will have to buy a new one as it is possible that i don't have enough space inside the new case. Also i got three Samsung 990 Pro SSD's. All the coolers etc.

The story is written. In south germany we say "Der Drops ist gelutscht". This means "it is as it is". More exactly: "the hard candy is eaten".
What do you call crap temps are you talking about idle or full noise
1: What and how many fans do you have installed and do you use a custom fan curve or just let the mobo bios control them
2: What AIO are you using
3: What are the temps that you're seeing

because I have the same case and temps are fine in it
 
What do you call crap temps are you talking about idle or full noise
1: What and how many fans do you have installed and do you use a custom fan curve or just let the mobo bios control them
2: What AIO are you using
3: What are the temps that you're seeing

because I have the same case and temps are fine in it
1. I think it are 3 at the bottom, on top and at the side. one more in the back. All mounting points for fans have been used. So 10 EKL Alpenfoehn WingBoost.
2. I use a full custom loop. Controlled by AquaComputer Quatro. Heatkiller CPU-cooler and a 360/45mm EKWB radiator at 16/10 tubes.
3. My 4 yrs old SSD (more exactly the PCB) I bought for this rig is now u-shaped because of the temperature. this is a brand new substitute for my old Sabrend Rocket PCIe 4.0 SSD.
Screenshot (104).png

The Mainboard is a Gigabyte Aorus Master V1.0. One should estimate that that board has good coolers. Also there ic no GPU around as it is mounted vertically.
 
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