The Wall-Mountable Chassis: Lian Li PC-O5S Review

[Steve]

About 3 months ago Lian Li was teasing enthusiasts about an upcoming open air chassis series, stressing that the final designs were still in the works and calling on their supporters to offer ideas. A few months later, we have the culmination of that feedback with finished versions of the company's new O series.

The design has changed quite a bit, and from my perspective these are no longer open air cases, even though Lian Li is still classifying them as such. Instead, I would say the 'O' stands for "oversized window," as one of the key aspects of the series are the oversized tempered glass windows that combined with Lian Li's renowned aluminum construction and PCI riser cards make them perfect for showing off your machine's guts. In fact, Lian Li takes it a step further and suggests you hang these on the wall, and includes mounting holes for that purpose.

Read the complete review.

 

[Burty117]

That's actually a deeply impressive case, early next year I'm looking into building something of this size to go into a cabinet under my TV as a small gaming rig. I wonder if this would a solid choice since it can handle a 980?

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

That's actually a deeply impressive case...

Agreed, that would make a great case for a Home Theater PC. They should make a larger size for full ATX too.

 

[madboyv1]

That's actually a deeply impressive case, early next year I'm looking into building something of this size to go into a cabinet under my TV as a small gaming rig. I wonder if this would a solid choice since it can handle a 980?

While Cases are never an afterthought since I have to stare at it all the time, I've never truly considered spending more than $200 on one... until now. It really does look fantastic, and a mod for the ATX power port rather than running it through the case would not be (in my mind) difficult.

That's actually a deeply impressive case...

Agreed, that would make a great case for a Home Theater PC. They should make a larger size for full ATX too.

They are:

Along with the PC-O5 cases Lian Li also created the PC-06 MicroATX version, followed by a full size ATX version in the PC-07.

Probably like $450+, but if it's as good looking as the 05/05S... so nice.

 

[GhostRyder]

This line is going to be really cool and honestly I have been waiting to see them in person or see some reviews of them. This one seems to support a wide variety of hardware for the form factor while keeping looks a top priority which to me is very cool. I would love one of these for a small machine if it was not for the price honestly as since I build my big machine without restrictions the small portable media box/lan box I have would not justify the price sadly (On top of like you said the expensive SFX PSU).

Great review @Steve, I look forward to seeing you do a review of more in this lineup! I am curious about the biggest in the line the PC-07S and what will fit in there.

 

[Guest]

My favorite part was the picture of it hanging on a wall.....Oh, wait, you didn't bother to show us the biggest feature of the case. Thanks.

 

[madboyv1]

Great review @Steve, I look forward to seeing you do a review of more in this lineup! I am curious about the biggest in the line the PC-07S and what will fit in there.

I too would like to see Techspot get their hands on the 06 and/or the 07.

 

[SuperVeloce]

I know this is a semi open case but still, they should add filters on fan intakes.

"This turned out to be a mistake as the hole in the motherboard tray didn’t properly provide access to rear side of the motherboards CPU socket. As a result I had to remove the motherboard in order to install the Argon AR05. This was an annoying discovery but certainly not a deal breaker."

Again, at that price it's the little thigs that can often be a deal breaker.

 

[Steve]

My favorite part was the picture of it hanging on a wall.....Oh, wait, you didn't bother to show us the biggest feature of the case. Thanks.

You want to see the case hanging on my white wall. That would look different to the white cut out images of it standing up how exactly? :S Use your creativity

I too would like to see Techspot get their hands on the 06 and/or the 07.

I will speak with Lian Li about it.

I know this is a semi open case but still, they should add filters on fan intakes.

"This turned out to be a mistake as the hole in the motherboard tray didn’t properly provide access to rear side of the motherboards CPU socket. As a result I had to remove the motherboard in order to install the Argon AR05. This was an annoying discovery but certainly not a deal breaker."

Again, at that price it's the little thigs that can often be a deal breaker.

There are no fan intakes and the case does have dust filters.

 

[Guest]

If I had one I might have to also buy a frame and frame it on the wall... assuming the wife would let me hang it on the wall

 

[Guest]

I really like that design. Kudos to Lian Li for thinking "outside the box"

 

[PC EliTiST]

200$ on a case? Damn... I never consider spending more than 30€. I spend a lot on the hardware that matters most; like CPU & GPU.