Lian Li's PC-V353: Lighter Than Air
by Dustin Sklavos on September 28, 2011 4:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- MicroATX
- SFF
- Lian Li
- Mini-Tower
Testing Methodology
For testing Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in its stock configuration and a Zotac GeForce GTX 580 in cases that support it to get a feel for how the case handles heat and noise. Due to the power supply clearance constraints of smaller cases, SilverStone provided us with a slightly different PSU than our full-size ATX configuration for testing.
| Mini-ITX/Micro-ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU | Intel Core i3-530 (73W TDP) |
| Motherboard | Zotac H55ITX-WiFi |
| Graphics Card | Intel HD Graphics (IGP) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps |
| CPU Cooler | Zalman CNPS8000A with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Gold 750W 80 Plus Gold |
A refresher on how we test:
Acoustic testing is standardized on a foot from the front of the case, using the Extech SL10 with an ambient noise floor of ~32dB. For reference, that's what my silent apartment measures with nothing running, testing acoustics in the dead of night (usually between 1am and 3am). A lot of us sit about a foot away from our computers, so this should be a fairly accurate representation of the kind of noise the case generates, and it's close enough to get noise levels that should register above ambient.
Thermal testing is run with the computer having idled at the desktop for fifteen minutes, and again with the computer running both Furmark (where applicable) and Prime95 (less one thread when a GPU is being used) for fifteen minutes. I've found that leaving one thread open in Prime95 allows the processor to heat up enough while making sure Furmark isn't CPU-limited. We're using the thermal diodes included with the hardware to keep everything standardized, and ambient testing temperature is always between 71F and 74F. Processor temperatures reported are the average of the CPU cores.
For more details on how we arrived at this testbed, you can check out our introductory passage in the review for the SilverStone FT03.
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank the vendors who made our testbed possible:
Thank You!
We have some thanks in order before we press on:
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory we used to add memory thermals to our testing.
- Thank you to Zalman for providing us with the CNPS8000A heatsink and fan unit we used.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive and the optical drive.
- Thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the SilverStone Strider Gold 750W power supply.
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Dustin Sklavos - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
It never ceases to amaze me what some people find offensive.IlllI - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
i find your post offensive!!i DEMAND you change it because i find it offensive! you have lost all credibility with me because you spoke your mind!
actually i agree. some people get too damn butt-hurt over the littlest things
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
+1cjmurph - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
"but surprisingly they don't advertise what may be one of its more interesting aspects: the enclosure is comprised almost entirely of aluminum"Umm, it's a Lian Li case dude, what else is it going to be made out of, chicken feet?
aznofazns - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
That line had me confused as well. Anyone who knows anything about Lian Li cases should realize that the all-aluminum construction is practically their main selling point.But the part that bothered me was the conclusion. "It's a nice and unique piece of aluminum, tremendously light and easy to move, but this case honestly would fare a lot better with fans." Dustin, I think you're missing the point of this case. It's designed to be a silent case, so it'd probably be wise to use a fanless PSU (Seasonic SS-400FL, anyone?), large, passively cooled CPU heatsink (or a really quiet one like the Scythe Big Shuriken or Zipang 2), and a passively cooled graphics card. Or better yet, install a Llano A8 chip.
I do agree that Lian Li didn't make the best use of space in the V353, as with most/all of the V3xx series, but the end result is a pretty slick looking microATX rig.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
Having lots of ventilation (and no sound dampening) flies in the face of building a silent PC.aznofazns - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
Lack of sound dampening seems irrelevant when the components inside are silent, don't you think?aznofazns - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
Just to hammer this point home, read Lian Li's own description of the PC-V353:http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php...
"The PC-V353 is designed to be a silent case.
To use lots vents instead of fans to cool components."
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
How about "quiet case" as opposed to silent, because small and compact with no sound dampening but still using a CPU fan (necessary given the cramped quarters) means that this won't be "silent".aznofazns - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
Well it depends on what components you're using.For example, a low power Zacate, Llano A4, or dual core Sandy Bridge chip would be able to get by with a large, passive heatsink. The ventilated case would be enough to keep those chips from overheating. With no case fans, a fanless PSU, and an SSD, the system would literally be silent (save for possible capacitor squeal).
On the other hand, a higher power CPU/APU could use a heatsink with a large, low rpm fan. In that case it would be "quiet," but having case fans would still add to the noise.
Either way, Lian Li designed this case to be cooled passively.