Lian Li PC-TU100 Mini-ITX Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on May 29, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- Lian Li
Noise and Thermal Testing
I concede that I didn't go into testing with high hopes for the Lian Li PC-TU100, and my reasons for that are fairly evident. One powerful fan blowing through the right components can definitely be an extremely efficient way to keep things cool as SilverStone's Temjin TJ08-E can attest, but it has to be well-placed and well-chosen. The 120mm fan in the PC-TU100 seems a little underwhelming, and its airflow is directed almost entirely at the CPU with very little ancillary flow making it to the expansion slots.
That iffy fan positioning turns out to be problematic even for just the CPU; the Core i3 in our testbed isn't overheating, but the PC-TU100 isn't thermally competitive. 5C higher than the middle of the pack just doesn't bode well.
With just a 3-pin intake fan and no real fan control to speak of, idle noise isn't very good either. The case is still quiet, but SilverStone's Sugo SG08 is able to produce both superior thermals and superior noise. Fractal Design's Node 304 also proves to be a better choice on both fronts.
Add in even a modest graphics card like the ZOTAC GeForce GTS 450 Eco we use, and things only get worse for Lian Li's carry-on case. Thermals on the video card are poor, but worse, a pocket of heat builds up at the bottom of the case near the drive trays. Note that the GTS 450 Eco is under 75W and draws all of its power from the PCIe slot, and imagine how much worse things might be with a more powerful card.
With the video card added, noise turns out to be an even bigger issue as well. SilverStone's comparably sized Sugo SG08 outclasses it at every turn, and the Fractal Design Node 304 puts in a stellar showing against it as well.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
23 Comments
View All Comments
ronmccord - Saturday, September 21, 2013 - link
I think you are being hard on this very small and unique case. First off 50-65 celcius under load is not bad at all considering the case. and 35db not bad at all either. I am coming from laptops that run that and dbs can be higher so I am not as picky. The temps are well under specs and this is a much smaller case the prodigy or sg08 that you speak so highly of. In fact this is one of the smallest itx cases you can buy with a real 450 watt power supply and 760 asus small video card. The prodigy is downright huge and is really an mini atx case. Not only can you pick this up and go easily but it will fit in a backpack or in carry on luggage like a waterproof pelican 1510 which only a couple of other cases will do. The look is quality and unique and you can put it behind a monitor whereas the prodigy and shoebox style cases can take up too much room especially the wobbly plastic prodigy. This is a quality specialist case and My plan is to ditch the optical drive, get a silverstone gold 450 sft modular, one ssd and the new Asus 760 mini. I wll just udate the mini video card every couple of years and be good to go! Would of been nice to have someone really review this with a modular powersupply and getting rid of any excess cables with the new 760.Haravikk - Saturday, April 12, 2014 - link
The review mentions the 120mm fan mount, but would they take a 140mm fan with 120mm mounting holes? I often use the Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 14 for that purpose; although it's really a CPU cooler it makes a great case fan thanks to being only 15mm thick, provided you're okay with only having a PWM connection.Personally I think this case looks pretty sweet, but I can understand the reviewers issues with it. But assuming you have a video card that is single height, perhaps you could use one of those single-slot GPU cooler blower fans to help keep the heat down? Personally I was thinking of maybe cutting a piece of plastic to direct some of the airflow down towards the GPU.
I'm also hoping Lian-Li may just ditch the optical drive in a future model, as it's a better place to put your 2.5" drive(s), and you could probably do it now if you wanted to keep them away from the GPU. Plus it may open up room for a second 120mm fan on the front; I suppose technically you could even do that yourself on a TU100 right now if you're willing to drill into it, which is one of the hidden benefits of aluminium (it's a lot easier than even thin steel).
You're right though that the attention to detail is a bit lacking, as this could otherwise be a perfect case for small form factor computer, without sacrificing (much) component choice.
n13L5 - Thursday, September 10, 2015 - link
This is a great design, but silly and obvious mistakes being made in the allocation of space.Lian Li's designers have not paid attention to recent component trends (last 5-7 years are wholly ignored). When they do build smaller boxes, space is usually misallocated, leading to limitations that end up sending even Lian Li fans to purchase lower quality Silverstone cases with better layout and cooling strategies.