New Lian Li pc-v3000. Thoughts?

Dutt1113

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 30, 2005
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What do you guys think of the new Lian Li pc-v3000 case? I had a 900d for quite a while, but it lacked some features and build quality. This seems like an updated better 900d. I'm considering getting one to change from my thermaltake view 71. While I like the view 71, I admire the clean look and lines of this Lian Li


http://www.lian-li.com/pc-v3000/

v3k-012.jpg
 
Looks like Lian Li is getting back closer to their roots. Glad to see that its all aluminum like their old cases. The only thing that concerns me is the fron't airflow vents, they don't look sufficient enough. I really would like to see that trend die off.
 
I love mine but it's a bitch to build in and shit barely fits. You might fit a 480 up top but you're going to struggle to fit a 360 in the top with anything in the front. I have a 480 bottom and a 360 both top and front and everything only barely fits with the top 360 rad missing the two rearmost screws because I had to shift the radiator back further than was intended.

That said, I love looking at it but I hate the thought of working on it.
 
Does a 360 fit in the front with either a 420/480 up top? Does push/pull work?
You can do push/pull with a slim radiator in the front and maybe still fit a 480 up top but I doubt it. My 60mm thick front rad is push/pull and my 360 top radiator is back further than intended to make it all fit.
 
I'd love to own a V3000. Alas there's no 5.25 drive bay, which its a total deal breaker for me. Otherwise it looks well designed and high quality, just like the old V series.
 
I love mine but it's a bitch to build in and shit barely fits. You might fit a 480 up top but you're going to struggle to fit a 360 in the top with anything in the front. I have a 480 bottom and a 360 both top and front and everything only barely fits with the top 360 rad missing the two rearmost screws because I had to shift the radiator back further than was intended.

That said, I love looking at it but I hate the thought of working on it.

How thick are your rads? The color coded pic above in this thread shows a 420 up top and a 360 in front fits with up to 65mm thick. Is this not the case? Maybe a 45mm thick up front would fit better?
 
How thick are your rads? The color coded pic above in this thread shows a 420 up top and a 360 in front fits with up to 65mm thick. Is this not the case? Maybe a 45mm thick up front would fit better?
Build is still in progress and this is from a couple months ago AND the picture WAY oversaturates the UV but you get the idea #don'tjudgeme

Top radiator is an XSPC EX360 Crossflow V2 rad which is admittedly a little bit longer than your normal 360 radiator and it's 36mm thick. Front radiator is a Feser XChanger 360 Extreme and I believe it is either 62mm or 65mm thick and you can see I have it double-stacked with 25mm fans. Bottom rad is a cheap Black Ice Nemesis 480 and it's definitely 60mm thick.

20180129_232724.jpg


The real problem comes with installation. I can't mount the front radiator upside down because it is too thick to fit with the top radiator AT ALL and it's also too tall for the mounting solution in the front as well so you are forced with a 360 this big to put it in this orientation. You also HAVE to remove everything in the front, including the front-most fans to remove the 480 rad in the bottom because there isn't physical room to get the radiator in and out otherwise and if you guessed that to get the front radiator out you need to remove the top radiator you would also be correct. So if you have a problem or just need to remove your bottom 480 radiator you have to remove the top rad first so you can then pull the whole front rad stack out to THEN pull the bottom rad.

It's also very hard to show in pictures but the crazy routing I had to do along with 90 degree fittings to get the front 360 plumbed was a bitch to do. If you see the tube hanging down to the right of my reservoir that tube actually comes out of the front 360 rad and goes through the tray to the back side of the case and then comes back through the tray to route back up to the top 360.
 
Build is still in progress and this is from a couple months ago AND the picture WAY oversaturates the UV but you get the idea #don'tjudgeme

Top radiator is an XSPC EX360 Crossflow V2 rad which is admittedly a little bit longer than your normal 360 radiator and it's 36mm thick. Front radiator is a Feser XChanger 360 Extreme and I believe it is either 62mm or 65mm thick and you can see I have it double-stacked with 25mm fans. Bottom rad is a cheap Black Ice Nemesis 480 and it's definitely 60mm thick.

View attachment 66459

The real problem comes with installation. I can't mount the front radiator upside down because it is too thick to fit with the top radiator AT ALL and it's also too tall for the mounting solution in the front as well so you are forced with a 360 this big to put it in this orientation. You also HAVE to remove everything in the front, including the front-most fans to remove the 480 rad in the bottom because there isn't physical room to get the radiator in and out otherwise and if you guessed that to get the front radiator out you need to remove the top radiator you would also be correct. So if you have a problem or just need to remove your bottom 480 radiator you have to remove the top rad first so you can then pull the whole front rad stack out to THEN pull the bottom rad.

It's also very hard to show in pictures but the crazy routing I had to do along with 90 degree fittings to get the front 360 plumbed was a bitch to do. If you see the tube hanging down to the right of my reservoir that tube actually comes out of the front 360 rad and goes through the tray to the back side of the case and then comes back through the tray to route back up to the top 360.

Are there any other cases with similar clean look/build with same specs that you were looking at when you bought this case?
 
Are there any other cases with similar clean look/build with same specs that you were looking at when you bought this case?
I'm a Lian Li fanboy and always will be. I own a ton of Lian Li cases and I always regretted not getting a V1000 or V2000 when they were new so I made sure I bit on this when it was in stock. Hard to really pin down a comparable case unless you only care about the space because when you get to nitpicking there's really nothing else out there like this one. It really IS a very very very nice case it's just a bitch if you plan to fill it up like I did. My last giant case before this was a Phanteks Enthoo Primo and while it was really easy to build in and work in and I consider it to be a nice case it also wasn't in the same league at all in terms of fit and finish and just quality feel compared to this.

Really I think if you are considering a $450 Lian Li like this your next obvious competitor is CaseLabs.
 
Currently swapping from 14mm petg to 16mm acrylic in mine and taking the upgraded but still crappy mono out.. I will post a pic after. I had a 360 in the top before and then i swapped it from a 480. The case upper portion is a glass box. Granted there is enough of a gap from the front for airflow I would not add a rad to the front as IMO if anything your better off without one. I have a 480 in the bottom and the top. My water temp idle is 2-3c above ambient, under load 5-6c delta ambient. 1950x @ oced + titanxp sli. My gpus @ 2012 never go past 44c under extended load. My ambeint is like 26c aprox these days.

I also had a primo I modified prior to the this case. I had a 360 and 2 480s in it. With the same components I saw no real temp change.

attachment.jpg


the primo that it replaced

900x900px-_LL-5a3d9416_20171113_000638.jpg
 
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Currently swapping from 14mm petg to 16mm acrylic in mine. I will post a pic after. I had a 360 in the top before and then i swapped it from a 480. The case upper portion is a glass box. Granted there is enough of a gap from the front for airflow I would not add a rad to the front as IMO if anything your better off without one. I have a 480 in the bottom and the top. My water temp idle is 2-3c above ambient, under load 5-6c delta ambient. 1950x @ oced + titanxp sli. My gpus @ 2012 never go past 44c under extended load. My ambeint is like 26c aprox these days.

I also had a primo I modified prior to the this case. I had a 360 and 2 480s in it. With the same components I saw no real temp change.
Well sure you don't need all 3 rads but if you're buying a $450 case like this it looks awful empty without the front rad IMO unless you are doing dual loops or filling the space otherwise. Would love to see your build.
 
I wish caselabs would make something new and fresh maybe with tempered glass
Own a s8 and sma8 before. Your no where near the price at around 389 current v3000 price. My caselabs cases configured out were both in 500-650 reigon and honestly caselabs cases are nice but it's getting old. The new revision looks nice but too many out there and honestly all 95% of the builds look the same. It's under boring for me these days.

16mm acrylic

image.jpg
 
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Is there a better case than this that would be similar build quality and have a little more room to work with possibly a third rad if needed? Or would 2 x 420mm rads be all you'll ever need for 1 x cpu and 2 x gpu?
 
Is there a better case than this that would be similar build quality and have a little more room to work with possibly a third rad if needed? Or would 2 x 420mm rads be all you'll ever need for 1 x cpu and 2 x gpu?
Honestly a single 420mm rad is plenty for 1 CPU and 2 GPU it just depends on how much fan you put on it and how loud you run them. As long as you have a minimum of 120mm of radiator for each component you are generally safe and what you get from more radiators is the ability to run the fans slower and more quietly.

You already have a Corsair 900D according to your signature and a CaseLabs case isn't going to be a whole lot different aesthetically IMO just a huge jump in quality and customizability and I'm not sure what else there would be for something this quality and size otherwise.
 
Is there a better case than this that would be similar build quality and have a little more room to work with possibly a third rad if needed? Or would 2 x 420mm rads be all you'll ever need for 1 x cpu and 2 x gpu?

Adding a third rad when you have 360/480 or 480/480 to an hdet sli system even for x299 7980xe oced is unnecessary. You will gain not even 1 degree tbh.
 
Honestly a single 420mm rad is plenty for 1 CPU and 2 GPU it just depends on how much fan you put on it and how loud you run them. As long as you have a minimum of 120mm of radiator for each component you are generally safe and what you get from more radiators is the ability to run the fans slower and more quietly./QUOTE]

What if the cpu (7820x) and Gpu's (1080 to sli) are heavily over clocked?
 
What if the cpu (7820x) and Gpu's (1080 to sli) are heavily over clocked?
Doesn't change anything. If you have two radiators that big that is more than enough if you have any kind of reasonable airflow. My 480 radiator alone can handle something like 2200w of heat and I don't think you're going to be even at 1/4 of that most of the time.
 
7820x is nothing. I have 2 txp's in mine oced to 2025 and a 1950x @ 4.1. I pull about 940 watts from the wall. My cpu doesn't pass 68c in prime 95 small and my gpus are under 42-43c over extended load. My water temp on load is about 29-31c. Mind you ambient is like 25-27 these days. 1080 mid range chip heat output is a joke. I would be surprised it see it go past 45 on a 120mm rad heavily oced.
 
Own a s8 and sma8 before. Your no where near the price at around 389 current v3000 price. My caselabs cases configured out were both in 500-650 reigon and honestly caselabs cases are nice but it's getting old. The new revision looks nice but too many out there and honestly all 95% of the builds look the same. It's under boring for me these days.

16mm acrylic

View attachment 67193
Nice stuff, i like it. Uhm the front. maybe modify it to increase airflow? Like drilling some hole to it.
 
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