Modded Lian-li Q11b

As far as temps I am not satisfied with the stock cooler. 75C Prime95 load testing.
Idle at about 30-40c and under load gaming about 65c.
I am thinking of getting a Large tower heatsink with some baffles, or Corsair Hydro series watercooling.

It is hard to see, but the 1TB Seagate is installed under the Slotload DVD-RW.

Still have to tidy up the wiring some, waiting on cooler choice before doing that. As I will have to dismantle the machine to install whatever cooler I choose.

looks great. way better PSU placement than stock

Excellent and inspiring little mod here. A tower cooler in the middle there with both of those 120mm's could remove A LOT of heat.

Edit: Do you think you could fit a full-ATX PSU if you removed the CD-rom cage?

Big SturL said:

Excellent and inspiring little mod here. A tower cooler in the middle there with both of those 120mm's could remove A LOT of heat.

Edit: Do you think you could fit a full-ATX PSU if you removed the CD-rom cage?

Click to expand...

unlikely. As the Full ATX psu will interfere with the motherboard.

The IO tab is sticking into your hdmi connection onboard video. You probably dont use it but fyi

Nice mod btw, Id like to see a matx mb in there with sli/xfire video cards with this mod

edit: I think just having a slit for the slot loader to come out like the ft03 would look cleaner as well

Poser001 said:

The IO tab is sticking into your hdmi connection onboard video. You probably dont use it but fyi

Nice mod btw, Id like to see a matx mb in there with sli/xfire video cards with this mod

edit: I think just having a slit for the slot loader to come out like the ft03 would look cleaner as well

Click to expand...

DOH! I will have to fix that HDMI tab when i replace the cooler.

I have not been able to figure out how to cleaning build a sloted cover for the optical drive. That is what I want to do but, just cant figure a good way to do it.

Nice mod!

nice mod thanks for the ideas

Now with Corsair H80!

Here are the updated pictures with my new christmas present, Corsair H80 system.

First before Picture.



And now the new pictures.





Looking at those, I need to work on the cable management a little.

Went from 70c under load to 45c under load @ 4GHz.

Nice! How close is the H80 to your video card? Can't tell from these angles but they look like they're almost touching.

SOSTrooper said:

Nice! How close is the H80 to your video card? Can't tell from these angles but they look like they're almost touching.

Click to expand...

1-1.5mm. plent of room!

A little late never hurts - I love the idea behind this mod. I've been very interested in modding the hell out of this case for a while - was thinking of trying to shove an mATX mobo in there, but not sure how feasible it would be. Any ideas?

I just really think there should be an mATX case designed for people who don't want more than a pair of 2.5" drives. Definitely some room for innovation somewhere.

Hi nlancaster - nice idea relocating the PSU!

And to add to the last reply - Jomanscool2 - As for the mATX - did one myself on my silver Q11 - alas it lies the whole frame 101% full! So much i had to "shave' my SATA connectors so the outer ones would squeeze in. I then also realized there would be zero airflow from that side of the case (i bargained on the lower vents forming a 'tunnel' - one side panel top the opposite one - with fans to help)

So yeah, mATX fits but temps on the MoBo are not really cool (punny)
I may even still have some pics of the build somewhere - i ran it for a week but decided i like my temps to be cool, and the 'floating' MoBo and shaved SATA's did not make me sleep well.

Back to the OP - actually i am heading your PSU mod way again. Seeing it done is always inspiring....
A few months ago i did some tweaking to my Sketchup models planning a build - and saw one where i had the PSU shoved behind the CD like you also did. But at the time [and still] we don't have access to many parts here in ZA - and my idea was a PSU extender behind the top-mounted PSU to make sure the CD-Rom unit fits ok.
But in my current 2 x V600FX builds i found shorter blu-Ray readers that save 1cm - so maybe no brackets needed to use a normal CD/DVD Rom.
(but i just re-checked and you have the short slim internal slot loader type - - never had good luck with them and making a slot does seems too hard - lol...)

Also my Q11 top PSU sketch i had a cutout in the front to house a large video card - thinking a nice cover could fit in with the front....but silver is a bit hard to work with (for me) I instead used the same EVGA HD 570.
But if my Q18 arrives next week or after from the good ol US - then i can free up my black (work) Q11 and mod that - with a fan in the floor for sure - that is my #1 mod for the Q11's in the future.
And then getting over the resistance and cutting my PSU cables OFF so they fit perfect. What a pain to hide the lot (see some of my builds on the forum using Q11's - cables squished in where i can.

Back to the mATX - never intended SLI myself as i think it is too much hassle if one actually uses them for things beside benchmarks ...meh Rather get the biggest single card in there.
So unless there is a smaller mATX than the Asus Z68 i used - it will likely heat up a bit.Wish it has upright SATA ports!!! That is a big issue. But again - add a floor fan - psu extender bracket with PSU at the top - i even have a variation of PSU mounting on my Q18 planning sketch where - like the Q11 it has a front inlet fan - the PSU sits directly behind the front fan bracket - in-place of the Lian Li fan - so it sucks air in and vents downwards to the floor - make some holes and a duct and suddenly lots of space.So for eaxtra cooling even a slim 120mm will be immensely useful on the Q11 floor. 92mm too.

Anyhoo - that's some feedback on the mATX idea. Hope it helps those thinking of it.
As for the ideal ITX or better case - the V354 is bigger and nicer - where "that" mATX is now - but BEHIND a PSU - cr*p to work or tweak anything mechanically...nah..Q11 or we'll see re the Q18. The v600FX case is nicer but i like smaller. Tho that window is sure nifty and with Kuhler n all it looks real good, done one so i can say it's tight but way easier than a Q11. Helped a friend with a 600t - whaaaat an amazing case...but so huuuuge. LOL
So lets see how the Q11 PSU mod progresses - and maybe adding a window to the side??? hehe