Lian Li all brushed aluminum cases

ZodaEX

Supreme [H]ardness
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Sep 17, 2004
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I used to buy these unique cases from Lian Li that had an entirely brushes aluminum exterior.
But it appears that they haven't produced these kind of cases for years. Does anyone know why they stopped making them?
The cases they make now just look like every other manufacturer's offerings in my opinion. And to me they've lost their unique appeal.
Have any other manufacturers started producing cases like those? As I really fancied how they looked.
 
973839530.jpg

The fucking original. I own some $200 case that doesn't bring me 1/100th the joy that I get just looking at that low res image.
 
I used to buy these unique cases from Lian Li that had an entirely brushes aluminum exterior.
But it appears that they haven't produced these kind of cases for years. Does anyone know why they stopped making them?
The cases they make now just look like every other manufacturer's offerings in my opinion. And to me they've lost their unique appeal.
Have any other manufacturers started producing cases like those? As I really fancied how they looked.

The market changed as it always does. People stopped caring about ultra light aluminum cases when they stopped caring about LAN parties. Beyond that, the cases were super expensive and that turned a lot of people off to them.
 
I loved how they didn't have paint that could be rubbed or scratched off and they didn't rust either. My Corsair case has started to rust on the inside.
 
I still have my Lian-li PC P50. I would put a build in it if I could find replacements for the broken plastic tabs and somehow fix the acrylic window. My brother still uses his AMD Red Dragon version of that case with a Ryzen 5800X and Radeon 5700XT in it.
 
I bought my first Lian-Li case back in 1999, a PC-70 that I used until 2013. It was a great case, and absolutely worth the $400 I paid for it back then. I also bought a few PC-60's for some other systems. I also have my current rig in a PC-A76, and my older previous rig in a PC-A75. I also miss their older style cases, and wish they would start remaking them again. Their newer cases just dont feel the same, as they make a lot of their cases from steel and plastic now.
 
I still have my Lian-li PC P50. I would put a build in it if I could find replacements for the broken plastic tabs and somehow fix the acrylic window. My brother still uses his AMD Red Dragon version of that case with a Ryzen 5800X and Radeon 5700XT in it.
I replaced the front panel tabs on my pc-65 with parts from performance-pcs.com 5 or 6 years ago. No idea if they still sell them now. I was surprised they had them in stock back then.
Replacing the side panel is easy peasy. Ive done it twice on mine. The hardest part is drilling out the rivets.
Ive got my pc-65 housing my c2q retro rig. Ill never get rid of it. Shes a classic.
Heres the newegg link, i actually bought it from them.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newegg.com/amp/p/N82E16811112024

Check this place out! Lian Li parts and older cases. Not the pc-65 types but they are aluminum.
https://www.silverpcs.com/index.php
 
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Had a Lian Li PC-7 Plus back in the day. Big, black and aluminum. Had a few Fractals over the years which I think came very close, but it getting the Lian Li 011 Dynamic XL is what really hearken me back back to original Lian- Li I had many years ago. It feels and looks just as premium.
 
I used to buy these unique cases from Lian Li that had an entirely brushes aluminum exterior.
But it appears that they haven't produced these kind of cases for years. Does anyone know why they stopped making them?
The cases they make now just look like every other manufacturer's offerings in my opinion. And to me they've lost their unique appeal.
Have any other manufacturers started producing cases like those? As I really fancied how they looked.

I don't think they're still made, but I have an older OEM case that is either a Lian Li or a knock-off that looks very close. It's made of aluminum but is painted black.

IMG_20210516_080649.jpg
 
I don't think they're still made, but I have an older OEM case that is either a Lian Li or a knock-off that looks very close. It's made of aluminum but is painted black.

View attachment 369798
I have one of those Velocity Micro cases as well. Someone mentioned Lian Li was the manufacturer for their cases.
IMG_2473.JPG

I am missing the PSU plate for this one,
IMG_2476.JPG
 
Grr. I used to have a Matx Lian Li but I sold it to my Mom. I would have kept it if I knew they'd stop being produced.
 
I bought my first Lian-Li case back in 1999, a PC-70 that I used until 2013. It was a great case, and absolutely worth the $400 I paid for it back then. I also bought a few PC-60's for some other systems. I also have my current rig in a PC-A76, and my older previous rig in a PC-A75. I also miss their older style cases, and wish they would start remaking them again. Their newer cases just dont feel the same, as they make a lot of their cases from steel and plastic now.
I just don't feel nostalgia for that sort of thing. Modern cases are far more functional for the hardware we use today. We have smaller drives, fewer drives, no optical devices, etc. We also have larger graphics cards and a need for greater airflow and heat dissipation. I cringe at the interior layout of some of those older designs. I will admit, some of the Lian-Li's are still good looking externally, but I wouldn't use cases like that today.
 
I just don't feel nostalgia for that sort of thing. Modern cases are far more functional for the hardware we use today. We have smaller drives, fewer drives, no optical devices, etc. We also have larger graphics cards and a need for greater airflow and heat dissipation. I cringe at the interior layout of some of those older designs. I will admit, some of the Lian-Li's are still good looking externally, but I wouldn't use cases like that today.

Who is "we"? I've never stopped using an internal optical drive. In fact I use mine almost every day.
 
I still have a silver A05N stashed in my closet having not been used for years. I love the look of it, but it's kind of a pain to work in depending on your choice of components. It'd be really great with a shorter video card and reasonably short PSU. It probably weighs as much as my Silverstone SG09, which is a much smaller case. I prefer the old Lian Li looks to the new ones with the large, full side windows.
 
Still looking for another Lian Li PC-Q25 to build another NAS box. I haven't found many mini-itx cases can take 7-8 x 3.5" hdd's.
 
Two weeks ago I built my new gaming rig in a Lian Li Lancool Mesh Performance, and while it's a very nice case, it's my first ..steel.. build since my PC-60 in 2000 (anodized a blue color that only worked in 2000). My last build was a PC-A05FNB and the airflow in that thing was pretty bad. I could keep a 4790K/GTX1080 (mini) from overheating but it wasn't pretty.

End of an era I guess.
 
Two weeks ago I built my new gaming rig in a Lian Li Lancool Mesh Performance, and while it's a very nice case, it's my first ..steel.. build since my PC-60 in 2000 (anodized a blue color that only worked in 2000). My last build was a PC-A05FNB and the airflow in that thing was pretty bad. I could keep a 4790K/GTX1080 (mini) from overheating but it wasn't pretty.

End of an era I guess.

Yeahhhh, from what I remember, the A05F versions with the motherboard oriented the traditional way were slightly slimmer than the other A05's, so you couldn't even mount a really large CPU cooler like a big ol' NH-D14 or whatever. Plus it still has the same issues with GPU length. It'd be a great case for a midrange setup probably, but would require mods to accommodate a higher end system. Anymore there are so many good steel cases that you would just have to love the Lian Li to want to do that haha.
 
We are not producing these cases like we used to also. I believe the decline came in stages, higher costs aside, aluminum cases started losing their appeal in the mainstream when cases with plastic front panel was capable of mimicking brushed metal about 10-12 years ago. Then the focus for high end cases shifted toward extra features (rubber grommets, cable management, fan controller, etc...) and liquid cooler accommodation became a big thing over premium material choice. Finally in more recent years, tempered glass, RGB, and mesh front for airflow took center stage for must-have features. Aluminum is now viewed as something that is nice to have on the side, but not crucial in most user's purchasing decision.
 
Hi Tony

thanks for sharing

I can understand all the financial reasons behind this.
But sometimes you “the manufacturer” need to go out there and show off what you can do! Create some excitement!
At the moment we have plastic tin boxes with lots of flashing lights. Which is probably great for +80% of the market. But there need to be something for the 1-2% so the +80% have something to aspire to - that’s why we have Super sports cars ;-)

the above Lian Li was definitely not a mainstream case, nor was the motherboard it was designed for EVGA SR-2 the later is a legend. Don’t know if it was a success for EVGA but it made people talk about them.

my last build I ended up with a tin box from Fractal Design - looks nice but it feels really cheap!

I want a big case! Lots of room! The only one I can think of now is Thermaltake W100 and W200 more so the later!

SilverStone go and be courageous 👍🙏

thanks for listening

Henrik
 
^^^ Agreed. I have built many rigs for myself and the ones that everyone thought were most impressive were built in Lian Li all aluminum cases. I still have 4 of them. I'm currently in a Tt View 71 TG glass case because Lian Li hasn't made an aluminum one big enough that will accommodate all of my components the way I like it.
 
I really liked the older Lian Li cases. I've always been big on MicroATX, so the V600 was a great choice for me back in 2007. I crammed in a Koolance water cooling system that exhausted air through a radiator on the upper side vent. The PSU was vented on the lower side vent. It worked well.


Build_4.jpg
 
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Woooow, it's beautiful!
It's interesting how Apple's G5 tower set off this trend among PC-centric manufacturers. I remember for the best part of the 00s I'd see aluminum designs in that style for a range of things including external HDD enclosures (owned one like this, too, great for passive cooling).

Aluminum cases can still be found in the SFF space though. The modular FormD T1, Louqe Ghost S1, among others. I suppose the smaller dimensions makes more sense for them in smaller quantities. Just seems that for larger cases it's been seemingly entirely (?) abandoned.
 
The other thing I liked about Lian Li and other aluminum cases was custom anodized colors. While unfortunately the Internet has not been kind picture wise (gone!!), there was something about a Lian Li done in red or blue with a gold contrast tray. Custom colored aluminum cases was a thing, and I thought they looked pretty good. Would love to show you a picture, guess you had to be there.
 
The other thing I liked about Lian Li and other aluminum cases was custom anodized colors. While unfortunately the Internet has not been kind picture wise (gone!!), there was something about a Lian Li done in red or blue with a gold contrast tray. Custom colored aluminum cases was a thing, and I thought they looked pretty good. Would love to show you a picture, guess you had to be there.
You may be able to find the original listing on newegg with pics and all.
 
There was also a Japanese manufacturer called Windy that made the same style of non-painted all brushed aluminum cases. And in a variety of different colors. Very very solid strong construction. Made to last a lifetime.
 
There was also a Japanese manufacturer called Windy that made the same style of non-painted all brushed aluminum cases. And in a variety of different colors. Very very solid strong construction. Made to last a lifetime.
The company was soldam on those but yeah they were pretty crazy and expensive.

I do miss the good lian-li cases, recent ones are complete shit for airflow and though the designs make no sense in a lot of ways their old ones also had boneheaded decisions too so not like that is any different.

We are not producing these cases like we used to also. I believe the decline came in stages, higher costs aside, aluminum cases started losing their appeal in the mainstream when cases with plastic front panel was capable of mimicking brushed metal about 10-12 years ago. Then the focus for high end cases shifted toward extra features (rubber grommets, cable management, fan controller, etc...) and liquid cooler accommodation became a big thing over premium material choice. Finally in more recent years, tempered glass, RGB, and mesh front for airflow took center stage for must-have features. Aluminum is now viewed as something that is nice to have on the side, but not crucial in most user's purchasing decision.
Yeah it is a shame, can't say I am a fan. Asked about getting a TJ07 the other day and looks like they're all sold out. Going from cases like that and the FT02 to what we have now is just sad.
 
View attachment 369651

The fucking original. I own some $200 case that doesn't bring me 1/100th the joy that I get just looking at that low res image.
Lian Li PC-65! That was the first case I actually thought looked good enough to bother with installing cold cathode lights ha.

Loved that brushed aluminum look. Coolermaster and Lian Li were battling for supremacy back then

I was fond of these too

4_0_547.jpg
 
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