After working with larger cases (Antec SX1030 and Lian Li PC-70) for the last year, I was prepared for lots of cursing and battles to fit my system into the PC-50.  Surprisingly, the installation was pretty painless thanks to two things: the length (front to back) of the case and the excellent sliding motherboard tray. After using this case, I have decided to only recommend cases with motherboard trays for tweakers; it is so convenient to mount everything outside of the case and then just slide it into place.

The removable motherboard tray has other benefits as well. For one, it is possible to pull the tray partly out of the case so that you can clearly see the headers for the power/led/reset wiring.  I usually have to either look for a flashlight or else move the whole case to better light to finish setting up my system.  That wasn't the case with the PC-50 though because I could just pull everything out until I could get a good look at it.  

Installation of drives was straightforward, with only one complaint. Other Lian Li cases I have used included thumbscrews for the HDD cage so that it could be pulled right out to install drives. The PC-50 doesn't have thumbscrews for this part (or for the PCI cards) so it was a bit more effort to mount my drives. If the two side panels are removed then it is easy to get to all mounting holes for the drives. Speaking of side panels, they are both held on by thumbscrews, but the top panel is riveted into place. This is one thing I REALLY wish Lian Li would change on their cases; thumbscrews would make me so much happier than having to drag out the drill and pop rivet gun every time I mess with the top panel.

 Now the Dynatron BH isn't a bad performer, but if you don't happen to have a smaller heatsink around then the PC-50 might require you to buy new cooling to fit everything into your case. I could still overclock my 1600+ to 1575MHz at 1.80V using the Dynatron with CPU temperatures staying around 56C under load (measured with diode reader).  Case temperatures were around 28-29C with the room temperature around 22C. These temperatures aren't awful, but could certainly be improved.

I figured that people interested in this case might like to see a picture with my entire system in it. Here is everything installed in the PC-50:

As you can see, there is plenty of room inside.  The wiring could probably be neatened up some, but I had just had to replace my PSU before that picture was taken.  As for the exterior drives, there isn't really much to say other than miniature files are quite useful.

Conclusions and Future Mods-

If your number one priority is to keep a high end TBird or XP cool with air when extremely overclocked and volt-modded, then this case in stock form isn't for you. The placement of power supply limits your choice of cooling too much.  However, for a LAN box with only mild overclocking or else a system with a cooler CPU (P3 or Northwood P4) then the power supply's position shouldn't be a huge deal.  I also mentioned the Alpha PEP66 as a possible cooler for this case; I really think that it would solve most cooling issues people might have. 

The PSU mounted sideways over the processor causes another problem for case mod freaks who like windows. As it is set up, a window would primarily show off your PSU, with the processor and other goodies basically being hidden.  The best course of action with this case, in my opinion, is to move the PSU somewhere else so that you can mount any cooling you want and so you can then pimp it out with a window.  There are two options that leap to mind: replacing the HDD cage in the lower front with the PSU or else modding the PSU to fit into the top 5.25" bay of the case.  I will be documenting the second method (PSU stealth modded into top bay) whenever I get all the needed parts together. 

To sum up the PC-50, it isn't for everyone.  Some people like huge cases and are not going to be satisfied with the space.  Other people are going to look at the sideways PSU and make the sign of the cross with their fingers. For the people who are looking for an eye-turning LAN case though (or just a smaller system) then the PC-50 deserves some serious consideration.  For an aluminum case its price isn't too high (~$129) and it is roomier than any other little case I have ever used. I think that with some thought and work I can fit a sizeable water cooling setup inside it, which was the reason that I chose the case in the first place.

Thanks to www.so-trickcomputers.com for providing this case for review and for my first Procooling project (tentatively code named Project Bling!). Robert has pretty much every Lian Li that is available (or can get them) at competitive prices so check him out before you buy an aluminum case.

If you have any comments or Questions please email me at pHaestus@ProCooling.com