Lian Li PC-V880 HTPC Case

The top of the Lian Li HTPC case sports two 80mm blow holes. Each hole is covered with a black metal mesh. Removing the top cover and flipping it over reveals an 80 x 15mm fan set up as exhaust in one and an air cone in the other. Lots of companies are incorporating air cones that channel air to or from the processor presently. It's a ‘six of one, half dozen of the other’ thing if you ask me. Yes, the cone does feed cooler air from outside the case to the CPU cooler but at an expense of unrestricted dust going in with that air. In case you are wondering; yes, the cone can be removed easily and replaced with any 80mm fan of your choosing.

Gimmie that sardine can key

Loosening the single thumb screw and sliding the case lock bar back we gain access to the PC-V880. While superficially it looks exceptionally cramped, you will be surprised at how well smart placement addresses the restrictions of space.

Here we find the inside view of the case rear. With the shifting of the power supply, Lian Li was able to shorten the width of the case keeping true to the nature of a HTPC case’s biggest draw, compactness. The power supply plug cable is visible running along the back wall to the front of the PC-V880 which we’ll show you shortly. The cage you see where the PSU would be normally, is a single drive rack. The rack is tool-less when used with the included sleeved screws as you can see in the third pic below. The screws go into the sides of your HDD, and then the drive is slide into the rack with the plastic gray tabs pulled down locking down the works. Drives installed here have a feeling of being very secure and easily accessible.

Exhaust is addressed by a pair of 60mm fan vent areas. One fan is included with the Lian Li PC-V880 and I think given all the venting of the case itself, is all that is needed.

Lian Li has proven that they are very capable of thinking outside the box. In a HTPC case, the need for multiple HDDs isn’t as pressing. With this in mind, the area traditionally reserved for a six drive HDD rack is given over to the power supply area. If you look closely at the inner wall you can make out the PSU mounting plate almost never seen anywhere but on the rear wall. This presents one problem for users of large sized ATX boards.  Full sized ATX mainboards may have a bit of crowding with the lines coming out of the power supply.  We didn't have any problems here but the shop boards right now are smaller form units such as the Albatron K8SLI.

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