Review Lian Li 011D Mini-X regular guy review (ongoing)

[punkncat]

I will edit this thread as I gain more experience and results.

I just picked up one of these cases. I had been torn between it and Thermaltake's The Tower 100. My HTPC system has been in a Rajintek Metis Plus for several years now and a couple of iterations. A recent upgrade to a Z590i Unify and 11600K led to some pretty severe heat issues in spite of a (previous) case mod replacing the side window with cage grid. I was mostly drawn to the O11 Dynamic Mini due to it's look and modularity. I wanted to have the room for this system to run cool and leave myself options for other upgrades and cooling methods. I tend to utilize cases through a series of builds.

Both of those cases are linked here:
RAIJINTEK
O11 Dynamic MINI - Think Big. Build Small.Highly Modular water-cooll friendly small PC chassis (lian-li.com)


First impression:
This case is freaking HUGE. Be aware of the warehouse store effect. You know, where the 65" TV doesn't look so big there....This case has a very large footprint. It is short, and about standard length.
It disassembles quite easily. There are thumbscrews for almost every aspect of the case breakdown. The I/O section of the case is modular and can be removed for the build process and at least in my case was able to be put back with the motherboard installed. I was a bit dismayed to come across a couple of small wire burrs from where the case holes were threaded (like motherboard tray) and managed to get a nice metal splinter from it. Aside from that aspect the fit and finish are good. The way the case comes apart would lend to ease for modding or just access to parts to change, clean, etc.

It uses only SFX power supplies. Short cables should not cause any issue as you have the option to top or bottom mount the PSU with cable management (or lack thereof) just behind the motherboard tray. Space inside is more than ample. It has decent wire management options, but is quite different than anything I have built in before. I had to sit back and just look at it for about an hour before I got started just to get a game plan together. I used a Corsair SFX PSU in this build and it's not known for having particular long cables. No issues with anything being too short. The case header cables are all very ample and reach anywhere inside the case that most standard motherboard layouts would require.

I won't rehash the multiple fan positions, radiator fit, and such. That's easily found within the link above if you are interested. The case is designed with water cooling in mind. It has position for up to (9) fans. It's open design, big glass plates front and side, make where you can see everything really well. And by this, I mean every fan cable, all the power connectors, everything. This type of case is designed for show and having things like cable mods and such are almost a given. At this time I am only utilizing two fans. All the filters and such are in place. I find it to be just ever so slightly stifling, in that the case ends up heat soaking after a session of gaming (or whatnot). I have on order a set of fans to install. I don't anticipate it will be the final configuration, but a start towards helping temps. GPU temps were well lower than the prior case, but CPU temps are about the same if not a bit higher.

I intend to install more fans, and get the vertical GPU bracket. I attempted to cheap out and got a "universal" one. I could make it work but am not willing to cut any of the modular I/O plates to make that happen at this time. As mentioned above this case is super large. It's a great showcase, but in my particular application probably will not be able to set this in the living room area without triggering the "wifey" response....I might put the prior built back in the Rajintek for that.
I am happy that the design lends itself well to fiddling. It's got so many options for expandability, fans, water cooling, RGB (if you want that, I am going mostly dark on this build) that it will keep my inner tinker busy for a minute filling it out to my satisfaction.
I think this could be a really epic ATX build, if you were looking to fill the empty spaces inside. It honestly looks a bit naked with the ITX board and a GTX 1080 traditionally mounted along with two case fans....a study in minimalism at this point. I'll be working on that....

More later, thanks.

 

[punkncat]

Day two review.

Going to reiterate how HUGE this thing is.

I placed it into the spot in the LR where it was before. Admittedly the previous case was far more elegant there, but the new one is FAR quieter (I am using all the same fans as previous build for now) and temps particularly for the GPU are well lower. Before, while gaming, the PC fans would ramp up to max and you could hear a drone from across the room. It's distance and size of the room made it not irritating as it would be sitting next to you at a desk. Now I have to physically get up and go stand beside it to discern from other background noise and the ceiling fan.

I have noticed a couple of markings on the side glass. One looks like a scuff scratch such as plastic would get. The others look like small smudges from removal of the glass. I did not notice them while reassembling on the build but at that time as my concern was more on everything being operational after the move/build. I haven't actually peeled the plastic yet. With fans on the way I will take all that off after I get the temporarily permanent setup completed.

My original intent was to keep this build dark or very minimalist on lighting. I have one white ring light fan inside now. I can surmise that after putting in a couple other of the parts that I want, such as new GPU and vert bracket, that I will likely go with a bit more accent lighting to show that off. My consideration is that I am probably going to end up with this beautiful show case on the desk. I have already been looking around at cable mods as well...the GPU power connector on this Corsair SF model look like crap...

Anyway, more later.

 

[punkncat]

I picked up a pair of Arctic F12 PWM/PST fans. I really like these and have used them in a couple of builds with great results. Aside from that, the focus of this build is to be dark. The white only fans in the front/side placement pulling in fresh air worked well with that aesthetic.
Cooling is really, really good with this case. I was a bit concerned after watching quite a few reviews and reading some indicators that the case tends towards hot. I can't relate anything but a positive direction for that but also have to take the limitations of the case I was utilizing before into account.

I really have to reiterate just how well thought out this case is on the inside. The modularity lends to being able to reach inside almost anywhere. It was super easy to reach in through the top and access the fan headers, run the wires, plug in my additional fans to the splitter provided on the F12's. My current cooling config are the (2) F12 pulling in fresh air in the front. I have a Noctua 120mm mounted behind the HN-9 Tower which is cooling the CPU, and have the white ring light fan mounted above the cooler to cast a dim light down through the build. I have no other lighting planned at this point after seeing the effect this has. It's subtle and nice, not distracting for the living room placement. I would say my only mild complaint about the built is the apparent disability to turn off or change the color of the accent lighting around the power button.

I have some more planned for later, but need to get hands on a better GPU. I am hoping to find a reference 3080, or might wait (at this point) for the 4xxx series to come out. The 1080 currently inside the build is still a very capable card, so no rush to spend too much for being impatient. I also plan to get the vertical mount kit for the GPU, but they are specific to the PCI generation and I would waste money spending for the version 3 at this point.
I am quite excited for the possibilities that the case will offer for future builds.

 

[punkncat]

8 months + in on using this case.

I have found that the single biggest thing I don't like about the case is how (as mentioned above) you can see everything. That includes all the dust, like even magnifying that aspect as if that was possible. The moment you move it for cleaning you have to take extra care when putting it back to clean your fingerprints off. The inside being black and even with the low amount of lighting being used it just shows EVERY speck of dust.

I continue to be impressed with the temps in reference to the equipment being used inside. I am planning a fairly major overhaul of the system and plan to move it to my desk as primary system in the upcoming months. I have a few parts I still have to gather for that. I test drove it a bit here on the desk and will also have to work with the fan curves a bit. Its open design lends to a drone when sitting nearby. The newer hardware plans are likely to increase that level.

 

[Colif]

I have found that the single biggest thing I don't like about the case is how (as mentioned above) you can see everything. That includes all the dust, like even magnifying that aspect as if that was possible. The moment you move it for cleaning you have to take extra care when putting it back to clean your fingerprints off. The inside being black and even with the low amount of lighting being used it just shows EVERY speck of dust.

I can imagine. I almost got a 011 Dynamic 2 years ago and a white one to boot, so at least it might hide some of the dust. I didn't get one as almost everyone seemed to have them back then.

I can't see any dust in my case but I have dark tinted glass so its hard to see anything in there really. I only see dust in photos. That and it only has glass on one side.

 

[Karadjgne]

All you need is some wood, some black ABS plastic sheet, a heat gun and a way to cut/trim/drill the ABS and you can make any kind of shroud or channel or partition you like that would hide any wiring etc.

Gently heat the ABS where it needs to bend, use the wood as a template/press to keep it flat or angled as needed. There's enough places to screw down anything you need in that case, and if done with some care and attention to detail will not only improve appearances, but can also affect airflow and temps that arent to your liking.