Lian Li PC-Q34 Mini ITX Case Review

[Guest]

Known for simplicity and minimalist style, Lian Li looks to shake things up a bit with its latest Q-series iteration, the PC-Q34, which is designed for silence, with a flip top for ease of access. We put the Mini ITX case through its paces.

Lian Li PC-Q34 Mini ITX Case Review : Read more

 

[Guest]

CPU goes 68.3°C OVER ambient? That's not good, not good at all. The Tcase of this chip is 72.7°C.

 

[InvalidError]

CPU goes 68.3°C OVER ambient? That's not good, not good at all. The Tcase of this chip is 72.7°C.

Intel chips have no means of measuring Tcase directly. Those numbers must be Tcore which tops out around 100°C for Intel chips.

 

[Nick_50]

I think they just went for the wrong CPU cooler. There is space for a 180mm tall cooler which means you can use something pretty decent. My mini itx build only has 140mm space and it goes to 50C max temp with fans on two thirds speed. I realise this case doesn't have a front intake but 68C over an ambient temp of 26C is 94C. I wouldn't want to be running my system anywhere near that temp personally.

 

[synphul]

Kind of an interesting case. The price isn't too terrible for the standalone case option. Wish they would have maybe gone just a little further with the case design and added properly spaced fan attachment points on the side openings so someone could add an intake if they wanted.

Also the space next to the psu which appears to be a vertical drive rack, there's only one. There was plenty of room to add another along side without hitting the front of the case so a bit of wasted space.

I like the look of it though and the way it hinges open it could almost double as a test rig for smaller platforms.

 

[gadgety]

What does the PC-Q34 bring, apart from styling changes, and atm pretty bad product bundling, that the PC-Q33 didn't have?

 

[Guest]

CPU goes 68.3°C OVER ambient? That's not good, not good at all. The Tcase of this chip is 72.7°C.

Intel chips have no means of measuring Tcase directly. Those numbers must be Tcore which tops out around 100°C for Intel chips.

My data comes from ark.intel.com , which shows Tcase for this processor.

 

[InvalidError]

My data comes from ark.intel.com , which shows Tcase for this processor.

It does not matter where you pulled Tcase from, my point is that the only way to measure it is to drill a hole through the heatsink and attach a thermocouple there - that's Intel's official Tcase measurement method in its thermal design specifications.

Junction temperatures are higher than case temperature due to the junction-case thermal resistance and the digital temperature sensing circuits being built directly in the cores where most of the power gets turned into heat.

 

[Stevemeister]

Given the case was not used with the type of cooler it was designed to operate with it, for the sake of an extra 60 minutes testing it would have been interested to see how much difference it would have made to the operating temperatures if a rear fan had been installed.

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

If the height & design of the case seems to indicate a tower cooler would the intended use case, why not also test it w/a tower cooler in addition to the downdraft one used?

I like the "worst case" scenario, but I would also have liked to see how it performed with a tower as it was seemingly intended.

 

[superflykicks03]

Why test only the "worst case scenario"? For standardization purposes when comparing performance to other cases I understand. But this review does not tell the reader anything about the potential of the case and whether or not it would be a good solution if utilized in an optimal way. The methodology does not allow the reader to come to an informed purchasing decision.

 

[Uniblab]

I think that the reviewer (toms) needs to reword the temperature collecting phrase. I believe they really mean either: temperature over ambient (68.3 - 26.0) = 42.3 degrees or final measured temperature = 68.3. The word "ambient" isnt really needed to let the reader understand what temperature was seen inside the case. It causes a lil confusion. As Andy chow said, if the measured temperatures was actually nearly the boiling point of water, then the case would be a major fail, but the soft orange glow would make a nice nightlight.
Toms, please clarify what those temperatures mean. Is the temp really 68.3+26.0 or is 68.3 the temperature risen to.

 

[InvalidError]

if the measured temperatures was actually nearly the boiling point of water, then the case would be a major fail, but the soft orange glow would make a nice nightlight.

You aren't going to get any sort of glow from metal barely hot enough to boil water: metal begins to glow deep red around 500°C and shifts towards orange around 900°C.

 

[renfrow]

Regarding the "Noise Level" Chart:

I'm not sure how relevant the "Average" chart bar is, but, in any case, calculating it would be different because these are log values, not simple values. The proper formula would be: LOG((10^(FullLoad/10)+10^(Idle/10))/2)*10. and the values would be:

Lian Li PC-Q34 44.6 25.1 41.63815734
NZXT Manta 41.5 28.9 38.72203563
Fractal Design Define Nano S 41.8 27.5 38.94813051
Lian Li PC-Q10 44.2 29.9 41.34813051
Cougar QBX 44.1 30.5 41.27525541

Thanks!

 

[Anders235]

I have one of these cases built up as a budget computer. Build quality of the case is outstanding and it doesn't run hot with a G3258 (OC'd) and an R280...it's also sweet looking in brushed aluminium rather than black.

It was my first mini ITX case and the case is organized in a logical way that lends itself to a first time (mini ITX) system build.

 

[Uniblab]

if the measured temperatures was actually nearly the boiling point of water, then the case would be a major fail, but the soft orange glow would make a nice nightlight.

You aren't going to get any sort of glow from metal barely hot enough to boil water: metal begins to glow deep red around 500°C and shifts towards orange around 900°C.

Yeah I know a lil exaggeration concerning the seemingly high temperatures. Just hope that my guess is correct and future postings will take into consideration about what the sentence is stating. I believe that they mean final temperature not the addition of temperatures. If I find myself exagerating about a high temp again, I will use the analogy of a nice coffee warmer instead - or possibly turning the thermostat down for the room that its in. You get the idea. Looks nice though.

 

[Findecanor]

I would have liked to see a side-by-side comparison with the PC-Q33. From a distance the PC-Q34 looks mostly like a cheapened version of that one: fewer drive mounts in the front wall, no grommets for water-cooling at back, no fan wire grill, no separate PSU mount allowing it to be slid in from the back, bolts on black version are not black.