Review: Lian Li PC-Z60
Category : Cases
Published by Marc Büchel on 04.01.12
With the PC-Z60 Lian Li has a very well equipped midi tower in its portfolio. Characteristical for cases from the twaiwanese high-end manufacturer is its extraordinary craftmanship. To mention one feature: with this case you get hot swap cages which allow quick and easy exchange of hard drives. 
On the following pages we will show you the strengths and weaknesses of the Lian Li PC-Z60.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Temperatures |
| Page 4 - Right side | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Preview
Specifications
| Model | Lian Li PC-Z60 |
| Case Type | Midi Tower |
| Dimensions | 210 x 374 x 385 mm(W x H x D) |
| Material | Aluminium |
| Color | Black / Silver |
| Weight | aprox.5.3 kg |
| 5.25'' drive bay | 3 x external |
| 3.5'' drive bay | 2 x 5.25'' 6 x 3.5'' 2 x 2.5'' |
| Expansion slots | 8 |
| Form factors | Mini-ITX, Mini-DTX, mATX, ATX |
| Cooling | 2 x 120 mm right side
HDD 1 x 120 mm Back 1 x 120 mm Top |
| I/O ports | 2 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 2.0 1 x eSATA Audio in / out |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Temperatures |
| Page 4 - Right side | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Front
Overview |
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 |
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| The front of Lian Lis PC-Z60
simply elegant and therefore timeless. In the bottom area the only thing
you find is a the Lian Li logo. Removing the front panel reveals five
hot swap cages which need to "front-loaded". To do so you need to equip
the hard drives with guide rails on both side. Once you've done so you
can simply slide them in place. On the face side there are two audio jacks (headphone out and microphone in). Furhtermore you'll find two USB3.0 as well as one USB2.0 ports and an eSATA connector. |
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Back
Overview |
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| Next to the usual slot bezels of which you're going to find eight, there is an 120 millimeter fan which is placed right behind the CPU cooler. In general the back of this case looks quite unspectacular. Both side panels are kept in place by the use of four thumbscrews. Right below the 120 millimeter fan there are two grommets through which you can either route cables or tubes from your water cooling. | |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Temperatures |
| Page 4 - Right side | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Right Side
Overview |
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 |
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| The right side panel looks quite unspectacular. The only thing that looks a bit suspicious concerns the ventilation holes in the bottom left corner. If you remove the side panel, you find two 120 millimeter fans which are there to cool the hard drives. Furthermore there is quite a big hole on the backside of the motherboard tray which allows a comfortable installation of a CPU cooler even when a motherboard has already been put in place. Also cables can be routed through the case well. Right between the motherboard tray and the two 120 millimeter fans you find a channel to route cables. In general this case can be wired quite nicely. There are plenty of holes to route cables through and afterwards hide them on the backside of the motherboard tray. | |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Temperatures |
| Page 4 - Right side | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Left Side
Overview |
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 |
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| Like the left side panel also the one on the right side of the case is unspectacular. If you take it off you'll see for example the hard drive cage which is thightened to the case. The hard drive cage it self is hot swap capable. To install a hard drive you need to equip them with rails. Afterwards you can simply slide them in place. On the right side of the case, when you look at it from the front, there are two 120 millimeter fans. They make sure that the five hard drives get perfect cooling. Meanwhile it is standard at Lian Li that they provide 2.5 inch slots for SSD for example. With the PC-Z60 you get two 2.5 inch slots. | |
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| A total of eight slot bezels
found their way into the PC-Z60. Each of them is kept in place by Lian
Lis very practical tightening mechanism. Above the slot bezels there is a120
millimeter fan which is mounted that it blows hot out of the case.
Between the 120 millimeter fan and the slots bezels there are two
grommets through which one can route tubes of a water cooling or cables.
In the bottom area of the case there are two rubber coated rails onto which one puts the power supply. In the base plate there are ventilation holes that the power supply gets plenty of fresh air. |
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| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Temperatures |
| Page 4 - Right side | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Top
Overview |
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 |
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| Like the side panels the top is unspectacular. The only thing which is special concerns the 120 millimeter fan which is mounted that it blows hot air out of the case. The top can be removed but you'll have to untighten screws and you therefore need tools. | |
Bottom
Overview |
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| At the bottom of the case you find a removable dust filter. To remove it you simply slide it out the guide rails. Afterwards it can be washed for example. Furthermore there are the four feet which give the case a safe stand. | |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Temperatures |
| Page 4 - Right side | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Performance
Test Setup |
|
| Motherboard | ASUS Rampage IV Formula |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-3930K |
| GPU | ASUS ENGTX 580 |
| SSD | Corsair Force 3 120 Gigabyte |
| PSU | Enermax Revolution 85+ |
Temperatures
Idle |
|
| CPU | 36 °C |
| Motherboard | 35 °C |
| Chipset | 45 °C |
Load |
|
| CPU | 60 °C |
| Motherboard | 38 °C |
| Chipset | 50 °C |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Temperatures |
| Page 4 - Right side | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums [pagebreak]
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| The Lian Li PC-Z60 is a very well though, compact midi tower case. Especially the interior layout is very well done and one can see at a first glance that the engineers at Lian Li have thought a lot to make this case practical. We also like the hot swap cage for hard drives very much. This makes the installation of hard drives very comfortable. | - Design - Interior layout - Hot swap cages |
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| Manufacturing quality / Ergonomics | + | - | |
| Overall the build quality is on a very good level. The side panels could be a bit stiffer but on the other hand the thin material keeps the total weight low. We like the cooling concept of this midi tower. Cooling of the hard drives is separated from the rest of the case. Two 120 millimeter fans are there to keep HDD temperatures low. Otherwise there are two more 120 millimeter fans around the CPU socket. One you find in the top panel and the other is on the back of the case. Both fans move warm air out of the interior. The only downside we spotted concerns big aircoolers. We chose to install a Noctua NH-C14P and we were forced to remove the top fan. | - Build
quality - Ventilation concept - Weight |
- Space for big aircoolers | |
| Design | + | - | |
| Lian Li provided the PC-Z60 with its characteristic desig. As usual you hairline brushed aluminium which creates a very nice surface and it therefore leaves a high qualitative impression. Generally the tower comes with a design which is nice to look at and targets a broad audience. Nevertheless the tower wont be overlooked at a LAN party. | - Design | ||
| Recommendation | + | - | |
| We can recommed the PC-Z60 to everybody who's looking for a midi tower which can cope with high-end hardware. The only thing one should be aware is that no every cooler available fits. | -
Gaming-PC - Desktop PC |
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| Rating | |||
| The Lian Li PC-Z60 receives four out of five stars. The case comes at a price piont of est. CHF 217.- (est EUR 181.-). | |||
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 5 - Left side |
| Page 2 - Preview | Page 6 - Top / Bottom |
| Page 3 - Front / Back | Page 7 - Temperatures |
| Page 4 - Right side | Page 8 - Conclusion |
Discuss this article in the forums
Author: t.rothenburg@ocaholic.ch Redacted by: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch