Lian Li PC-Q10 Case Review
A Closer Look at the Lian Li PC-Q10WGD
Lian Li has always been known for their aluminum work dating back to their V2000 series cases, and its good to see that with their newest addition to the ITX line, the quality did not shrink with the form factor.
The PC-Q10 is an ITX chassis, featuring a honest form factor foot print of 207mm x 277mm x 335mm. Why do I say this? Well after seeing waves and waves of “ITX” dubbed chassis that rivaled the size of MATX/ATX style chassis, its good to see a case that is truly LAN friendly.
The front and top panel are fabricated from a single piece of brushed aluminum, with dual 120mm fan intakes at the top and a slot for an optional slot load optical drive. Removal of two screws, located at the rear of the chassis, allows for the user to remove the panel, which is held in by pins.
Looking at the front panel, we can see Lian Li kept it simple with just two perforations, one for ventilation and the other holds the dual USB 3.0 ports, mic, headphone and the power button.
The right side of the case features a dual layer panel. The outer layer is made of acrylic which is fastened to the brushed aluminum side panel with four thumb screws.
The thumbscrews are removable in the event you would either like to clean the panel or possibly like to make a replacement panel in a different color.
Lian Li steps up the quality by making sure both sides of the panels are anodized. Although only having the finish on one side would prove rather difficult with the anodizing process, it should still be noted as some manufactures will only paint the visible side of the panels.
In the past few years we have seen a new form of latching, where manufactures will use a ball and socket style system to attach panels to the chassis. Lian Li’s system uses an aluminum ball on the panel, which is then locked into the plastic socket housing that is located on the chassis frame.
Moving to the back panel we can see the case supports two PCI slots, one 120mm fan which includes dual pass through grommets. In the upper top left corner we can see and IEC plug (standard computer power cable plug) which leads to the internal bracket area for the PSU.
Even with ITX this is something we expect to see on a chassis. As you can see the PC-Q10 has a little more than three quarters of an inch behind the motherboard tray for routing cables.
Here we have a view of the internal structure with all the panels removed. Just like the external panels the internal structure is fabricated from aluminum, but is painted in a flat black, verses the anodized exterior.
Both accessory panels are removable and come painted in a high gloss black finish. The power supply bracket included with the chassis is for fitting a standard ATX power supply. Although for better functionality in the chassis, I would recommend an SFX form factor power supply over an ATX form factor PSU.
