Lian Li PC-8N Case Review

Inside PC-8N

The two side panels are fastened to the case using thumbscrews, which is great. In Figure 6 you can have an overall look inside PC-8N. There are two unique features that you can spot right away. The first one is the L-shaped plates used on the top part of the case, creating a duct where the power supply is installed. These plates also work as a support for the power supply, helping preventing structural damage to the case. On regular cases (assuming models where the power supply is installed on the top part of the case), the weight of the power supply is completely held by the rear panel, through the four screws that are used. If you use a heavy power supply its weight can deform the rear panel, especially if the case is made of aluminum, a material that is “softer” than steel. On PC-8N, since the power supply is held by these L-shaped plates, its weight is evenly distributed to all the chassis, preventing this from happening. Kudos to Lian Li.

Figure 6: Inside PC-8N.

The second unique feature is the presence of plastic protections to prevent you from cutting yourself while building your PC.

Figure 7: Plastic protections.

The motherboard tray doesn’t have any holes or windows, so you can’t use the left side of the case to route cables, and if you want to replace your CPU cooler with a model that requires the installation of a plate on the back side of the motherboard you will need to remove the entire motherboard in order to perform this upgrade.

Figure 8: Back side of the motherboard tray.

As shown before the slot covers are meshed. Daughter boards are fastened to the case using regular screws and a case with this quality deserved thumbscrews here.

Figure 9: Meshed slot covers.

Now let’s see the options for disk drives this case has.