Are these photos or renders? I'm asking because the two embedded in the article don't appear to match with each other. The first shows what appears to be a pair of vented slot covers next to the GPU; the second shows the back of the case and there doesn't appear to be room for anything beyond the two slots the GPU takes.
The Lian Li gallery makes it clear what's going on. The case does support dual GPUs; but the back cover with the weird holes partially covers the 2nd card; and the angle of the photo above hid the remainder as well.
I would love to build one of these systems on my own, but the SFF options are a lot less accessible for the consumer. The EVGA Hadron case/cooling system is about the closest thing you can get, and it doesn't come cheap.
Have you seen the Silverstone RVZ or FTZ line? I am hoping the RVZ02 will fix its ugly and filterless panels because it could be one of the best mini itx cases I have ever seen.
Yes, but they're still relatively big. I would like something under 12" by 12", more like one of the Steambox prototypes with a vertically oriented card.
The RVZ01, FTZ01, and ML07 all have rotated graphics cards. The BOLT 3 is larger in every dimension than these cases. The upcoming RVZ02 will be slightly smaller than the current offerings but not by much. If you want smaller than that then you can't have an ITX motherboard and a PCIe graphics card - you need a custom-designed solution like the Alienware Alpha or Asus GR8.
None of those will support SLI/xFire though, which the Lian-Li will. I suspect the Lian-Li also performs significantly better with water cooling setups. While two of the cases you mentioned make it possible to cram a 240mm rad in, they both put it right over the GPU; it doesn't look like there'd be much airflow available for it that way.
I am a fan of small form factor, and do like me some bling. With that said, I am a bit disappointed with this machine for these reasons:
- Waste of space. For the actual components it contains, the overall volume is huge.
- Optical drive. The last game I purchased on disc was Titanfall, and I still had to download! I could have merely punched in the key code into Origin. Everything is streaming these days, so the (albeit slim) optical drive really interrupts the front of the case and is IMO unnecessary. I have a slim USB optical drive which fills all my disc needs among all my computers. Heck, my last four notebook computers had not come with optical drives.
- Front ports also interrupt the aesthetics. Maybe have them side or top mounted?
- Liquid cool the CPU but not the GPU? Why? GPUs use a lot more electricity than CPUs, and thus can benefit much more from liquid cooling.
- From the pictures, chassis airflow appears nonexistant. Where does the air cooled GPU get cool air from? Certainly not the aluminum front, nor the clear side. Unless, this is just some renderings or a "show" build.
The front panel is mesh; but there's not room to mount a fan. That's probably why the system was built using a blower card instead of the more common open air cooler. Open air cards need additional fans to expel hot air the just dump into the case; a blower dumps all its hot air directly out the back as long as there's an opening somewhere else in the case for fresh air to flow in to replace it.
Yeah, for a single GPU, ITX board, SFX PSU and 240mm rad system it's positively GARGANTUAN. The Ncase M1, for example, fits the same components into less than half the volume, and without a PCI-E riser.
This price is flat out ridiculous. I could see the entry level clocking in around $1000, but $1500 for those components is nuts. It's close to a $700 markup just for them to put the thing together for you, not including shipping and tax.
Yes. They may not know how, would rather not have to, or plain don't feel like it.
For instance, yes I can change oil/filter in my car myself and save money and have done so as a broke college student, but now my time is worth more and I would rather pay someone a (to my budget) piddly amount to do the work for me. Do you ever eat out? You know that you can make food yourself, right? Did you build your own car? There are "kit cars" that you can assemble yourself.
What makes a computer so special that you (or anyone else) feel that everyone needs to assemble their own?
Because it literally takes 1 hour to assemble the 7 different parts together and there's no mess, nor does it require any special tools. If you already know which components you want, what's 1 hour to save $700?
That's what's surprising. That there are enough people willing to pay $700 for an hour of labor to sustain the overpriced gaming PC market. How many articles on these overpriced systems are there? A lot.
When you factor in having to shop around for components, the possibility of damaged or defective parts that have to be RMA'd, installing the OS, and other miscellaneous tidbits you're talking about more than an hour of labor. While I definitely prefer to build my own system for anything that's not mobile where integrated form factors have obvious advantages, I don't begrudge others who prefer pre-built. And obviously the mark up is worth it for some (likely wealthier) people. Otherwise these companies wouldn't exist to cater to them.
As Zap said, do you change your own oil? It's a simple bit of maintenance that you pay others a significant amount to do for you.
And if you work for a living and have kids and other responsibilities, do you want to spend the time researching everything it takes to put something together with good specs and low noise? With diy there's no instructions on installing every component, installing an os, or what to do if something goes wrong. Where do you get support and warranty? Where do you even begin to troubleshoot a system that doesn't boot if you don't know how each component works and what to expect? You guys think $500-700 is a lot, but it's not if you value your time. If you think about the mass market, they don't hang around forums and try to figure everything out from scratch, hoping to save a few bucks. They don't want to know what a BIOS is, or how to update it. And honestly they shouldn't care or have to.
And 1 hour? Don't make me laugh. Especially with a watercooled mini itx system. With diy you have to include research, purchasing, unpackaging, assembly, install OS, updates, testing. And if one thing goes wrong, how much time is that? Remember, someone that's never done it would probably look at a power supply and think something isn't right if every connection isn't plugged in.
Not that I don't agree with you on some level, but think of it like this.
Let's say you're a doctor, lawyer, executive, or successful engineer. You make at least $500/day. Many doctors will make twice that amount. You're passionate about gaming and have a well-kept home with modern amenities, so the aesthetics of a computer matter to you, but you're limited on time and you're not necessarily passionate about computer hardware and build assembly. You might have a family at home as well with kids, which puts more pressure on your time.
The markup on these machines seems to be in the $500-700 range, depending on the exact build you go with. So you can see that if it would take our hypothetical buyer a day or so of accumulated effort to reproduce the build, then there's a sense in which it's a wash. But on top of that they get an excellent warranty and free labor for life on repairs and upgrades.
Now you say that you could "literally" reproduce this machine in 1 hour. I have my doubts, because we're talking about a first-time builder who isn't even particularly interested in the assembly to begin with, plus this is a smaller than normal case with quite a few design quirks and frankly a very unfriendly design when it comes to functionality. I'd say it's actually extremely unlikely such a person would finish the full build in 1 hour. I'd wager a full Saturday or Sunday, possibly not even including OS and driver installation. That's assuming everything goes well. And that doesn't include time spent researching which components to get and worrying about compatibility not just with each other but also with the bizarre case, whereas using a configurator renders that a non-issue.
Assuming Digital Storm lives up to their promise (I wouldn't know, as I've never ordered from them), they'd ship this thing in tip-top shape, with perfect cable management so good you want to show it off, ready to plug-in and play. Every part will already be tested so you know you didn't get any lemons, etc.
It makes sense why a more affluent buyer would get this.
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DanNeely - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Are these photos or renders? I'm asking because the two embedded in the article don't appear to match with each other. The first shows what appears to be a pair of vented slot covers next to the GPU; the second shows the back of the case and there doesn't appear to be room for anything beyond the two slots the GPU takes.DanNeely - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
The Lian Li gallery makes it clear what's going on. The case does support dual GPUs; but the back cover with the weird holes partially covers the 2nd card; and the angle of the photo above hid the remainder as well.https://plus.google.com/photos/1065312531356334250...
foxtrot1_1 - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
I would love to build one of these systems on my own, but the SFF options are a lot less accessible for the consumer. The EVGA Hadron case/cooling system is about the closest thing you can get, and it doesn't come cheap.GDanteAT5325 - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Have you seen the Silverstone RVZ or FTZ line? I am hoping the RVZ02 will fix its ugly and filterless panels because it could be one of the best mini itx cases I have ever seen.foxtrot1_1 - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Yes, but they're still relatively big. I would like something under 12" by 12", more like one of the Steambox prototypes with a vertically oriented card.SirKnobsworth - Friday, April 3, 2015 - link
The RVZ01, FTZ01, and ML07 all have rotated graphics cards. The BOLT 3 is larger in every dimension than these cases. The upcoming RVZ02 will be slightly smaller than the current offerings but not by much. If you want smaller than that then you can't have an ITX motherboard and a PCIe graphics card - you need a custom-designed solution like the Alienware Alpha or Asus GR8.DanNeely - Friday, April 3, 2015 - link
None of those will support SLI/xFire though, which the Lian-Li will. I suspect the Lian-Li also performs significantly better with water cooling setups. While two of the cases you mentioned make it possible to cram a 240mm rad in, they both put it right over the GPU; it doesn't look like there'd be much airflow available for it that way.SirKnobsworth - Sunday, April 5, 2015 - link
Does the Lian-Li support SLI/xFire? There are 4 expansion slots but it looks like it only comes with a PCIe riser to one of them.djboxbaba - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
This is the Lian Li PC-O5SGigaplex - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Or more specifically, a custom version. The front panel is barely recognisable.Zap - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
I am a fan of small form factor, and do like me some bling. With that said, I am a bit disappointed with this machine for these reasons:- Waste of space. For the actual components it contains, the overall volume is huge.
- Optical drive. The last game I purchased on disc was Titanfall, and I still had to download! I could have merely punched in the key code into Origin. Everything is streaming these days, so the (albeit slim) optical drive really interrupts the front of the case and is IMO unnecessary. I have a slim USB optical drive which fills all my disc needs among all my computers. Heck, my last four notebook computers had not come with optical drives.
- Front ports also interrupt the aesthetics. Maybe have them side or top mounted?
- Liquid cool the CPU but not the GPU? Why? GPUs use a lot more electricity than CPUs, and thus can benefit much more from liquid cooling.
- From the pictures, chassis airflow appears nonexistant. Where does the air cooled GPU get cool air from? Certainly not the aluminum front, nor the clear side. Unless, this is just some renderings or a "show" build.
DooDoo22 - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
They are using the new lian li cases and a Swiftech AIO. Anyone could assemble the same system at home.foxtrot1_1 - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Which Lian Li case is that?djboxbaba - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Lian Li PC-O5SDanNeely - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
The front panel is mesh; but there's not room to mount a fan. That's probably why the system was built using a blower card instead of the more common open air cooler. Open air cards need additional fans to expel hot air the just dump into the case; a blower dumps all its hot air directly out the back as long as there's an opening somewhere else in the case for fresh air to flow in to replace it.Siba - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
26 liters is most definitely not "SFF" anymoreedzieba - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Yeah, for a single GPU, ITX board, SFX PSU and 240mm rad system it's positively GARGANTUAN. The Ncase M1, for example, fits the same components into less than half the volume, and without a PCI-E riser.Mushkins - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
This price is flat out ridiculous. I could see the entry level clocking in around $1000, but $1500 for those components is nuts. It's close to a $700 markup just for them to put the thing together for you, not including shipping and tax.metayoshi - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
That's what I was thinking. The internal components are a nice combination, but holy crap, those prices are crazy.djboxbaba - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Everyone PLEASE.. this is the Lian Li PC-O5SZak - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Yeah, weird that the article doesn't mention it's a stock Lian Li case and off-the-shelf cooler cooler.peterfares - Thursday, April 2, 2015 - link
Are there really that many PC gamers who are willing to spend this kind of money yet don't know how to assemble a computer themselves?Zap - Friday, April 3, 2015 - link
Yes. They may not know how, would rather not have to, or plain don't feel like it.For instance, yes I can change oil/filter in my car myself and save money and have done so as a broke college student, but now my time is worth more and I would rather pay someone a (to my budget) piddly amount to do the work for me.
Do you ever eat out? You know that you can make food yourself, right?
Did you build your own car? There are "kit cars" that you can assemble yourself.
What makes a computer so special that you (or anyone else) feel that everyone needs to assemble their own?
peterfares - Friday, April 3, 2015 - link
Because it literally takes 1 hour to assemble the 7 different parts together and there's no mess, nor does it require any special tools. If you already know which components you want, what's 1 hour to save $700?peterfares - Friday, April 3, 2015 - link
That's what's surprising. That there are enough people willing to pay $700 for an hour of labor to sustain the overpriced gaming PC market. How many articles on these overpriced systems are there? A lot.kyuu - Friday, April 3, 2015 - link
When you factor in having to shop around for components, the possibility of damaged or defective parts that have to be RMA'd, installing the OS, and other miscellaneous tidbits you're talking about more than an hour of labor. While I definitely prefer to build my own system for anything that's not mobile where integrated form factors have obvious advantages, I don't begrudge others who prefer pre-built. And obviously the mark up is worth it for some (likely wealthier) people. Otherwise these companies wouldn't exist to cater to them.As Zap said, do you change your own oil? It's a simple bit of maintenance that you pay others a significant amount to do for you.
Dug - Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - link
And if you work for a living and have kids and other responsibilities, do you want to spend the time researching everything it takes to put something together with good specs and low noise? With diy there's no instructions on installing every component, installing an os, or what to do if something goes wrong.Where do you get support and warranty? Where do you even begin to troubleshoot a system that doesn't boot if you don't know how each component works and what to expect?
You guys think $500-700 is a lot, but it's not if you value your time.
If you think about the mass market, they don't hang around forums and try to figure everything out from scratch, hoping to save a few bucks. They don't want to know what a BIOS is, or how to update it. And honestly they shouldn't care or have to.
And 1 hour? Don't make me laugh. Especially with a watercooled mini itx system. With diy you have to include research, purchasing, unpackaging, assembly, install OS, updates, testing. And if one thing goes wrong, how much time is that? Remember, someone that's never done it would probably look at a power supply and think something isn't right if every connection isn't plugged in.
zpconn - Saturday, June 20, 2015 - link
Not that I don't agree with you on some level, but think of it like this.Let's say you're a doctor, lawyer, executive, or successful engineer. You make at least $500/day. Many doctors will make twice that amount. You're passionate about gaming and have a well-kept home with modern amenities, so the aesthetics of a computer matter to you, but you're limited on time and you're not necessarily passionate about computer hardware and build assembly. You might have a family at home as well with kids, which puts more pressure on your time.
The markup on these machines seems to be in the $500-700 range, depending on the exact build you go with. So you can see that if it would take our hypothetical buyer a day or so of accumulated effort to reproduce the build, then there's a sense in which it's a wash. But on top of that they get an excellent warranty and free labor for life on repairs and upgrades.
Now you say that you could "literally" reproduce this machine in 1 hour. I have my doubts, because we're talking about a first-time builder who isn't even particularly interested in the assembly to begin with, plus this is a smaller than normal case with quite a few design quirks and frankly a very unfriendly design when it comes to functionality. I'd say it's actually extremely unlikely such a person would finish the full build in 1 hour. I'd wager a full Saturday or Sunday, possibly not even including OS and driver installation. That's assuming everything goes well. And that doesn't include time spent researching which components to get and worrying about compatibility not just with each other but also with the bizarre case, whereas using a configurator renders that a non-issue.
Assuming Digital Storm lives up to their promise (I wouldn't know, as I've never ordered from them), they'd ship this thing in tip-top shape, with perfect cable management so good you want to show it off, ready to plug-in and play. Every part will already be tested so you know you didn't get any lemons, etc.
It makes sense why a more affluent buyer would get this.
JonnyDough - Saturday, April 4, 2015 - link
While I would never buy it due to cost, it is a slick machine.