PC-9300 Aluminum: Lian Li Enters the Small Form Factor Race

Benchmark

Typically, we use hardware capable of generating the most heat for our benchmarks.  However, our ASUS AV7333, which we have used in other reviews does not fit in the Lian Li PC-9300.  Furthermore, our extra hot Seagate Cheetah was unable to fit in either of the 3.5" drive bays on case either, so it was substituted with a single bayed drive.

All temperature is recorded in degrees Celsius.  The heat tests were each performed inside the closed case with the external temperature of 23.0 degrees Celsius, during a full system load.  Our testbed consists of:

Video is integrated in the K7SEM, but we used our GeForce4 just to give a good impression of heating performance.  The thermal readings for the different components during operation were as followed:

Lian Li PC-9300

Kingwin KT-436-WM

For the most part, the components of the PC-9300 operated at a much higher temperature than other cases we have looked at.  This is directly attributed to the low exhaust, nonexistent intake and general poor airflow.  Remember, we are using much cooler hardware in the PC-9300 than in the Kingwin case.  Using hotter hardware would result in unstable and possibly damaging conditions.

Sound is recorded in decibels from 12" away from the closed case to most accurately replicate a production system.

It has to be noted that the Lian Li PC-9300 was running a significantly slower system than the AMD MP 2100+ system benchmarked for the other two systems.  Furthermore, since the PC-9300 had a much smaller form factor, a different PSU was necessary.  With only one fan, this PSU is a much quieter experience.  The poor cooling on even an XP 1800+ system is somewhat discouraging, but users planning on using slower and cooler hardware will have no problems with this case.