Gadgetory

well look what it is we finally managed to get our hands on a truly endless a sea the armored suit pcp 50 the company has literally dozens of products in their lineup nearly everyone a hit and its name around the web is synonymous with quality and what sets lien Lee apart is they're classy styling aluminum construction and detailed features now all of this you ultimately see recycled in most of their products but hey why mess with a good thing this particular case incorporates the company's best features into an elegant yet simple design that rings in at $200 now while I may sound a bit like a rabid fanboy it's a video review so you get to see and judge it for yourself and because it's Lee Anne Lee we hold them to a higher standard now the case is definitely more than your standard mid Tower so let's see if the craftsmanship and design is worth the price now the front keeps a uniform look with 9dr Bay covers including dust filters the top panel hosts the power and reset buttons that double as LEDs along with just a simple audio and USB connections at the back there's a 120 millimeter fan holes for water cooling and impressive the 8 PCI expansion slots and a bottom mounted power supply underneath the case is very simple there's just rubber feet and a mesh cover over the power supply that easily snaps out here is one thing to love above the PCP 50 everything is just so easy to get to the side panels fit perfectly and taking off the front and top pieces to access fans clean filters change drives requires no fiddling and uses no screwdriver underneath the top panel there are 240 millimeter fans and like all the fans they use Lian Lee's unique toolless installation system and here's to show you just how lightweight this case is but the quality construction still remains at the front of the case behind the bottom three covers there's an intake 120 millimeter fan so with things opened up we take a look at the interior the bottom mounted power supply sits raised on rubber pads to reduce noise and there is venting for air flow at the front three hard drive bays that fit in a cage held in by thumb screws up the back metal PCI clips the 120 millimeter exhaust fan with a grill and then to the front three empty five and quarter-inch drive bays and with three more that use a screw loose clip design and louis the motherboard tray has cable management holes along the side and the back a very large opening for a CPU cooler backplate now as far as room for cabling is concerned there's a little over two and a half or about an inch between the back panel and the motherboard tray which is going to just be enough as we'll see later moving on to the installation like many of its cases Lian Li uses a virtually to list design heck you can even install the motherboard using thumb screws power supply has a retention bracket that holds it surprisingly very secure 11 inch long video cards like our ATI 5870 fit just fine and the solid metal expansion slot clips are undoubtedly the best of their kind on any case we've seen they actually work installing a ROM drive just as simple line it up and secure the tool list clip however unfortunate installation gets a little thrown off track when we come to the hard drives now I don't know if this is because the PCP 50 was based on a little older design or if it was the original intention but you'll notice the drives face front to back in a lot of more recent case interiors we've seen the move two drives facing sideways now the problem is the straight back design requires a lot of extra room to take the drives out so you can see the problem with a smaller mid Tower though in Lian Lee's case you can take the drive cage out of the front but then you're stuck having to unplug and pull out all of the drives that are connected in this case it just isn't very user-friendly if you're going to be making any additions later on with the drive cage out the drives fit very simply into their tray which then goes back into the cage and then you have to go through the process of reinstalling it all and putting the front panel all back together as we check out the wiring it actually goes surprisingly smooth for a mint Tower one thing I've never liked about aluminum cases is with their thinner metal you always wind up slicing and digits somewhere in the bill lien Lee however is made sure that every single edge is either rounded or is well soft and to avoid any mishaps wiring is fairly logical the cable management spaces are laid out perfectly but if you're intent on cleaning up all of the wiring from the bottom you will have to get creative with your hiding spots the cables themselves have no problem running along the back of the motherboard tray if you space them out but unused connectors will have to be tucked behind the dried basil where the power supply otherwise the side panel just fit as far as water cooling goes don't plan on any internal radiators at the top there just isn't enough room to comfortably fit anything and if you're going to be fitting other things such as pumps and reservoirs inside you are going to be hard-pressed for space so that wraps up our review on the Lian Li armored suit pcp 50 case as expected this case sticks to the company's award-winning formula for an excellently constructed mid tower they've included the incredibly handy tool free features that really make installations something you don't actually mind doing and you can't beat aluminum Lian Li doesn't cheap out and provides lightweight yet robust material that is built in such a fashion that things like the motherboard tray and the case frame won't flex or feel cheap along with that the exterior design has a very professional feel that allows many types of users to feel comfortable with the look unfortunately on the downside we would have liked to have seen some interior improvements that liyan Li has included with some of its more recent cases the addition of more than just three hard drives or at least including some five and a quarter inch adapters would have been nice and moving to a sideways mounted drive cage system for a case of this size probably would have been a smarter design at the end of the day the case rings in has a 200-dollar mid Tower which is reasonable for aluminum but you're definitely paying a premium for the quality and aesthetics thanks for checking out the hardware connect product showcase you can visit us online at triple W hardware connects calm and please if you enjoy our reviews and want to see more hit that subscribe button thanks for watching