The PC-X500 is described by Lian Li as the 'ultimate gamer/HTPC' case, a rather bizarre and perhaps foolhardy statement, given the diverse requirements of gaming and media PCs. Gaming PCs tend to be large, bold and require excellent cooling, while media/HTPC cases should be discrete, small and as quiet as possible.
Rather than looking like a case that can be used horizontally as a media PC in a hi-fi rack, or vertically as a gaming PC, the PC-X500 resembles a 1980s file server. Curiously, although it's very tall (585mm) it's also shallow (380mm), so there's very little room inside for a high-end system.
For example, the main chamber is only compatible with motherboards up to ATX size, while there are only seven drive bays - two 5.25in, one external 3.5in and four internal 3.5in. Instead of pointing to the front, the external drive bays are mounted on the side of the case, and can be accessed from either the left or right. While this means that the case has a smooth aluminium front panel, it makes the drive bays awkward and unintuitive to use.
The inside of the case is divided into two separate chambers, the lower of which houses the motherboard, while the upper section contains the drive bays and PSU bay. However, while the lower chamber is cooled by two 120mm intake fans at the front and a single 120mm exhaust fan at the rear, the upper chamber has only a single 120mm exhaust fan. How this one fan is supposed to draw in air through four small holes in the front panel and then through the convoluted internal structure of the chamber (it's stuffed with drive bays and cables) is beyond us. The front-mounted intake fans of the lower chamber don't have an easy time either, as their air intakes are set at a 90-degree angle to the fans; therefore, air has to be sucked in from the side before being blown into the case. It's hardly a design conducive to efficient airflow.
Despite the typically excellent Lian Li build quality, building a system inside the PC-X500 is time-consuming and frustrating. Even with a modular PSU, it's impossible to avoid cables bunching together in the upper chamber - this not only restricts airflow but can also obstruct access to the drives. The problem is compounded by the shallow main chamber, which provides precious little room for neat cabling or peripherals. For example, although Lian Li has cut four holes in the rear panel through which water-cooling tubes can pass, there's no room inside for a pump or reservoir.
Although the PC-X500 appeared to perform well in our tests, only overheating and crashing three minutes before the end of our one-hour stress test, our initial enthusiasm was tempered by the high temperature results that we recorded. While it's difficult to prevent a GeForce GTX 280 graphics card from running at more than 100ûC, the CPU temperature of 95ûC is on the high side.
However, the principal cause for concern is the upper chamber. By the end of our test, the hard disk had reached a scorching 57ûC - the highest temperature recorded inside any case on test. This is just 3ûC less than the maximum recommended operating temperature of most hard disks, the point at which data corruption will occur.
A look at the infrared photo reveals just how little cooling the 120mm exhaust fan provides - there's a distinct build-up of hot air inside the case, while the outside of the PSU reached a scorching 43.1ûC.
As such, it's likely that the system crashed not only due to the GPU overheating, but also because the PSU overheated and its output dropped below the power requirements of the system.
Conclusion
Rather than being an innovative hybrid gaming/media PC case, the PC-X500 is ridiculously expensive and completely unsuitable for both target markets. Its dire cooling, particularly for the hard disks and PSU, and questionable design (tall but shallow, sideways-mounted drive bays) make the PC-X500 a case to avoid.
Author: James Gorbold, Antony Leather & Alex Watson
Lian Li TYR PC-X500