Lian Li PC-Q11 mini ITX case review

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It can fit a dual slot graphics card, a full sized optical drive and a pair of 3.5" hard drives:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/LianLi/PC-Q11/1.html

Scan are currently selling the PC-Q11 for around £85:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?W...source=froogle

There is a comparison between the size of the PC-Q11 and PC-Q07 in this thread:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1523097&page=5

It also seems it is possible to fit an HX650W within the case too.

[scaryjim]

maybe it's just me, but if I was building a mini-itx PC, I'd want it to be... well, small! That case is probably big enough for a mATX motherboard, which makes the whole 50%+ markup on mitx motherboards seem like a waste

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you want a mini-ITX gaming build with two hard drives it is one of the smallest cases AFAIK. A Shuttle SFF maybe smaller but they are still quite expensive and it seems they are cutting corners with their latest systems.

[ali73]

I agree with Scary Jim, with an Mini-ITX board I'd want a small case.

Recently have been thinking of building a Mini-ITX based HTPC. As luck would have it I was given a Mini-ITX board... (http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/em...ail.jsp?id=399)... it's no ION board but I was curious so see what the fuss was about. I'm researching to see which board I will eventually use, I was hoping to keep this EPIA board for a small server build.

My main concern for this HTPC was going to be small size/quiet/low(ish) power draw.

After much looking I saw plenty of nice cases that I liked the look of (Silverstone SG05B, Lian Li PC-Q08B) but I decided that to keep the power draw low to go for laptop HDD's and a slimline optical drive (if I needed).

So I bought an Antec ISK 310-150 pc case. This has a 150W PSU with space for 2 laptop HDD's and a slimline optical drive.

Board doesnt run xbmc (or at least it doesn't work for me), but it can run Mythbuntu fine.
I put in a 250Gb 5400rpm WD Blue Scorpio HDD and it runs like a dream, quiet (havent measured the Watts as I dont have a meter but am content it is low). haven't plugged in an optical drive as I copied most of our family movies straight onto the HDD via another PC..(might not even bother with a slimline driver for now.

But back to the original point... this box wouldn't look to out of place in a living room and blends in well. now just need to go hunt for a remote and an ION board to make the build.