LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C50B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Pros: -great looking
-aluminum
-Lian Li quality
-fits mATX mobo nicely
-LG blu-ray drive fit no problem at all
-did I mention this case looks amazing? Just like home AV equipment should
-narrow enough to fit on any shelf
-good airflow, despite the hdd cages
-drive flip down door is a really nice touch, looks great

Cons: -expensive
-small screws feel delicate, like they would easily strip the threads in the aluminum if you aren't careful
-hdd cages are a bit of a pain to remove, seems like it could have been simpler
-led power/reset lights are too bright for a htpc case, I unplugged mine
-fans are loud if used on full power

Other Thoughts: i3 2120T
4GB ddr3 ram
ASRock H77M mobo
LG blu ray
Samsung 840 pro 128GB ssd
Corsair CX430M
Lian Li PC-C50B

Pros: This case rocks. It is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to assemble but once you have it all put together it is magnificent. Its very tidy. I have an I5-3550 in it and a radeon 7850 graphics card and it stays nice and cool even when I am gaming on it for long periods of time. The space around the CPU is a little tight but as long as you aren't wanting to run a massive cooler you should be ok. I have a 120mm CPU cooler and it only fits one way. As will all cases the instructions for the cabling are a little limited.

Cons: Assembly is a pain in the neck. Wish it had a removable MB tray.

Other Thoughts: If you have limited space and want something that will run cool this is definitely the case you need.

Pros: More than enough front USB3 ports. Great layout, nice looking, lightweight. Real easy to get mobo and other components in and out. Lots of room and grills for fans. Expensive but allot of features.

Cons: You spend $160 for it and some wiseguy decides to save money by mixing the power supply screws in with the Mobo ones? Why? Use a separate bag! I almost used a psu screw in the mobo. Speaking of screws, don't lose any. You likely won't find them at the local hardware store.

Other Thoughts: Much easier to get in and out of the home theater cabinet than the old steel Antec Fusion. That and it doesn't have that wasteful screen thing.

Pros: -Relatively shallow depth allowing it to fit into AV shelves and cabinets.
-Form factor and finish look appropriate for an HTPC on display
-USB 3.0 support

Cons: -Screws strip easily and there are an unnecessary variety of screw size/thread making them hard to replace.
-5.25" need a short optical drive to fit properly and the optical drive tray must be installed even if there is no drive because otherwise there would be a gaping hole
-If you fill the advertised drive bays you're going to want cables of almost exact length if you want any airflow. Also, if you accomplished this you deserve an honorary engineering degree as it not easy to get 3x3.5" HDDs, a SSD, optical drive, and a video card into this bad boy.

Other Thoughts: I've been in and out of this case a dozen times, added and removed every component twice... I hate it. I can't explain it, but that's how I feel.

I got this because of the internal 3.5" bays. I ended up getting a SilverStone HTPC case and external enclosure for the drives. I am happier with this solution.

-You want to be sure you have the shortest power supply and optical drive that will suit your needs.
-You will want a modular PSU
-You will save yourself a headache if you use on-board video. The on Intel HD4000 graphics are great for an HTPC.

Pros: Just a response to the last viewer - this case does have a power light. The power button is actually a light, but the LED requires the correct polarity to light up - try reversing the motherboard connector for both the power light and HDD activity light. The reset button is a red HDD activity light, so if you don't see that one it is reversed as well. The power and reset button don't care about polarity. Hope this helps!

Cons: LEDs require the correct polarity. Nothing to do with this case :-)

Pros: Fits a Wall Mounted Shelf Perfectly. Cooling is Excellent, no extra fans added.Its really really quiet. Lots of drive bays, for its size. Used my existing 750 watt Modular Power Supply.

Cons: No Power Indicator light.. with it being so quiet hard to tell if it on, lol.

Other Thoughts: If you want a Media Center Case that will fit on a shelf, you are into Micro ATX, want to use your existing Power supply and want lots of bays this is your case.

Pros: High quality material is used in this case. In addition, it is very modular by design in how you can move the hard drive cages to different locations. This case is nearly inaudible even under full gaming load, more than I can say about the nMedia case it replaced. Even with a full sized Radeon 6870 in the case, there is still good airflow to keep the temperature down.

Cons: This case has tight spacing, but I purposely wanted a smaller case so I can eventually fit it in an open front media center. It would be nicer if the PSU was placed under the CD cage so one of the 12 cm fan slots isn't partially blocked when configured on that side, but this isn't a big deal.

The cables for the front inputs are a bit odd. About 18 inches long, 1 mobo pinout for usb 3, 1 for USB 2, and a USB 3 connector

I can't hear the fans - oh wait....

Other Thoughts: Case components:
Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.4 ghz
Asus P5N7A-VM
8 gb Corsair DDR 2 XMS 2 RAM
Sapphire Ati Radeon HD 6870
OCZ Vertex 3 90 gb HD
160 gb 2.5" HDD
Antec Neo HE 430 watt PSU
Sony DVD-R/W

Pros: -Depth <13 inches
-Has a card reader on front panel built in. The light is always on but that tells me it is on and doesn't bother me when viewing tv or movies.
-Cages for hardrive and configuration internally is easy to work with
-Looks good...simple and stylish
-designed for zero vibration

Cons: -Fans are way too loud. I am hard of hearing and these drive me nuts. There are two and they both have 3 pin connectors. I have one 3 pin connector on mobo and even turning one down to 800-900 rpm and disconnecting the other the thing is still loud. I ordered new fans.
-The cables are long enough to hook your mobo up outside of the case. I like the ease of use but could have easily reduced these by 6 inch or more and still had plenty of room to work with.
-I cannot use the 3rd cage behind the dvd drive. Not a big deal now....I used the room to store some of the cables.
-One of the front panel USB cables is designed to pass through the back and plug in to the back of motherboard. I didn't use this and tied it off. It does mean I lose one of my usb 2.0 slots on the front panel. The (2) usb 3 slots are on a cable that plugs into the mobo.
-The price is a bit more than other cases.

Other Thoughts: I paid alittle more for this case because it had what I was looking for. It is not perfect but is a nice case and easy to work with. I bought a modular power supply and glad I did because I only used cables I needed. If you bought PSU with all cables this would be very tight fit. My main power connector is directly under the cage on left and is tight but has some clearance. I am also using a pci card for tv tuner that runs right underneath the center bar but has clearance. I am not running a video card so can't comment on that. I am using intel hd3000 so didn't need much by way of cards which is another reason I have a case that can breathe easy and get nice airflow.

Pros: The case is easy to work with, sturdy and awesome looking. I'm using an I5-2600 with on-chip graphics and a stock fan and the case with sufficient surrounding space sufficiently keeps the chip cool.

Cons: I do have a issue with the quality control and haven't decided on whether to RMA the case. The front panel speaker jacks do not properly hold the jack, thus it is useless. Seems a waste to RMA the case, when the front widget can be replaced. Need to see what Lian-Li will do here.

Otherwise like everyone else has complained, the 3-2' extreme thick cables are a very big nuisance. Hope that Lian-Li will make available a new widget that has shorter wires AND supports all USB3 front connectors. Finally the case fans are 3-pin, so you should immediately replace with 4-pin RoseWill fans (much quieter when running, and may not even need to run most of the time!).

Other Thoughts: I would definitely purchase this case again. I just hope that Lian Li will replace the front widget such that I can get the headset to work.

Pros: The quality i expected from Lian Li and also the price.

Cons: None that i was not aware of before buying.