LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-Q05B Mini ITX Media Center / HTPC Case

Pros: Very simple install. As long as you ordered the right parts (see other reviews) everything will fit. Not much else to say for a thin mini itx board.

Cons: I got a little cocky and tried to assemble my build as fast as possible. I ended up forgetting to remove one half of the tape from the backplate for the CPU cooler. When I tried to remove the board, I had 2/4 screws from the mobo strip! These were provided by Lian Li. Out of the 4 cases I own, I did manage to strip 4/12 of the case screws aswell (small black ones to access the inside). Maybe it is just me but you would think you could get a decent set of screws.

I contacted Lian Li for some replacement screws. It did come with 2 extra Mobo screws but none for the case. I'll edit the review if I hear back from Lian Li.

Other Thoughts: Use a better screw driver than I did. I've used one regular Phillips for all of my builds and somehow it failed on me for these cases.

Pros: Case is tiny, looks high quality and has room for two 2.5" drives.
Case metal is thin, but surprisingly sturdy and the cover fits snugly but easily over the whole thing. Black anodized (?) aluminum looks even and finished, but I will have to see how the durability is.
The two 2.5" drive bays include rubber shock mounts.

Cons: No optical drive space. It might be worth an extra inch or two in width and some rearranging to make this even better for HTPC applications. There is a little extra room near the power LEDs, I would have rotated the drive bay 90 degrees so you would have more clearance for the cables (they extend over the motherboard right now).
Lid uses three tiny screws, so hope you don't have get into it much.

Other Thoughts: Built this machine with a DQ77KB and HTS1155LP cooler which is pretty much the only build that will work (unless you can find another thin-mini ITX). I am running a 35W i3-3220T which results in a barely audible fan under anything but full load. Idles at about 17W which probably explains why.
The power button is on the side, which I like, but it also makes the power LED in front redundant (the button is also lighted).

I had to remove one of the metal airflow brackets to install the radiator, but it fit back in once the cooler was installed.

Overall, I am quite impressed with this case, especially at the <$100 pricepoint

Pros: The case is really small which is what I wanted. I received a bundle deal on the Thin-Mini-ITX motherboard so I needed a case to use. I have an In-Win Thin-Mini-ITX too and I think this one is a little nicer, less wasted room. Well thought out. I used a cheap SSD with 4gb of memory and an i5 xxxx CPU. It's been perfect.

Cons: It's a little flimsy.
Scratchy aluminum feet.

Other Thoughts: To the other reviewer's comment about the Intel Heat sink, I had the same issue but was able to slightly bend the copper tubing of the heat sink and got it to fit just fine.

Pros: The case is really small
Cooling is good
Not cramped
Well thought out

Cons: It's a little flimsy
Scratchy aluminum feet

Other Thoughts: I stuck a DQ77KB, I3-3225, compact cooler, msata drive, and 8gb of ram into this thing. There is piles of room left over for a small sata drive and it doesn't feel cramped at all.

It requires the thin Intel cooler but the holes are really well done on the case to accommodate the cooler. My only concern was it felt like the board was warping because there are two screws that attach the cooler to the case and the cooler is not-flexible. I took the board out, reseated it, and it seems pretty good.

Love the size.

Pros: This case makes a great combo with the DQ77KB Motherboard. I've been building KVM nodes with this that are small and efficient for the space. Onboard mSATA is great. Didn't need the onboard SATA or PCIe. Be sure to get the Intel CPU Cooler for this unit. It will require it.

Cons: While I'm not building these for desktop computers, I probably would except that if I wanted to use the mini PCI for a wireless card, the Intel MiniITX Thin form factor doesn't leave mounting for a three antenna solution. It would be nice if the case had options for this.
Also, the internal space isn't well thought out. There is relatively a lot of space on either side of the HDD bay unused.

Other Thoughts: Excellent solution. Wish there were other vendors to compete in this space.

Pros: Sleek and Aluminum.

Search for "Intel's Thin Mini-ITX Component Catalog"

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Please research before buying. This case is designed for Intel motherboards or mod the case. There are several reviews on this case. Lian Li specification lists the type of motherboard and cooler to use. The I/O shield (panel) is 25mm (non-standard like all other cases).

Motherboard: Intel Desktop Board DH61AG
Cooler: Intel HTS1155LP CPU Cooler (N82E16835203012)

I believe the Intel Desktop Board DQ77KB (N82E16813121622) will fit as well.

Pros: Very slim, really nice looking

Cons: This requires a specialized motherboard that has a built in PSU connector. You may be able to use a PicoPSU, but you have to drill a hole through the case to string the power cable through.

Newegg does not seem to sell the compatible motherboard.
Newegg also sells only one PicoPSU, an 85W from nMEDIAPC which is designed for a specific case. I can't guarantee this PSU will work.

Pros: Thin
Attractive
Sturdy

Cons: Expensive (for what it is)
No protection on LED
Only works with HSF that is audible.

Other Thoughts: Nice case, running an i3-2105, and although it gets hot I haven't had any real issues yet. (CPU on full burn barely got up to 75C, but fan kicked into high gear and brought it down below that quickly).

Regarding the LED: I destroyed my power LED by not being careful enough and accidentally hooking it up backwards. Would be nice to have a simple diode protecting against that (epsecially given the price), as it's a pretty easy mistake to make. javascript:Biz.Feedback.RateProduct.Form.submit('display')