Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
The sample and stylish (Which I'm sure Lian-Li meant simple and stylish) PC-Q07 incorporates a clean external look that's available in your choice of either black, silver, or red. Our particular unit is red as shown in the photo above; which in reality is more of a reddish-burgundy color. It is accentuated by its brushed aluminum marks signature of Lian-Li with clean, smooth corners all around. Measuring 193mm x 280mm x 208mm, the Lian-Li PC-Q07 isn't a particular compact mITX case -- but it does retain a very reasonable 1.1kg tip on the scale thanks to its full anodized aluminum construction.
Despite the fact that the front of the chassis doesn't have a Lian-Li logo, it is instantly recognizable as a product built by the company, thanks to all of the strong Lian-Li traits as aforementioned. This is further reinforced by its simple front face; consisting of an opening for one 5.25" drive or accessory at the top, two USB ports centered at the bottom, plus a power and reset button places towards the left. The power and reset button has built in LEDs that doubles as a blue power LED and a red HDD LED, in that order listed. The 5.25" drive bay comes with a material and color matching blank plate, as Lian-Li understands that not everyone would need something in that spot for their Atom based PCs. While the inclusion of only two USB ports towards the bottom of the case provides an extremely clean look, I would definitely appreciate if there are a few more standard connectors such as eSATA and 3.5mm jacks. This would greatly improve accessibility convenience without significantly affecting its aesthetics.
The left side of the Lian-Li PC-Q07 mITX chassis. The rounded corners are better shown in this photo. The panel features two mesh sections to improve airflow. The upper and larger group of holes is for power supply ventilation, as it corresponds to the location of its power supply mount. This is especially valuable if you have a power supply with a bottom 120mm fan mount. Below that is a smaller array of openings for normal case ventilation.
Like its reciprocal side, this panel is held onto the main frame by a total of six black colored screws. These screws are particular small, and resemble laptop screws to an extent due to its size, color, and depth -- which surprised me at first. Usually, when case designers use this type of screws, they're for panels that you don't normally remove, so it really threw me off haha. I looked around, and I found out that these are the only attachments available to remove the side panel. So I carefully unscrewed them, and it worked!
I was hoping for tool-free thumbscrews or clips, where Lian-Li is usually pretty innovative in this regard. On the positive side, most people won't be upgrading their Atom based system on a weekly basis anyway -- there's nothing to upgrade in particular, to be honest -- so it should not pose a major inconvenience even for the most hardcore enthusiasts.
A quick look at the back of Lian-Li's PC-Q07 chassis has certain aspects that remind me of my circa-2000 Pentium III system. The motherboard is installed on the left side from this angle, with its power supply installed adjacent to the motherboard vertically. My Pentium III system's case has a similar design to save room. That was back in the days when processors required very little cooling, and case fans are not a necessity for many people. This is certainly held true with our Atom based systems today; where CPU cooling consists of a small passive heatsink only, and it is not necessary to include room for a case fan since the hardware doesn't generate too much heat. I'm glad there's an abundance of ventilation openings at the back of the Lian-Li case -- much unlike my Pentium III back in the days -- as seen in the photo above. Even the slot for an add-in card is ventilated. Meanwhile, the reason why the PC-Q07 is relatively larger than some of its competitors is because it can accommodate a standard ATX power supply, with room for a 5.25" external drive at the top, and up to a standard 3.5" internal drive at the bottom. What you won't get is room for a case fan in any location, but personally I won't be too worried haha.
Turning the Lian-Li PC-Q07 to view its right side reveals a second panel that is also attached by six small, black colored screws. For experienced computer builders, you don't normally remove this side of the chassis in a standard build, since the motherboard is typically installed onto the tray from the other side. In the case of Lian-Li's PC-Q07, you do need to remove this panel, and there's a very good reason why. The motherboard is installed directly onto this panel, where four built in risers are already integrated -- so it basically makes this side a removable motherboard tray for your mITX motherboard. It simplifies installation, because the motherboard is installed outside of the chassis, where it is not cramped. More mesh is located beneath where the motherboard is installed.
Neither the top and bottom of the Lian-Li PC-Q07 are particularly exciting to talk about -- where the 5.25" and 2.5"/3.5" drives, respectively, are not located, there's more ventilation openings. Four small rubber feet are at the bottom to reduce slippage and vibrational noise, as well as preventing the case from scratching your desk, or the desk from scratching your case.
Overall, despite its lightweight full aluminum construction, and a ton of ventilation openings, it's easy to imagine that the Lian-Li PC-Q07 is a pretty weak chassis. Fortunately, that cannot be further from the truth -- the Lian-Li PC-Q07 feels impressively solid across the board. The 1.5mm thick anodized aluminum had no sharp edges at all. There's no doubt that the Lian-Li PC-Q07 is a case that not only appears to be high quality, its fit and finish is also top notch!
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
