Introduction
Tyr PC-X500 is an all-aluminum mid-tower case that Lian Li will be launching very soon, featuring two 5 ¼” bays, one external 3 ½” bay and four internal 3 ½” bays in two hard disk drive cages, plus four 120-mm fans with a speed control circuit. It uses a very unique design, being shorter than traditional tower-style cases. This was accomplished by moving the external bays to the side of the case instead of being located on the front of the case. We had the opportunity of reviewing this case before it reaches the market. Check it out.
By the way, Lian Li will release a full-tower version of Tyr PC-X500, called Tyr PC-X2000.
On Figures 1 and 2 you have an overall look from this case. See how it is shorter than traditional tower cases – which is great to save space on your desktop – and how the external bays are located on the side of the case. You can choose using your external drives (optical drives and floppy disk drive) on either side of the case, as the case provides openings for the installation of external drives on both sides. This solution looks good if you leave your case on your desktop or even on the floor, but if you have a piece of furniture with a place for installing a tower PC this case won’t work.
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Figure 1: Lian Li Tyr PC-X500 case.
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Figure 2: Lian Li Tyr PC-X500 case.
As you can see on Figure 3 there is nothing on the front panel (activity LEDs can be found on the upper right corner) and it can be removed for you to have access to the available washable dust filter, see Figure 4.
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Figure 3: Front panel.
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Figure 4: Case with its front panel removed. See the washable dust filter.
Introduction (Cont’d)
On Figure 5 you see the case without its washable dust filter, where you can see the two front 120-mm fans. The red arrow is pointing the small fan speed controller that this case has. This circuit can control the speed of all four fans of the case (you have to manually install the fans you want to control to this circuit). Only three speed options are available, low, medium and high, and the circuit controls the speed of all fans at the same time (no individual control).
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Figure 5: Front part of the case with the washable dust filter removed.
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Figure 6: Washable dust filter removed from the case.
On the top panel you can find a panel containing one eSATA port, four USB ports, one Firewire (IEEE1394) port, mic in and headphones jacks, plus the power and reset switches. The presence of an eSATA port is perfect.
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Figure 7: Connectors and switches available on the top panel.
Finally we have the rear panel on Figure 8. Here the design is different from traditional cases. The power supply is located in the middle of the case, and not on the top. You can also see the presence of two rear 120-mm fans and four holes to be used by water cooling systems. These holes use a rubber cover, so you won’t need to break your case to pass hoses. Tyr PC-X500 has seven expansion slots, just like 99% of the cases on the market. See also how the side panels and the power supply are fastened to the case using thumbscrews.
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Figure 8: Rear panel.
Let’s see how Tyr PC-X500 looks like inside.
Inside Tyr PC-X500
Opening Tyr PC-X500 is very easy, all you have to do is unscrew the thumbscrew and pull the mechanism where the screw is attached to. The thumbscrews remain attached to these mechanisms, so there is no chance of losing the screws. Even though you can remove both panels the motherboard tray is permanently attached to the chassis. Both side panels have a thin foam sheet attached in order to absorb noise.
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Figure 9: Side panels have a thin foam sheet attached.
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Figure 10: Inside Tyr PC-X500.
As you know, this case uses a unique design. Internally the case is divided in three separated compartments, which improves airflow and thus one should expect a computer built using this case to run cooler than PCs based on traditional cases.
On the lower section we have the motherboard compartment. This compartment is cooled by three 120-mm fans, two on the front and one on the rear. All fans used on this case use a three-pin connector for motherboards, so you can install them on your motherboard to monitor their speed thru your favorite monitoring program (if you want them to rotate at their full speed all the time) or to the small speed controller available. The fans come with adaptors installed for you to connect them to the traditional peripheral power connectors from the power supply.
Then we have the power supply compartment (see how the power supply is attached to the case using thumbscrews that remain attached to the case on Figure 11), where you can also find one of the two hard disk drive cages – each cage can hold up to two hard disk drives – and the external 3 ½” bay. If you don’t have a floppy disk drive this bay can be used to hold a fifth hard disk drive.
And the third compartment is located on the top of the case and is cooled by a fourth 120-mm fan. On this compartment we have the second hard disk drive cage and the two 5 ¼” bays.
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Figure 11: Detail of the top two compartments.
On Figure 12 you can see the rear side of the motherboard compartment with its rear 120-mm fan. This case doesn’t use a screwless mechanism to fasten daughter boards to the case, but on the other hand it provides thumbscrews, allowing fastening cards without the need of using tools anyway. In fact we personally prefer this approach, as we’ve seen countless times these screwless mechanisms breaking because they are usually manufactured using cheap plastic.
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Figure 12: Rear 120-mm fan and thumbscrews for fastening daughter boards.
On Figure 13 you can have a better look on the two front 120-mm fans.
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Figure 13: Front 120-mm fans.
The Disk Drive Bays
This case has two external 5 ¼” bays, one external 3 ½” bay and four internal 3 ½” bays for hard disk drives inside two cages. If you won’t be using a floppy disk drive you can use the external 3 ½” bay as an internal bay for a fifth hard disk drive.
As you know this case uses a different design where the external bays are located sideways, what allowed this case to be shorter than traditional tower cases. You can chose which side of the case you want the front of the external drives to be located, as the case provides openings on both sides. For installing external drives you need to unscrew and remove the covers located on the side you want their front sides to be located.
The hard disk drive cages are fastened to the case thru thumbscrews. They need to be removed from the case for the installation of hard disk drives. The case does not provide any kind of screwless mechanism for the installation of the optical or hard disk drives. Hard drives, however, are installed using thumbscrews that come with the case. This case also uses rubber rings in order to absorb the natural vibration of the hard disk drives and prevent the noise produced by this vibration from propagating to the chassis.
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Figure 14: Hard disk drive cages.
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Figure 15: Thumbscrews for the hard disk drives.
On Figure 16 you can see all accessories that come with the reviewed case. As you can see, it comes with two Serial ATA cables, a feature not common to be seen on cases.
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Figure 16: Case accessories.
Main Features
Tyr PC-X500 case main specs include:
- Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one.
- Material: Aluminum.
- Power supply: Doesn’t come with the product.
- Available colors: Black.
- Side panel: Solid (openings for optical and floppy disk drives).
- Dimensions: 23” x 9” x 15” (58.5 cm x 23 cm x 38 cm) (H x W x D).
- Net Weight: N/A
- Gross Weight: N/A
- Bays: Two external 5 ¼” bays, one external 3 ½” bay and four internal 3 ½” bays inside two hard disk drive cages.
- Expansion slots: Seven.
- Fans: Two 120-mm fans on the front and two 120-mm fans on the rear.
- Extra features: Fan speed controller with three speeds, minimum (1,020 rpm), medium (1,200 rpm) and high (1,500 rpm), controlling all fans at the same time.
- More Information: http://lian-li.com
- Average price in the US: We reviewed this case before it was available on the market. It’s suggested price for the US market is of USD 390.
Conclusions
Lian Li Tyr PC-X500 is an all-aluminum case targeted to the average user that demands a high-quality case. Here is a summary of what we found about this case.
Strong Points
- Excellent material and construction quality (everything is made of aluminum, no steel or hybrid parts). No sharp edges where you could cut yourself while building your PC.
- Four 120-mm fans.
- Foam on the side panels to reduce noise.
- Anti-vibration mechanisms for the hard disk drives.
- Shorter than traditional tower cases, taking less space on your desktop.
- Fan speed controller with three speeds.
Weak Points
- Holds only up to four (or five, if a floppy disk drive isn’t used) hard disk drives, so high-end users will probably want to look for a different product.
- No screwless mechanisms for holding daughter boards, optical drives or hard disk drives.
- Different design isn’t suitable for all users (for example, if you have a piece of furniture designed to hold a traditional tower case inside, blocking the side panels).
- The fan speed controller controls all fans at the same time, i.e. it doesn't individually control the speed of each fan. This may be a weak point for very high-end users.
- MRSP of USD 390.
In summary, this is an excellent case if you want a top-notch all-aluminum case that is shorter than traditional cases to save space on your desktop. High-end users, however, may need more bays. With a suggested retail price of USD 390 in the US, we can’t recommend a case that expensive, even though it has an outstanding quality. According to Lian Li this case should reach the market by the end of July.
Originally at http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/582
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