Lian Li’s latest PC-M25 mATX case can store more hard drives than you will ever need
The new Lian Li PC-M25 mATX case can hold up to seven 3.5-inch hard drives. That's probably more than most people will ever need, and there's space for full-sized ATX power supplies and graphics cards as well.
The case is constructed entirely of aluminum in typical Lian Li fashion. (Image Source: Lian Li)
Lian Li’s new PC-M25 mATX case is fashioned in typical Lian Li style, with an all-aluminum construction and minimalist design that will blend in easily in most homes. But while it’s not much to look at, it stands out because of its support for up to seven 3.5-inch hard drives – impressive for a case of its stature.
A drive-mounting tray at the bottom can hold either three 2.5-inch drives or two 3.5-inch drives. In addition, a drive cage at the front of the cage has space for five 3.5-inch drives. These drives slide in on drive rails and will be hot-swappable, thanks to a built-in PCB with data and power headers already in place. So after removing the right side panel, you should have no trouble swapping out any of these five drives.
Here you can see the molex and SATA headers on the built-in PCB, and also the cutouts on the rear for the motherboard I/O panel and PSU. (Image Source: Lian Li)
There’s also room for other high-end hardware to complement your huge storage capacities. The case can house graphics cards up to 410mm long and ATX PSUs up to 230mm in length. That pretty much covers all your bases, but because the power supply is intended to be mounted on its side at the top of the case, cable management will probably not be the case’s strong suit. Nevertheless, that’s not too much of a concern because this is a non-windowed case anyway.
The power supply is mounted toward the top of the case and in front of the motherboard. (Image Source: Lian-Li)
Another thing to take note off is the CPU cooler height clearance, as the case only has space for tower coolers up to 80mm tall. The CPU cooler and motherboard will also be located directly behind the top-mounted PSU, so it remains to be seen what effect this will have on cooling.
The PC-M25 ships with a 140mm intake fan that pushes air directly over the front hard drive cage and a single 120mm exhaust fan at the top. It doesn’t look like there’s any easy way to install water-cooling radiators though, so you’ll probably have to stick with the stock fan configuration.
The case is expected to be available in the US by the middle of February in either silver or anodized black. It will cost US$169.
Source: Lian Li via Tom’s Hardware
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