Lian Li PC-10N Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅05-11-13
Clearance – CPU Cooler, GPU, Cable Management, WC

CPU Cooler

Lian Li state there is total clearance of 155mm for CPU coolers but we can confirm there is slightly more than this. Our CPU cooler pictured below is Noctua’s NH-U12P which is 158mm in height, 10N can accommodate approximately 160mm.


Good clearance for high-end CPU coolers

Graphics Cards

Inside 10N there is the option to remove the upper HDD cage to assist with better graphics card compatibility but even with the cage installed there is adequate space for high-end graphics cards. Pictured below is XFX HD7970 DD which is 10.5” in length, there is approximately 11.5” of clearance before the card touches the HDD cage.


Plenty of space for graphics cards/center]

Cable Management

The cable management inside 10N is slightly different since the motherboard tray is quite unique. As such, we have to measure the rails that stretch behind the motherboard to reveal how much clearance there is between the side panel and the back of the motherboard. As you can see there is approximately 1cm for cables to fit - it can be a tight squeeze in this particular department, but we had no problem getting the side panel on with the arrangement we made.


Tight squeeze behind the motherboard tray

Water Cooling

Due to the lack of mounting holes for dual fan configurations, without the aid of the 240mm water cooling radiator bracket the 10N would not be able to sustain such a device.

We really like this feature Lian Li have implemented as it can be removed quite easily and it offers an alternative to mounting in the roof of the chassis.

Upon first using the mounting bracket we struggled to securely attach the Corsair H100 radiator to it for a push configuration. As you can see below, the mounting holes do not line up because of the ends of the radiator overlap – it simply doesn’t fit.


Radiator on its own cannot fit bracket

Instead, we had to install the fans first and then the radiator second. With the particular arrangement we can only have a push configuration (pushing onto the system) or a pull configuration (isn’t as effective).

We would therefore recommend mounting cooling fans on either side of the radiator for a push/pull configuration if you are wanting to make use of this bracket.


Radiator fits if cooling fans are attached first

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