Lian Li PC-V355 review

The Lian Li PC-V355 is a sleek and attractive chassis that could easily be mistaken for a piece of top-end hi-fi equipment at first glance, especially because it sits on four round, silver-coloured feet. Indeed, its design makes it an obvious choice for the basis of a living room-based media PC, but the PC-V355 doesn’t limit you to building a glorified media streamer.

The Lian Li PC-V355 chassis is attractive and wouldn’t look out of place in your living room

It’s 470x350x336 (HxWxD) in size, and provides room for up to three internal 3.5in, one 2.5in drive and one external 5.25in drive. Your motherboard options are microATX and Mini-ITX, but there’s enough space for up to four full-size expansion cards and a standard ATX PSU.

Although it initially looks as if it’s hewn from a solid block of aluminium, the PC-V355 actually has two easily detached side panels that snap on and off without the use of screws. This makes it incredibly easy to get in to the PC-V355, but it also means there are many sharp edges. It also has a pull-out motherboard tray to ease the install and maintenance of your preferred board. The tray is held in place by four chunky thumbscrews, so you’ll have no problems withdrawing it. Similarly, the PSU must be attached to a mounting bracket which is then screwed onto the case.

Thanks to the removable motherboard tray, installing components is straightforward and can be done outside the case. There’s also 3-4in of space between the front panel and the motherboard tray, so you shouldn’t have a problem attaching power, SATA and front-panel cables to the motherboard. The internal drive bay might obscure some items, but you can always withdraw the motherboard tray slightly to access them.

The Lian Li PC-V355 has two quiet 120mm intake fans and a removable motherboard tray

Your single 5.25in drive can be installed on the left- or right-hand side of the PC-V355. Simply slide it into position and screw it in. Your 3.5in drives are installed in a hanging bay on the right-hand side of the case. Because of its depth, the PC-V355 can accommodate graphics cards up to 310mm in length, which means you can use some powerful GPUs.

As it’s aluminium, the PC-V355 is incredibly light, but it can also feel a little flimsy in places. The panels are thinner and flex much more than we’d like. It also occasionally emits a high-pitched squeak that’s sonically reminiscent of a short, sharp scratch on a school blackboard, which isn’t pleasant.

The PC-V355’s front panel has two USB3 ports and separate microphone and headphone ports. The higher transfer speeds of USB3 make the ports perfect for transferring media to and from your build. The USB3 ports are well spaced, too, so you shouldn’t have trouble inserting two large USB drives side by side.

To cool components, the PC-V355 has two 120mm preinstalled intake fans attached to the front panel. Handily, these are protected by metal grilles to minimise the risk of something getting caught in the fans and impeding rotation. One fan blows air over the 3.5in drives and the other blows air straight over the expansion cards. There’s no preinstalled exhaust fan, but there is a mount for an 80mm fan, although we would’ve preferred a mount for a larger, low-rpm fan.

Conveniently, the PC-V355 has a three-speed fan switch located just behind the front panel that can be accessed when you remove the right-hand side panel. We normally prefer fan switches to be mounted externally so that we can tweak them without opening them up, but it does mean you can’t change the setting accidentally, which could be handy if it’s kept in a living room full of clumsy or ‘tactile’ people. The fans were quiet, even on the fastest setting.

The PC-V355 accommodates microATX and Mini-ITX motherboards, and up to four expansion cards

The Lian Li PC-V355 is large for a media PC chassis, but its looks mitigate its size. It has room to expand, which means it’s wasted if used purely as a media centre and is best suited to those looking for a living room-based gaming and media PC. We like the PC-V355, but it does feel a bit flimsy and its easily detachable sides mean it isn’t best suited for households with small, curious children. If you’re looking for a stylish microATX chassis with enough room to accommodate powerful components, the PC-V355 is for you.