Lian Li unveils steel-based case series for system builders on a budget

Casemaker Lian Li has introduced an upcoming line of steel-based mid tower cases aimed at system builders on a budget seeking value. It’s called the Ebonsteel series. Although they branch away from the company’s typical aluminum-based focus, they still offer Lian Li trademarks including vibration-dampened PSU mounts, drive cages, removable mesh filters on fan mounts, and so on. There are three in all — the PC-K5, PC-K6, and PC-K6S.

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At the time of this article, the product pages were password-protected, as the cases won’t be made available until sometime during the middle of June. But Lian Li said on Tuesday that the PC-K5 will support ATX or mATX motherboards and provide two hard-drive cages that store up to a maximum of four 3.5-inch drives or four 2.5-inch drives. There will also be seven expansion slots and enough space to install cards up to 250mm in length with the drive cages intact, or up to 400mm with the drive cages removed.

As for other features, the upcoming PC-K5 will include two 5.25-inch bays, one USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, and HD audio inputs on the top panel. It will also support 250mm ATX power supplies and CPU coolers measuring up to 160mm. As for the overall cooling, the case will have two 120mm intake fans mounted on the front and a single 120mm fan mounted on the back. System builders will even be able to add two additional 120mm fans, but if water cooling is your thing, then a radiator measuring 120mm x 240mm x 60mm can be installed on the top fan mount.

Next up is the PC-K6, a case supporting ATX or mATX motherboards and up to seven 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch hard drives. The company said it borrows from its J-series line of cases that cover the drives and power supply with steel panels so that the motherboard and expansion cards are the focus of attention. That said, system builders will be able to install expansion cards that are up to 310mm long, power supplies that are up to 310mm long, and CPU coolers measuring up to 170mm in height.

On the cooling front, this case will include two 120mm intake fans on the front and a 120mm exhaust fan on the back. However, system builders will be able to rip these out and install 140mm fans instead, and mount 120mm or 140mm fans on the top panel. Builders will even be able to install radiators measuring 120mm x 240mm x 60mm or 140mm x 280mm x 60mm. Other features will include two 5.25-inch drive bays, two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, and HD audio inputs on the front panel.

Finally, we have the PC-K6S case that’s nearly identical to the PC-K6, but features a silent cooling setup. According to Lian Li, this case will be capable of isolating the fan noise inside the case by using dampening foam inserts in the panels. The front panel will also swing open to allow system builders to gain quick access to the 5.25-inch drive bays and 120mm fans. There will even be an additional USB 2.0 port joining the other ports mounted on the front, all of which will be covered by a sliding metal door.

The PC-K5 will be launched in the middle of June as the all-black PC-K5X for $56 and the widowed PC-K5WX for $60. The other two — the all-black PC-K6X for $93 and the all-black silent PC-K6SX for $109 — won’t hit the market until the end of June. That said, keep checking back with Lian Li to get the full specifications and images when they finally go live before the official launch.