Lian Li Releases PC-011 Dynamic Mid-Tower Chassis

Lian Li released a new addition to its PC-011 series, the Dynamic. Like others in the series, the Dynamic is a mid-tower chassis with glass front and side panels. However, it's not just another edition of the existing PC-011; there’s more new here than the name might imply.

The original Lian Li PC-011 has graced our review table before. That case was very much classic Lian Li: glass and aluminum throughout, reserved styling, and quality that befits its high price. Lian Li followed on the release of that case with a special Asus ROG edition. The new PC-011 Dynamic is not merely a decorated version of the PC-011, though. It’s actually an all-new chassis that significantly departs from some of Lian Li’s classic pillars.

For starters, the Dynamic isn’t fully aluminum. Its frame is actually coated steel; only the outer panels are aluminum. This doesn’t affect the outer appearance, which is still very much in line with Lian Li style, but in the past, Lian Li used steel only in its lower-cost Alpha series of chassis.

Lian Li has also adopted a new side panel mounting mechanism. The panels now sit in grooves in the chassis, and you detach them by pulling them upwards. This method avoids visible screws on the surface of the panels. Also, like the original PC-011, all panels, including the top and front panels, are removable, so you get full access to the chassis from every direction.

Internally, the Dynamic maintains the principles of the original PC-011’s design. The motherboard and its attached components sit in the left side of the chassis, and the PSU, SSDs, hard drives, and cabling fit in the right side. You can swap the locations of the PSU and hard drives. The cage that holds two 3.5” drives can be located at either of two PSU mounting positions. You can also entirely forgo it for a second PSU. Up to four SSDs can be mounted on a vertically held plate.

On the cooling front, it’s refreshing to see that Lian Li has avoided the glass-on-fans motif, which is both overused and chokes the frontal fans’ intake. Instead, Lian Li collaborated with famed German overclocker Der8auer to unlock the full water-cooling potential of the PC-011’s design. Up to three 360mm radiators can be installed: one each on the top, bottom, and side of the chassis. The fans at each position intake air through vented and dust filtered panels. The lack of frontal fans also means that the full length of the case is available for graphics cards, which equates to 420mm.

The PC-011 Dynamic is like a streamlined version of the original PC-011, both in design and price. Overall, the Dynamic is smaller and significantly cheaper. It’s available now on Newegg for $100.