Should I Buy The Lian Li O11d or The Lian DO11 Mini

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  jackinyourbox on 07/01/2021 - 08:59

  Mini

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  toomuchdogfur on 07/01/2021 - 09:33

  I voted for the O11D Mini, on the basis that you are using air cooling until you get your custom watercooling setup up. Don't use any AIOs - the pipes are almost always going to be too long so you'll end up with unsightly coils everywhere.

  The limited space will be more challenging and you'll have to choose your component sizes carefully (you'll likely want a smaller reservoir, don't go too thick on the radiators, etc) but it's ultimately more satisfying to fit a powerhouse in a smaller space. The movable mobo tray though should help you a lot with clearance issues (i.e. if you want two big rads top & bottom, moving your ITX board to the center position should help).

  This advice is coming from a SFF enthusiast - I previously hacked a 280mm AIO into a Coolermaster Q500L with a micro-ATX board and currently have a dual 280mm custom loop in a Corsair 280X. Both of these cases are notably smaller than the O11D Mini and were less flexible, so I'm pretty sure you'll be good with the O11D Mini.

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    Brotality on 07/01/2021 - 09:46

    Solid advice and provides great contrast against my pedestrian and pragmatic approach of just stuffing things in a case with no regards to looks or build satisfaction. 😁

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  Brotality on 07/01/2021 - 09:40

  +1

  If you were starting from scratch, the 011D (ATX) makes more a bit more sense as you will save a bit overall on ATX vs ITX motherboard and ATX vs SFF PSU. At least now, the full size case will give you more PSU options which will offset the price difference.

  I think the 2 factors you have to consider are
  * How precious is your desk space (or where you are going to put it)
  * Do you intend to build another system down the line in the same case in couple of years, where you might decide to go with an ATX Motherboard.

  I tend to get a "flagship" case that will have my main system and then older hardware sits in random cases or open air test bench style. Personally I think the ATX is the way to go, but definitely do what you think works best for you.

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    Haydos90 on 07/01/2021 - 14:17

    It's worth noting that the Mini isn't strictly an ITX case, it can accommodate a full sized ATX motherboard (it's 43L in volume, 'true' SFF cases are usually less than 20L). The only component size restriction is the PSU, has to be either SFX or SFX-L, but there's plenty of very high quality SFX PSUs available.

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  Wilson Wallace on 07/01/2021 - 21:14

  Thank you all for your comments and feedback - I feel the safe way to go down is the standard dynamic, and will work from there.