Computing on Demand PC News & Reviews
The PC-Q28 takes a different approach to the layout of their chassis in almost every when compared to the Fractal Node 304. While the motherboard installs flat on the bottom of the Node 304, the PC-Q28 takes a more traditional approach and the motherboard is installed vertically. The two horizontal support rails act as motherboard tray. When installed, your motherboard is visible and accessible from either side allowing quick and easy access.
When it comes to storage, there are plenty of options for internal hard drives. On the bottom of the chassis rests a platform that can accommodate 2 hard drives, in either 2.5″ or 3.5″ sizes. The platform is held in place by thumbscrews and can be removed if you chose not to employ it.
Just above the hard drive platform and just below the 5.25″ drive bay is a hard drive cage similar to that found in other Lian Li cases. The cage is completely removable, utilizes rubber grommets to reduce noise, and can hold up to five hard drives (four 3.5″ and one 2.5″). Hard drives can be installed facing left or right with plenty of room for connectivity either way. To keep you HDDs from heating up, the cage is mounted directly behind the front intake fan.
When you start putting everything together, the small case puts on a Vegas quality magic show. You would expect that things get very cramped, but there is room to work and cable clutter is easy to manage. There is adequate room for clean wire management; however, I do wish that Lian Li would have included some accessories like the SATA power cable SilverStone provides to make powering a large number hard drives a bit easier.
Installation of our CODNAS hardware was quick and painless. The room provided by the case means that running cables from our SAS controller isn’t as difficult as it was in the Node 304. When compared to the alternating hard drive installation in the Node 304, the PC-Q28 makes things straight forward. The bottom mounted hard drives are close enough to use a single power connector from my PSU and using the hard drive rack, I can connect power and data without fumbling about. Placement of the PSU allows you to tuck wires in to keep them out-of-the-way.
