Lian Li SUP01 Mid-Tower Chassis Review

TweakTown's Rating: 93%

The Bottom Line

Lian Li has experimented with a GPU upfront approach with the SUP01, which paid off with good CPU and GPU temperatures. The SUP01 accomplishes everything with a very compact and sleek design.

Pros

• Three pre-installed 120mm PWM fans
• Aggressive price point
• Supports reverse/BTF motherboards and 280/360mm radiators
• PCIe 4.0 riser cable included and front mounting for GPU
• Power/Reset buttons are cleverly implemented and triple chamber cooling system

Cons

• Maybe not be for everyone
• Unconventional design
• Removal of HDD cage required to plug in the display cable

Should you buy it?

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Buy at Newegg for $99.99 USD

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Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

Today, we're diving into the unique design of the SUP01 from Lian Li. At first glance, it may seem traditional, but a closer look reveals the distinct features that set it apart in the PC case industry. Priced at $149.99 for the MSRP, the SUP01 is a testament to Lian Li's innovative approach. We've received the black model for review, but the white variant is also available at the same price.

Let's explore the SUP01, set up a build, and then draw our conclusions.

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Packaging

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We'll start with the SUP01's outside cardboard packaging, which is pretty standard. It features an image of the SUP01 and the Lian Li branding.

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Lian Li has also listed the external dimensions of the SUP01, which measure 212x403x534mm. Since the design is unconventional, I can see why Lian Li decided to disclose this information.

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Removing the SUP01 from the cardboard packaging is two pieces of high-density closed cell white foam on the top and bottom. A clear plastic bag also keeps debris from getting on the SUP01. Hitching a ride up front are some accessories we will discuss later in the review.

Outside the Lian Li SUP01 ATX Case

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With all the packaging materials removed, the compact case design of the SUP01 is revealed. The tempered glass side panel, held in place with POGO pins, seamlessly integrates with the tastefully designed ARGB LED strip. The side I/O, which includes two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a single USB Type-C port, a combo microphone/headphone 3.5mm 4 pole jack, and two buttons for light control, is a clever implementation by Lian Li.

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Moving around to the front of the SUP01 is the front mesh air intake, complete with a magnetic dust filter. The middle continues the RGB LED found on the tempered glass side. On the bottom is the Lian Li branding; however, a second purpose is for the Power and Reset buttons. That's pretty clever, Lian Li.

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Again, the toolless tempered glass side panel has an edge-to-edge design that fits snugly.

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The rear of the SUP01 is non-traditional, with seven half-height PCIe slot brackets, not to mention no space for the traditional exhaust fan. Lian Li includes a bracket allowing a 120mm fan to be mounted in the rear; more later. A circular mesh pattern is present, which should allow air to escape easily. The left-hand side has several velcro strap points to help mitigate the input cables and the GPU cable is passed through the small rubber grommet near the removable PSU bracket, which is held in place with two captive thumbscrews.

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The rear side panel, completely meshed out with a circular pattern, is designed to serve as both an exhaust and an intake - a truly innovative concept. This panel, like the rest of the case, is held in place with the POGO pin system, ensuring a secure fit throughout the chassis.

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Again, the top section has the same mesh pattern found in the front and rear side panels and is held into place with POGO pins.

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The underside of the SUP01 has four large rubber-damped feet, which keep a sturdy stance once placed on a solid surface. A slide-out PSU dust filter can also be accessed via the rear.

Inside the Lian Li SUP01 ATX Case

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Stripping off the tempered glass and mesh side panels shows the bones of the SUP01. Inside, quite obvious, is the included PCIe 4.0 riser ribbon cable. Traditionally, the GPU would be mounted in the first few PCIe slots. However, Lian Lin has designed the SUP01 to mount the GPU in the front of the chassis, allowing for the freshest air to be at its disposal. Coincidentally, there are no places to mount any fans, at least in this chamber. At the bottom of the SUP01, Lian Li has chosen to include a mirror mounted on the PSU shroud. Alternatively, the mirror can be removed to install two 2.5" SSD/HDDs on the top PSU shroud.

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The included PCIe 4.0 riser cable is 510mm long, reaching all the way to the front of the case while being routed in the rear. Not only is the PCIe 4.0 riser cable long, but it also has ARGB-yeah, go figure. The SUP01 also has rubber cable grommets throughout and is BTF/reverse motherboard compatible.

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The SUP01 allows for up to a four-slot GPU to be installed in the front GPU mounting location. Installing a GPU in the front lets the GPU pull in fresh air first, then the CPU AIO can pull in air in the rear intake, leaving exhaust air to be exhausted via every little nook and cranny.

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Up top is where things get more interesting. Having a top panel that is removable via five screws, in my opinion, is a few too many and allows access to the bay where the AIO's radiator and fans are installed.

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With the rear side panel removed, a full view of the AIO bay and the three included 120mm PWM fans, model number GF.12Q1K8.000B0, run at 300 to 1800 RPM on 12V with .15A each. These three 120mm fans are set as exhaust, pulling out hot GPU and CPU AIO air in a clever design. Next to the installed 120mm fans is where a 280mm or 360mm radiator can be mounted, taking air from the mesh side panel. The bottom PSU basement compartment shows an HDD cage supporting up to four 2.5" SSD/HDDs or two 3.5" HDDs. Support up to 220mm PSU length with the HDD cage installed.

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When I received the SUP01, I heard some rattling around in the case and found out it was a few broken POGO retention pieces. However, I could not find a single spot where they would have fallen out, so my best guess is that the technician who built/packaged this particular SUP01 replaced the broken ones.

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Lastly, the accessory box is included before we install a system into the SUP01. Inside, we have a 120mm fan mount used to intake air from the rear of the case, specifically over the half-height PCIe slots. Also included is the manual and the standard Lian Li tackle box of screws which also includes additional POGO retainers, zip ties, and rubber HDD dampeners.

Test System, Installation, and Finished Product

• Motherboard: Z690 AORUS Pro (Intel Z690) - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: Intel Core i5 12600K - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Cooler Master PL360 Flux - Buy from Amazon
• Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR5-7200 32GB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity OC - Buy from Amazon
• Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO XT Gen4 PCIe x4 NVMe M.2 SSD - Buy from Amazon
• Case: Lian Li SUP01
• Power Supply: Enermax PlatiGemini 1200w 80 PLUS Platinum ATX 3.1 and 12VO PSU - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit Build 22621 - Buy from Amazon
• Software: AIDA64 Engineer v7.35.7000, CPU-z 2.10.0 x64. GPU-Z 2.57.0, and HWiNFO64 v8.07-5515

Final Thoughts

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Building inside the SUP01 from Lian Li was an enjoyable experience. I did, however, have to swap out the CPU AIO liquid cooler, mainly due to software issues, but with that aside, the SUP01 is starting to grow on me. The only real issue again was with the POGO pin clips, for which I had to use all the replacements provided in the accessory box. Before getting a real hands-on with the SUP01, I was skeptical that the GPU would need more airflow to run optimally. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the good temperatures and great performance. Looking more at the aesthetic side of the SUP01, Lian Li certainly does not disappoint.

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The rear of the SUP01, which is, in fact, both the intake and the exhaust, shows off this clever design of the three 120mm fans exhausting hot GPU air and hot CPU AIO air.

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Testing the Lian Li SUP01 Mid-Tower case, I used an Intel Core i5 12600K on the Z690 AORUS Pro motherboard. For the memory, two DDR5 sticks of Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB ran at DDR5-7200M/T. The test GPU was the ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity OC, which was run at its stock power limits and clocks via MSI's Afterburner GPU Overclocking and Monitoring utility. The three included 120mm fans were set at a massive advantage in the center camber residing in the rear. While the three Cooler master ARGB 120mm fans mounted on the CPU, the CM PL360 Flux AIO on the other side of the rear chamber helped exhaust hotter air.

Intel's Core i5 12600K CPU is a 10-core, 16-threaded CPU whose temps only rose to an average temperature of 56C while maintaining average boost clocks of over 4.2GHz with 1.212 vcore. In contrast, the ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity OC averaged only 70.4C while retaining an average frequency of over 1.8GHz boost clocks.

All testing was completed using Aida64 Engineer's System Stability Test version v7.35.7000 for over 30 min; the ambient temperature was 21C. Other monitoring software used was HWiNFO64 v8.07-5515, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.59.0, and CPU-Z 2.10.0.x64.

Finally, we come to my closing thoughts on the SUP01 from Lian Li, which are quite good. The only limitation that one may encounter is the limited support for AIO liquid coolers with regard to a custom water cooling loop, which might work as well. However, the radiator lengths and thickness still need to be improved. Coming in at around $150 is quite good coming from Lian Li, especially since that price includes a 510mm PCIe 4.0 riser cable with integrated ARGB support. Lian Li has successfully experimented with moving where the traditional GPU resides inside a PC case with interesting results, which I commend them for.