The Lian Li Aquarium PC Case from 2003
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Date: 2022-04-14
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Comments and reviews: 10
Matt
This is so cool, I had almost the same case but without the fish tank think and no -V- shape on the front. I can't remember if it had a window on the side or not, I think it did not. I had a Pentium 4 - 3. 0 Ghz in it that I had water cooled with dual 80mm radiators (one in the front and one hanging off the back) using a single radiator on the back and one of those Cooler Master dual drive bay pump/resevior/radiator combo units (which I still have and want to set up again. Unfortunately I no longer have the case or any of the actual PC hardware anymore. That CPU was running at over 4 Ghz and was nearly as fast as my main rig at the time, a Core 2 Duo E6400! I took that machine to a LAN party we held overnight at work one weekend and I set it up on my desk in my office, and my god the amount of heat that P4 put out was insane! I never noticed at home since it was in a larger room, but even with the office door open it was easily about 10 degrees warmer in there from that PC. It also ended up overheating that night after a few hours of playing and I had to turn the overclock down and wait for the water to cool off a bit, there just wasn't enough cooling between those 2 radiators to keep up. Kinda sad I sold that case, it was a really nice example of mid 2000s tech!
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This is so cool, I had almost the same case but without the fish tank think and no -V- shape on the front. I can't remember if it had a window on the side or not, I think it did not. I had a Pentium 4 - 3. 0 Ghz in it that I had water cooled with dual 80mm radiators (one in the front and one hanging off the back) using a single radiator on the back and one of those Cooler Master dual drive bay pump/resevior/radiator combo units (which I still have and want to set up again. Unfortunately I no longer have the case or any of the actual PC hardware anymore. That CPU was running at over 4 Ghz and was nearly as fast as my main rig at the time, a Core 2 Duo E6400! I took that machine to a LAN party we held overnight at work one weekend and I set it up on my desk in my office, and my god the amount of heat that P4 put out was insane! I never noticed at home since it was in a larger room, but even with the office door open it was easily about 10 degrees warmer in there from that PC. It also ended up overheating that night after a few hours of playing and I had to turn the overclock down and wait for the water to cool off a bit, there just wasn't enough cooling between those 2 radiators to keep up. Kinda sad I sold that case, it was a really nice example of mid 2000s tech!
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LordJazzly
'Put literally anything inside this case'
Hmm. Well, it puts me in mind of those funky little cheapo shops that you'd used to come across in the less flash parts of town that sold imported electronics and novelty items that you'd never seen or heard of before or since. so, um, I don't know. Dual-board hybrid system running a bootleg install of windows 98 on the main system, and something totally ridiculous like a zx spectrum compatible that only runs office productivity software in Czech for the secondary. And there's a specialist adaptor card wired right into the main board so that switching between the two is accomplished entirely in software, with no buttons or switches needing to be pressed on the case itself.
I have no idea if anything like that actually exists, but it's what the case makes me think of. That - or windows XP home edition with nothing but virtual pets, font packs, greeting card studios, a novelty calendar that loads on startup, and a copy of _The Sims_ with like half the expansion packs. Livin' large, unleashed. hot date and/or makin' magic.
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'Put literally anything inside this case'
Hmm. Well, it puts me in mind of those funky little cheapo shops that you'd used to come across in the less flash parts of town that sold imported electronics and novelty items that you'd never seen or heard of before or since. so, um, I don't know. Dual-board hybrid system running a bootleg install of windows 98 on the main system, and something totally ridiculous like a zx spectrum compatible that only runs office productivity software in Czech for the secondary. And there's a specialist adaptor card wired right into the main board so that switching between the two is accomplished entirely in software, with no buttons or switches needing to be pressed on the case itself.
I have no idea if anything like that actually exists, but it's what the case makes me think of. That - or windows XP home edition with nothing but virtual pets, font packs, greeting card studios, a novelty calendar that loads on startup, and a copy of _The Sims_ with like half the expansion packs. Livin' large, unleashed. hot date and/or makin' magic.
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Auction
Whoa, my ex has one of those! In about 2007 ish a local computer shop randomly listed a brand new one on their website in the -scratch and dent section-, it was dirt cheap and looked cool so I ordered it. One corner of the cardboard box was crunched, the case was fine though, I guess they just forgot about it in the back of the warehouse. I put a new system for the time in it, and she used it up until a few years ago. I don't remember the pump being that loud new, it eventually died on hers. It would still run but it didn't make any bubbles anymore. You were supposed to fill the tank with distilled water so you wouldn't get those lines on the side, I remember the instructions said that, so we had to go buy distilled water. I spoke to her a few weeks ago and asked if she still had the fish case, she said she had just put it back in a box and put it in storage. Huh, now the tricky part is going to be seeing if I can get it back from her 15 years later haha.
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Whoa, my ex has one of those! In about 2007 ish a local computer shop randomly listed a brand new one on their website in the -scratch and dent section-, it was dirt cheap and looked cool so I ordered it. One corner of the cardboard box was crunched, the case was fine though, I guess they just forgot about it in the back of the warehouse. I put a new system for the time in it, and she used it up until a few years ago. I don't remember the pump being that loud new, it eventually died on hers. It would still run but it didn't make any bubbles anymore. You were supposed to fill the tank with distilled water so you wouldn't get those lines on the side, I remember the instructions said that, so we had to go buy distilled water. I spoke to her a few weeks ago and asked if she still had the fish case, she said she had just put it back in a box and put it in storage. Huh, now the tricky part is going to be seeing if I can get it back from her 15 years later haha.
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Tom
use it for ur main editing ripper PC, I already have 2 xp machines, well one in pieces, but I want to put togheter the case, since it is really cool and nostaltic) so personally, I would not restore it to XP, honestly I would be tempted to use it as my main PC; sure I recently got a second hand big modern cooler master case, but it is ugly, sure it is really nice to work with, even got 5. 25- bays, since I need them, and lots of space for modern cable managment, but the case is ugly. this fish tank, omg I imagine alot more work and annyoing case, altough Lian Li, so probably going to be the second best case I ever worked in, so yeah mayby not as practical as my cooler master, but OMG yeah I would use it as my main PC. You should put ur modern PC in it LGR)
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use it for ur main editing ripper PC, I already have 2 xp machines, well one in pieces, but I want to put togheter the case, since it is really cool and nostaltic) so personally, I would not restore it to XP, honestly I would be tempted to use it as my main PC; sure I recently got a second hand big modern cooler master case, but it is ugly, sure it is really nice to work with, even got 5. 25- bays, since I need them, and lots of space for modern cable managment, but the case is ugly. this fish tank, omg I imagine alot more work and annyoing case, altough Lian Li, so probably going to be the second best case I ever worked in, so yeah mayby not as practical as my cooler master, but OMG yeah I would use it as my main PC. You should put ur modern PC in it LGR)
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Zalphinian
They make air pumps these days that are super quiet and would work a hell of a lot better. Some are a more traditional style, but I worry those wouldn't fit in the case. What I'd recommend is actually a USB powered air pump. They sell them on Amazon for around $10. I use them in my aquariums all the time, but they're small enough I think you could easily fit them in that case. Not sure how you'd mount it though, as the one's I'm thinking of tend to hang from a carabiner.
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They make air pumps these days that are super quiet and would work a hell of a lot better. Some are a more traditional style, but I worry those wouldn't fit in the case. What I'd recommend is actually a USB powered air pump. They sell them on Amazon for around $10. I use them in my aquariums all the time, but they're small enough I think you could easily fit them in that case. Not sure how you'd mount it though, as the one's I'm thinking of tend to hang from a carabiner.
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Kristoph
As both an avid fish collector and pc user, I know there are many aquarium pumps on the market today that are very soft or even close to silent with little to no vibration. I have one on my 35 gal front bow aquarium and the only thing I hear is the filter putting water back into the tank. Its a step up from one 20 years ago. Might be an idea. I don't know.
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As both an avid fish collector and pc user, I know there are many aquarium pumps on the market today that are very soft or even close to silent with little to no vibration. I have one on my 35 gal front bow aquarium and the only thing I hear is the filter putting water back into the tank. Its a step up from one 20 years ago. Might be an idea. I don't know.
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your
I would stick to early-mid 2000s. Thats the only time I see something this whacky existing. There isnt much you can do inside the tank, as plants will get the fish stuck, maybe just better looking fish or multicolored rocks.
Otherwise I wouldnt change much in the hardware, just parts to get it working.
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I would stick to early-mid 2000s. Thats the only time I see something this whacky existing. There isnt much you can do inside the tank, as plants will get the fish stuck, maybe just better looking fish or multicolored rocks.
Otherwise I wouldnt change much in the hardware, just parts to get it working.
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Mr
Clint, if you choose to go modern instead of of the ERA I would suggest a micro PC build to give as much room for the fish tank to do it's thing with out worry of any room and it would still give that bigger depth effect. However knowing you I'd still love to see of that era style build too.
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Clint, if you choose to go modern instead of of the ERA I would suggest a micro PC build to give as much room for the fish tank to do it's thing with out worry of any room and it would still give that bigger depth effect. However knowing you I'd still love to see of that era style build too.
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Чебурашка
what's funny is the first time i saw this case was when I was looking at the sales pamphlet that was in a retro Lian LI case i bought. I love my PC-70, it has two more 5. 25in bays and another 3. 5in bay compared to the PC-60 and supports a EATX and two PSUs.
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what's funny is the first time i saw this case was when I was looking at the sales pamphlet that was in a retro Lian LI case i bought. I love my PC-70, it has two more 5. 25in bays and another 3. 5in bay compared to the PC-60 and supports a EATX and two PSUs.
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Nachoz
It's wild, never thought I'd be nostalgic for the late 90's and early to mid 2000's when I was living it. Didn't think times would evolve or change so fast I guess, I figured CRT TV's would still be a common household thing until I was an adult for sure lol
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It's wild, never thought I'd be nostalgic for the late 90's and early to mid 2000's when I was living it. Didn't think times would evolve or change so fast I guess, I figured CRT TV's would still be a common household thing until I was an adult for sure lol
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