Because desktop PCs take up less of the important type of space when they aren't actually atop desks, they've found homes on the floor near feet. Now Taiwanese PC accessory manufacturer Lian-Li is taking the migration of the desktop PC a step further, but pushing it away from where feet step and stuffing them inside desk themselves.
It's not the first generation of Lian-Li's stuffed standing desk design, but the upcoming DK-04 takes all the lessons the company learned from previous builds and incorporates that into a desktop case that's more ergonomic than its predecessors and afford more effective ventilation.
Last seen in prototype form at CES 2016, the $1500 DK-04 has had its edges smoothed and its build streamlined. On the side of comfort and usability, the DK-04's front tappers off to better accommodate users' knees.
The desk can move between preset positions — lowering to the height of a sitting desk and rising up to function as a sitting one. If any of the four presets are a touch to high or low, users can use a pair of arrow buttons to fine tune the height of the desk.
The airflow of the desk desktop case has been shifted so that air travels front to back, rather than side by side as has been the case with previous cases. That allows for air to circulate within the desk without large components, use as the graphics processing card, being as big of a hindrance to ventilation as they have been with other models.
Lian-Li also adopted magnetic air screens. So when the screens get dusty, users can simply peel them off for cleaning and then slap them back over the larger grates covering air portals on the case.
Inside of the case, under a single sheet of tempered glass, is space for VGA cards up to 320 mm long, CPU coolers up to 140 mm in height and power supply units up to 210 mm in length.
There's space for both ATX and micro ATX motherboards on the case's motherboard tray, and up to eight hard drives, 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch, in bays that have been reinforced with rubber dampeners to minimize vibration.
