Served and watered: Lian Li DK-04X Gaming-Table in practice test

1 - Geburt, Lieferung und technische Daten 2 - Verwendete Komponenten und Zusammenbau 3 - Inbetriebnahme und Tests 4 - Impressionen, Zusammenfassung und Fazit

Aluminium processing to perfection? With the DK-04, Lian Li is now entering the second generation at the computer tables and soon also in the third generation. At DK-04X, Lian Li not only absorbed the reviews and suggestions, but also implemented many things that the end customer may not even have thought of. This also includes stepless height adjustment with multiple storage spaces for individual adjustment. Then the table for seat giants (and dwarfs) becomes a standing desk. A simple push of a button is enough. But always beautiful in turn…

The birth of a table

It was not our first visit to the production of Lian Li, but this time a very special one. In the run-up to Computex 2016, we were able to be present at the production of our own table and watch how such a huge part actually emerges. In contrast to the DK-02X, which was tested some time ago, the table is already pre-assembled in the factory for good reason, because the design has changed significantly.

Lian Li administration building in Keelung. Production is on the right.

Some things, such as the mechanics for height adjustment, the circuit boards and cables, are already delivered ready by third-party manufacturers anyway and many manufacturing processes are also similar to those we used to do in our factory tour as a photo story. have shown in detail. Nevertheless, we wanted to be there when the most important parts of the table were cut out. Among other things, a water-cooled laser is used for this purpose, which enables very precise work.

In addition to the large, programmable Amada EMK 3510NT, which can replace countless cutting and machining tools fully automatically in the turret head, manual cold deformation of the individual parts is also required, which is carried out on corresponding presses (and punching).

Depending on the colour choice, the parts are thoroughly cleaned and surface treated again after processing. They are then assembled, provided with the electrical interior and packed ready for travel.

Wow effect for muscle men

Delivery free curb? The approx. 58 kilos (including cardboard) want to be moved carefully (and with a lot of muscle use) to where they should finally get their place. The problem is more the amount of the somewhat unwieldy packaging than the net weight of the table, which, with its approx. 53 kilos a rather slender wife may well outweigh, but is much harder to lift over the threshold.

Sales problems? The road can be quite rocky…

Sackcart and trust in God, double wing doors and wet shunting aids ultimately helped us to get the table exactly where we wanted it to be. And completely undamaged. The thick cardboard was almost unbeatable as a toy house for the children and also robust enough to survive for more than a week. packaging benchmark passed with flying colours.

Of course, it would be silly to put something in the table now, just so that there is something in it. A water cooling system for a potent SLI team consisting of two GeForce GTX 1080 sands and an Intel Core i7 6950X overclocked at 4.3 GHz had to be.

But, we wouldn't be us if we had just taken water blocks, hoses and a pump with compensating tanks and enough fittings. We didn't want to make it that easy, but to combine the whole thing with an interesting experiment. But more on this on the next page.

Technical data and special features

Before we come to the actual conversion and installation on the next page, we want to introduce the test object again briefly objectively and without emotion. There has to be so much time. The all-round views show a rather slender-looking table, which looks much more delicate and yet more grown-up compared to its predecessor. Apart from the proportions and the increased ergonomics, it is also the shape and stability of the height-adjustable feet that should make the table much more interesting for people of different sizes.

The dimensions are still quite neat, because with 120 cm width, a depth of a whopping 75 cm and a variable height of 67.5 to 116 cm, it is certainly not a small table. The glass plate made of tempered glass weighs its part on top, but is still easier to remove than the previous model. The technical data can then be read in dust-dry table form as:

Impressions and other pictures

The height adjustment can inspire, but in precision it interferes somewhat with its follow-up for a gentle stop. So you will have to take your finger off the button in time before you have reached the desired height. The installed power supply must be disconnected from the mains manually if the approx. 0.5 watts in standby are too much, because there is no real switch-off.

Power supply for the two motor drives of the height adjustment

A total of 4 memory slots are available for the re-selection of the stored height. A digital display with decimal point also shows the height just set in centimeters.

You will also be have to be careful with the cables that can be easily led out on the back so that they do not get so short, so that they could tear off unintentionally when adjusting the height. The ex-factory fan is best replaced by own, quieter pustefixes. This spares ears and nerves alike, but not the purse.

The removable mounting plate of the DK-04 replaces the extendable box of the older DK-02X – and that's a good thing. No more tilting, and it's more convenient to handle. After all, all cables can be hidden quite elegantly under this frame.

The 45° inclined mounting plane for the large radiator is not a revelation thermodynamically, but at least a good compromise that also works in this form. We have removed all the hard drive holders because we only want to install SSDs and need the space for our compensation container.

On the front side, in addition to the usual jacks (4x USB 3.0, HD audio) and buttons (on/off, reset), we also find a controller for red, green and blue to generate the desired signal for the connectable LED stripes.

There is (for the time being) nothing more to discover. The supplied accessories are plentiful and if the screws are not enough, dozens have certainly been dropped somewhere beforehand and simply not found again.