Lian Li PC-V2120 Full Tower Case Review

Much like Ferrari and Lamborghini in the automotive world, Lian Li is considered by many to be the flagship computer chassis manufacturer. Although they have been in business since 1983, it wasn't until around 2000 that they began turning heads with their all-aluminum PC-60 series enclosures. This happened to be the first enthusiast case I ever reviewed, and at the time, it was light years ahead of anything else on the market.

A decade later, Lian Li is still making great cases but they aren't the only premium enclosure vendor on the block. With stiff competition from the likes of Silverstone, Corsair, NZXT and several others, does Lian Li still have what it takes to remain relevant in the ever-changing PC market?

Today we'll be looking at the Lian Li PC-V2120A, a luxury full tower chassis that supports most standard motherboard form factors and also EVGA's exotic HPTX format. In a nutshell, the PC-V2120 sports a tool-less aluminum design supporting up to ten 3.5-inch and two 2.5-inch HDDs, 11 expansion cards and five fans.

The PC-V2120 is available in three different color schemes: black with a silver interior, silver with a matching interior and black with a black interior. We were sent the all-silver version for evaluation which will set you back a handsome $399. The black aluminum models go for a larger premium at $429 for the black exterior, and $499 for the black on black chassis.

Lian Li ships the chassis with a detailed photo installation guide and more screws than you could ever use. Other extras include a small screw container, mounting bracket for SSI CEB/EEB motherboard, PCI card holders, a PCI bracket, a USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 converter, multiple rubber grommets for HDD installations, zip ties, a clamp for cable management and a 3.5" to 2.5" x 2 drive bay converter.

Lian Li PC-V2120 External Design

Where many cases try to impress with flashy design elements like windows and extreme angles, the PC-V2120 achieves the same effect with its simplicity, brushed aluminum panels and massive size.

The front door is made of textured aluminum and features a vertical column pattern with two tiny holes near the top right that let the power and HDD activity lights shine through. The lockable door opens to the left revealing a brushed aluminum front bezel with five 5.25" drive bays and a large vented area that hides two 140mm intake fans. A fan controller sits above the top drive bay while the power and reset buttons are below the bottom drive bay. The back of the door is lined with noise dampening acoustic foam.

A closer look at the door indicates that you can move the hinges to the other side and have the door open to the right. You can also completely remove the door if you grow tired of opening it every time you power on your PC. The brushed aluminum on the two side panels looks really classy. The inside of each panel is lined with the same noise dampening acoustic foam that we found on the inside of the front door.

The same brushed aluminum carries over to the top of the chassis. Here we find cutouts for three 120mm fans complete with matching brushed aluminum covers. This is the first time I've seen a manufacturer take this approach to fan expansion ports and I must say, it's one of my favorite features of the case.

Near the front of the case is a pop-up door with the Lian Li nameplate affixed to it. Under the door is an eSATA port, four USB 3.0 ports and mic / headphone jacks.

On the bottom of the chassis are two sets of metal caster wheels. These wheels are lined with black rubber grips and allow the case to roll forward and backwards only. The front wheel assembly features a manual brake that prevents the case from rolling when engaged. You can use the handle under the front of the chassis to engage/disengage the brake.

Near the back is a removable air filter, which is positioned under the power supply and keeps the PSU's intake fan free of contaminants. The back of the chassis reveals a whopping 11 expansion slots. The power supply sits at the bottom of the case and features a removable bracket.

A 120mm exhaust fan equipped with wire grills removes heat from around the CPU area. Lian Li has included two cutouts with rubber grommets for water-cooling tubing. The entire motherboard tray assembly is also removable via seven thumbscrews.

Keeping with the security measures from the front of the case, there are also locking slots for the motherboard tray and left side panel.

To access the interior of the PC-V2120, you must undo a single thumbscrew for the left side panel and pull back on the tab assembly, then slide the panel out and up to remove it.

While the chassis may look minimalistic on the outside, it more than makes up for those "shortcomings" internally. Here we find an elaborate series of modular components with room for up to 13 3.5" drives (10 + 3 using 5.25" bay converters). Lian Li includes a VGA card pillar to provide additional support for large graphics cards.

As mentioned earlier, the power supply mounts in the bottom of the chassis with a removable bracket. The PSU sits on raised rails lined with rubber padding to prevent scratching and reduce vibrations. The vents below the PSU supply fresh air to keep it running cool. In front of the power supply is a removable 3-bay hard drive cage. The cage is held in place with two thumbscrews and features pre-installed rubber washers to reduce vibration from spinning drives.

The horizontal divider above the power supply area has three cutouts to route cables through. Each cutout is lined with a hard plastic grommet. There are also eight screw holes that let you mount up to two 2.5" SSD drives with the included mounting hardware.

Near the front of the chassis is a large removable hard drive cage that can hold up to seven 3.5" drives using a tool-less mechanism. Alternately, you can opt to install two 2.5" drives here using the pre-installed SSD mounting brackets in the middle of the cage.

In front of the hard drive cage are two 140mm intake fans and an additional 140mm fan on the opposite side of the cage that funnels warm air from the drives to the rear of the chassis. All three of these fans are tool-less and can be removed easily for cleaning purposes. The two intake fans use air filters to keep dust and debris away from your hardware.

There are five internal 5.25" bays. The top two bays are designated for optical drives and use a tool-less mounting system. By default, the bottom three bays are occupied by yet another hard drive cage that holds up to three 3.5" drives. Using the included 3.5" to 2.5" converter, you can optionally install two 2.5" SSDs here instead. Of course, you can remove the cage completely if you don't plan to add extra drives. A 120mm fan keeps these drives cool.

The motherboard tray is huge, supporting EATX / ATX / M-ATX / HPTX. HPTX is a new form factor from EVGA designed specifically for their high-end dual Xeon SR-2 motherboard. Lian Li's PC-V2120 is one of the very few cases that can hold this massive motherboard. Do note that if you will be using the SR-2, you need to remove the 140mm cooling fan on the side of the hard drive cage for clearance.

There is also a cutout behind the CPU area to aid in installing and removing heatsinks without having to remove the board from the case. Traditionally these cutouts are hit or miss; either it will line up with the CPU backplate on your board, or it won't.

You can see the three 120mm fan ports in the top of the chassis from the inside. I'm not 100% sure on placement, but I assume you could mount a triple 120mm radiator here, given that there are water-cooling holes in the rear of the case.

At the rear of the case are 2 small holes for water-cooling tubes, a 120mm exhaust fan and 11 expansion slots.