Lian-Li PC-V2000

An ideal case for anyone with a number of drives.

Price: £195.99

Manufacturer: Lian-Li

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Verdict

Pros:
Great build quality; enormous expansion capacity.

Cons:
Long drive cables may be needed; no PSU.

Verdict:
If you need the ultimate workstation or server case, the PC-V2000 should be on your shortlist.

PC Magazine Team, PC Magazine 22 Jul 2004

Lian-Li's PC-V2000 is a huge full tower case complete with a set of castors so you can move it around. It's really more of a workstation/server case, but if you need space for a huge amount of drives, this is the case for you.

As with all Lian Li cases, the build quality is superb, with a good grade of aluminium used throughout. There are some neat touches, such as threaded washers to hold screws. This prolongs the life of the case as the screws can't rip out of the aluminium.

All the access holes for the cable runs are lined with plastic to save knuckles and cables from chafing.

This case excels in the number of design innovations it features.

The side panels are held in by a lock and thumbscrew. Undoing the trapped thumbscrew allows the lock to be pulled out, to release the panel, so you can see just how different the V2000 is.

The case is divided into internal sections. The motherboard is fitted in the top section while the drives and power supply sit in the bottom section under the floor that divides the two.

When fitted the power supply sits on top of a drilled aluminium plate that allows the PSU to draw cool air through the grill in the bottom of the case. In case you need more cooling there's space for two 8cm fans to be mounted directly above the PSU.

Two 12cm fans are pre-installed in the PC-V2000, one in the upper rear panel by the motherboard and the other in the front of the chassis. Both of these are rubber mounted, and the front one is filtered.

As mentioned previously, this case can hold a huge number of drives: six 5.25in and twelve 3.5in in two drive cages. The uppermost 5.25in bay has a drop-down door on it, so there is no need to hunt down a silver optical drive for this bay at least. Special fixing screws are supplied for the hard drives. With these screws the drives become tool-free, slipping into cages with sliding locks to lock drives into place.

To reach some of the bays you will need long data cables and you will have to choose your power supply with care - ones with stiff cables may not be able to reach the motherboard.

Lian Li supplies all the screws and bits you need to install everything into the case.

Contact Perfex (0870) 141 7161
www.overclock.co.uk

Specifications: