Lian Li PC-X2000F Case Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

The PC-X2000F is an-aluminum, full-tower case, with several unique features, targeted to rich enthusiast. Let’s see what USD 500 can buy.

The first unique feature you will notice on the PC-X2000F is the location of the external 5.25” bays. Instead of being located on the front panel of the case, they are installed perpendicular to the case and accessible from the side. There are four 5.25” bays and they can be accessed either from the left panel or from the right panel. This way you can install your 5.25” devices facing the left side or facing the right side, depending on where you will place the case in your workplace.

Figure 1: Lian Li PC-X2000F case

Figure 2: Lian Li PC-X2000F case

As you can see in Figures 1 and 2, there is an air intake opening between the side panels and the front panel.

Since the 5.25” bays were moved to the side of the case, the front panel doesn’t have anything on it, except for the power and HDD LEDs on the upper right corner.

Figure 3: Front panel

Pulling the aluminum cover of the front panel – a very easy task, by the way – you have access to three 140 mm fans, which are protected by a huge washable air filter, which is very easy to be removed from the case.

These fans carry the part number LI121425BE, but it seems that Lian Li sells them as CF-1410B (go figure). They rotate at 1,000 rpm and produce a noise level of 25.4 dBA, and use a three-pin connector, meaning that you can install them on your motherboard in order to monitor their speed. Each fan comes with a peripheral power adapter for you to install them directly on the power supply, if you want.

In regular PC cases, the front fans cool down the hard drives, but this is not necessarily the case with the PC-X2000F. The top two front 140 mm fans are located right in front of the motherboard, while the bottom one is located in front of the second hard disk drive cage – the first cage is located on top of the case besides the 5.25” bays.

Figure 4: Air filter in place

Figure 5: Air filter removed

[nextpage title=”Introduction (Cont’d)”]

On the top panel of the Lian Li PC-X2000F  you will find a small compartment containing four USB 3.0 ports, one eSATA port, and the audio jacks. The USB 3.0 ports use regular USB A connectors on their other end, so you will need to install them to USB 3.0 ports located on the motherboard rear panel. To pass the USB 3.0 cables to the outside of the case, you will need to use one of the expansion slots and cover it with a special cover that comes with the product. If your motherboard doesn’t have four USB 3.0 ports on its rear panel, you can use two internal USB 2.0 ports of your motherboard, using the provided adapter.

Figure 6: Connectors

Figure 7: Rear plate for routing the USB 3.0 cables outside the case and adapter to use a USB 2.0 header

On the bottom panel the PC-X2000F comes with an air filter matching the vents used by the power supply, which is accessible from outside the case.

Figure 8: Bottom panel

The rear panel features another two 140 mm fans, identical to the ones available on the front panel. Both work pulling hot air from inside the computer to the outside, with the top fan cooling down the upper hard drive bay, while the bottom fan cools down the motherboard compartment.

The PC-X2000F features eight expansion slots, which come with vented slot covers. Two holes protected with rubber covers for liquid cooling solutions are available. The power supply goes at the bottom of the case, and it is attached to an aluminum frame.

Figure 9: Rear panel

The product comes with a four-channel analog fan controller, with the potentiometer available at the rear panel. This controller comes with a Y-splitter installed in one of its channels, so you can control all the five fans with this controller, but they will all spin at the same speed. Unfortunately the manufacturer doesn’t publish the speed range this controller is capable of generating. Also, for a case in this price range, we would be happier if it included individual controllers for each fan.

Figure 10: Fan speed controller

Let’s now take a look inside the Lian Li PC-X2000F.

[nextpage title=”Inside the Lian Li PC-X2000F “]

The side panels of the PC-X2000F are removed by unscrewing a thumbscrew and then pulling the tab where the screw is located. The left-side tab comes with a hole for you to install a padlock or a warranty seal.

Figure 11: Opening system

Both side panels come with foams attached, in order to redu
ce the noise level produced by the computer.

Figure 12: Dampening foam on the side panel

In Figure 13, you can see inside the Lian Li PC-X2000F. The interior of the case is divided into two compartments. On the top of the case we have the 5.25” bays and the upper hard drive cage, while on the bottom of the case we have the motherboard tray. The top compartment is cooled by the top rear fan, while the bottom compartment is cooled by the other four fans.

The motherboard tray has a big hole around the area where the CPU is installed, allowing access to the backplate of the CPU cooler, so you can replace the cooler without having to remove the motherboard. The motherboard tray has several holes, allowing you to easily route and hide cables behind the tray.

Figure 13: Overall look

Figure 14: A view behind the motherboard tray

[nextpage title=”Inside the Lian Li PC-X2000F (Cont’d)”]

The Lian Li PC-X2000F supports Extended ATX (E-ATX) motherboards, and also the CEB (Compact Electronics Bay Specification, 12” x 10.5” or 305 x 267 mm) and EEB (Electronics Bay Specification, 12” x 13” or 305 x 330 mm) form factors for server motherboards. If you have a CEB or an EEB motherboard, you will have to use the mounting bracket shown in Figure 15.

Figure 15: Mounting bracket for CEB and EEB motherboards

The case comes with strong, individual, screwless fastening mechanisms for expansion cards. In fact, the mechanisms used in the PC-X2000F are the best we’ve seen to date. The eight expansion slot, however, doesn’t have one of these mechanisms, and expansion cards must be fastened to this slot using a black thumbscrew.

Figure 16: Expansion slots

The PC-X2000F comes with a bracket for holding expansion cards, preventing them from exiting their slots during transportation, see Figures 17 and 18.

Figure 17: Studs for holding expansion cards

Figure 18: Bracket for holding expansion cards

This case supports video cards up to 13.4” (340 mm) long.

The product comes with a special bracket to hold the power supply in place. The power supply compartment supports power supplies up to 7.9” (200 mm) long. If you need to install a longer power supply, you can use the power supply extension that comes with the product, which makes the case to support power supplies up to 10.2” (260 mm) long.

Figure 19: Power supply compartment

Figure 20: Power supply extension

[nextpage title=”The Disk Drive Bays”]

The Lian Li PC-X2000F  comes with four 5.25” bays inside a removable cage. Devices can be installed facing the left side or the right side of the case. Two of the 5.25” bay covers come with an aluminum retractable bezel for you to install your optical drive behind them, this way the “face” of your optical drive won’t be appearing, improving your computer aesthetics. During our review one of these bezels broke, because cheap plastic pins are used to hold them in place. One of the 5.25” bays comes with one 5.25”-to-3.5” adapter, allowing you to install external 3.5” devices.

Figure 21: Top hard drive cage and 5.25” bays

This case comes with two hard drive cages. One is located at the top of the case and supporting four 3.5” hard drives (see Figure 21), and the other one is located at the bottom of the case, supporting three 3.5” hard drives (see Figure 22). All of them come with hot swap connectors, and the PC-X2000F comes with seven SATA cables, in case your motherboard didn’t come with enough cables. Unfortunately this case doesn’t come with bays for 2.5” devices.

Figure 22: Bottom hard drive cage

In order to install hard drives, you need to first install a handle to each hard drive (see Figure 23), using a special screw. Then you only need to slide the hard drive in the bay in order to install it.

Figure 23: Hard drive handle

Figure 24: Installing a hard drive

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

The main specs for the Lian Li PC-X2000F  case include:

• Style: Full-tower
• Application: CEB, EBB, E-ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one
• Power
  supply: Doesn’t come with the product
• Available colors: Black
• Side panel: Solid
• Dimensions: 27.4 x 9.4 x 17.4 inches (695 x 240 x 442 mm) (H x W x D)
• Net weight: 28 lbs (12.8 kg)
• Gross weight: 33 lbs (14.8 kg)
• Bays: Four external 5.25” bays, one external 3.5” bay (converted from one 5.25” bay), and seven internal 3.5” bays with hot-swap connectors
• Expansion slots: Eight
• Maximum video card length: 13.4” (340 mm)
• Maximum CPU cooler height: NA
• Fans: Three 140 mm fans on the front panel and two 140 mm fans on the rear panel (1,000 rpm, 25.4 dBA), analog fan speed controller
• Optional fans: None
• More Information: https://www.lian-li.com
• Average Price in the US*: USD 500.00

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

The Lian Li PC-X2000F  is a case that will probably have its audience, but at USD 500 we simply can’t recommend it. We think that the savvy user will make a better deal buying a more cost-effective case and spend the difference somewhere else. Although it uses top-notch material, we didn’t feel that this case deserved its outrageous price tag.

Strong Points

• Top-notch material
• Seven internal 3.5” bays will be more than enough even for the most hardcore user
• All hard drive bays have hot swap connectors
• Holes with rubber covers for liquid cooling solutions
• A hole in the motherboard tray for accessing the backplate of the CPU cooler
• Holes on the motherboard tray for routing and hiding cables behind the tray
• eSATA port
• Four USB 3.0 ports
• Fan speed controller
• Bracket for holding expansion cards
• Top-notch screwless mechanism for fastening expansion cards to the case
• Air filter for the front fans

Weak Points

• Ultra expensive
• No individual fan speed controllers
• Eighth expansion slot doesn’t use a screwless mechanism
• No 2.5” bays
• One of the 5.25” bezels broke during our review
• No anti-vibration mechanisms for hard drives