Hardware Lian Li PC-V2120 Review

Lian Li ... check
Removeable motherboard tray ... check
External radiator support ... check
Support for largest motherboard in the known universe ... check
Wallet ... FAIL

 

Whatever i do, i count just 4, 3 of those are responsible for hard drive cooling, 1 is outtake which every water cooled case needs. Even if you have water cooling, you still need some airflow above components not in loop.

And good morning, did you ever seen a cheap highend Lian Li ?

 

Get a grip everyone asking for a retest with a watercooled loop... Bit-tech just hasn't the materials at their disposal whenever they wish so. Makers send them review material, they test how they know and it's better suited to everyone. I want to use watercooling on my pc but it's expensive and not everyone has a deep wallet to buy the parts in a single purchase.
I reckon for the price and aircooling, it's a no no. For deep pockets, watercooling even without SR2, is a go.
So much space and possibly removable caddies and some people might use that VGA bar. There always is someone in the flock that has deep pockets so when that person buys one, ask them to send photos and test results.

If someone has the money to spend on a i7-980 or 990, 3 SLi or 4 Crossfire, large sums of TB, surely he has some for this case.

So I ask, if someone really buys this aluminum gorgeous, please provide some photos with watercooling. If not, I rest my case and keep planing my PC's WC loop.

 

+1 on this ^.

I would like to add that w/c installations vary enormously so there will never be a w/c test where everyone is happy. It would lead to "why didn't you use xyz pump/fans/rad's/res/blocks etc - you get the picture.

Bit-tech test cases as they come from the manufacturer - as you or I would buy them. For those wanting to air cool, we can see the result of how it comes and make our own mind up. Some of us wait for other sources to test with more fans for example, or we wait until someone buys the case and posts their own results.

For those wanting to w/c this case, the air cooled test results with their test kit are meaningless. What is more important is the space for rad's/pumps/res's etc and bit-tech were very clear in that respect, they mentioned the space for the triple rad in the roof and the high-res photos let you come to your own conclusion about the internal space for the rest.

tldr; bit-tech test the cases as they come, draw your own conclusions about whether it is suitable for your own personal requirements.

 

that is one very expensive case!

 

I'm astonished so many readers are willing to give bit-tech a free pass for this (almost) worthless review. Why are readers so concerned about how much money or "work" its going to cost bit-tech to do a proper review of this case (or any other product for that matter)? Bit-tech is a for profit enterprise! Its unfortunate that they've decided not to invest time and money in order to give their readers some useful information. Or, maybe they have no idea how to properly test a case designed to house a water cooled rig?

I'm a generous guy, so for whenever they have the opportunity to review another water cooling case, they should try to answer some of these questions:

- With a rad mounted in the top of the case, how much clearance is between it and the motherboard?
- Would a push/pull setup fit? And how about with deep fans?
- How much work would be required to mod the case in order to fit a quad radiator in the top? Would you loose the use of the top 5.25-inch drive bay?
- Would a 120mm radiator fit on the back?
- Would H50/70s fit anywhere?
- Would a radiator fit in the front?
- etc.

Don't get me wrong, I read bit-tech almost every day, but surely they could have done better on this review.
.

 

Yes - the Lian Li V1200 series is designed almost purely for water cooling - yet bit-tech have not really even mentioned it. Noone gives a crap about fan clearance if they've got waterblocks!

 

At least we a case for SR-2...

As for the rest, for the price Lian Li is asking, you can see you will get screw up (or, pay a lot and not get all the features a case of this magnitude should have). Hope (yeah, keep dreaming) Lian Li get some sense and at least start putting things the competition has (like the 800D from Corsair).

 

I would buy it only for server purposes...

 

Even if they can not setup a water cooling kit, they should put one fan on the top, near the CPU area to get some air going there. Right now there are no fans near the CPU, everything is near the hard-disks. No wonder the CPU temperatures are higher. The PC-A77 has three fans near the top in the same place as this case, and they do a good job in cooling.

 

If putting a water cooler would have been hard, you could have put at least a fan at the top of the case. That way you get some air to the CPU. Right now the fans are a feet away. No wonder the GPU does great but the CPU needs help.