Lian Li PC-V2120 Review

Lian LI PC-V2120 Review

Manufacturer Lian Li
UK price (as reviewed) £388.78 (Inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed) $419.99 (Ex Tax)

When EVGA released the super-sized Classified SR-2 dual Xeon motherboard last year, few case manufacturers took up the challenge of making a chassis capable of housing its massive dimensions. Lian Li didn’t shirk from the task, though, and the result is the PC-V2120; an enormous cavern of aluminium plating, with many features and drive bays.


The V2120 really is huge. Measuring 235 x 630 x 635mm (W x D x H), it’s even bigger than humongous cases such as the Cooler Master ATCS 840. Just man-handling it around a desk during testing was tricky, although the inclusion of lockable wheels fitted to the base helped. Being a Lian Li chassis means that the V2120 is also made almost entirely of aluminium, so although it’s huge, it weighs a reasonably light 14.4kg.

The exterior of the case is furnished in gorgeous black (or silver, should you prefer the V2120S) anodised aluminium and, as with most Lian Li cases, has a minimalist appearance. The massive side panels don’t have venting or fan mounts, and the case’s front fascia is hidden behind a sturdy corrugated aluminium door. The door is lockable and includes light tubes for the power and hard disk activity LEDs inside. The door is also lined with sound deadening foam, which is fitted to the inside of both side panels.

Behind the door is venting for the two 140mm front intake fans; there’s a vented section at the base of the door to allow airflow into the case even with the door closed.


However, we doubt that this will be particularly effective, as air doesn’t like to travel in contorted right-angles. Both intake fans are fitted with removable dust filters (accessed internally), and the five 5.25in drive bay blanking plates above are also fitted with washable, removable dust filters.

On top of the case’s fascia is a single-channel fan controller for adjusting the speed of up to four fans. Sadly, not only does the fan controller need to be physically removed from its mount to access it’s 3-pin fan headers, but only one of the V2120’s five fans has cables that are long enough to reach it. This makes the fan controller an almost a redundant inclusion, especially as 3-pin fan extension cables aren’t included.

Hidden behind a flip-up hatch at the front of the roof is the front panel. With the Power and Reset buttons placed centrally in the case’s front fascia (behind the door), the front panel offers an eSATA port, four USB 3 ports and both microphone and headphone jacks. Usefully, you can either power the USB 3 ports via their external connectors or plug both of these into an internal convertor so that you don’t need to loop cables out the back of the case.

The V2120’s long roof panel is also fitted with three 120mm fan mounts, spaced to accommodate up to a triple-120mm fan radiator. As standard, these fan mounts are filled with aluminium blanking plates that retain the V2120’s sleek looks, but disappointingly, the case doesn't include any fan grilles should you choose to populate them yourself, leaving large square holes along the top of the case.