Evolution of Lian Li's SOHO Server Cases
by Joshua Buss on May 16, 2006 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
PC-V2000 - Interior Cont'd
We mentioned the usefulness of the configurable rear plate, specifically with regards to swapping it out for one that can handle dual power supplies, but here's another example of when it could come in handy. |
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With the plate turned like this, this particular power supply's main intake fan would be rendered useless, but the plate can be turned 180 degrees so the fan is aimed downward at the perforated support plate underneath. We were actually hoping the plate could be flipped front-for-back as well, but it turns out this is not possible. Another potential use for this space includes water cooling gear, as there are several dual 80mm radiators that would fit this plate nicely.
Moving up the backside, one can see the same large thumbscrews are used to hold in expansion cards that Lian Li uses in most of their cases. To the right of the slots is enough room to mount one of the vertical blower style fans Lian Li sells as an optional accessory.
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Now focusing on the front, it's easy to see that not everything in the PC-V2000 is designed around being tool-less - the 5.25" drive bays use the standard four screws. With the easy opening of both side panels though, this is hardly a significant complaint.
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The very bottom bay is already fitted with an adapter to hold and stealthily conceal a floppy drive of any color, and the very top bay is ready to conceal an optical drive. This leaves plenty of options for users wanting to build a disc duplicator box, a server with even more of these bays populated with hard drives, or just a very full computer with fan controllers, water reservoirs, and other accessories that fit in 5.25" bays.
To really get a feel how the case would handle installed components, we put together components that could roughly emulate a home server system. Starting off with a full sized ATX motherboard and standard ATX power supply, here's how the PC-V2000 looked.
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Notice how in this configuration, there's absolutely no problem with reaching the motherboard from the power supply, and thanks to the upside down mounting one would have to have a particularly short cord and bad placement of the power connector on the motherboard for reach to be an issue.
The main 120mm fan exhaust will do fine with keeping the system cool enough for the most part, but users should be careful about installing too many hot components near the top without getting a blower fan to get rid of the excess heat that would collect at the top back.
We put a collection of hard drives in the PC-V2000 to test the ability to manage the excess cables and it did fine; however, one could find the area pretty tight if all twelve bays were used and airflow could begin to suffer.
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The biggest problem though is simply the reach required for the hard drives. With IDE controller cards, we found 18" cables to be practically useless in the PC-V2000. Be prepared to get 24" IDE cables if you'd like to use them, or 12-24" SATA cables depending on whether or not you'll be using controller cards or on-board connectors.
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Now, with a different motherboard, power supply, and 24" IDE cables, the mock server build was complete. Even with an extended ATX motherboard and extended expansion cards, the PC-V2000 would handle extra cabling - even water cooling too - very well.
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cgaspar - Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - link
The V2100B is just the V2000B with a door, and no silly side window.Be careful with which power supply you buy for this case - the PC Power & Cooling 850W unit I got didn't fit, because it was too long.
Also be careful with which CPU coolers you use if your motherboard has a CPU on the bottom edge, as there is almost _no_ clearance between the motherboard and the case. I had to replace the Zalman CNPS7000B I was using. On the other hand, this is the first case where my Extended ATA montherboard didn't feel cramped (this thing is _huge_!)
Other than those minor issues, I've been extremely happy with the case. My 8 500G SATA drive array is running along quite nicely.
Missing Ghost - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
Who would use IDE for this.....And with a lot of 2 port expansion card?Also, the cables that you used are out of spec. (40 cm max I think)
This case is meant for SCSI.
JoshuaBuss - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
I used IDE 'cause it's all I have on hand. More importnatly though, it takes up significantly more space than SATA cables, making it apparant how well the case can handle that much cabling.ohnnyj - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
I love my PC-V2100, been a wonderful home to my AMD SLI system for over a year now. Build quality is excellent but I have but one gripe. The USB cables for the front panel are not nearly long enough to reach my motherboard. Perhaps they have fixed this in an updated model.JoshuaBuss - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
the front panel cords in the PC-201 are very long.. you'd have to route them all over the place for them not to reach pretty much anywhere on a motherboard.rowcroft - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
I liked the article, always fascinated with cases. One thing I would have liked to see was an E-ATX motherboard though- it would give a better idea of the case flexibility. I would think most people buying this case would be putting a workstation class mobo in it. I've been looking for a good box to build a dual opteron rig around and this looks like a contender. Thanks again!Xenoid - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
Would have been nice to see some temperatures on the cpu/video between the cases and other popular enthusiast cases. Overall, nice article and quite a nice case.JoshuaBuss - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
I'm hoping to follow this look up with a more in-depth comparison of performance once I have some real sever-style equipment.mkruer - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
I have this case. Never had an issue with it other then the rubber wheels not staying on when moving the system around. The only thing I would like to comment on, is that if you are building a “quite system” there are a few things you can do to improve that subjective score of 3.0/3.5 of 10 to 7.5 to 8.5. first remove the drive mounting (you can unscrew it) and suspend the drives is a harness. This will eliminate 99% of the reverb from the case while the drives are on. Next replace the 120mm fan. I don’t know why but the fans that are included with the case are not that grate for making a quite system.Finally at the front of the case where you would mount CD Rom drives. Place it some foam. It really doesn’t effect the air flow but it will deaden any sound that my be coming from the mother board.
I have very sensitive herring and if I can leave the system on full boar and still go to sleep then I know that its pretty dang quite.
Lifted - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - link
That reverb has been driving me nuts lately. I replaced a drive and moved a couple to different places, and it seems to have gotten a bit better, but still shows up now and then.