Evolution of Lian Li's SOHO Server Cases

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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