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Published: September 23, 2008 | Source: Lian Li | Author: Stuart Boardman

Lian Li TYR PC-X2000 Chassis

External Impressions

The X2000’s design is quite different from most full towers, with a tall and shallow structure. The case is made from anodised black Aluminium and is very light considering its size. According to Lian Li, this chassis is designed to blend into the living room, and resemble multi-media speakers. Now I have a bone to pick with these claims, as the sheer size of the chassis wouldn’t allow it to blend into anything but the largest of rooms. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because the styling of the chassis is very pleasing to the eye, and is bound to strike up a few conversations amongst friends. 

The front panel, made from black anodised Aluminium,  is adorned only with a silver stripe and a silver Lian Li badge. There isn’t even a DVD or floppy slot to spoil the clean lines of the front panel and it looks great for it. The business end, the rear panel, looks superb too, with matching screws on the PSU tray and fan grilles, giving a very finished and professional look to the rear. Cooling-wise at the rear, there are two 80mm and one 140mm blowholes, complete with Lian Li fans and grilles. Lian Li have provided four pass-through holes for water-cooling tubing and they are complete with black rubber grommets. For users of 3/4″ tubing, the fit would be incredibly snug though. There are also anodised vented PCI covers on each of the PCI slots, which is a welcome addition. A lot of case manufacturers’ neglect the detail finishes on the rear of their cases, but we are glad to say that Lian Li are not one of these.

 

X2000 Front View X2000 Rear View

 

In case you were wondering where the optical drives were located on the case, this is one of the innovative features we mentioned in the introduction earlier. As the case is not much wider than a standard ATX motherboard, Lian Li decided to side mount the optical drive bays, and have even allowed for either side of the case to be used. The side panels have a hole cut for the drives bays, and it is a superb finish on them with only the smallest of gaps between surfaces when the panel is fixed in place. You can see on the images below the air intake grilles (which feed the three 140mm fans fitted under the front panel) on either side of the case. Lian Li used a black metal mesh and it makes the case look quite sporty.

 

X2000 Right Panel X2000 Left Panel

 

The top panel is just as well finished, with two simple black switches for the reset and power, which tie in with the simple theme of the case nicely. The peripheral slots are hidden by a lift up cover which is also in keeping with the case styling. There are four USB, one Firewire, and one E-SATA slots, plus the usual audio in/out 3.5mm jacks under the cover. 

 

X2000 Top View X2000 Peripheral Ports

 
From the outside, the X2000 looks simply stunning. With the unusual dimensions and the mass of anodised black Aluminium, the case is very minimalist in style, but it also makes its presence felt. The finish to all surfaces is flawless. I even spent half an hour trying to find a single fault and drew a blank. Although the styling and finish is superb, there is a slight bugbear that we have with the overall design, but we will discuss this later in our conclusions.
 
Next we are going to take a look at the case innards – will the same level of craftmanship shine through there?
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