Lian Li Tyr X2000

David Hollingworth spends some important alone time with his new hot case.

When we un-boxed this latest menhir-like effort from Lian Li, it was less like taking a new PC component out of its packaging and more like the birth of a golden child. There were oohs, there were aahs; those not present were called for, so that they too could bask in the glory of this singularly outstanding achievement in case design.

Oh yes, we like the PC-X2000. We like it a lot.

Our love – like any good love – may start at the skin, but rest assured it goes down to the case’s very bones. Externally, this over-sized tower is imposing in its austere design – matte black, diamond-etched aluminium makes one hell of an impact, at least on us. The clean lines and strong curves work together to inform observers that this case means business.

We took a stroll around the case, our eyes drawn to such wonderful touches as the side-mounted external drives bays, the four spacious grommets for serious watercooling and the wonderfully machined and grilled back-plate. As always, the side-panels are secured by easy-to-fiddle thumb-screws, with a latching design that means those screws will never be lost. Even the case’s four feet are aluminium, with a rubber base-pad for added stability and to lower vibration potential.

Already impressed with our exterior observations, we made some small-talk and gently slipped off the side-panels. Now undressed, this case’s charms were even more obvious.



The interior is matte black, and if you can find a surface that is even remotely poorly milled and engineered we’ll give you a shiny penny. Very rarely will you hear us talk about the ‘case-maker’s art’ – it’s wankery of the first order – but you cannot look at the rolled edges, plastic-lined cable runs and awesome build of the PC-X2000 without thinking there may be something to the idea that a hand-crafted case is both possible and infinitely superior.

This is a case designed with easy access to the system it protects and keeping that system running cool in mind. The hard drive bays are all in their own separate lower area, with a couple of fans to keep them cool, and an in-built PCB and cable arrangement to enable hot-swapping. Above the drive area is the main mobo plate, which, if you take the other side of the case off, hinges down and out. Each PCI backing slot is itself well-made and vented to further increase airflow at the back, and at the front, where you’ve got an impressive number of fans, you can take out the air filter and actually wash it if you’re some kind of computing clean freak. The last area – and all these areas are thermally distinct, and designed with different thermal loads in mind – is where your PSU and external drives sit. The PSU backplate can even be unscrewed if you have an extra-long model.

Sure, there’s a lot that some users may disagree with. The side-ejecting external drive bays split the office, and some argue that the same people who want hot-swappable drive bays will want a lot more of them. To that end, it could be argued that the PC-X2000 is trying too hard; but, to our mind, this is a very versatile case for the enthusiast who requires forbidding form and exemplary function.