A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the interior, you may easily remove the side panels. In general, the layout of the Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO XL is similar to its predecessor, but Lian Li has really dialed up the precision in terms of tooling and engineering. There are thoughtful details throughout, like the cutout at the bottom of the motherboard tray, to allow for cable management no matter which tray mounting position you end up choosing. There are also grommets on all major cable routing openings - even the ones that may end up getting covered depending on your setup. On the back, the general layout for a dual-chamber case continues as expected, with a hard drive mounting bar in the center which may hold three 2.5" drives. You can also clearly see the two HDD cages, which each can take two 2.5" and 3.5" drives. Lian Li has added a honeycomb grill to these and mounting holes, so that you may install slims fans here to actively cool the storage.


In the main chamber, the side intake bracket for either three 120/140 mm fans or a radiator of up to 420 mm in size no longer features individual plates for hard drives unlike we saw in the non-EVO version. This is perfectly fine as a total of seven storage bays is plenty anyway. This bracket is also where you may place the two solid covers that ship separately to ensure that air flow is focused when using a more compact fan or radiator setup. On the left of this, there are two large grommets so that you may route cables through here at a sharp angle and connect to your motherboard. There is enough clearance that this will not interfere with any installed cooling elements. The way this is constructed also gives you plenty of depth for AIOs or even push/pull configurations, while retaining the necessary room for long GPUs. If you look closely, the motherboard tray is removable, being held in place by thumb screws to allow you to place it higher or lower within the chassis.


The expansion bays are protected by individual covers. The opening is bridgeless, so you can install vertical GPU mounting kits without issue. These covers are held in place by two tension based hinges which in turn use thumb screws to stay in place. This is nice, but also means that to simply install a single slot card, you will also loosen up three other slot covers or installed expansion cards in the process. Above that is the mounting position for a singular 120 mm fan in the out-of-the-box motherboard position. As mentioned before, if you put the spacer from the bottom above instead, there are mounting holes that allow for a second 120 mm unit.


Looking at the top and bottom, these are actually quite similar, utilizing the same, removable mounting bracket for up to three 120/140 mm fans or massive 420 mm radiators. These have to be similar as inverting the layout also means that each needs to be able to provide the same functionality. As you can see, even in the default configuration there is plenty of clearance in both areas to allow for massive liquid cooling setups.


The mounting bracket on the side is a bit different and ships so that you may install fans on the side facing the exterior of the chassis, leaving you with more room for thick radiator setups on the interior. Alternatively, you may flip this around to give you even more room within. Lastly, you may also rotate it for even more flexibility.


While the central HDD tray in the original non-EVO version was simply removable, the one in the Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO LX is now hinged and uses magnets to hold it in place, so you may flip it open without the need to grab your screwdriver. Underneath of it, there is a large array of mounting holes where Lian Li has placed two of their so-called cable buckles already. You may not just move them up or down, but also rotate them 90° to accommodate whatever your cable setup requires. These cable buckles are designed to provide a contained, but loose cable channel underneath Velcro strips. This allows you to store cables that you may want frequent access to towards the back, while securing more permanent ones on the surface of each cable buckle.


Each of the two HDD cages is also hinged, so you may swing it out for drive installation. These actually come with SATA hot-swap connectors in the rear, so you may change up drives in a running system. Even if that is not something you plan to do, having the connectors is what makes this whole construction possible in the first place. Each of the cages has a sliding lock, so that you can rest assured that your storage units won't come loose unintentionally.


In the middle, the full-size ATX bay looks simple in comparison to everything else. That said, it is sturdy and functional with a rubber lined support bracket as well.


Every HDD cage within the O11 Dynamic EVO XL is equipped with a singular SATA power connector to feed both drives alongside the two separate SATA data wires. The built-in LED controller utilizes another SATA power interface and Lian Li also includes an adapter so that you may connect it directly to your motherboard instead of using the external buttons.


The IO cables are sleeved black, with the two USB 3.0 Type-A wires sporting a flat build. Lian Li has opted to provide a unified, singular motherboard connector for all the usual power, reset & LED lighting, so you don't have to fiddle with individual pins during assembly.

Alternative Configurations

While we will be building the review system using the default configuration, with the motherboard in the middle, it is worth diving into how you may adjust the position within the O11 Dynamic EVO XL. First, you have to remove the two spacer parts as well as the motherboard tray. This has the added benefit of being able to mount your board, GPU and any intricate elements outside the confines of the chassis. With the tray removed, you can clearly see all the mounting holes for the cable buckles and a total of six grommet covered openings.

Upper Tray Position

With the tray at the top position, that third row of grommets is revealed at the bottom and there is virtually no limitations in terms of the cooling setup you may install in the floor in this configuration.

Lower Tray Position

Moving the tray to the bottom, there is still a well-placed grommet at the bottom, with the large ones at the top fully accessible. In this setup, you have that massive clearance at the top instead, while the bottom still allows for fans or even a classic AIO setup without any compromises. In this setup, you can also see how the fan mounting holes in the back align to allow for two 120 mm exhaust units.

Inverse Tray Position

To invert the case for an upside-down motherboard configuration, there is a bit more work involved. You have to detach the IO panel, top panels and base from the body of the chassis. This then allows you to flip the frame and make the ceiling rest on the floor base instead. Once that is done, you may reinstall the IO panel and reroute it. The result is a case that feels right at home even with this setup. The fact that Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO XL is capable of all these different configurations with absolutely no compromises is a clear testament to the thoughtful engineering that went into this chassis.