Internal temperatures should remain fairly similar either way, though you may see 1-2 C drop in CPU temps. The issue here is that the rubber plug will come out easily and likely be lost, leaving a Type-C port shaped hole in your front panel. Here we have the top of the Lancool II, and the mounting we discussed previously is uncovered. The front panel pulls off quickly enough, but I will note that it came free easier pulling from the dip in the top front rather than the bottom. The front of the Lancool II is a metal-clad to a plastic lower plate, which snaps into the chassis. Also of note is the quite substantial length of the slotted mounting holes for the fan as you can see the slots go well below the mounting, allowing for a decent amount of vertical adjustment. Lian Li tried to make use of any space available to place something. Not too long ago, we took a look at a chassis in the Lancool series by Lian Li. Triangle Borea BR03 Review – The French connection. Flipping open the far side panel reveals a large cable­tidying system, which includes numerous large plates that do a fantastic job of hiding cables, which is just as well, as the glass side panel gives a clear view of any mess. Similar competitors in the space would be the Meshify C from Fractal Design at $89.99, The Enthoo Pro M SE from Phanteks at $97.99, and the Eclipse P400A from Phanteks as well. We can’t say for sure that the problem is fixed based on a single unit, but it’s a start. Even with normal ATX boards, the stock placement of the cable management bar puts it very close to the edge of the motherboard, making it somewhat difficult to route the 24-pin power connector neatly. The CPU measured in at an average delta over ambient of 40.4C, which is 1.1C cooler than the previous leader, the Vector RS with vertical GPU. As you can see, the plug could support a four-pin RGB 5050 style connection if needed, but I'm glad they went with ARGB as it provides a smooth color flow. Here you can see a sneak peek of the accessory strip illuminated in our final build. Overall, the Lancool II is a capable and quiet case right out of the box. The lighting is vivid yet tasteful, and the integrated RGB lighting controller enables you to cycle through various colour and effect modes, while a separate connector means you can also connect the lighting strips to your motherboard for control. Flipping the cable management bar creates some extra room for motherboards up to 280mm wide. To address this, Lian Li is now offering an ARGB and a Performance version. There are several others, but these share some features that the Lancool II has at a similar price point. We’ll start with data for only the Lancool series, then we’ll look at the comparative tests versus other cases. This will generate more dust in the system, but that’s a compromise you’ll have to be willing to make for the performance benefits – besides, the panels open extremely easily for cleaning. Best PC&Gaming Cases for PC Builder and Gamer. Although a bit on the noisy side, it is a completely different enclosure than the first model, and manages to impress with its intricate design elements while remaining affordably priced and beautifully functional. Taping shut the bottom of the Lancool II Mesh’s front panel helps to explain what’s happening: the CPU averaged 47 degrees over ambient with this modification, and so it turns out that leaving an open hole at the bottom is good for airflow, even if it’s not a good idea overall. Lian Li includes a few extra velcro straps as standard, and we had to install an additional one to help secure the front I/O cables that run along the left side of the case here. Contemporary competitors to Lian Li’s case are all warmer, although some of the better options are fairly close, like the be quiet! The roof can play host to a 240mm radiator as well, and as this mount is offset, it can be a 45mm-thick model too – you could possibly install a larger radiator here too, depending on your choice of waterblock and fittings. The P500A has it beaten by one degree in this test, but both of them are ahead of every other stock-configured case on the chart, with the exception of the Zondda-O with its side-mounted 120mm intake fan. There will be some delay after submitting a comment. HPE to Build Intel Sapphire Rapids-Based Crossroads Supercomputer for NNSA, Raspberry Pi Hacker Terminal Inspired by Cyberpunk, GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile Could Bring GeForce RTX 2080 Ti-Like Performance to Laptops, Up to 3x120mm front, 2x 140mm roof, 1x 120mm rear, 2x 120mm above PSU chamber, 16GB (2x8GB) T-Force Pro Dark @ 3600 MT/s, Noctua NH U12A + 2x Corsair ML120 Pro Fans, Corsair Sleeved PSU Cables Pro Kit Type 4, Airflow isn’t great with stock fan configuration. The PSU intake does get a fine mesh air filter that slides out the back, which is nice as the bottom would be much more difficult to access for regular cleaning. Now we have something purely for aesthetic, and it's the side lighting strip.

The front panel bottom we see that there is a cutout almost like a grab area to help with pulling the front panel off.

There haven’t been many sub-£ PC cases that have wowed us as much as Lian Li’s Lancool One recently. As we point out every time we review a mesh-fronted case, though, fans can be run at low speeds in well-ventilated cases without tanking thermal performance. The original Lancool II averaged 37C here as well, a better showing than in some of the more intense workloads. Thoughtful! The lower panel is metal and has a long angular shallow indentation. The installation is minimally invasive with the top I/O needing to come out, which is four screws. Compared to the Lancool II non-mesh, all results are significantly better. It may make sense to, at some point, move to an external enclosure with your optical drive. admin June 21, 2020 24 0. The Lian Li Lancool II is another budget case effort from Lian Li--budget relative to the rest of Lian Li’s past cases, at least. The flip panels and shrouds are cool, as you will see in the review. To the other side adjacent to the connector, there are SMD LEDs that will fire when a drive is installed and another, which will fire when the drive is accessed. The OG Lancool II averaged 57.4 degrees Celsius over ambient, approximately the same gap as with CPU temperatures. This is a tray Lian Li installs for users to affix RGB or Fan hubs to the chassis where they can be hidden rather than dealing with a heap of RGB wiring and management. Putting an extra fan in the case below the GPU understandably pushed the CPU’s average delta up a few degrees from baseline to 47 degrees Celsius, as hot air from the GPU was pushed upwards in the case towards the CPU cooler, and the pressure systems within the case have now drastically changed. That is a big con that rules out the case for me!

There are several other optional components too, such as a 3-way hot-swap SATA connector for the trio of 3.5in tool-free mounts in the base, although these can still be used as normal with SATA cables. I think with the lack of official packaging, we step into checking out what's inside. That amount of space  is a bit extreme, as most AIO combos only measure 52mm in total thickness with fans, and a push pull config would put that up to 77mm. The Lancool II is a mid-tower by common understanding, but it is not the smallest mid-tower.

One thing you may notice is that the gap between the rear cable management panel and the start of the I/O shield cutout seems a bit large, and it is. Check our original review for more details on these features, but our opinion is that they don’t add significantly to the value of the case. First would be the approach Lina Li took to achieving an excellent performing mid-tower while offering accessory items ala carte. The Cooler Master TD500 case, the NR600, and the Phanteks A-series cases have all started moving toward similar designs. There was a problem. Also, note the large loop of cables to the left, they were just this way with the covers in place, and nobody was the wiser, which is the beauty of these covers should you not want to deal with the cable management aspect of the build. The four door sections on Lancool II cases are held shut with magnets. Pure Base 500DX. In the original Lancool II, we did one test with a stock fan moved to the top of the PSU shroud, with the result that both CPU and GPU temperatures got worse. Add to this the ARGB, which can be synced to the controller of your choice or motherboard, and you have a robust platform for a beautiful looking and solid rig while not breaking the bank.
There are several tapped holes visible from the bottom at the top left edge; these are for moving the HDD cage along its adjustment range. No problemo. We would certainly shortlist this one. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Get instant access to breaking news, in-depth reviews and helpful tips. Then it's merely a matter of routing the cable with the rest of the front I/O cables.

Our next test is with standardized fans. The manual is detailed enough to get a rough idea of any build needs for a beginner. The downside of changing so little from the original is that its flaws carry over as well. However, hearing a price point below $100 had me apprehensive that when it came to market, it would either be more expensive or lose quality somewhere. Lian Li has recently stepped up to claim the sub-£ case crown again, though, with an updated version of the case, not surprisingly called the Lancool II. Straight out of the box you’ve got: hinged and magnetically secured tempered glass windows on both sides of the chassis, drop-down side panels situated along the PSU compartment front and back, some impressive cable management solutions in the interior, strong storage support with potentially hot-swappable drives, and extensive cooling compatibility as well.
Lastly, notice the radiator mounted close to the outer panel and how it allows easy fitment of the tall Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB DIMMS we have installed. I fell in love with it immediately, and saved / sold so I could order one. It’s quite the showcase when you drop both of the PSU compartment panels and open the two magnetically latched tempered-glass doors, which we recommend you remove while building out your system. So what you're saying is that this case needs more fans?

Lian Li Lancool II. Tom's Hardware is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. They don’t cover the SSD caddies, so if you want to show off your drives, you can. The vents do have removable dust filters, but you’ll need to pop the front panel off to access them.

We were able to push it back into place, yet over time as heat melts the glue, it may come unstuck again. 500DX, Phanteks P400A Digital, and Cooler Master TD500 Mesh. The 3.5-inch drive situation with the Lancool II follows a similar trend to the USB Type C cover we mentioned earlier.

You can mount two more 2.5-inch drives on the inside of the right-side PSU latch. Receive news and offers from our other brands? © This chassis is a new variant of the original Lancool II, which we awarded 4.5 stars but was a little lacking in the performance department. The cable management vertical bar is similar to the one the PC011D XL had, which allows it to be flipped to fit wider EATX motherboards. The three plastic pieces with red strips are the plastic which transfers the LED light form the PCB to the front of the HDD tray. Simply remove one thumbscrew at the back of the case, and you can slide it along as close to the front of the chassis or to the rear near the power supply as you’d like.