Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance: Modularity first

Folding exterior

Lian Li Lancool? Lian Li is historically known for using more aluminium than its “steel” competitors. Lancool, on the other hand, was at a time a separate brand for, say, cheaper Lian Li derivatives. But what does a “Lian Li Lancool” Mesh Performance look like? The name promises an emphasis on cooling, but the case is also characterized by the extra modularity of the individual parts.

Basic parameters

Folding exterior

The case accessories are nothing special, but the work on the manual is to be commended. The instructions for installing the case are very detailed and accurate. Apart from that, outside of the case, the package contains only screws and a few pull-tabs to tie the power supply wiring together.

On the left side of the case is a distinctive perforation of the bottom panel below the glass. Taking a closer look at the bottom of it, you can notice that it includes hinges so that it can be opened. You don’t see that that often with cases.

Bottom panel has two magnets on the sides, on which there is a damping foam. It takes considerable force to open, so you don’t have to worry about it opening on its own, for example when transporting the case. The entire panel is used for quick access to the drive “drawer”.

We haven’t forgotten the tempered glass, which is four millimetres thick. Also, the side panel is hinge-mounted, so you don’t need to use tools to quickly manipulate the case. One minor drawback is that you also have to open the bottom panel to open it, as it opens with a grip from underneath. Everywhere else it sits perfectly flush with the structure so there’s nothing to grab it by. The side panel is also held in place by two strong magnets that are embedded in the case’s structure.

Large 1.5 mm diameter holes cover most of the front panel area. The convex shape puts distance between the panel and the fan. At the furthest point it is 45 mm, and so the fans’ performance should not be degraded to a large extent, if at all.

Since the only “protection” against dust is the front panel grille, when you pull it off, you get directly to the two pre-installed 140 mm fans.
According to the manufacturer’s specification, they have an air flow of just under 103 m³/h at maximum speed. This can be adjusted from 600 to 1200 rpm. Lian Li does not sell these fans separately. If you would like to replace the original fans, there is room in the front for a 3×120 mm or a water cooling radiator up to 360 mm in size with a maximum width of 120 mm.

The mounting of the cooling elements is solved in an interesting way. They are placed on a removable panel, which can be mounted in reverse and thus increase the distance from the center of the case. This also reduces the distance of the aforementioned 45 mm from the front panel perforations.

In most cases, it is generally the case that the front of the case is better protected against dust than the top of the case. Here it is reversed and so the grille that covers the top open part of the case has holes of one millimetre in size. It sits slightly lower in the groove than the entire top of the cabinet, so unwanted tampering with it is out of the question. It is held to the case, as are most of its parts, by magnets located around its perimeter. You can also place cooling on the top from the inside. In the case of fans, we are talking about two pieces of either 120 mm or 140 mm size. The water cooling radiator fits up to a maximum length of 240 mm.

The I/O panel is complemented by mechanical control of the fans to three preset percentages of power with one stage for manual control via the board. The lowest setting is 45 %, the middle setting is 75 % and the highest setting is 100 % power.

The panel continues as standard with buttons for restart, power-on, 1×3.5 mm headphone jack with microphone and two USB Type-A connectors. The last hole may hint that USB Type-C is also located here. Unfortunately, it’s just a pre-fit that you have a cover for in the accessory box. If you would like the connector in the case, you have to buy it as an accessory (Lancool-4X) for about 15 euros. At a case price of 110 euros where you don’t get a dust filter on the intake, the lack of a USB Type-C connector is a low blow. On the other hand, you have a choice whether you want it and pay extra or save.

The right side panel is almost indistinguishable from the left one. Tempered glass with 4 mm thickness mounted on hinges. The bottom panel opens in the same way as the one opposite. The only difference is the lack of perforations.

The back of the case is manufactured in the standard way that has been used for a long time. There is an opening for the motherboard I/O panel, next to which a 120 mm fan is installed on beehive-shaped plastic holes. In the middle there are 7 removable covers for the PCI Express expansion card slots. At the bottom there is a hole for an ATX power supply.

Directly below the power supply there is a hole that protects the right dust filter with very fine perforations from dust. At least here they weren’t afraid of that at Lian Li. On the feet can be seen non-slip pads that provide high resistance. With them, the case sticks to the surface as if nailed down. On the front you can see the hole that serves to remove the front panel.

Lian Li Lancool? Lian Li is historically known for using more aluminium than its “steel” competitors. Lancool, on the other hand, was at a time a separate brand for, say, cheaper Lian Li derivatives. But what does a “Lian Li Lancool” Mesh Performance look like? The name promises an emphasis on cooling, but the case is also characterized by the extra modularity of the individual parts.

Everything customizable

The inside of the case is off to a better start than the exterior. It can accommodate motherboards from ITX to M-ATX, ATX to E-ATX formats up to a width of less than 280 mm. The space for the graphics card is reserved in the case to a maximum length of 384 mm. You can fit a tower cooler for the CPU up to 176 mm of height, which gives you a free hand in its selection. All this hardware is held by a tray of extreme thickness of 85 mm. The sheets are solid, they don’t sag even when you try really hard.

The cable grommets are not rubberized, but the main vertical one, through which most of the cables pass, has a removable metal cover. There’s plenty of room for cables, so you don’t have to wonder if you’ll be able to slip a 24-pin cable through to power the board. This is how I imagine the main pass-through if the case doesn’t have room for larger holes.

A 120 mm fan is mounted on the exhaust at the rear under the ceiling. Like the front fans, this one is not further specified beyond the manufacturer’s stated parameters. The speed can be regulated from 600 to 1500 rpm. At the fastest, it has an airflow of just under 93 m³/h.

In Lian Li, they have also adapted the upper part of the tunnel to be used as you would need it. There are two perforated plates at the back, on which you can place 2×2.5″ drives. Of course, it wouldn’t be that interesting if you couldn’t uninstall them and place 2×120 mm fans there instead. There is also a removable platter in the front. This allows you to fit an expansion tank for water cooling.

In addition to the space for a power supply up to 210 mm in length, the tunnel is also equipped with the aforementioned drawer for drives. We’ve already encountered the same lever-based position selection system in a significantly more expensive case, the Sekira 500x from MSI. All three positions are hybrid and can accommodate both 3.5″ and 2.5″ drives. A great advantage is that the entire drawer can be slid forward or backward along the rails. This way you can easily adjust the space for the cables from the power supply.

Opening the right side panel and the bottom panel, you get to one of the most ingeniously done backsides I’ve come across. The two covers for the cabling cover up any imperfections that may arise when managing the cabling. There are two Velcro pull-tabs for cable management and another disposable one in the accessory box. In summary, the case offers 11 positions for cable attachment which is more than sufficient.

Space for additional 2.5″ drives is elegantly designed. Two are mounted directly on the tray and the other two directly on the bottom panel. A beautiful solution to make use of the available space.

The mechanical controller on top of the I/O panel could not function without the hub that controls everything. The latter is located on a removable panel, in the center of the back of the tray. I like the idea of easily removing this component as well. The hub can control up to six fans at once. However, if you decide to occupy all the fan positions with 120 mm variants, you’ll still have to connect two directly to the motherboard. The case offers you the possibility to fit up to eight of them.

A respectable 25 mm is allocated for cable management. All cables were positioned with ease without the use of disposable tapes. The removable cover for the grommet also helped considerably. In order to keep the cables from being pushed around in the tunnel, I simply slid the drawer with the drive bays forward on the rails. This tends to be a problem with some cases and it has to be taken all the way out.

Covers designed for nicer cable management do their job one hundred percent. If I had used a cable with a black braid for the CPU power supply, none of the cables would have been needlessly shining and everything would have been hidden.

The only thing you should be careful of is that the cables don’t push too hard on each other. If they do, the cable cover will not snap fully into position, which will then push the bottom panel out. It then no longer adheres to the structure as it should.

Everything fit together like a puzzle. The whole installation didn’t take more than half an hour. Lancool II Mesh can forgive a lot of shortcomings.

Lian Li Lancool? Lian Li is historically known for using more aluminium than its “steel” competitors. Lancool, on the other hand, was at a time a separate brand for, say, cheaper Lian Li derivatives. But what does a “Lian Li Lancool” Mesh Performance look like? The name promises an emphasis on cooling, but the case is also characterized by the extra modularity of the individual parts.

Metodika testovania

The fitted 140 mm fans produce an enormously high noise level of 45.4 dBA at maximum speed. The resonant noise unfortunately comes from the fans themselves, not from the high airflow. Thus, the differences between the measured noise levels are only a small jump in performance. Since I only have two of these fans, I can’t tell if this behavior is common or just a faulty batch.

Although the case offers 8 different fan placement options, for testing purposes we are leaving them in their original location.

Testing is done in a home environment where I strive for the most accurate results possible. In the room during testing, the air temperature in front of the case is 23 degrees Celsius and the minimum noise level I can measure with the Voltcraft SL-100 noise meter is 32.4 dBA. The sensor of the noise meter is aligned to the center of the top of the case at a distance of 10 cm, for the best measurement of the speed difference of the fans, which I change using the motherboard. For easy comparison to other cases, they are always regulated to fixed noise levels.

Individual components are heated for 10 minutes in FurMark synthetic stress tests and with Prime95 (custom settings) at the same time. This time is long enough to allow all components to warm up sufficiently. There are then 15-minute cooling breaks between tests, during which the component temperatures (and the case air temperature as well) are brought back to default.

Modes noise levels:

• 36 dBA
• 38 dBA
• 39 dBA

Lian Li Lancool? Lian Li is historically known for using more aluminium than its “steel” competitors. Lancool, on the other hand, was at a time a separate brand for, say, cheaper Lian Li derivatives. But what does a “Lian Li Lancool” Mesh Performance look like? The name promises an emphasis on cooling, but the case is also characterized by the extra modularity of the individual parts.

CPU and GPU cooling tests

Lian Li Lancool? Lian Li is historically known for using more aluminium than its “steel” competitors. Lancool, on the other hand, was at a time a separate brand for, say, cheaper Lian Li derivatives. But what does a “Lian Li Lancool” Mesh Performance look like? The name promises an emphasis on cooling, but the case is also characterized by the extra modularity of the individual parts.

Motherboard cooling tests

Lian Li Lancool? Lian Li is historically known for using more aluminium than its “steel” competitors. Lancool, on the other hand, was at a time a separate brand for, say, cheaper Lian Li derivatives. But what does a “Lian Li Lancool” Mesh Performance look like? The name promises an emphasis on cooling, but the case is also characterized by the extra modularity of the individual parts.

SSD cooling tests

Temperatures underneath the ceiling

Lian Li Lancool? Lian Li is historically known for using more aluminium than its “steel” competitors. Lancool, on the other hand, was at a time a separate brand for, say, cheaper Lian Li derivatives. But what does a “Lian Li Lancool” Mesh Performance look like? The name promises an emphasis on cooling, but the case is also characterized by the extra modularity of the individual parts.

Conclusion

The Lancool II Mesh Performance case has kept pace with other competitors in cooling. When it came to CPU and graphics card cooling, it kept up and didn’t stand out from the rest. It had a slight edge in cooling the chipset and mosfets. And at 39 dBA, the fan performance was only at 55 %. Using the medium performance mode, which is set for the fans at 75 %, it would have been even more successful with a noise level of 42.9 dBA.

The overall design of the case is qualitatively at a high level with sheet thicknesses of an enormous 0.85 mm. There is nothing to bend. The hinged parts of the case offer you quick access to the interior from both sides. Also, the installation of the hardware into the case is intuitive and suitable even for “first time” installers. They don’t have to worry about a lot of cables, where and how to place them in the case. The case is ready to adapt to your needs.

I have only three things to criticize about the case. The first is the lack of a dust filter on the intake. Although there is perforation on the front, the holes are too large to prevent smaller dust particles from entering. The second is the need to buy a USB Type-C connector for an additional 15 euros if you want to have it in the case. The third thing that was not pleasant for me was the resonant noises from the front intake fans at higher speeds.

Deciding on the right award was quite difficult, but in the end we give it „Approved“. If even one of the negatives would go away, it would be a ” Smart buy!”.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

• Contents
• Folding exterior
• Everything customizable
• Test methodology
• CPU and GPU cooling tests
• Motherboard cooling tests
• SSD cooling test and temperature underneath the ceiling
• Conclusion