Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh Performance

[Superjoe]

My previous case was a Lian-Li PC-O11 Dynamic in white. Not the best case in terms of heat airflow but a pleasure to work in and a real visual spectacle. Also made me a Lian-Li convert.

I made some recent upgrades to my CPU/GPU that just overwhelmed the case both physically and thermally. I want to take the plunge to custom water cooling soon, but for now I needed a case that had a bigger layout for my video card and enough airflow to not hear fans again. If I can get wet in the future with the same case, even better.

Came down to two cases for me. This LL Lancool II Mesh Performance, or the fairly recent Phanteks p500a. On paper, with more 140mm fans that was my first choice but it is hard to find right now. Well let me say, I don't regret this Lian-Li one bit.



Very easy case to work in. The one and only drawback to me is although you can fit two 140mm in the top, you can't fit a 280mm rad. And it's so f'ing close I can taste it but too bad.



I love the two cover panels for the cable management. It's a matching glass door just like the other side so this way your cables are concealed no matter how shitty they look!

That's a 1200w PSU and it almost looks small in there. In front of it is a sliding rail for the triple HDD cage but I'm thinking that's a great place to set a pump.



The two 120's above the PSU are legit (well fuck ML120's, I just mean the location). They get unrestricted and relatively "fresh" air through the mesh flip up panel that covers the psu



This last pic just shows what the optional diffused RGB strip looks like. When I first pulled it out of the packaging I was dumbfounded at why it be made in a white plastic body but in the end installed correctly it looks great. If you're into that sort of thing.



Sure my pics suck, lol, but I figured I share a recommendation for this case. Plan to post a couple more when I mount the GPU vertically. The riser cable that comes with the bracket is ridiculously long, like it reaches the cpu socket long, so I'm waiting on a good 4.0 exact fitting one comes in.

Oh and if you don't get the RGB version of the case you get a fan controller in the top. It isn't bad, will run 6 PWM fans. But the low, medium and high are "silent, fucking loud, and just a fucking bit louder". There's a fourth position that runs off of a motherboard header to turn it over to that but I stupidly put in CPU_OPT the only header that I can't control for some reason so it's still 100%. Anyways, still happy with that.

And yes I stickered the fuck out of my new case. Quarantine been long and boring, everything I own has at least 15 pieces of flair, lol.

Good times, thanks for reading.

 

[MavericK]

Been trying to get a P500A for my next build, but they seem impossible to get right now. Might end up going with this if I can't get a P500A by build time.

 

[Superjoe]

Been trying to get a P500A for my next build, but they seem impossible to get right now. Might end up going with this if I can't get a P500A by build time.

That was also my first choice, but I gotta say, I am soooo happy with my purchase now. I have been waiting on several little bits and pieces to finish the build correctly and the last came in yesterday. Now that it's totally complete and all the cables are managed I don't regret this at all.



The big thing was ditching the Corsair ML120's for some Noctua's. Whereas the middle and top fan controller positions were pretty loud/even louder, now middle is nearly silent and the highest is tolerable for gaming easily. Really don't know why anyone buys Corsair fans, and I'm a huge fan of Corsair (ha). For reference, the fan controller is running the three 120's in the picture and the two 140's in the top. Front rad 120's are run off the H150i. They're Arctic P12's and they don't make a peep even on max.

I really can't knock this case anywhere. It's not for everyone, but this fills its intended role rather well.

 

[somebrains]

ML fans are good for those 60mm+ giant rads where a Vardar or Noctua ippc is too loud.
Kinda like driving a Hellcat in traffic, lots of noise in the wrong use case.

 

[Nobu]

From what I understand, the ones that you buy are better (afa acoustics, at least) than the ones that come with CLCs, but I haven't owned a retail corsair fan to compare.

 

[Superjoe]

The PCIe riser cable that comes with the vertical GPU bracket looks nicely made, but is stupid long. It reaches the CPU socket. I never bothered since it would be folded over itself and smashed against the GPU backplate.

FWIW, this cable is a perfect fit.

 

[Rummy12]

Was looking at this case, thanks for the help. Will be ordering.

 

[Superjoe]

You can fit 2x140mm and a 120mm in the front if you want to max it out. I hate having gaps so this pleases me.



Also, you can fit your WiFi antennae inside if you like, lol.

 

[CyberJunk]

How dark is the glass? Does it have dual TG ? and what is the point of that?

 

[Superjoe]

It is glass on both sides, but the backside has cover panels for your cable management so it still looks clean. The point? It's wicked quick to open the panels and take them off to work on at least. I had to take the system completely apart this morning to remove the motherboard, take off the IO internal cover and tighten up the wifi connectors. An absolute joy to work in.

The glass isn't tinted.

 

[mpineda1110]

Looking for a new case, thanks for your review. Still trying to decide wether this or P500!

 

[xMAGIUSx]

Looking for a new case, thanks for your review. Still trying to decide wether this or P500!

I’m a video card away from having completed a new build in a P500A.

It seems remarkably similar to this case, however I was able to mount a 280mm radiator to the top and 3 140mm fans on the front. That gives it the edge if you ask me.

I specifically wanted the non-rgb version of the case which allowed me to get one without much trouble. I see the RGB P500A has been out of stock for quite a while.

 

[wkearney99]

I've got a build going with this case. Overall I'm pleased with it. I don't have high demands planned for this. Mainly it'll be serving up a bunch of movies and run some minecraft servers for the kids.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/wkearney99/builds/#view=sdMcCJ

The glass panels are tinted. Not by much, but they're not plain clear. It's not enough to obscure seeing anything inside.

I swapped out the factory fans for Silent Wings, along with a Dark Rock CPU cooler. The machine is nearly dead silent.

The only place I'm getting noise is a periodic rattle from the hard drive cage. I've got a pair of shucked WD Easystore 14tb drives, and an ancient Seagate 1TB (this being used for the rare Windows 10 boot for firmware/whatever). The 14tb drives are in a mirror. Their drive IO isn't the problem. It's the harmonic (for lack of a more accurate term) that periodically crops up after prolonged drive IO the array. If I rest a finger against the front of the 3-drive swappable tray the noise goes away. The trays are plastic, and have no room for any sort of dampers between them and the 3.5" drives. The cage for the trays is held into the case using a slide-in tab on the 'front' of the drive trays and a single thumbscrew on the back side. The front of the cage being the right of the case itself (the drives mount side-ways in the lowest area with the power supply). I suppose I'll just shim something under the cage to stiffen it's contact with the case.

I'd give this drive cage arrangement rather low marks, but it beats the riveted-in alternatives from other brands.

I do have one BIG complaint, and that's the omission of the top panel USB-C socket. The hole is there in the case, and it comes with a rubber plug in it. But the USB-C cable is a separate purchase. I bought one and the installation is a pain in the ass. You have to totally remove the top panel controller board, a feat which either means disconnecting all the cables to it, or being creative moving it around while the front fan tray is removed. I went the latter route. I think the money they saved not including this cable was not a good bargain. Because anyone that buys this case and cable is going to bitch about it, and share that displeasure.

But, overall, I'm pleased with the build quality and overall design. If you're looking for a quality case with excellent airflow... this is a good choice.

 

[Autochthon]

Like others on this thread I'm looking at the Phanteks p500a and this Lian Li Lancool II Mesh.
I like the larger size of the p500a, the ability to put a 280 radiator in the top would be nice.
I really don't like the 3.5/2.5 slots choices though. For a case this size I'd expect better drive bay options. Maybe I'm missing something.

The Lancool Mesh has 3 3.5's which is perfect for my system and has enough 2.5's locations to transfer all of my existing drives.
I generally like the look of the Lancool slightly more. Seems a bit neater.

But I dislike that you have to buy additional custom parts to make full use of the case.
The USB cable at the very least should come with the unit and probably the hot swap.
That can't be more than a couple of dollars in parts and they could charge an extra $10 and get no complaint from me.

Any details that I might want to pay attention to when judging these two or a better third option on the price ballpark?

 

[wkearney99]

Before you get too choosy, better check on availability. Phanteks were sold out when I was buying a month ago. Maybe that's changed, don't know.

Sure, the omission of the USB cable is annoying but, in retrospect, I'm not sure how much I'd be using a top-mounted USB socket. Most stuff goes in the back. Personally I'd skip it now that I've had the chance to use the setup a bit.

The backplane works but the aligment is tricky. I found it was best to slot the drives into the backplane first and then tighten down the screws holding it to the drive cage.

I'm pleased with how quiet my 10700k setup is in the Mesh II case. But then I did replace the fans with some Silent Wings units (two 140, one 120). That, coupled with a BeQuiet Dark 4 cooler has made the machine nearly undetectable, noise-wise. I hear the 14tb drive mirror making more noise than anything else (and that's only when there's real thrashing going on). The OS boots from NVMe drives, the array is only for video storage.

 

[James Dean]

View attachment 276915

I saw this case, along with the regular Lancool II, which I have, at Micro Center, and your fans are totally unrestricted above the PSU. On mine, and both of them I saw at MC, there is a grate that the fans mount to. Did you take yours out? That's a GREAT looking build.

 

[pendragon1]

I saw this case, along with the regular Lancool II, which I have, at Micro Center, and your fans are totally unrestricted above the PSU. On mine, and both of them I saw at MC, there is a grate that the fans mount to. Did you take yours out? That's a GREAT looking build.

they are removable. really saving those posts eh?!

 

[John1780]

Just bought this case and couldn't be happier.

 

[vlad_8011]

How about dust cumulation? I'm near to buy it, but still not sure. It mean to be fully air cooled machine.