Lian Li Lancool 2 Obsolete?

[GavJL]

So i have recently (read JUST) taken delivery of my Lancool 2 as it had mostly glowing reviews and seemed to be a very popular case.

But in the last day or so the reviews of the Mesh version have been dropping and now the non mesh is being spoken about like a poor relative.

I know the tech industry moves fast but I'm suddenly getting buyers remorse. I know they're basically the same case with the Mesh improving the airflow considerably but is the original really BAD or just "Not as good"?

 

[Minstadave]

Its awful, filthy non mesh peasant.

 

[jsbombjack]

No mesh, no spesh?

Sorry, best I could do

That said, if you're happy with your case, and your temps are ok for your use case/hardware, then don't worry about it

 

[VaderDSL]

Hard to say, it’s not bad. But on the gamers nexus review the mesh was 44 over ambient under load and the non mesh was 55 over ambient for the cpu temp.

But if it’s for games and general use I don’t think you’ll have an issue.

 

[GavJL]

Heat wise im running a Ryzen 9 3900x on the stock cooler (waiting for a specific aftermarket model to come into stock) and a 2080 Super. I haven't seen temps because i haven't built it yet but i suppose thats the first thing ill need to test. .

 

[Toothy1911]

You can get a kit to convert it to mesh.

 

[GavJL]

You can get a kit to convert it to mesh.

I will definitely look into this.

 

[Toothy1911]

I will definitely look into this.

 

[McPhee]

Lancool II was never the absolute best at cooling. If that's what you wanted, surely you would have bought a mesh front case from Phanteks or Fractal instead?

What the Lancool II was (and still is) is a great looking case with excellent front RGB. And that's still true now. IMHO, the Lancool II Mesh didn't change much. It just offered the Lancool II's features with the cooling of a Meshify or P400A.

 

[djxput]

One thing to note about the new case that has got glowing reviews ... the hole spaces are 1.5mm - how much dust will be in the case as a result? ...

 

[henson0115]

the lancool 2 non mesh is perfectly fine at cooling if you have already replaced the stock fans, tested compared to an air 540 and it actually runs cooler with he same 3 noctua front fans, most people saying its not great at cooling are likely referring to the case with the crappy stock fans(s). saying this, i want the mesh side panel, so will buy the upgrade kit when/if it comes. but the mesh front wont make more than 1-4 degrees difference. im running a 3900x that doesn't go above 74c under stress testing, i have a PH-TC14PE with the fans replaced by noctuas. same setup previously in an air 540 was slightly warmer.

 

[GavJL]

Im currentl using the Sotck Fans (2 in front, 1 at back) which seems ok but i'm looking to upgrade and check best arrangement at some point.

 

[£15]

One thing to note about the new case that has got glowing reviews ... the hole spaces are 1.5mm - how much dust will be in the case as a result? ...

I've got the mesh coming and initially will be running it as it comes, but has anyone used one king enough to discover if dust is an issue? Have you considered any sort of filter, eg the wife's tights?

 

[pc-guy]

People need to be put in perspective with these obsession of low temps and temp delta.

55c over ambient (cooling doesn’t work off that offset in a linear way. Depend on humidity air density and atmospheric pressure). For GN to outright normalise the test data in this way is highly misleading. Test rig in 21c air con room with extremely low humidity is very different to a British heatwave or a small room in a house that’s had central heating turned on all day.

anyway, with the caveat out of the way. Back to the point about obsession of temps, ok a case delivers temps around 70c while another under the exact same condition gives 60c. One performs better BUT does it really matter. The CPU can live under 100c heat and usual op temp is around 80c so why does it matter? You are not putting your fingers on the CPU so if it runs a little hotter than the mesh front then why do you care?

Lancool 2 is a fantastic case, got loads of innovations and ample space. Wouldn’t worry about what reviews say. It’s your case and your PC as long as you are happy with its look/function then why pay attention to people like Steve Burke (click baiter)

 

[Needles]

I wouldnt say Steve Burke is a click baiter to be fair.

Lancool 2 is still a good case but when measured against other cases with relation to airflow and temps, it is not as good as others.

Pointing that out isn't click bait.

I take it reviewing different thermal interface material or air coolers or AIO is click bait material also?

 

[pc-guy]

@Needles in my opinion steve is a massive click baiter...just go to his you tube channel. look at them titles for the videos, all of them are attention crabbing. You proabbly will argue, that's the content, but seriously a sour faced Steve tearing his hair out etc and the text descriptions in the thumnail
"it will explode any second", "Dont do it like this" "intel Screwed" etc etc.

then you look at the LANCOOL 2 mesh review the difference is 8 degrees. Is that really critical? Lancool 2 performed mid table but in all events quite well. when he standardised the fans, the LANCOOL 2 is on par with meshify c. the Lancool 2 mesh obvioiusly got better performance, 5 degrees, is that something anyone needs to be stressing over?

essentially, all of it is really not useful as none of the case cause any of the components to overheat or thermally throttle. Again, i don't know why people start to pay so much attention to how many degree their CPU GPU or case temperature is.

Cooling for pc parts is to keep the components under a set thermal limit so the parts dont throttle. temps being lower doesnt mean the silicon is gonna run faster. you may have more headroom to put more volts through it and overclock but most people go balls out on overclock anyways so they are limited by quality of silicon as opposed to how good the cooling is.

pointing out difference is ok. but on balance Steve should be saying does this matter to your average user - no, it doesnt. by that statement almost his entire playlist of tests on cases can be rendered pointless.

 

[Needles]

@Needles in my opinion steve is a massive click baiter...just go to his you tube channel. look at them titles for the videos, all of them are attention crabbing. You proabbly will argue, that's the content, but seriously a sour faced Steve tearing his hair out etc and the text descriptions in the thumnail
"it will explode any second", "Dont do it like this" "intel Screwed" etc etc.

then you look at the LANCOOL 2 mesh review the difference is 8 degrees. Is that really critical? Lancool 2 performed mid table but in all events quite well. when he standardised the fans, the LANCOOL 2 is on par with meshify c. the Lancool 2 mesh obvioiusly got better performance, 5 degrees, is that something anyone needs to be stressing over?

essentially, all of it is really not useful as none of the case cause any of the components to overheat or thermally throttle. Again, i don't know why people start to pay so much attention to how many degree their CPU GPU or case temperature is.

Cooling for pc parts is to keep the components under a set thermal limit so the parts dont throttle. temps being lower doesnt mean the silicon is gonna run faster. you may have more headroom to put more volts through it and overclock but most people go balls out on overclock anyways so they are limited by quality of silicon as opposed to how good the cooling is.

pointing out difference is ok. but on balance Steve should be saying does this matter to your average user - no, it doesnt. by that statement almost his entire playlist of tests on cases can be rendered pointless.

I dont think he targets his reviews for the average user, he does quite a lot of deep dive reviews and analysis. There are plenty of other fluff level reviewers out there.

Steve has a following and a good reputation for a reason, I understand you think he is overly critical / negative but I suppose it is up to the consumer to decide whether the 5 degree difference is a concern / issue / reason not to buy.

 

[pc-guy]

I dont think he targets his reviews for the average user, he does quite a lot of deep dive reviews and analysis. There are plenty of other fluff level reviewers out there.

Steve has a following and a good reputation for a reason, I understand you think he is overly critical / negative but I suppose it is up to the consumer to decide whether the 5 degree difference is a concern / issue / reason not to buy.

Annoyingly he might be single handily driving the case design trend. More and more cases got mesh fronts. I am not against them. But the more air that case let’s in it more dust accumulates on the mesh and fronts and settles inside the case

I actually happen to think and believe the LAN Cool 2 is a really good balance of mesh/vents and solid pieces.

if the whole case is wrapped in mesh like the land cool 2 air flow. Why even bother with the mesh. Lol. I can’t imagine how dusty that case and insides will be.

I used to operate a silent case where by there were loads of foams to dampen noise and only way air can come in is through the vents on the side and a set of filter/grill. I never had any issues with dust inside my case. A good hover over the mesh then it is good as new.

now I have a choice of solid glass fronts with next to no ventilation or completely open fronts sides and tops.

So my options are running fans at max speed like little turbines. Or have to clean my case A LOT and live with rings of dust pattern on the front of my pc all the time.

I just wish case manufacturers can just forget about his channel and do something sensible.

 

[McPhee]

I dont think he targets his reviews for the average user, he does quite a lot of deep dive reviews and analysis. There are plenty of other fluff level reviewers out there.

Steve has a following and a good reputation for a reason, I understand you think he is overly critical / negative but I suppose it is up to the consumer to decide whether the 5 degree difference is a concern / issue / reason not to buy.

Thing is, it's not even 5°C. It's 5°C with high-end, hot running parts. If there's one thing that always gets lost in the GN marketing noise, it's that the differences will tend to be lower with cooler-running parts. It's often mentioned in their videos, but in passing.

Lancool II vs Mesh is an interesting example, really. The Mesh is basically the same case. But GN need you to sit through a second review video as it's how they make money. If the video is subtitled "a minor improvement", it isn't likely to get as many views. Instead, the differences need to be played up. It's not really Steve's fault. It's just the nature of the business. I'm sure the videos would be quite different if money wasn't a factor.

 

[Kush Saparia]

The mesh also cleans up on some areas where the lancool II messed up on. For example, the magnets that held the bottom part of the side panels in place used to chip away when shutting the doors. The new variant of the case added some padding on top of the magnets to stop this.