Lian Li's Brilliant Airflow Design: Lancool 207 Budget Case, 217 Wood, & Wireless RGB (ft. CEO)
video description
Date: 2024-06-04
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 20
omegamark4155
11:31 It would be cool, if more GPUs had an option to blow the air INTO it with their fans (some have the third fan blow up and through already). In this kind of setup here (with 3 fans blowing from the bottom of the case), you wouldn't have fans working against each other (GPU fans blowing against case intake fans). I would even go a step further and reverse the GPU PCB, so now the fans are on TOP of the GPU. They would push the air out and up from the GPU (work with the hot air flow) and be exhausted with the top mounted case fans. This is for the setup where you would have bottom mounted case fans, as it's here. The fans would cool the backplate of the GPU and then feed GPU fans with more air (positive pressure). With the PCB redesign, it would be good to put the PCIX slot somewhere in the middle of the GPU for less sag. All these GPU brackets are just an afterthought.
As I see it, this is the transitional stage for case and computer parts design. Just look at the new mobos with plugs on the back (I've been saying this for years to put the plugs on the back). I think it's time for new standards and complete computer layout redesign that is based on ergonomics, efficiency and optimal cooling combined with good looks and sturdiness. That also goes for fan and RGB headers spread all over the motherboard (simplify the design for less mobo clutter to save space).
reply
11:31 It would be cool, if more GPUs had an option to blow the air INTO it with their fans (some have the third fan blow up and through already). In this kind of setup here (with 3 fans blowing from the bottom of the case), you wouldn't have fans working against each other (GPU fans blowing against case intake fans). I would even go a step further and reverse the GPU PCB, so now the fans are on TOP of the GPU. They would push the air out and up from the GPU (work with the hot air flow) and be exhausted with the top mounted case fans. This is for the setup where you would have bottom mounted case fans, as it's here. The fans would cool the backplate of the GPU and then feed GPU fans with more air (positive pressure). With the PCB redesign, it would be good to put the PCIX slot somewhere in the middle of the GPU for less sag. All these GPU brackets are just an afterthought.
As I see it, this is the transitional stage for case and computer parts design. Just look at the new mobos with plugs on the back (I've been saying this for years to put the plugs on the back). I think it's time for new standards and complete computer layout redesign that is based on ergonomics, efficiency and optimal cooling combined with good looks and sturdiness. That also goes for fan and RGB headers spread all over the motherboard (simplify the design for less mobo clutter to save space).
reply
jtland4842
3:10 Regarding the bottom intake fans on the 207, I am concerned that those will be pulling most of their air from the back the case where the power supply normally is instead of the mesh filtered side pannel since that will be the path of least resistance for the air. There is 2 problems I see with this air flow path.
One is that since the back is unfiltered there will be much more dust getting in than if all the air was passing though the side pannel. Also since this is very near the ground, there will be much more dust getting in than if it was higher like the fans at the front of the case.
The second is that since most of the computer's exhaust (and especially the graphics card) is right above the area where there could be a lot of intake from the bottom fans, there is a risk that some of the hot air that is exhausted from the case will be pulled right back in and measurably increase the intake temperature of the graphics card.
In my opinion they should consider blocking off the area where the power supply normally is to nullify these two conserns.
reply
3:10 Regarding the bottom intake fans on the 207, I am concerned that those will be pulling most of their air from the back the case where the power supply normally is instead of the mesh filtered side pannel since that will be the path of least resistance for the air. There is 2 problems I see with this air flow path.
One is that since the back is unfiltered there will be much more dust getting in than if all the air was passing though the side pannel. Also since this is very near the ground, there will be much more dust getting in than if it was higher like the fans at the front of the case.
The second is that since most of the computer's exhaust (and especially the graphics card) is right above the area where there could be a lot of intake from the bottom fans, there is a risk that some of the hot air that is exhausted from the case will be pulled right back in and measurably increase the intake temperature of the graphics card.
In my opinion they should consider blocking off the area where the power supply normally is to nullify these two conserns.
reply
crisnmaryfam7344
9:35 Ever seen Dirt and dust build up on a Car Radiator Fan Outside of a Stage Rally Course like WRC oor Rally America, You wont EVER. You MIGHT find a tiny bit of crud on the ac condenser fins, that sit in front of the radiator of your car (in most cases) but youll NEVER EVER see the sort of Dust bunny build up, OR even Dirt and Mud build up, like you ABSOLUTELY WILL on a Pc fan. Why is this That POLISH. The fans blades, the radiator fins all of it are built to a much higher spec than that of their PC counterparts. Some people would say Well no sh!t but its not that widely known. Think about it.... Have you EVER heard of a Blower fan for your cars HVAC system , clogging up from Nicotine / Cigarettes' smoke NEVER. The motor fails, causes vibration and horrible noise, OR it just quits completely and wont spin anymore. Glad to see Lian Li look outside of the PC components Box to learn something about Heat control. A Cars Engine, Runs hotter, 24/7 than any computer component does.
reply
9:35 Ever seen Dirt and dust build up on a Car Radiator Fan Outside of a Stage Rally Course like WRC oor Rally America, You wont EVER. You MIGHT find a tiny bit of crud on the ac condenser fins, that sit in front of the radiator of your car (in most cases) but youll NEVER EVER see the sort of Dust bunny build up, OR even Dirt and Mud build up, like you ABSOLUTELY WILL on a Pc fan. Why is this That POLISH. The fans blades, the radiator fins all of it are built to a much higher spec than that of their PC counterparts. Some people would say Well no sh!t but its not that widely known. Think about it.... Have you EVER heard of a Blower fan for your cars HVAC system , clogging up from Nicotine / Cigarettes' smoke NEVER. The motor fails, causes vibration and horrible noise, OR it just quits completely and wont spin anymore. Glad to see Lian Li look outside of the PC components Box to learn something about Heat control. A Cars Engine, Runs hotter, 24/7 than any computer component does.
reply
vlad_8011
Lian Li - if you read this, please stop limiting user for using your fans only. 160mm or 170mm fans are unique, and hard to find. 180mm is perfect for airflow and wide available on the market. Also for some cases, limiting user to use only 120mm at the back is irritating, specially for airflow cases (!).
Dust filters should be in the box, easily accessible. Is user don't want it, he can remove it, but forcing users to spend more to buy them separately is absurd. Dust filters should be made of fabric or nylon - plastic honeycomb filters are just wasting of airflow.
Look at your o11 dynamic for example - people are using 180mm fans with it. But they have to BUY additional mesh kit, MODIFY it for 180mm capability (even if this is one pair of screw holes needed), then they ends up with no dust filter and 120mm at the back.
Your cases need re-do all across.
reply
Lian Li - if you read this, please stop limiting user for using your fans only. 160mm or 170mm fans are unique, and hard to find. 180mm is perfect for airflow and wide available on the market. Also for some cases, limiting user to use only 120mm at the back is irritating, specially for airflow cases (!).
Dust filters should be in the box, easily accessible. Is user don't want it, he can remove it, but forcing users to spend more to buy them separately is absurd. Dust filters should be made of fabric or nylon - plastic honeycomb filters are just wasting of airflow.
Look at your o11 dynamic for example - people are using 180mm fans with it. But they have to BUY additional mesh kit, MODIFY it for 180mm capability (even if this is one pair of screw holes needed), then they ends up with no dust filter and 120mm at the back.
Your cases need re-do all across.
reply
hazonku
I shit you not, I had to buy a whole other fan just to install the 3 pack of TL-LCD fans into my Fractal North because they only give you one cable. Not one for each fan like they've always done with all their other sets, just one cable. They don't even sell the cables by themselves. You just have to buy a whole other fan. Worst part is I can't even give the extra fan to my wife cuz she already has a connected 3pack in her O-11D, and it just can't work with her older Lian Li fans on the bottom of the case. She's literally got 3 controller boxes in there now between her 2 sets of Lian Li fans and her AIO. I'm super excited that Lian LI is addressing these issues and look forward to the wireless RGB future where it's just one damn box to rule them all.
reply
I shit you not, I had to buy a whole other fan just to install the 3 pack of TL-LCD fans into my Fractal North because they only give you one cable. Not one for each fan like they've always done with all their other sets, just one cable. They don't even sell the cables by themselves. You just have to buy a whole other fan. Worst part is I can't even give the extra fan to my wife cuz she already has a connected 3pack in her O-11D, and it just can't work with her older Lian Li fans on the bottom of the case. She's literally got 3 controller boxes in there now between her 2 sets of Lian Li fans and her AIO. I'm super excited that Lian LI is addressing these issues and look forward to the wireless RGB future where it's just one damn box to rule them all.
reply
siberx4
I will never understand the obsession case manufacturers have with dust filters and fine mesh grills. Dust _will_ get into your case no matter what you do, and you pay a huge penalty in airflow having any filter fine enough to catch a meaningful amount of dust.
Just take the case outside and blow it out with compressed air whenever it gets dusty enough to impact performance (at worst every few months, maybe as little as every year or two in low-dust environments). Take your pick of canned air, a high-speed static-free blower, or simply a shop compressor; it'll remove all but the most reluctant dust, takes only a few minutes, and means you get excellent cooling from good airflow at all times.
reply
I will never understand the obsession case manufacturers have with dust filters and fine mesh grills. Dust _will_ get into your case no matter what you do, and you pay a huge penalty in airflow having any filter fine enough to catch a meaningful amount of dust.
Just take the case outside and blow it out with compressed air whenever it gets dusty enough to impact performance (at worst every few months, maybe as little as every year or two in low-dust environments). Take your pick of canned air, a high-speed static-free blower, or simply a shop compressor; it'll remove all but the most reluctant dust, takes only a few minutes, and means you get excellent cooling from good airflow at all times.
reply
fuzz11111111
10:20 I'm in the easier to clean dust off a filter than off the parts inside camp, but I'm not sure I like this design - a big reason to have filters outside is ease of access - I just clean mine with vacuum at same time I'm vacuuming the house (my cases collect almost all dust on front intake so it takes like 10 seconds to clean). Requiring that the case to be opened for filter cleaning partially negates the ease-of-cleaning benefit of using a filter in the first place.
Love the rest of the design though, can see myself using it for computers I build for friends/family.
reply
10:20 I'm in the easier to clean dust off a filter than off the parts inside camp, but I'm not sure I like this design - a big reason to have filters outside is ease of access - I just clean mine with vacuum at same time I'm vacuuming the house (my cases collect almost all dust on front intake so it takes like 10 seconds to clean). Requiring that the case to be opened for filter cleaning partially negates the ease-of-cleaning benefit of using a filter in the first place.
Love the rest of the design though, can see myself using it for computers I build for friends/family.
reply
josephoberlander
Neat idea. My go-to for decades was a slot fan in the bottom to get the same type of airflow to the card. It made a 10C difference, on average. This looks like they have simply included the slot fan. My recommendation, though, would be to test it with the fans in the push and pull configurations. I think you will find that it works better pulling the hot air out of the case. A simple negative pressure design. This of course, sucks in more dust, but gets the hot air out of the case as quickly as possible.
reply
Neat idea. My go-to for decades was a slot fan in the bottom to get the same type of airflow to the card. It made a 10C difference, on average. This looks like they have simply included the slot fan. My recommendation, though, would be to test it with the fans in the push and pull configurations. I think you will find that it works better pulling the hot air out of the case. A simple negative pressure design. This of course, sucks in more dust, but gets the hot air out of the case as quickly as possible.
reply
CornFlakesPC
So the wireless RGB is basically the same as if you would use an ESP32 Dev board with WLED flashed onto it. Why not using SATA as the power source and have the PWM signal also handled over the controller Like either connect a PWM signal cable to the controller OR use the Lian Li software to have their own fan curves This approach would overcome the cable clutter and you wouldn't need to take so much care about amperage
reply
So the wireless RGB is basically the same as if you would use an ESP32 Dev board with WLED flashed onto it. Why not using SATA as the power source and have the PWM signal also handled over the controller Like either connect a PWM signal cable to the controller OR use the Lian Li software to have their own fan curves This approach would overcome the cable clutter and you wouldn't need to take so much care about amperage
reply
clintbishop9145
I wish Lian Li made their cases slightly more modular in the bottom psu shroud and the cable shroud between the mobo and front intake fans. What I mean by this is if someone wanted to load the case with hard drives there was an option to do so, like in the past. Or a modular hard drive cage that holds 8 drives can be inserted. Hope for a rackmount case too from Lian Li that's not all about liquid cooling....
reply
I wish Lian Li made their cases slightly more modular in the bottom psu shroud and the cable shroud between the mobo and front intake fans. What I mean by this is if someone wanted to load the case with hard drives there was an option to do so, like in the past. Or a modular hard drive cage that holds 8 drives can be inserted. Hope for a rackmount case too from Lian Li that's not all about liquid cooling....
reply
anon7631
For the Lancool 207, since you mention that installing 3.5 drives might have a significant impact on thermals, is that something you might include in testing It seems like storage is increasingly becoming an afterthought, if it's thought of at all, and it'd be useful to know when a case has a mounting solution that actually works versus one that's just you technically can, but it suffocates the GPU.
reply
For the Lancool 207, since you mention that installing 3.5 drives might have a significant impact on thermals, is that something you might include in testing It seems like storage is increasingly becoming an afterthought, if it's thought of at all, and it'd be useful to know when a case has a mounting solution that actually works versus one that's just you technically can, but it suffocates the GPU.
reply
ominence9761
I will only buy fanless cases so that no one catches on to my secret that you only need 1 high static flow exhaust fan with a lot of unobstructed fine meshed broad (therefore low pressure) inlet area and never have to clean your PC internals for dust bunnies. Staying on top of the mesh screens is all that is required every 6 odd months and never have to go inside the actual PC at all.
reply
I will only buy fanless cases so that no one catches on to my secret that you only need 1 high static flow exhaust fan with a lot of unobstructed fine meshed broad (therefore low pressure) inlet area and never have to clean your PC internals for dust bunnies. Staying on top of the mesh screens is all that is required every 6 odd months and never have to go inside the actual PC at all.
reply
doingbartthings
wow, the 217 and 207 look great. I really like that layout in the 207. I like it a lot. It should cool very well and it offers desk saving size, great compatibility, and sounds affordable. They should make a fancier version of it keeping the form factor but adding grommets and the IO down to the front or side. /looks over at 217.... OH HELL lol. Lian li killing it there.
reply
wow, the 217 and 207 look great. I really like that layout in the 207. I like it a lot. It should cool very well and it offers desk saving size, great compatibility, and sounds affordable. They should make a fancier version of it keeping the form factor but adding grommets and the IO down to the front or side. /looks over at 217.... OH HELL lol. Lian li killing it there.
reply
DJgregBrown
Who care for the RG B rubbish I like the plane wood one although I hope that isn't the final finish of the wood but it ticked so many more boxes for me, as a 40 something I don't want a PC that looks like it belongs in a teen boys bedroom. In the same way I wouldn't want a Pink Tesla even if it was free. PC cases are personal and many PC people are now in 40s.
reply
Who care for the RG B rubbish I like the plane wood one although I hope that isn't the final finish of the wood but it ticked so many more boxes for me, as a 40 something I don't want a PC that looks like it belongs in a teen boys bedroom. In the same way I wouldn't want a Pink Tesla even if it was free. PC cases are personal and many PC people are now in 40s.
reply
shaneeslick
G'day Steve & Jameson,
Big thanks to Lian Li & Jameson, I love the talks with the people designing/Engineering the products as you get so much more behind the finished product.
Awesome too that Lian Li are listening about what customers are after when it comes to their products, especially for increasing compatability to allow options for saving money.
reply
G'day Steve & Jameson,
Big thanks to Lian Li & Jameson, I love the talks with the people designing/Engineering the products as you get so much more behind the finished product.
Awesome too that Lian Li are listening about what customers are after when it comes to their products, especially for increasing compatability to allow options for saving money.
reply
Zalaniar
Dude, I kinda like Jameson. He's the first CEO I've ever seen who's actually getting his hands dirty, talking about actual real products people can or will be able to buy, and answering questions instead of just dodging them. And the best thing is it seems like he's open to criticism and suggestions and he and his company are really listening and improving.
reply
Dude, I kinda like Jameson. He's the first CEO I've ever seen who's actually getting his hands dirty, talking about actual real products people can or will be able to buy, and answering questions instead of just dodging them. And the best thing is it seems like he's open to criticism and suggestions and he and his company are really listening and improving.
reply
Spike.SpiegeI
I am always impressed when I hear from Jameson. Lian Li is constantly pushing fan and RGB tech forward the past few years. It's great he really listens to the feedback from consumers and is creating new products to solve those problems. Excited to see how these wireless fans work later this year. Also, the idea behind the $80 seems spot on.
reply
I am always impressed when I hear from Jameson. Lian Li is constantly pushing fan and RGB tech forward the past few years. It's great he really listens to the feedback from consumers and is creating new products to solve those problems. Excited to see how these wireless fans work later this year. Also, the idea behind the $80 seems spot on.
reply
ssxxxxss
In my job as a electrian, Wireless ANYTHING is bad, And you only do it if you REALLY cant do it any other way, It's a nice solution for a problem that doesn't exist,
Wireless bells, Wireless Wifi points, Wireless light switchs, Are all nice, But analoge out performances it all and doesn't have anything standing unneedy in a Stand by mode
reply
In my job as a electrian, Wireless ANYTHING is bad, And you only do it if you REALLY cant do it any other way, It's a nice solution for a problem that doesn't exist,
Wireless bells, Wireless Wifi points, Wireless light switchs, Are all nice, But analoge out performances it all and doesn't have anything standing unneedy in a Stand by mode
reply
TheMoldyOne
Planning on a build this year with the newer amd components will use lian li case for it. Will prob get the 9700x to tide me over for the 9950x3d. Going to use my 5950x as a proxmox server. I am currently using a laptop as my proxmox so big upgrades. Will need to get rid of or find a use for my old racks. Like the rgb wireless controller.
reply
Planning on a build this year with the newer amd components will use lian li case for it. Will prob get the 9700x to tide me over for the 9950x3d. Going to use my 5950x as a proxmox server. I am currently using a laptop as my proxmox so big upgrades. Will need to get rid of or find a use for my old racks. Like the rgb wireless controller.
reply
Afro__Joe
It's been a long time since I built a PC, and I'm thinking about building one later this year, can't wait for a proper review of that Lancool case. I wonder if they can get rid of the RGB for some more savings to pass along to consumers, I imagine people looking at cases in this range care more about performance than making it look pretty.
reply
It's been a long time since I built a PC, and I'm thinking about building one later this year, can't wait for a proper review of that Lancool case. I wonder if they can get rid of the RGB for some more savings to pass along to consumers, I imagine people looking at cases in this range care more about performance than making it look pretty.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
