To simulate thermal demand we run the Cinebench R23 multi-thread benchmark and 3DMark Time Spy Extreme stress test simultaneously in a loop for 60 minutes to fully load the system. This gives the CPU and GPU enough time to reach constant steady-state temperature. With this data, we can compare how the system handles the thermal demand and measure peak noise levels. A look up enriches us with even more mesh. With this air permeability, Lian Li wants to treat your PC components to as much cool air as possible. At the bottom of the case we also have mesh, but there also with dust protection, so that nothing can get to your power supply or the associated chamber. This can also be removed easily. Ansicht Vorne Optimised for air and liquid cooling with an adjustable motherboard position and a rotatable rear I/O. Liquid cooling mode creates more space at the top of the case for radiator installation while air cooling setup allows for the installation of large air coolers while still offering vertical GPU mounting. A reversible front I/O allows users to re-position the front panel from the top of the case to the bottom left-hand side. This means that users with floor-mounted or desk-mounted cases can have easy access to the front I/O. Basically, we can already assume that this case, like most Lian Li cases, has a good airflow and already has nice RGB effects pre-installed. But is this also the case here? And what design options does the latest Lancool offer? Is there enough space for proper cable management? We will now take a look at this and much more together in this test. Technical data: Model

Another factor that’s worth noting about the Lian Li 216 is that it supports a range or accessories, which include an ARGB/USB expansion module, a PCIe riser cable for vertically mounted graphics cards, an a optional dust filter that can allow PC builders to take their dust management to the next level. Talking of which, this chassis comes bundled with two 160mm fans in the front and one 140mm on the rear alongside a fan/RGB hub supporting up to four ARGB and PWM fans. To feed them with fresh air, there is mesh everywhere, even on the lower portion below the glass side panel. Adding additional 120mm fans to the PSU shroud helped drop GPU temperature again and installing the rear external fan mount, equipped with a 120mm Lian Li UNI Fan SL120 V2 reduced GPU temperature even further. With these extra fans installed the case cooling goes from good to great. There are six storage bays; four of them supporting 3.5in drives, which is enough for many terabytes of data, not even counting M.2 ports. By installing the external fan slightly wonky and with only one screw I was able to connect to one HDMI port on the graphics card and run the thermal tests. Hopefully, Lian Li can take a second look at the fan mount and modify it so that it can compatible with more system configurations as it is genuinely a good feature, especially when combined with the PSU shroud mounted fans.

Other than this minor inconvenience, the Lian Li Lancool 216 is an excellent mid-range chassis. Installing a system inside the case is easy, the adjustable motherboard mounting position makes motherboard components at the top of the case accessible when in water cooling mode with a top-mounted radiator and for those who want to air cool the system the motherboard can be lifted to create more space for bigger bottom fans and large CPU air coolers while still being able to mount a big graphics card vertically. Extensive cable management is provided by three large cable straps in the central channel, an additional cable management channel to the right of the motherboard tray includes three clips for CPU EPS power cable routing while multiple cable cutouts are placed in handy locations.

Supported hardware includes motherboards up to E-ATX form factor, CPU cooler height of up to 180.5mm, a maximum graphics card length of up to 392mm and power supplies up to 220mm long.

All this is excellent news for users of high-end graphics cards. However, the implementation of this feature is flawed as it is only compatible with motherboard and graphics card combinations that place the graphics card video outputs in the top PCIe slot. With the majority of motherboard and graphics card combinations, you will find that the video outputs populate the second and third PCIe slots which means that you can't install the external fan and access video outputs. All temperature measurements are presented as Deltas – meaning the ambient temperature has been deducted from the CPU temperature giving us a Delta. Data shown in the charts represent the average component temperature over the length of the test as measured by HWiNFO and then the last 15 minutes of the data are calculated to get the average. The ambient temperature during thermal tests is between 20-21⁰C. While the case is designed to support two 160mm fans at its front, the Lian Li 216 can also support wither three 120mm fans or two 140mm fans, allowing the case to support a front mounted 360mm radiator or a 280mm radiator if needed. The top of Lian Li’s 216 chassis can also support three 120mm fans or two 140mm fans. While the case’s specifications do not mention this, the LANCOOL 216 appears to have mounts for two 160mm fans. The 216 is a chassis from Lian Li that is designed to act as a blank canvas, offering PC builders the option to exploit this case’s unique features to create truly custom PCs. We will look deeper at this case’s custom features later in this review.