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If aquarium cases dominated the PC gaming market in the first half of this year, the popularity of wood cases is unmistakable in the second half. For consumers tired of flashy RGB lighting and users who value desk aesthetics, designs that use natural materials while remaining luxurious and timeless are gaining attention.
Following the success of the A3 Wood Edition, global PC case manufacturer Lian Li has officially launched a computer case using natural wood. The product making waves among global PC builders, including in the Chinese market, is the Lian Li LANCOOL 217. Let’s take a closer look to see if this product can satisfy both design and performance as a recommended computer case.
Product Composition and Specifications
The Lian Li LANCOOL 217 is designed as a mid-tower case and offers considerable expandability. It supports motherboards ranging from Mini-ITX to E-ATX (up to 280mm) and SSI-EEB (up to 330mm), fully supporting the latest back connector motherboards.
The product comes with a rich set of components. A reusable screw storage box organizes various screws by purpose, and a detailed assembly manual is included. Notably, the HDD cage is packaged separately to prevent damage during transport.
A variety of brackets and accessories are provided as standard, including 120mm/140mm fan rails for front fan replacement, internal shroud cover plates for GPU configurations, and a fine dust filter for the front.
Design
The form factor of the Lian Li LANCOOL 217 is 482mm (depth) x 238mm (width) x 503mm (height), providing a large size and ample space, making it easy to assemble high-performance hardware.
It is available in two colors: black and white, each using different types of wood. The black model uses luxurious walnut, while the white model uses bright and clean birch. This wood case design breaks away from the uniform appearance of existing PC cases, allowing for a unique desk environment. Wood accents are appropriately placed on the front and top, giving a natural yet sophisticated feel.
The left panel uses tempered glass to allow a view of the system’s interior, while the right side is composed of a steel cover. Each side’s lower part features mesh perforations to optimize airflow, ensuring practicality is not overlooked.
The top is designed with a removable cover and also features mesh perforations, with a removable dust filter applied to the bottom for easy maintenance.
Wood Frame
The standout feature of this product is undoubtedly the wood frame, which adds a luxurious and natural touch to what could be a mundane PC case. This natural wood decoration provides warmth and elegance that cannot be expressed with traditional plastic or metal materials. Such a design remains timeless and blends naturally with various desk aesthetics.
It appeals to users who prefer a calm and mature PC environment over the flashy RGB lighting, with the natural feel of the wood elevating the overall quality of the case.
IO Ports
The IO port configuration is designed for users who place their computer case on their desk, located at the lower left of the main body. The port configuration includes a power button, a 3.5mm audio jack, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, and one latest USB 3.2 Type-C port.
Dust Filter
The LANCOOL 217 features a front cover with a well-ventilated mesh design, adopting an easily detachable magnetic method. An additional fine dust filter introduced in the components can be installed, keeping the system’s interior clean even in dusty environments. A sliding dust filter is also applied to the bottom, effectively blocking dust from entering the power supply.
Cooling System
One of the most impressive features of the Lian Li LANCOOL 217 is the five cooling fans provided as standard. These high-performance non-RGB cooling fans deliver optimal cooling efficiency without the need for additional fan purchases.
The front is equipped with two large 170mm cooling fans. The position of these fans can be adjusted according to the cooling priority of the CPU or GPU, allowing for a setup that matches the user’s system configuration. The front cooling fans can be easily attached and detached in a modular way without screws.
The rear comes with a standard 140mm exhaust fan, and two 120mm reverse fans are provided in the PSU chamber. With a total of five fans included, it saves the cost of purchasing additional fans. However, since they are non-RGB fans, additional expenses may occur for users who prefer RGB lighting.
Internal Design
The internal space allows for the installation of EEB form factor motherboards beyond E-ATX, fully supporting back connector motherboards with power ports located on the back of the motherboard.
The chassis thickness uses thick 0.8T steel plates from the main chassis to the motherboard panel, providing excellent sturdiness and vibration suppression.
Graphics cards up to 380mm in length can be installed, and a basic graphics card support bracket is provided. This bracket must be removed when installing E-ATX or larger motherboards, but it can stably support most high-performance graphics cards.
An especially interesting feature is that the power supply can be mounted in two ways. It can be installed in the usual rear direction, but it can also be rotated 90 degrees for easier cable routing. The lower left cover is also designed to be detachable, making it easy to remove the hard cage or organize cables.
Cable Routing and Hub
As expected from a professional PC case manufacturer, the cable routing design is excellent. Multiple cable holes are equipped with rubber grommets to prevent cable damage, and Velcro ties are provided as standard, eliminating the need for separate cable ties.
A 6-port PWM hub is included for controlling the cooling fans provided as standard, and four 5V ARGB ports are also available. This is a significant advantage as it eliminates the need to purchase a separate fan hub when configuring additional RGB cooling fans.
Storage Bay
The Lian Li LANCOOL 217 offers substantial storage space for power users. Two 2.5-inch SSD trays are provided on the side, and one SSD can be mounted in the PSU chamber.
Two sliding drive cages are provided at the bottom, allowing for the installation of a total of four 2.5-inch SSDs or two 3.5-inch HDDs. This configuration is very useful for users setting up video editing or personal NAS systems.
Installation and Usage
There were no particular difficulties during the actual assembly process. The detachable fan bracket at the top made it very convenient to install a liquid cooler, and the excellent cable routing design made organizing easy and straightforward.
Due to its non-RGB design, it felt more like a sophisticated interior item for users tired of the flashy gaming aesthetic. The natural feel of the wood, in particular, elevated the overall desk aesthetic to a more luxurious level.
After assembly, the system operation confirmed excellent cooling performance, and the fan noise was quite quiet, thanks to the large fans installed at both the front and rear.
In Conclusion
The Lian Li LANCOOL 217 is more than just a wood case; it is a recommended computer case that combines cooling performance, practicality, and assembly convenience. It showcases high completeness in all aspects, from the luxurious design of natural wood, five standard cooling fans, excellent expandability, to user-friendly design.
It seems to be particularly recommended for users who are tired of RGB lighting and want a more luxurious and sophisticated PC environment, users who care about desk aesthetics, and users who want excellent cooling performance for high-performance systems.
If you are looking for a product that combines differentiated design and practicality among mid-tower cases, it would be good to keep an eye on the Lian Li LANCOOL 217.
