Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF Mid-Tower Chassis Review

TweakTown Rating: 96%

Our Verdict

Lian Li tick all the boxes again, with some adjustments to the original LANCOOL 217, resulting in great overall performance and fantastic looks.

Pros

• Build quality
• Thermal performance
• Good price point
• BTF compatibility
• System expandability

Cons

• No hub for additional fans

Should you buy it?

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Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

The Lian Li LANCOOL 217 has been a popular case among the self-build community since its release, with comparisons to the Antec Flux Pro due to its resemblance. Today, though, we are looking at the next evolution of the Lian Li LANCOOL 217, the Lian LI LANCOOL 217 INF. This new version of the case builds on the airflow-driven design of the original, but adds an infinity-mirrored front panel. This panel creates a depth effect, with cutouts for the two front-mounted 170mm fans. It's a striking contrast to the original case, launching at $124.99 for a black version or $129.99 for a white version, which is only around a $5 increase over the original Lian LI LANCOOL 217.

This new iteration also includes a few other changes over the original LANCOOL 217, but do they add anything more in terms of value and performance, or is it all just aesthetics? Well, today, I will be finding out, as Lian Li sent over their new LANCOOL 217 INF for review, along with an original LANCOOL 217 for comparison. While I will make references to the original case, I won't be going in depth as we have already covered this case, check it out here.

Best Deals: Lian Li LANCOOL 217 Mid-Tower Chassis

	Today	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$124.44 USD	$103.49 USD	$124.99 USD	Buy
	$190.16 CAD	$193.49 CAD	$189.11 CAD	Buy
	£211.83	£197.99	£233.16	Buy
	$124.44 USD	$103.49 USD	$124.99 USD	Buy
	$209 AUD	-	$209 AUD	Buy
* Prices last scanned 12/12/2025 at 8:52 am CST - prices may be inaccurate. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We earn affiliate commission from any Newegg or PCCG sales.

Packaging

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The Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF arrived in a familiar brown cardboard box. There is information on the front showing the included fans and infinity mirror design. Lian Li provides a one-year warranty on the case and a three-year warranty on the fans. Around the back, Lian Li provides the case dimensions in a front and side view. Both sides of the packaging offer nothing of note.

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Our review sample is packaged with closed-cell foam and a standard plastic bag. The case ships with the accessory box, which is held within the foam.

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Checking out the accessories before we move to the case: an instruction manual, some covers, and brackets for changing the case layout, with most of the box filled with foam to close up the space. Lian Li also provides a little parts case that holds all the included screws, mounting isolators, and spare pogo pin catches.

Outside the Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF

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Now that the packaging has been put aside, I can look at the case for the first time. My initial reaction to the Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF is that it's a good-looking case; it seems spacious and well laid out. I am sure we will learn more as we move around the case. There isn't a great deal of clearance underneath on first glance, so the power supply's cooling may be called into question. For those who own a LANCOOL 217, there isn't much change here - just subtle tweaks.

Further Mid-Tower Cases Reading – Our Latest Reviews

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• Corsair Air 5400 LX-R RGB iCUE LINK Mid-Tower Chassis Review

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With my usual walk around, we will start at the top. The top panel is fully vented, with a notable difference from the original LANCOOL 217. Here, the IO can be moved from its default bottom-side location to the top panel, with a recess cut out of the top panel's side area. The placement of the IO on the original case was subject to some criticism, so Lian Li has implemented the option to move it to the top panel should you wish to.

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Lian Li has retained the top-mounted power button but removed the second one from the IO area, so a single button features on the 217 INF, compared to the original case. Here, there are two extra buttons, one on each side of the power switch. These are to control the fan lighting effects within the case. M1 controls the infinity mirror lighting, with M2 covering the internal fans. Further, Lian Li includes the L-Connect receiver, so fan speed and ARGB lighting can be controlled wirelessly.

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The front of the case is obviously the main focal point, with two large cutouts for the included 170mm fans to breathe. The best way I can describe the covers is that they remind me of a speaker grille. The front looks great, and I can't wait to see it lit up once the test system is built with the infinity mirror effect. At the bottom, the Lian Li logo is included in the plastic surround.

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The rear side panel is nothing special, with venting just as the original 217 to the bottom.

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Moving to the rear, the top panel is removed by pulling it up via the protruding grab point and held in place with Pogo pin attachments. Both front and rear side panels are the same, so no captive thumbscrews are included to secure them. Motherboard I/O and rear-fan mounting options are standard, with vertical fan adjustment included. There are three external tie-down points on the left-hand side, and a standard seven-slot PCIe bracket that is rotatable for vertical GPU installation. One captive thumbscrew is included for removing the front side lower vent panel, which provides more access to the basement area.

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At the bottom, the case swerves away from the norm. Lian Li offers the same power supply arrangement as the original LANCOOL 217, with two mounting options. As standard, the blanking panel is removed for a traditional installation, allowing power supplies up to 220mm to be installed. Rotating 90 degrees, you can install the power supply with the connections facing the rear side panel, up to 180mm, for easier cable installation and maintenance. This uses the internal extension, with the power lead connection to the three-pin socket on the bottom left of the case.

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Going underneath, the Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF does not offer as much ground clearance as seen on some other cases, but it seems sufficient when placed on a solid surface rather than a carpet. There is a rear removable dust filter for the power supply, with internal drive cage installation thumbscrews located towards the front. Rubber pads are included to prevent the case from sliding around your desk.

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Just before we jump in, here are the two cases side by side. The Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF sports the infinity mirror front, and the differences in the side-mounted IO options are evident with the removal of the power button.

Inside the Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF

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Removing the top cover provides access to the top removable fan and radiator mount. The cutout in the case offers space for mounting the repositionable IO module, with the exposed PCB for power and fan control at the front.

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The cover includes fine-mesh filtration but is not removable. As mentioned earlier, this cover consists of a cutout and blanking plate to move the IO to this position.

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Showing the internals with the basement cover both on and off, you can see just how much space is available within the Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF. Overall, the case is almost identical to the original 217. I noticed some differences in the front internal structure around the fans; there are no removable plastic blanks, just a solid metal frame. The case includes three fans: two 170mm at the front and a 140mm at the rear.

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Both cases are pictured here for a side-by-side comparison. The LANCOOL 217 INF comes with the drive cages preinstalled, where the original does not. Note that the two fans mounted above the basement in the LANCOOL 217 are missing from the LANCOOL 217 INF version and do not come as standard.

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The basement, pictured with the two HDD cases preinstalled. The Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF includes two drive cages here; this can support up to six 2.5" SSDs, with one below the caddy, one 3.5" HDD or 2.5"SSD above the caddy, and one 2.5" SSD or one 3.5" HDD above the cage. Only one drive cage is supported when mounting the PSU in a traditional layout.

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Above the basement, up to three 2.5" SSDs can be installed on the vent panel, or this can be removed to install three 120mm fans instead, using the included screws and isolator washers, slotting the fans into place, rather than being screwed down.

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The main chamber provides a spacious interior, with support for BTF motherboards and SSI-EEB up to 330mm wide by removing part of the rear panel that includes the graphics card support bracket. The bracket offers vertical adjustment with a small lip to support the card, while I have seen better, more sturdy implementations of the GPU support bracket. Here, it is a capable addition but lacks enough adjustment. Cable grommets are large and well-spaced for connecting a traditional motherboard to the power supply.

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The top of the case includes the removable fan bracket; two screws allow this to be detached from the chassis. Below this, there are more generous, smooth-edged cable-routing cutouts around the motherboard, along with a large opening for cooler installation.

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Around the back of the motherboard tray, there are sleds for two 2.5" drives to be installed, with captive thumbscrews to secure them. The included hub supports the preinstalled fans and ARGB lighting, but does not include additional ports for adding extra fans. While this is a shame, the included cooling is all prewired and ready to go. There are several Velcro ties spread well for routing cables, with retaining clips to the rear edge that are nice to have to keep wires tucked out of the way. All included cabling matches the case's white paint finish, and the power supply extension cable is long enough to route easily. The power supply mount also has tall pads installed on the bottom to lift the unit further from the floor for cooling and provide vibration isolation. This inclusion has addressed my earlier concern about exterior power supply ventilation.

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Finally, before heading to testing, the front of the LANCOOL 217 INF pulls away to reveal the front intake fans. The front fans are screwed into place, rather than mounted on isolators like the original LANCOOL 217. Here you can also see the IO panel secured in place.

Installation, Testing, Finished Product, and Final Thoughts

Kris' Test System Specifications

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Putting together the test system for this case was as straightforward as it gets. Even installing the power supply, being rotated 90 degrees, didn't throw up any issues. The one thing I would say is that, if you are looking to build, in this case, reposition the IO first, if that is something you want to do. While I left it in its default configuration, I think this would be easier to do before building out the rest of the system. I didn't run into any issues, but the cable management space to the rear could do with being a little deeper to make refitting the rear panel easier. If I were building this for my personal system, I would look to remove one of the drive sleds and mount the power supply traditionally, just to gain some more clearance.

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Our finished system looks smart, and it would be an excellent case for an all-white build. With the system ready, let's get to testing.

The system I have built for testing includes an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU, housed on an MSI B850 Tomahawk Max Wi-Fi Motherboard, paired with two 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 memory modules. Our CPU is kept cool using the be quiet! Dark Rock Elite. For storage, I am using a Corsair MP700 Elite 1TB NVMe M.2 drive. Finally, for graphics, I have an ASUS Prime RTX 4070 12 GB Super. Testing is completed with PBO enabled, AXMP1, and MSI Smart fan configuration.

All testing was completed using Aida64 Engineer's System Stability Test v7.65.7400 for 2 hours. Other software used was HWiNFO 64 v8.30-5800, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.68.0, and CPU-Z v2.15.0 x64.

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The Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF was tested in several configurations at an ambient temperature of 22 °C. First, as standard, the LANCOOL 217 INF provided a maximum CPU temperature of 76.4 °C, with an average over the two hours of testing of 74 °C. For graphics, the ASUS Prime GeForce RTX 4070 Super OC reached 73.3 °C, with an average of 72.1 °C.

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Testing was then carried out again, this time with two extra fans installed in the basement, just as with the standard LANCOOL 217. Here, testing produced different results: the CPU maxed out at 79C, and the average was 74.5C. This time, for graphics, the maximum was 68.8 °C and the average was 67.6 °C. The higher CPU temperature could then be due to the bottom fans pushing warm air up to the CPU cooler.

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In comparison, the same system was then installed in the original LANCOOL 217 and tested again, giving a maximum CPU temperature of 77 °C and an average of 74.4 °C. This time, the GPU reached a maximum of 67.3 °C and an average of 65.5 °C.

Overall, the performance differences are slight, with the standard 217 INF configuration beating out the addition of two extra fans for the average CPU temperature. At the same time, the original LANCOOL 217 produced the best graphics temperature. In my testing charts, the LANCOOL 217 INF in the default configuration for CPU average sits between the Corsair 4500X and the original LANCOOL 217. In contrast, the GPU average sits between the Antec Curve C8 and the HAVN HS 420 VGPU. Notably, the original LANCOOL 217 produced the best GPU temperature I have seen since being with TweakTown at 65.5 °C.

In conclusion, the Lian Li LANCOOL 217 INF is well-built, has good color matching throughout, and performs very well. Compared to the original, given the pricing and performance, the choice of which to pick pretty much comes down to the case's aesthetics. The 217 INF version offers a bit more glamour and bling, while the original LANCOOL 217 quietly goes about its business. Both are more than capable cases that offer water-cooling support and will serve you well. Either way, you won't go wrong with this case for your next build; the value factor is there, and while there are alternatives, there is a reason this case is so popular among the community.