A Closer Look - Inside

To access the interior, first remove the hinged glass panels. To do so, Lian Li created a very cool spring-loaded mechanism that utilizes the two aluminium strips on the front of the Lancool 3 to push the locks when pulled away from the front, which releases the side panels.


The chassis interior has some of the DNA of the Lancool 2 from 2020, but everything has evolved considerably. The shroud now comes with three removable multi-purpose plates. You may also install up to three 120 mm fans or opt for a radiator of up to 360 mm here. Looking at the entire cover closely, it could be moved towards the front slightly for up to 80 mm thick cooling setups without getting in the way of the expansion slots in the rear. Flipping the magnetically secured bottom cover down, it is also removable. This section holds two more metal hard-drive cages.


Just like with the Lancool 2, turning the Lancool around, two covers keep things as neat-looking as possible once the build is complete. However, these covers are cleaner overall and held in place better. As we will soon see, the two exposed 2.5" slots now come with a spring-loaded mounting mechanism.


The two panels are also hinged (seeing the trend here?) and can be removed during the build process as well. Behind the smaller one is the opening for CPU cooler bracket access. Lian Li placed a clean mounting plate for ARGB or fan controllers here. The Lancool 3 also features L-shaped, Velcro-equipped mounting points for cable management. As such, you won't find many classic hooks for zip ties, so it will be very interesting to see how the final build will look. Towards the front are three long Velcro strips which can form multiple channels across this part of the case.


Flipping the mesh cover on the bottom of the case down, there are three more 2.5" mounting positions. This brings the total to five dedicated 2.5" spots. Add to that the three multi-purpose plates on the floor of the interior and you can place up to eight such drives without even considering the metal trays.


Speaking of which, two of these come pre-installed on a base, so you may remove one if you need the space for an extra-long PSU. On top of that, you may actually stack these with an additional layer for at most four more 2.5" or 3.5" drives and a grand total of 12 storage locations within the Lancool 3.


Above the shroud, in the front, are the three intake fans. These are mounted on Lian Li's signature spring-loaded frame you may flip around for additional room when going for a potent liquid-cooling setup. This engineering detail rewards the user with up to 80 mm of room for such purposes. Next to that, besides the motherboard area, is a grommet-equipped cover that can be slid towards the front of the chassis. It sports mounting points for pumps or distribution plates of up to 30 mm thickness. This means you could build an extravagant custom liquid-cooling solution with three 360 radiators and such a plate without limiting the installable hardware in the Lancool 3.


The PSU bay has two foam-covered spacers of the same height as the base the metal hard-drive brackets are on. This means going beyond the 220 mm advertised PSU length if need be while still retaining two 3.5" drive positions is an option.


Taking a quick peek at the ceiling, there is lots of room with multiple mounting possibility for both fans or radiators. In fact, the Lancool 3 is so spacious you can fit up to three 140 mm fans or even a 420 mm liquid-cooling setup in the ceiling.


For but the case connectors, all the cables are of the default variety. Instead of those small individual wires, Lian Li opted for one unified plug, which makes life considerably easier when it comes time to connect your power, reset, and activity LEDs.