LanCool PC-K58 ATX Mid Tower Case Review

Cases & PSU/Cases by jmke @ 2009-12-29

Take all the engineering talent of Lian-Li, use it to make an affordable yet feature rich product and you end up with the LanCool PC-K58. We take this budget friendly mid size tower case for a spin and compare its performance to several competitors. Does a 140mm in-take pay off? First tool-less PSU installation worthless? Read more to find out.

  • prev
  • next

Size Comparison & Outside Look

Size comparison

Here's a size comparison of the LanCool PC-K58 compared to a 1m80 human;

The other boxes are the cases we tested previously here at the site with the same hardware; You can mouse over the rectangles to see which case it represents, click on them will take you to the full review; the case next to the K58 is the CM690, as you can see they both are equally wide, the K58 is a tad taller.


(Mouse over the towers to see the brand and product name)


An important factor if you have a high end VGA card(s) is the depth of the case, as you can assume that a case with more depth will have a higher chance of fitting the current generation of single and dual GPU powerhouses.

Madshrimps (c)


The PC-K58 is not the longest case, Lancool specifies that VGA cards up to 290mm will fit without issue; this is enough for Radeon HD 5870 which measures ~280mm.

Look Outside

The outside of the PC-K58 is single color: black; it would have been nice to have some details in red to keep with the box design and overall aesthetical appeal; but its sobriety is definitely a good thing, in a market filled with flashy cases, it’s good to have a stylish, yet affordable enclosure.

The front panel is made up of 5 separate 5.25” bay covers which are all perforated in order to maximize airflow; the I/O controls are not visible in the photo as they are located at the top.

Madshrimps (c)


Another look at the front, with the top panel partially in view, here you can see the I/O as well as power/reset button and activity LEDs, behind it the top panel slopes upwards.

Madshrimps (c)


The extra height added to the rear of the top panel is to allow installation of 2x140mm fans to increase cooling; looking from the front the ventilation holes are nicely hidden;

Madshrimps (c)


The same area seen from the back reveals the clear airflow path:

Madshrimps (c)


A closer look at the I/O panel with reset button on the left end and power button on the right side. The buttons don’t feel cheap but it’s noticeable that the overall finishing is kind of coarse.

Madshrimps (c)


The rear of the case reveals precut holes for water cooling, more ventilation holes near the PSU area as well as the individual PCI slot covers which all feature grills too.

Madshrimps (c)


The bottom of the case features 4 rubber feet, and you can spot on the right side the ventilation grill of the PSU and the dust filter which is easily removable.

Madshrimps (c)



Let’s take a look inside ->
  • prev
  • next
Comment from SirMango @ 2009/12/30
I noticed that special Lian Li fan screws have to be purchased if you want to install a 140mm fan on the roof of the case. Do you know if the silicone/rubber standoffs that come with some fans (Noctua, Gelid, Nexus) can be used instead of these Lian Li screws?
Comment from jmke @ 2009/12/30
unfortunately no, those kind of rubber stand offs are completely different



those needed for this case are custom:

Comment from SirMango @ 2009/12/30
That's too bad. Lian Li should of included those fan screws with the PC-K58, because I can't find them sold at any store in Canada.

Then again, some users might not use it and it would be a waste of material.

I guess end users will have to contact Lian Li if they want some, but can't find it at any store. A bit tedious.

Thank for the reply mate

 

reply