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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.

Test Results & Conclusive Thoughts

Performance Results

Our trusty Core 2 Duo system was powered up and stress tests results compared to other cases similar to the LanCool PC-K58, Coolermaster CM690 and Antec Three Hundred in particular offer quite a bit of competition feature/price wise.

So here are the results under full system load:

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A very close match between CM690 and K58, the CM690 winning with CPU temp thanks to its top fan, while the K58 with 140mm in-take cools HDD and motherboard better. Noise wise the K58 is definitely one of more silent cases even with all fans at 12v, only the Antec Three Hundred with its fans undervolted is able to best it.

Conclusive Thoughts

Giving a final answer as to which case is the best is quite hard to do, if we look at the three main candidates for value/performance recommendations, we can see from the outside that they are not that different.

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Sure the Antec on the left side features the least amount of features and extra bling, but it sells for less than €50, the CM690 and PC-K58 are both found in shops at €70, they both have tool less installation features and plenty of cooling expansion. The CM690 comes with more fans (3 vs 2) but is noisier while not providing better cooling. I/O panel wise the CM690 has them all beat though, with USB, Firewire and eSATA available. The LanCool on the other hand has more easily accessible power/reset button and provides more protection against dust.

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In the end it will come down to personal preference and what budget you have, we really like the PC-K58 for its innovative tool-less features, cooling potential and overall build quality; while it’s not on par with Lian-Li which goes one step beyond, for those that want to profit of their year long case building experience without paying a high price tag, there’s no better alternative.

If you live in Europe, the PC-K58 is available for €69.9 (incl VAT) at Caseking.

This product review was made possible by Caseking

They also offer different variations of the PC-K58 with PSU, noise dampening and flashy LED fans.

We were impressed with the LanCool PC-K58, which has features mostly found on more expensive enclosures, without sacrificing build quality. For a sub $100 product, the PC-K58 definitely makes a chance for best price/performance/feature case.

LanCool PC-K58 Recommend For
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Thank you for reading, happy holidays!

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

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