As we’ve already mentioned, it’s impossible to rearrange the 200mm fans within the case, and it’s hard to imagine a scenario where replacing them makes sense. Therefore, we mostly limited ourselves to our standard set of tests, and two additional tests with a 120mm ID-COOLING fan turned down to approximately 1200RPM. For the first, we removed the top filter and positioned the fan as top exhaust in the rearmost slot. For the second, we positioned it as intake on top of the PSU shroud in the frontmost slot. The shroud-top mount further towards the rear of the case is better positioned to directly cool the GPU die, but this mount is practically flush with the surface of the power supply, making it useless. CPU Torture

The rear-ejecting power supply frame is good, the rear-ejecting power supply filter, not so much. Because the filter is relatively short, it’s not a big deal, but having filters that are easily accessible encourages regular cleaning. The increase in the GPU delta was even smaller, up from 52 to 53 Celsius. That’s not much warmer than the P400A’s 52 Celsius average, but the Lancool II Mesh pulls ahead a little further at 51 Celsius average. Again, air-cooled CPU temperatures in the 215 are exceptional, while GPU temperatures are on the good side of average. Conclusion Cable management room behind the motherboard tray tops out at about 2.4cm, but Lian Li has done a good job of ensuring that cables from the front I/O line up with the included velcro straps. They aren’t bolted into the case, but there are side-by-side loops for the straps built into the case along the front and top edges that make tying down cables very easy. Given the limited space behind the motherboard tray, there’ll inevitably be some clutter underneath the PSU shroud, but the compact design of the HDD bay means that it doesn’t need to be completely removed to make room for cables. P400A has really decent motherboard support as you can fit ATX, micro-ATX and mini-ITX motherboards. Even E-ATX motherboards are supported (up to 272mm wide) but you will not be able to use those rubber grommets.

Ask our experts tohelp you find just the right material or material combination for your application. The Beneq P400Acan go from room temperature up to 550°Cand easily handle gaseous,liquid,and solid precursors, including toxic, pyrophoric, and corrosive precursor materials.

Acoustic testing is next. At full fan speeds for the Phanteks fans, the P400A measured 38.6dBA, surprisingly quiet for a mesh-fronted case with three 120mm fans running at approximately 1300RPM separated from the user by a perforated metal screen and nothing else. Getting the case down to our 36dBA threshold for noise-normalized testing only required turning the case fans down to 75% speed in BIOS, or approximately 900-1000 RPM as logged by external measurement tools. That said, this level of choice is nice to see. With Phanteks introducing two separate models at two different price points, one with, and one without RGB, not only does it give the company valuable insight into just how much the RGB craze has its fingertips in the marketplace, but it also gives consumers the option to invest in a slightly more affordable chassis one light free, or of course to indulge all of their RGB fantasies and opt for the slightly pricier RGB variant instead. Front Panel IntakeP400A features an edge-to-edge tempered glass side panel. It’s held in place by a few thumbscrews. Just make sure you place your hand below a glass when removing it. The side panel sits quite well even with no screws, but I suggest securing it as soon as possible. Compare that to the NZXT H710i with its solid front panel, and the 240mm AIO running as exhaust in its optimal configuration, and you’ll see that the gains aren’t anywhere near as dramatic. Noise-normalized results are up now: The speed reduction resulted in a CPU dT of 50.5 degrees over ambient, impressively close to the baseline temperature. That’s handily the best noise-normalized result on our limited, new chart so far, with the NR600 in second place at 54.7C dT. At the top, there is a magnetic dust filter, but most likely, it will be not so useful as the top fans should be mounted as exhaust ones. IO Panel

Using a Full speed setting, temperatures got even better and so both CPU and GPU dropped a few degrees more. But as you can see, a bigger improvement is achieved when switching from low to medium fan speed.

How to build a Quiet PC

We loved the tempered glass side panel, so you can see everything going on inside, turning this into a bit of a statement piece. Although, it’s not all looks. The roomy interior allows for 280-360mm radiator up front, and vertical GPU mounting. Not to mention room for up to an EATX motherboard also available. Given that Lian Li is working with another company to manufacture this case, an interesting point is that they’ve still made an effort to make this case fit in with the rest of the Lancool line rather than buying a generic ready-made case off the shelf. The shape of the front panel, the shroud-top fan mounts, and the lighting in the front panel seem likely to be elements that Lian Li has designed specifically for this case as part of the Lancool family. Both the 4000D Airflow and be quiet! 500DX are deserving of this one. Again, as a reminder, we always take thermals into account, so a completely closed box or box with few fans won’t get this award from us. Best Noise-Normalized Thermals

With the GPU render, average GPU temperature was 23.4 degrees Celsius above ambient, a slightly more favorable average compared to the rest of the chart than was seen in the torture and firestrike tests. The P400A was within error and tied at 23.2 degrees, while the Lancool II Mesh retained champion status at an impressive 20.8 degrees average. Standardized Fans If your product develops a fault outside of the manufacturer warranty or PB Tech warranty period, we offer a full repair service and are an authorised repair agent for leading brands such as Samsung, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo and more. Although the Phanteks P400A is a good chassis, the level of included features are the same as what launched in 2016 with no exciting improvements: no USB C, vertical GPU mount, smarter cable management solutions, better paint finishes or even a dual fan/RGB controller. That’s not to say that it's a bad case, just that it could do with an update. Unless you’re a die hard Phanteks fan, or you don’t mind about the missing modern features, the Phanteks P400A just doesn’t quite hit the mark. After all performance is only one metric as to which you should measure a good case. The increase in average temperatures was therefore fairly small, with the CPU delta up from 45 Celsius to 47. Compared to the other noise-normalized results, the 215 is extremely strong in CPU temperatures, besting the previous coolest average of 50 degrees scored by the Lancool II Mesh. This is still a relatively new test, so we don’t have cases as old as Cooler Master’s H500 Mesh included on this chart--we’d expect it to do very well here. In terms of silent CPU air cooling, the 215 is hands down the best case on this chart, beating out the Digital variants of the P400A and P500A.The 215 diverges from Lian Li’s traditionally high-end aluminum enclosures, and instead is closer to its recent Lancool II and Lancool II Mesh designs (as the name implies). Lian Li partnered with another company to produce the ultra-budget steel-and-glass case with the express goal of getting the best possible airflow at the lowest possible price. To achieve that, the 215 comes with two 200mm ARGB front fans, a 120mm rear exhaust fan, and a wide-open mesh front panel. The chassis isn’t really built for such large intake fans and to some extent they’re wasted, but they still do a good enough job to put the 215 near the top of our cooling charts on a regular basis, and performance was especially good in our noise-normalized thermal test. Big fans are quiet by nature and move a lot more air thanks to the larger hole, it just tends to be at lower pressure; since Lian Li’s mesh front isn’t too restrictive, the pressure wasn’t as much of an issue as you’d see in acrylic-fronted cases of the past, like the H500P.