Fractal Design Era 2 / Lian Li LANCOOL III (black, LANCOOL 3-X)

Fractal Design Era 2: Era 2 Mini-ITX case; Silver (FD-C-ERA2N-01), Midnight Blue and Charcoal Gray. The original Era is a separate model.

Lian Li LANCOOL III (black, LANCOOL 3-X): LANCOOL 3-X: black version with four 140 mm PWM fans. The white LANCOOL 3-W and the ARGB-fan 3R-X and 3R-W are colour and fan options of the same case; the LANCOOL 207 and 216 are separate cases.

SpecificationFractal Design Era 2Lian Li LANCOOL III (black, LANCOOL 3-X)
Release year20242022
Motherboard and form factorMini-ITX; 18.97 L volume

A small-form-factor case that accepts only Mini-ITX motherboards.

Fractal Design		—
Graphics cardUp to 326 mm long, 137 mm tall, 48 mm thick; 3 expansion slots; pre-installed PCIe 4.0 riser cable

Fractal says the slidable central wall gives 15 mm of internal flexibility. GamersNexus notes that in wall position 3 GPU thickness rises to 63 mm (3.1 slots) while the CPU cooler limit drops to 55 mm.

Fractal Design		—
CPU cooler and radiatorAir cooler up to 70 mm; 120, 140, 240 or 280 mm radiator on top

The 70 mm limit means low-profile coolers; for more powerful CPUs a 240/280 mm liquid cooler on top is more suitable.

Fractal Design		—
Fans2 × Aspect 12 PWM installed at the bottom; mounts for 2 × 120/140 mm on top and 2 × 120 mm at the bottom Fractal Design—
Power supplySFX or SFX-L

GamersNexus says SFX-L significantly reduces cable space and recommends standard SFX.

Fractal Design		—
Storage4 × 2.5-inch drive mounts

There is no 3.5-inch hard drive support.

Fractal Design		2 + 3 + 3 × 2.5-inch bays and a 4 × 3.5/2.5-inch drive cage Lian Li
Front I/O2 × USB-A (5 Gbps); 1 × USB-C (20 Gbps); combo audio/mic jack; illuminated power button

The 20 Gbps USB-C runs at full speed only if the motherboard has a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 header.

Fractal Design		Power, reset, 2 × USB 3.0, 1 × USB Type-C, audio Lian Li
MaterialsAnodised aluminium exterior and side panels; FSC-certified walnut top panel; bottom dust filter Fractal Design0.8 mm SGCC steel; 4 mm tempered glass on both sides; aluminium door handles

The side glass panels are hinged and open like doors.

Lian Li
Size and weight366 × 165 × 314 mm; 4.6 kg net Fractal Design—
Colours and warrantySilver, Midnight Blue and Charcoal Gray; 2-year warranty Fractal Design—
Dimensions—526 × 238 × 523 mm (D × W × H) Lian Li
Motherboard and power supply—E-ATX (under 280 mm wide), ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX; ATX power supply up to 220 mm Lian Li
Included fans—3 × 140 mm PWM at the front, 1 × 140 mm PWM at the rear; 200–1800 rpm, 83.5 CFM, 33 dB(A)

On the ARGB-fan 3R versions the fan speed is 300–1650 rpm.

Lian Li
Fan support—Front 3 × 120/140 mm, top 3 × 120/140 mm, rear 1 × 120/140 mm, above the PSU shroud 3 × 120 mm Lian Li
Radiator support—Front 360/420 mm, top 360/420 mm, above the PSU shroud 360 mm Lian Li
Component clearances—Graphics card up to 435 mm; CPU cooler up to 187 mm Lian Li
Expansion slots—8 Lian Li
Dust filter and warranty—1 bottom dust filter; 1-year warranty Lian Li