Page 2: Skeleton Continued, Use, Conclusion
Skeleton Continued
Zooming in on the back shows the PSU mounting cage with the latch to remove it. It slides out and back on with ease, but the cable routing on this case needs some work since it is a bit cramped to get the thick ATX and other such cables through small holes to the motherboard. There are two thumbscrews on each inside to unlock the sliding tray.
Once the screws unlock (they don't come off so they won't get lost), the tray slides out and a motherboard can be mounted. The motherboard tray can be removed, but there is no need to when the case is completely open like this. Strangely enough, you can't install the expansion cards without doing some fumbling around (or removing the clear plastic expansion card holder temporarily). It seems a few things on this case just weren't thought of properly.
Use
This Asus P5T-Deluxe has no problem fitting on the full size ATX motherboard tray. Interestingly, Antec only screwed in enough standoff for a weird sized mATX board. The remaining three standoff are located in the screw bag. We would suspect that the majority using this case would have a full size ATX case.
Completely built and ready to go. The Skeleton houses a normal build without issue. The hard drive fan (seen on the bottom right) snaps in to give the drives some extra cooling. Even though there is that huge 250mm fan on the top, the motherboard is blocking vital airflow to the drive area. The middle between the drives is the only space to use to port cables to the motherboard. Hopefully the Skeleton is paired with a power supply with long enough cables to route everything properly.
The case has some issues with external connections. The audio external cable was not long enough to be mounted on this motherboard and this is a fairly standard type of layout. A couple of inches more would have been fine. It is not too often that we've seen cables just not reach. In addition, once hooked up, don't expect the motherboard tray to slide out to work on the system. All the connections will have to be removed again which is another fatal flaw considering the case looks to be targeted the test bed type of build.
The case is fairly quite when the fans are on the lowest speed setting. Even at that setting, the size of the fan means that there will be a considerable amount of airflow moving around the components. Even so, this airflow is not as directed as a normal case. Thankfully, the fan covers the entire area for adequate cooling.
Conclusion
This is a difficult case to recommend for a few reasons. The first one is that since the case is completely open, dust and other electronic harming elements will be able to get into contact with the components without going through any extra layers (like a fan mesh on most good cases). This is a very bad thing. How about if a paper clip or some other metallic object falls on some leads? On the plus side, a shot of compressed air will take of the grime getting on the components. While Antec might be targeting the power user crowd, it looks more like someone looking for a test bed would be interested in this. Even for this niche, the case has some flaws.
The fact that the case is extremely rigid once built is a complete turn-off. Once all the cables are hooked up to the motherboard and drives, the tray will not slide out. If it does, some of the headers will get ripped off. The way the power supply cabling must be routed is a bit awkward, but necessary since the case space is limiting. The good points about the case are the looks. The fan with its lighted modes is very nice to watch. Yes, it will be a hit at a lan party, but don't consider it for a normal build. Most people should walk away, but if you want to really show off your computer, this is the case is for you.
ASE Labs would like to thank the Antec team for making this review possible.
Zooming in on the back shows the PSU mounting cage with the latch to remove it. It slides out and back on with ease, but the cable routing on this case needs some work since it is a bit cramped to get the thick ATX and other such cables through small holes to the motherboard. There are two thumbscrews on each inside to unlock the sliding tray.
Once the screws unlock (they don't come off so they won't get lost), the tray slides out and a motherboard can be mounted. The motherboard tray can be removed, but there is no need to when the case is completely open like this. Strangely enough, you can't install the expansion cards without doing some fumbling around (or removing the clear plastic expansion card holder temporarily). It seems a few things on this case just weren't thought of properly.
Use
This Asus P5T-Deluxe has no problem fitting on the full size ATX motherboard tray. Interestingly, Antec only screwed in enough standoff for a weird sized mATX board. The remaining three standoff are located in the screw bag. We would suspect that the majority using this case would have a full size ATX case.
Completely built and ready to go. The Skeleton houses a normal build without issue. The hard drive fan (seen on the bottom right) snaps in to give the drives some extra cooling. Even though there is that huge 250mm fan on the top, the motherboard is blocking vital airflow to the drive area. The middle between the drives is the only space to use to port cables to the motherboard. Hopefully the Skeleton is paired with a power supply with long enough cables to route everything properly.
The case has some issues with external connections. The audio external cable was not long enough to be mounted on this motherboard and this is a fairly standard type of layout. A couple of inches more would have been fine. It is not too often that we've seen cables just not reach. In addition, once hooked up, don't expect the motherboard tray to slide out to work on the system. All the connections will have to be removed again which is another fatal flaw considering the case looks to be targeted the test bed type of build.
The case is fairly quite when the fans are on the lowest speed setting. Even at that setting, the size of the fan means that there will be a considerable amount of airflow moving around the components. Even so, this airflow is not as directed as a normal case. Thankfully, the fan covers the entire area for adequate cooling.
Conclusion
This is a difficult case to recommend for a few reasons. The first one is that since the case is completely open, dust and other electronic harming elements will be able to get into contact with the components without going through any extra layers (like a fan mesh on most good cases). This is a very bad thing. How about if a paper clip or some other metallic object falls on some leads? On the plus side, a shot of compressed air will take of the grime getting on the components. While Antec might be targeting the power user crowd, it looks more like someone looking for a test bed would be interested in this. Even for this niche, the case has some flaws.
The fact that the case is extremely rigid once built is a complete turn-off. Once all the cables are hooked up to the motherboard and drives, the tray will not slide out. If it does, some of the headers will get ripped off. The way the power supply cabling must be routed is a bit awkward, but necessary since the case space is limiting. The good points about the case are the looks. The fan with its lighted modes is very nice to watch. Yes, it will be a hit at a lan party, but don't consider it for a normal build. Most people should walk away, but if you want to really show off your computer, this is the case is for you.
ASE Labs would like to thank the Antec team for making this review possible.