As promised guys a bit of a review and some pics. I've never really done one before so please bear that in mind.
First impressions
Some pictures I've seen made it look very plasticy and tacky however all the plastic is of very high quality with an excellent finish to it. Only the grey parts of the case, the transparent bar at the back and the quick drive release handles are plastic. I was concerned about that bar at the back (this is where you screw in the daughter cards) but it feels very strong and sturdy and would take a fair bit of force to do it any damage. Overall it feels and looks like a very well made case. The 250mm fan on the top is far larger than I imagined and definitely the main feature.
What pictures don't really show is the the Antec writing on the fan mount is actually cut out which is a nice effect.
Putting it together
This is a very easy case to work with. The component tray slides out and if you depress a hidden catch it releases completely. The motherboard tray on top of that is held on by 3 screws and the PSU tray inside the component tray simply slides out. The ventilated sides are released by 2 sliding catches and are foam padded where they sit against the component tray. The PSU tray is also padded so that the PSU doesn't actually sit on bare metal.
Routing cables is easy enough, there's plenty of gaps and as the case sits slightly raised you can even route them under the case, not forgetting that if you want they could come out of the back, sides and front.
The transparent bar is removable, however I found I could simply put my 8800 in at an angle into the case and then just pop it in the slot without removing the bar.
The front of the case sports an IEEE port, 2x USB2, eSATA, headphone and mic ports. These are all good quality with no movement inside the case. They all come with cables attached that easily reach around the motherboard. One thing to note is that you would need to disconnect them before sliding the component tray out.
The HDD LED sits to the far left on the front of the case and the power LED resides within the large power button itself in a universal power symbol. Both lights are blue. The reset switch is smaller than the power but a good size, not one of those tiny fiddly ones and sits near the HDD LED.
I've read some really bad reviews of Antec's quick release system on the Skeleton and having used it I honestly cannot see why. To fiit a 5.25" or 3.5" drive you simply screw in a single screw into the appropriate hole on the drive itself and then push the drive into the case which will then snap into place. Job done! To remove you push on a sturdy plastic lever and out it comes. The drives don't wobble around or fall out but there is the option of screwing them in should you so choose.
There's space for 2x 5.25" and 2x 3.5" drives inside the component tray with the option of suspending 4x 3.5" drives on the side of the ventilated panels using the supplied mounting brackets. I haven't tried this as I only have 1x 3.5" drive.
I know other reviewers talk about poor clearance for CPU coolers and this is something I talked to Antec about, however they reassured me that due to the nature of the case that coolers of that size aren't necessary anyway. I already had an Arctic Cooling Freezer-64-LP which obviously fits just fine but should I change it in the future there is a decent amount of space available.
Another point of concern after reading reviews was the kettle lead. I'd read that space was so tight that it was a chore to plug it in. 2 seconds is all it took me to remove the ventilated side panel which then gave me full, clear access to plug the lead in.
I didn't experience any problems whilst putting it together, I believe this is the only case I've ever owned where I could have the motherboard in the case and still read the writing on the board in order to connect the various LED's and switches.
The case comes with 2 fans, the 250mm "super big boy" fan at the top and a 92mm caged fan that sits in front of the 3.5" drive bays. This fan is optional but included with the case. It comes with a molex connector, it's a plain black fan with a flow rate of 15.6CFM. Decibel rating of 12.7
The Super big boy fan is 250mm with an adjustable speed and adjustable LED's. The 3 speed settings are 400 RPM, 600 RPM and 800 RPM and the flow rates respectively are 78.928CFM, 118.392CFM and 157.856CFM. Decibel ratings respectively are 17, 26 and 32.
There's a choice of LED colours and the option to either have it cycle through them all or have them off altogether.
Final thoughts
It was touch and go as to whether I bought one of these. Initially I saw it on overclockers and liked the look of it but then I started reading some poor reviews and then finally that a fair few people thought it was ugly. Having spent 4 hours earlier today (inc taking old pc apart and hunting for a SATA cable) and looking at it right now I know I made the right choice in buying it.
Tips
You won't get a printed manual with this case, it is however available to download on the Antec website and trust me you may think "hah it's just a case, I don't need a manual" but I sat down and spent a good few minutes wondering where to start before finally deciding to go and print the manual. Some things mentioned in the manual have changed between them writing it and putting the case into production but those things are obvious and won't cause a problem.
Pictures
I can't stress enough that pictures do not do this case justice!
First impressions
Some pictures I've seen made it look very plasticy and tacky however all the plastic is of very high quality with an excellent finish to it. Only the grey parts of the case, the transparent bar at the back and the quick drive release handles are plastic. I was concerned about that bar at the back (this is where you screw in the daughter cards) but it feels very strong and sturdy and would take a fair bit of force to do it any damage. Overall it feels and looks like a very well made case. The 250mm fan on the top is far larger than I imagined and definitely the main feature.
What pictures don't really show is the the Antec writing on the fan mount is actually cut out which is a nice effect.
Putting it together
This is a very easy case to work with. The component tray slides out and if you depress a hidden catch it releases completely. The motherboard tray on top of that is held on by 3 screws and the PSU tray inside the component tray simply slides out. The ventilated sides are released by 2 sliding catches and are foam padded where they sit against the component tray. The PSU tray is also padded so that the PSU doesn't actually sit on bare metal.
Routing cables is easy enough, there's plenty of gaps and as the case sits slightly raised you can even route them under the case, not forgetting that if you want they could come out of the back, sides and front.
The transparent bar is removable, however I found I could simply put my 8800 in at an angle into the case and then just pop it in the slot without removing the bar.
The front of the case sports an IEEE port, 2x USB2, eSATA, headphone and mic ports. These are all good quality with no movement inside the case. They all come with cables attached that easily reach around the motherboard. One thing to note is that you would need to disconnect them before sliding the component tray out.
The HDD LED sits to the far left on the front of the case and the power LED resides within the large power button itself in a universal power symbol. Both lights are blue. The reset switch is smaller than the power but a good size, not one of those tiny fiddly ones and sits near the HDD LED.
I've read some really bad reviews of Antec's quick release system on the Skeleton and having used it I honestly cannot see why. To fiit a 5.25" or 3.5" drive you simply screw in a single screw into the appropriate hole on the drive itself and then push the drive into the case which will then snap into place. Job done! To remove you push on a sturdy plastic lever and out it comes. The drives don't wobble around or fall out but there is the option of screwing them in should you so choose.
There's space for 2x 5.25" and 2x 3.5" drives inside the component tray with the option of suspending 4x 3.5" drives on the side of the ventilated panels using the supplied mounting brackets. I haven't tried this as I only have 1x 3.5" drive.
I know other reviewers talk about poor clearance for CPU coolers and this is something I talked to Antec about, however they reassured me that due to the nature of the case that coolers of that size aren't necessary anyway. I already had an Arctic Cooling Freezer-64-LP which obviously fits just fine but should I change it in the future there is a decent amount of space available.
Another point of concern after reading reviews was the kettle lead. I'd read that space was so tight that it was a chore to plug it in. 2 seconds is all it took me to remove the ventilated side panel which then gave me full, clear access to plug the lead in.
I didn't experience any problems whilst putting it together, I believe this is the only case I've ever owned where I could have the motherboard in the case and still read the writing on the board in order to connect the various LED's and switches.
The case comes with 2 fans, the 250mm "super big boy" fan at the top and a 92mm caged fan that sits in front of the 3.5" drive bays. This fan is optional but included with the case. It comes with a molex connector, it's a plain black fan with a flow rate of 15.6CFM. Decibel rating of 12.7
The Super big boy fan is 250mm with an adjustable speed and adjustable LED's. The 3 speed settings are 400 RPM, 600 RPM and 800 RPM and the flow rates respectively are 78.928CFM, 118.392CFM and 157.856CFM. Decibel ratings respectively are 17, 26 and 32.
There's a choice of LED colours and the option to either have it cycle through them all or have them off altogether.
Final thoughts
It was touch and go as to whether I bought one of these. Initially I saw it on overclockers and liked the look of it but then I started reading some poor reviews and then finally that a fair few people thought it was ugly. Having spent 4 hours earlier today (inc taking old pc apart and hunting for a SATA cable) and looking at it right now I know I made the right choice in buying it.
Tips
You won't get a printed manual with this case, it is however available to download on the Antec website and trust me you may think "hah it's just a case, I don't need a manual" but I sat down and spent a good few minutes wondering where to start before finally deciding to go and print the manual. Some things mentioned in the manual have changed between them writing it and putting the case into production but those things are obvious and won't cause a problem.
Pictures
I can't stress enough that pictures do not do this case justice!
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