Antec Skeleton Open-Air PC Case Review

Antec has pretty much addressed every possible niche of PC builders, and there’s no debating the fact that their cases are well-built and widely used – but what does Antec do once it has a solid line of cases in the budget, consumer, and performance classes? Well, in this case (bu dum-ching), they release some nonstandard enclosures. The case I’ll be reviewing here is the Antec Skeleton, advertised as a revolutionary “open air” enclosure, which immediately brought some questions to mind.

For example, if the case is “open air”, won’t your components get all dusty? Won’t your PC essentially become a heater for your room, without the case containing the heat? The answers aren’t surprising. Antec includes air filters on their higher-end cases, for the very reason of keeping out dust; and they do a good job – the Skeleton really has no dust-reducing mechanisms at all – the only thing between the surface of your motherboard and the open air of your room is the 250mm fan. I still would have considered it open-air even with an air filter screen, but leaving it “truly” open as they have, it definitely looks unique, and is unparalleled in terms of cooling. To answer my second question, about your PC heating your room, that’s really not an issue – regardless of whether your case is open or closed, the heat is eventually going to be transferred out into your room. This case may actually be the opposite of what I had expected – with better airflow, your components run cooler, so there’s less heat to dissipate to start with.

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page

The specs of the Skeleton are pretty standard, if anything a little less than a standard ATX case – a pair of 5.25” optical drive bays and a pair of 3.5” hard drive bays, with an optional tray of four more 3.5” bays. The lower half of the case is made of high-quality, high-density cold-rolled steel, and because of it’s unusual shape, there’s virtually no chance of the case tipping over. However the big selling point here (besides the looks) is that the case is advertised as supporting up to three 11” graphics cards, which is absolutely the most room you could ever need for any graphics cards. Another big plus for this case is that it’s actually the first Antec case I’ve ever reviewed with USB, Firewire, and eSATA connectors on the front panel – I’ve been complaining about some of these cases’ lack of one of the three for a long time – but this case has everything you need right in front. Ironically, because of the case design, if this case HADN’T had a USB, Firewire, or eSATA port on the front, you could simply plug your device right into the corresponding port on the motherboard, assuming it supports such hot-swapping.

In terms of raw performance, it’s hard to beat the Skeleton – it’s got a massive fan and open-air design for maximum cooling, while also supporting the world’s largest and most powerful components. So if you’re looking for a case that’s unique and has room for all of your hardware, the Skeleton might be a good choice – but it just doesn’t make sense for most people – even if you’re a gamer and you need room for 3 eleven inch graphics cards, the Antec Nine Hundred or Twelve Hundred will give you very similar cooling, while still being a standard-type case. In addition to the dust problem, you have the problem of where to PUT the case – it’s not a tall rectangle shape like most cases, so it won’t fit easily under your desk – and you can’t stack anything on top of it, so you can’t really put it on your desk and set your monitor on it. You’ve got to have a lot of room to give this case a suitable home.

That being said, because of the fact that the motherboard sits flat instead of hanging inside of the case, everything feels very solid and in actuality is probably more secure in this case than your normal ATX case. It also goes without saying that if you have pets, you might not want to have this case within their reach – even if the big 250mm fan is covered with coarse mesh, your CPU fan, GPU fan(s) and other sensitive electronics are open to whatever wants to touch it. And at $180 without a power supply, this case isn’t exactly for a budget-minded builder – there’s a very limited number of people who would want a case like this, but it will certainly get you some attention at your next LAN party.

Leave a Comment