OC3D Review: Antec Skeleton
- Thread starter w3bbo
- Start date
name='webbo' said:To be quite honest the case was a total PITA the photograph as the weather is so glum lately getting any natural light is difficult.
I don't go in for the +, *, - m8, a simple hyphen '-' will do for me.
Sorry dude, When I looked at it just now I had no good, bad, mediocre at the end, but it seems to be there now
FarFarAway
New member
Spot on, can't believe Antec didn't bother thinking about coolers, frankly an insane oversight.
Plus a plastic case for that price? Pull the other one, it has bells on
Plus a plastic case for that price? Pull the other one, it has bells on
That PCI bracket is something else... I find that just as horrible as the fact you can't mount a decent HS&F in there. It's just so out of place and like you say, just looks like someone from Antec was looking at the finished product and thought "OH F*CK"!!" and quickly had to bodge something on there before his boss came in to take a look.
You don't need monster heatsinks with a 250mm fan
We kept the fan low above the board to improve the cooling on any heat sink that didn't have a fan and even the things that don't have heat sinks like memory. The need for oversized cpu coolers is eliminated. There are overclockers using this case and regular coolers with great results.
As for the PCI support bar, how would you suggest we change the design? And you know Antec listens, since you can see that we've added filters to the game cases, moved the fan controls to where you can get at them from the outside, made the lower chamber in the P180 bigger to accept larger PSUs, etc.
We kept the fan low above the board to improve the cooling on any heat sink that didn't have a fan and even the things that don't have heat sinks like memory. The need for oversized cpu coolers is eliminated. There are overclockers using this case and regular coolers with great results.
As for the PCI support bar, how would you suggest we change the design? And you know Antec listens, since you can see that we've added filters to the game cases, moved the fan controls to where you can get at them from the outside, made the lower chamber in the P180 bigger to accept larger PSUs, etc.
I respect an Antec representative coming on to answer the questions asked.
The PCI bracket should just be made of something stronger than brittle acrylic. It sticks out so could easily take a whack. It sticks out in looks too seeing as it's pretty much the only clear plastic part on the entire case. Could have just kept it with the theme of the rest in grey.
The PCI bracket should just be made of something stronger than brittle acrylic. It sticks out so could easily take a whack. It sticks out in looks too seeing as it's pretty much the only clear plastic part on the entire case. Could have just kept it with the theme of the rest in grey.
Rastalovich
New member
name='AntecRep' said:
For £125 on a test case, I want the option to use whatever the heck cooler tbh.
Granted there's a load of flexibility going on, some perhaps should be in aluminum atleast.
I dunno see. For the £125 bracket, u don't ant any issues or doubts over the unit, u want to be fully concentrated on the gear ur testing.
Maybe it's me looking at the case as a test bed, maybe it's more aimed as a regular case with a twist. But I look at this and the Dimas, I buy the Dimas, despite it's own issues merely on construction. Ideally I'd get both, cut them in half - lower half Dimas, upper half Skeleton. Both are overpriced imo, but the Skeleton more-so for me.
At this point, I stick with my 4x LL mobo trays for $25 a piece, and a fistful of switches/leds from Maplins for around £6.
What bench? Where???
I got to show this case to herds of people at different events, and there was probably a few percent that thought it was "like" a bench unit. Most felt it was not a bench unit. I don't know, it's a case that seems to absolutely polarize people. :argue:
The Dimas is fabulous, but I would never show it to anyone if I had one. :stickpoke j/k The Torture Rack is another matter. You can send Danger Den your artwork and they will etch it into the acrylic of the case for you with their laser equipment. :worship:
I get a new bench delivered on my doorstep at least once a year and it's free. You know, that yellow book that's out of date before it makes it to the porch? Throw that under whatever mobo I'm testing, hang the PCI brackets off the side so the cards don't lift, and ta-dah!
The vertical space available for coolers is, unfortunately, an engineering issue. I doubt I'll have any luck in getting that changed. You know that the fans on a CPU cooler are smack on top, zero space. As you move a fan away from what it is cooling, without some kind of air guide, it becomes less effective as governed by what is called the "Inverse Square Law." If you double the distance, the cooling is a quarter as effective. It's a common principle that applies to sound, light, etc. Small changes in the distance between the fan and mobo will have profound effects on cooling.
I have looked at the way the fan shroud is attached and have some ruminations on some kind of flip-top that might be a doable mod if you're determined that you can't get sufficient cooling with a standard cooler and a 250mm monster fan. Anybody with one of these cases who takes a look at the top metal frame / plastic shroud, and the screws, will probably end up thinking the same thing... (it's a miracle that this one grew back? Narf!) :rollingla
I'm looking into the choice of acrylic for the rear bar, and it turns out that in order to make it resistant to the turning of the screws and more rigid to hold the cards in place required that it be of a little more brittle material. I checked with support, and actually they haven't had a report of a broken one yet! I think the only better material would be metal. Makes me wonder if it wouldn't be better if it were part of the mobo tray? What do you think?
Thanks for the thoughts so far. :wavey:
I got to show this case to herds of people at different events, and there was probably a few percent that thought it was "like" a bench unit. Most felt it was not a bench unit. I don't know, it's a case that seems to absolutely polarize people. :argue:
The Dimas is fabulous, but I would never show it to anyone if I had one. :stickpoke j/k The Torture Rack is another matter. You can send Danger Den your artwork and they will etch it into the acrylic of the case for you with their laser equipment. :worship:
I get a new bench delivered on my doorstep at least once a year and it's free. You know, that yellow book that's out of date before it makes it to the porch? Throw that under whatever mobo I'm testing, hang the PCI brackets off the side so the cards don't lift, and ta-dah!
The vertical space available for coolers is, unfortunately, an engineering issue. I doubt I'll have any luck in getting that changed. You know that the fans on a CPU cooler are smack on top, zero space. As you move a fan away from what it is cooling, without some kind of air guide, it becomes less effective as governed by what is called the "Inverse Square Law." If you double the distance, the cooling is a quarter as effective. It's a common principle that applies to sound, light, etc. Small changes in the distance between the fan and mobo will have profound effects on cooling.
I have looked at the way the fan shroud is attached and have some ruminations on some kind of flip-top that might be a doable mod if you're determined that you can't get sufficient cooling with a standard cooler and a 250mm monster fan. Anybody with one of these cases who takes a look at the top metal frame / plastic shroud, and the screws, will probably end up thinking the same thing... (it's a miracle that this one grew back? Narf!) :rollingla
I'm looking into the choice of acrylic for the rear bar, and it turns out that in order to make it resistant to the turning of the screws and more rigid to hold the cards in place required that it be of a little more brittle material. I checked with support, and actually they haven't had a report of a broken one yet! I think the only better material would be metal. Makes me wonder if it wouldn't be better if it were part of the mobo tray? What do you think?
Thanks for the thoughts so far. :wavey:
Kudos to Antec for posting
The fan to me seems a bit of a catch22. To fit a good cooler you need the fan further away... but with a bigger cooler there isn't a great need for such a fan. In my eyes, if the fan was able to move up, down, back and forth (and maybe tilt) within its support frame then THAT would be a kick-ass setup. It would allow for users to fit oversized components to the board, move the fan out the way but still point it where its needed.
The PCI bar does look a bit silly. Fair enough that the perfect compromise between strength and brittleness is hard to find but having it colour coded, or even offering an after market metal one for heavy users would do a world of good.
Granted, keeping the design slick would be difficult but I think the level of aesthetics seen here on the top half are slightly more than is needed when contrasted with the body of the case. I'm sure many will disagree however.
Tell you what else would be super sweet, and im just fantasizing now, but two solid 1/2" tubes with threads at each end running from the lower half to top half for the fitting of a semi permenant waterblock and interchangeable lower half (pump / rad / res - infact a built in res would also be sweeeeeeeeet
)
Great to see someone doing something new btw. Very striking looking bit of kit
The fan to me seems a bit of a catch22. To fit a good cooler you need the fan further away... but with a bigger cooler there isn't a great need for such a fan. In my eyes, if the fan was able to move up, down, back and forth (and maybe tilt) within its support frame then THAT would be a kick-ass setup. It would allow for users to fit oversized components to the board, move the fan out the way but still point it where its needed.
The PCI bar does look a bit silly. Fair enough that the perfect compromise between strength and brittleness is hard to find but having it colour coded, or even offering an after market metal one for heavy users would do a world of good.
Granted, keeping the design slick would be difficult but I think the level of aesthetics seen here on the top half are slightly more than is needed when contrasted with the body of the case. I'm sure many will disagree however.
Tell you what else would be super sweet, and im just fantasizing now, but two solid 1/2" tubes with threads at each end running from the lower half to top half for the fitting of a semi permenant waterblock and interchangeable lower half (pump / rad / res - infact a built in res would also be sweeeeeeeeet
)Great to see someone doing something new btw. Very striking looking bit of kit
Rastalovich
New member
Hey Mr Antec, I just had a thought - what about setting a thread inside the pci bracket ?
I mean having the current material, but a metallic receiver thread set inside so there is no acrylic vS the screw when it's used ?
I mean having the current material, but a metallic receiver thread set inside so there is no acrylic vS the screw when it's used ?
As previously stated - Kudos to Antec for posting. Yet another example of Antecs excellent customer service!
I recently replied to an email (Ellen) stating in more detail my views which hopefully you will have recieved and which I won't go into here but answer the majority of the points you raise. I have edited the review to clarify some points which hopefully provide a more balanced arguement.
I personally wouldn't say the need for oversized coolers is eliminated because a 250mm fan is used. I would like to think that the use of a 250mm fan would serve to enhance oversized CPU coolers. I appreciate that a larger fan will push more air over the CPU (and surrounding areas) and as such this will result in cooler temps but for the most part, the larger the heatsink, the greater the cooling due to the greater surface area and heatpipe of the HSF with which to wick the heat away more efficiently.
I don't doubt that there are some folk who do have success with small coolers but this all depends on what success we are talking about and was that success stifled? Could they have overclocked more if a better HSF was used. I don't think there can be any doubting the fact that the current crop of top end performing HSF are all oversized and as such, the market you are aiming for (enthusiasts?) will want to make use of the best heatsinks possible.
With regards to the PCI bracket, I would like to have seen it in a metal format as with the component trays or perhaps as reinforced plastic as used in the side frame. Acrylic, despite its weaknesses, also stands out like a sore thumb on the enclosure and is not in keeping with the overall theme.
The top fan and mount would be great as a 'flip-top'. as you suggest. This would also make adjustments to the setup so much easier than using the sliding component tray.
This is something I am in the middle of attempting by unscrewing all of the screws holding the top frame to the side frame but adding a hinge to the rear of the enclosure. With a little dremmel work to shave a few cm's off the fan shroud and maybe a couple of cm's extension to the top frame attachment by extender bars I am sure an oversized cooler will fit which will dramatically alter my perspective of the case. I will post my findings when I have completed the 'mod' which will possibly give Antec a few ideas for a future revision.
Thanks again for posting Antec, it is highly appreciated.:worship:
I recently replied to an email (Ellen) stating in more detail my views which hopefully you will have recieved and which I won't go into here but answer the majority of the points you raise. I have edited the review to clarify some points which hopefully provide a more balanced arguement.
I personally wouldn't say the need for oversized coolers is eliminated because a 250mm fan is used. I would like to think that the use of a 250mm fan would serve to enhance oversized CPU coolers. I appreciate that a larger fan will push more air over the CPU (and surrounding areas) and as such this will result in cooler temps but for the most part, the larger the heatsink, the greater the cooling due to the greater surface area and heatpipe of the HSF with which to wick the heat away more efficiently.
I don't doubt that there are some folk who do have success with small coolers but this all depends on what success we are talking about and was that success stifled? Could they have overclocked more if a better HSF was used. I don't think there can be any doubting the fact that the current crop of top end performing HSF are all oversized and as such, the market you are aiming for (enthusiasts?) will want to make use of the best heatsinks possible.
With regards to the PCI bracket, I would like to have seen it in a metal format as with the component trays or perhaps as reinforced plastic as used in the side frame. Acrylic, despite its weaknesses, also stands out like a sore thumb on the enclosure and is not in keeping with the overall theme.
The top fan and mount would be great as a 'flip-top'. as you suggest. This would also make adjustments to the setup so much easier than using the sliding component tray.
This is something I am in the middle of attempting by unscrewing all of the screws holding the top frame to the side frame but adding a hinge to the rear of the enclosure. With a little dremmel work to shave a few cm's off the fan shroud and maybe a couple of cm's extension to the top frame attachment by extender bars I am sure an oversized cooler will fit which will dramatically alter my perspective of the case. I will post my findings when I have completed the 'mod' which will possibly give Antec a few ideas for a future revision.
Thanks again for posting Antec, it is highly appreciated.:worship:
