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An Inside-Out Look At the Antec Skeleton Case 64

Posted by timothy from the subverting-the-dominant-paradigm dept.
Anonymous writes "Here's a step-by-step look at building a PC with the new Antec Skeleton PC chassis. It's obviously not for everybody, but at least Antec is trying out something relatively new for hard-core users. Not sure if you'd need an air spray can to keep the dust off all the components, though ..."
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An Inside-Out Look At the Antec Skeleton Case More

An Inside-Out Look At the Antec Skeleton Case

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  • I don't get it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by esocid ( 946821 ) on Thursday October 23, 2008 @06:27PM (#25490637) Journal
    Isn't the point of an enclosure to maximize airflow to specific heat generating hardware, and to keep out dust and hair, to make sure those pricy pieces of hardware aren't exposed? I like my protective aluminum mid-tower. Plus I've moved three times so far and all I had to do was pack it up with everything else. I'd imagine you'd have to protect this some other way.
    • I'm pretty sure they've figured out the airflow thing. With that big a fan, and the way it's designed, it looks like it moves quite a bit of air over all the components.

      As for exposed, again, with the way they've got it designed, it looks like there's plenty of room around all the components to spray it out with compressed air and keep it clean on a regular basis. Which is what you do with a regular case anyway.
    • Also meant to add, I don't see why you couldn't 'skin' this yourself. Kinda seems like half the point.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by esocid ( 946821 )

        Also meant to add, I don't see why you couldn't 'skin' this yourself. Kinda seems like half the point.

        Ah, now that makes much more sense.

        • I think it's almost necessary to provide a skin.

          Otherwise the next time someone makes you laugh while drinking, some liquids might end up sprayed into your computer.

          Or something might drop into it.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by sumdumass ( 711423 )

            That would depend on where it sits.

            Years ago, I did the case mod thing and put windows in it, I even etched pictures in them and lit them up with leds and all that jazz. Red in cobalt blue looks pretty awesome or it did at the time. Anyways, the case was sort of on display about 4 foot from the monitor and key board. I use extensions to make it even further apart. I probable could spit directly at it and not hit it at one point in time. This isn't something that you sit right next to the work area unless yo

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by kunwon1 ( 795332 ) *
            I do not know if you realize this sir, but your sig is deceptive and moronic, plz to be changing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Prune ( 557140 )

      The most important point is actually to block electromagnetic interference coming from the computer. That's why I laugh at cases with plastic windows.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kunwon1 ( 795332 ) *
        Maybe if you're an amateur radio operator. Otherwise that's one of the -least- important purposes of a case, to an average consumer.

  • Hmmm (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Captain Splendid ( 673276 ) * <capsplendid @ g m a i l .com> on Thursday October 23, 2008 @06:27PM (#25490645) Homepage Journal
    Nice case, interesting idea, love Antec and use their products, but at $180, no way. I can almost build an entire PC for that.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Hatta ( 162192 )

      My Antec P180b cost about $150 when I got it, and it's been well worth every penny. Your computer is a physical object, the physical enclosure makes a difference. $180 is very reasonable if you have a reason to buy a case like this instead of a standard tower.

      • "$180 is very reasonable if you have a reason to buy a case like this instead of a standard tower."

        I'm sorry but no, I regretted buying the antec nine hundred when it first came out only to realize it was painstakingly small and cramped on the inside, which wasn't really emphasized in the reviews. I like the case itself but the fact that there was hardly any space really ruined the design, sometimes I have to wonder who the hell is designing these things. Then they did the revision with the antec 1200...

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by iamhassi ( 659463 )
          "That's the last time I spend over $100 on a case. Anymore then $100 on a case and you're pushing it, especially if it comes WITHOUT a power supply"

          I purchased a Cooler Master Stacker STC-T01 a few years ago for ~$150. Giant case, room for two power supplies (one top, one bottom), 11 5.25" bays, removable enclosure for four 3.5" hard drives with a 120mm fan on the front of the enclosure for cooling and a side vent large enough for a 300mm fan directly above where the CPU and video card is. I've used

          • Saying "Anymore then $100 on a case and you're pushing it" is like saying "No one needs more than 640k of ram". PC enthusiasts drop $200 on a video card or CPU that they'll only keep a year or two and don't bat an eye, so what's wrong with dropping $200 on a case that you'll keep 3 or 4 years?

            The point isn't that $200 is way to much for a case, it's that going from $100 to $200 doesn't really give you much in return for your cash. I would rather spend $100 on a case and then spend the extra $100 on a video card or processor. Does that extra $100 get you a better case? It's possible, but for those of us who aren't rich, it's totally not worth it. Some of the best cases I've had were less than $50. My most recent case purchase (6 years ago) was $120, and I don't know how you could get much be

            • i can see both sides of the issue here, but i bought a couple hundred dollar lian li case and would never go back to a cheapo.

              i needed room for expansion, which i got: 4 x 5.25" bays, 3 x 3.5" bays, and a pull out hard drive enclosure on rails that holds 5 drives. (i can add or remove an internal drive in less than 5 minutes with no contortions or specialized screwdrivers). the mother board tray that pulls out is also great for building a pc on without cutting knuckles trying to attach the board inside

        • Re:Hmmm (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Kamots ( 321174 ) on Thursday October 23, 2008 @10:14PM (#25492827)

          On the issue of power supplies, I used to like getting a PSU with my cheapo case.

          Then I learned more about PSUs.

          Now, I refuse to buy any supply that I haven't seen tested by hardocp or one of the other review sites that does professional level power quality analysis. There are a lot of power supplies being sold that make downright fradulent claims... or don't even provide power that comes close to falling within the ATX spec. Meaning that 6 months down the line you may well find yourself with screwy random hardware failures... or a power supply that blows out all your hardware. (They've lost more than one piece of test equipment when they dared to run a PSU at it's claimed capability)

          I'd much rather buy a case without a supply than get some pos that's going in the trash as I don't dare hook it up to any of my equipment.

          And I save money on electricity as the PSUs that provide solid quality power tend to run really high effeciencies as well. :P (80%+ instead of 70% adds up over the course of a year)

          • "I'd much rather buy a case without a supply than get some pos that's going in the trash as I don't dare hook it up to any of my equipment."

            This is not a reason when dealing with aftermarket cases, places like antec can use their bulk/buying power so you don't have to go out and buy a case and THEN a power supply. They're just dinging gamers twice, power supply + case + insane gpu that needs all these special plugs to run... it's little wonder many people moved to consoles.

            It's just so weird to buy a case

            • Pshhhh, in the "pre-internet" days your GPU didn't need a 12V rail, and didn't run Crysis. Welcome to the sad, fractured world of 2008.

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by dshk ( 838175 )
              You should admit that you need a prebuilt machine, and custom built machines are not for you anymore. If somebody does want a custom machine then he also has to select a power supply which best suits his particular needs and which has an appropriate price point. For example even if you have a specific goal, like building a silent machine, you have to select between completely passive and low noise power supplies - both type has their advantage.
          • Some of the worst power supplies I've ever had were name brand power supplies. I spent $100 for what I thought was a solid power supply, but when my system started getting flaky a month after the 1yr warranty ran up, I was quite glad I still had my old power supply that came with the case.

  • Gee, Lets use the EM spectum... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nweaver ( 113078 ) on Thursday October 23, 2008 @06:35PM (#25490747) Homepage

    Gee, lets use the EM spectrum as a massive garbage dump for high-frequencey EM waste.

    Seriously, folks. Computers NEED shielding to keep their em garbage from causing massive interference to everything else in the room.

    • Re:Gee, Lets use the EM spectum... (Score:4, Informative)

      by 4D6963 ( 933028 ) on Thursday October 23, 2008 @06:57PM (#25491003)

      Computers NEED shielding to keep their em garbage from causing massive interference to everything else in the room.

      Or else what? Been keeping my case open for 5 years and I have yet to notice any side effect or interference.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by mollymoo ( 202721 )

        Been keeping my case open for 5 years and I have yet to notice any side effect or interference.

        Have you actually looked for any side effects or interference? Have you, for example, tested the data rate you get from a 3G phone with the PC on and off? How about your ADSL line?

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Khyber ( 864651 )

          I run a purely open case (both side panels off) right next to a 5" long-throw subwoofer, one of the satellite speakers is on top of the computer, so's the external hard drive, right in front of the speaker. There's a mixer board atop the subwoofer (comp and subwoofer are only at most 4" apart) and then it's a whole slew of N64, PS3, Wii, PS2, GameCube. My 32" 1080p LCD is right above those, and I have YET to hear or even SEE any interference. I haven't had any issues even with my guitar hooked up directly t

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by hurfy ( 735314 )

            I'll go with this too. Interference is not the issue ;)

            How much can they produce and wouldn't they mess up themselves? The Video card does not appear to be shielded from MB and vice-versa. Wouldn't the tape drive get messed up? Wouldn't locking it in a metal case bounce it back and mess up something?

            That and the fact that i have a plastic case on each side of desk and the 2 CRTs in the middle show no signs of interference for the 4 years they have been that way. Nor does anything else on or next to the tabl

          • I specifically picked 3G phones and ADSL as both are limited in bandwidth by the available SNR. They will work in the presence of noise, but they will work more slowly. Games consoles, hard drives and so on are designed to be robust to interference. The shielding that keeps noise in keeps it out too, so you'd need seriously obnoxious noise to affect them. The fact that you've not crossed that threshold doesn't mean that the noise is insignificant, it just means you're using the wrong devices to judge the ef

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      Have you measures a modern PC? it's not that bad.
      SHeeesh.

      • I've actually done it. Our company makes instruments that are computer controlled, and since the computer (at the time) needed to do things like accept full-length cards, we find it easier to roll our own rather than deal with an OEM like Dell, IBM, etc. So I was in the position to try to CE certify a white-box PC for sale in Europe. The computer, without the data acquistion/control cards was nothing really special - a Pentium 4 CPU with some Intel-branded motherboard with 6 PCI slots in a roomy (but not

  • Except I called mine "cardboard box and coat hangers". It was just as functional and a lot cheaper.

    • Except I called mine "cardboard box and coat hangers". It was just as functional and a lot cheaper.

      You said was.. I'm guessing it burnt down your house.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by argent ( 18001 )

        You said was.

        Actually, since Hurricane Ike I've had one server temporarily relocated to a cardboard box. So I guess I'm still avant garde.

        I'm guessing it burnt down your house.

        Not yet.

    • Damn, I can't find my pics! I hung everything from a hanger in my closet because that is where the phone lines came in at an apartment I used to live in. I guess a closet could be considered a case though.

  • Dupe? (Score:5, Informative)

    by rtechie ( 244489 ) * on Thursday October 23, 2008 @06:50PM (#25490911)

    A virtually identical article on this case was posted 2 weeks ago.
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/13/2015222 [slashdot.org]

    On top of that, this is the worst page-view whore site I have ever seen. The "article" is spread across 10 pages, wrapped in frames and absolutely slathered with advertising. The site designer should be shot.

  • Needs less content per page.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by DanWS6 ( 1248650 ) on Thursday October 23, 2008 @06:51PM (#25490923)
    Maybe they could split up each picture to double the amount of pages I need to view.
  • I'm like to fiddle with the guts of my computer as much as the next guy, but I also like to stack things on top of my computer case if I'm NOT fiddling with it. I would have preferred some sort of shelf-like top and the fan in the back.
  • Seems like a lot of complaints about wire management - a modular power supply would probably alleviate a lot of the unnecessary mess. If I had the money I'd try it out, but c'mon Antec, the economy sucks; they should've waited for another Fed-induced boom to launch this thing.

    • Re:Modular power supply (Score:4, Interesting)

      by compro01 ( 777531 ) on Thursday October 23, 2008 @09:59PM (#25492699)

      I've found nothing but problems with modular supplies. The contacts wear, oxidize, and after a year or so, it gets to the point where it is throwing the voltages to hell (in excess of 10% off), which doesn't qualify as good in my book.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Khyber ( 864651 )

        I haven't had a problem with my Rocketfish 700w PSU for quite a good while, now. And also, I'm not the kind of person silly enough to connect the power rails while the thing's running. (SATA is hot-swap, and certainly enough I know people that will hook up SATA while the power supply is still running, arcing the contacts and screwing them up.)

        If you treat it right and don't CONSTANTLY tool around with the cables, you should not have ANY problem with a modular power supply.

      • I bought a Thermaltake 700 with modular outputs- I have since moved it and the other components to a larger Antec case (now a 300). I connected it and left it alone and have had no problems. Perhaps it's the brand. I liked being able to eliminate some of the wiring that was not needed in order to improve cooling.

        • I tend to just bundle up the extra wires with velcro ties and stuff them into the top 5.25" bay, right above the optical drive, and since that's a dead-air zone anyway (optical drives don't need any active cooling), so it doesn't affect anything anyway, though I suppose that would be a problem in cases that have a top fan mount, though I still subscribe to soldered-joints-are-better-than-contacts camp.

      • That's interesting. Are you always swapping the cables around or something? Are you sure they just weren't cheap supplies to begin with? If modular supplies have problems with the contacts oxidizing, I would imagine the same thing would affect the ends of the connectors on standard power supplies.

  • It will make hardware upgrades much easier. Just wander around a LAN party and take what you like.

    It's like a silicon buffet

  • Nice, but no friggin way a PC built in one of these is going to meet FCC class A or class B limits.

    Of course, that isn't Antec's problem - the system integrator is the one responsible for meeting spec.

  • A Box Anticipated By Many Gamers
    Chassis and component manufacturer Antec just released a new enthusiast case called the Skeleton, which is just that -- the framework of an enclosure, without the walls. The Test Center assembled a PC using the case, which Antec says people either love or hate.

    The Meaning Of Bare Bones
    The front of the Skeleton is where the optical and hard drives are housed. It is also where you'll find the power and reset buttons, as well as two USB ports, a FireWire port, an eSATA connectio

  • Can I be cool too? I'm gonna cut a bunch of holes in the side of my beige monster. (Side note: my girl doesn't think beige PCs are ugly... Keeper)
  • Just got mine yesterday. It will be replacing a custom Acrylic case I made myself. This is the first production case that really gave me a nerdgasm. As far as the people who are complaining about EM, I really think you guys are over estimating how much computers really throw these days. I'm sure it's on par or less then that of a Cell Phone. I am not saying that they don't throw EM at all... but it seems kind of silly to think that this case would cause other devices not to work... or give anyone tumors or

    • Judging from the interference on my little PC speakers, I'd say that cell phones put out a lot more EM than PCs.

  • This has been done for awhile - I've had one on my desk for the last six months from highspeedpc. Check it out here: http://highspeedpc.com/ [highspeedpc.com]

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