• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

XPG Starker Air BTF

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer
Staff member
Joined
Jul 8, 2005
Messages
3,103 (0.43/day)
Location
Victoria, BC, Canada
System Name Corsair 2000D Silent Gaming Rig
Processor Intel Core i5-14600K
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix Z790-i Gaming Wifi
Cooling Corsair iCUE H150i Black
Memory Corsair 64 GB 6000 MHz DDR5
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phoenix GS
Storage TeamGroup 1TB NVMe SSD
Display(s) Gigabyte 32" M32U
Case Corsair 2000D
Power Supply Corsair 850 W SFX
Mouse Logitech MX
Keyboard Sharkoon PureWriter TKL
The XPG Starker Air BTF is the latest in the Starker series. As the name implies, this new model allows for the use of motherboards with backside connectors, but also goes into new directions in essentially all fronts when compared to its predecessor, including a very different price point.

Show full review
 
Joined
Jan 9, 2023
Messages
406 (0.51/day)
I much prefer the look of these cases over the Invader X line.
If price comes down a bit I can see this as a nice budget BTF offering, but therein lies the problem.
Backconnect motherboards are still command a noticeable premium... Who would cough up extra for the motherboard to skimp on a "cheap" case like this?
Wish there were more backconnect offerings, especially for AM5...
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
4,867 (0.95/day)
Nice fully stacked IO with all the buttons and LEDs plus RGB controller and HDD trays for both slots instead of el cheap crappy implementation seen on most cheap cases. Even the PCI slots and PSU bracket are nice inclusions. If only front panel was slightly more open it would make a perfect case for quite a lot of builders on budget.
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
1,157 (0.19/day)
Location
Hungary / Budapest
System Name Kincsem
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
Motherboard ASUS ProArt X870E-CREATOR WIFI
Cooling Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 5
Memory Kingston Fury KF560C32RSK2-96 (2×48GB 6GHz)
Video Card(s) Sapphire AMD RX 7900 XT Pulse
Storage Samsung 990PRO 2TB + Samsung 980PRO 2TB + FURY Renegade 2TB+ Adata 2TB + WD Ultrastar HC550 16TB
Display(s) Acer QHD 27"@144Hz 1ms + UHD 27"@60Hz
Case Cooler Master CM 690 III
Power Supply Seasonic 1300W 80+ Gold Prime
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero
Keyboard HyperX Alloy Elite RGB
Software Windows 10-64
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/9qw7iq https://valid.x86.fr/4d8n02 X570 https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/g46uc
1741620186108.png

So close,
These cases should give option for holding a 3~4 slot thick GPU with a raiser.
Where they also give option to not have a plexi side panel.
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2024
Messages
1,027 (4.61/day)
Does anyone know what they imply with "Starker"?

Too bad they failed to do it right. Partly a good idea. They should have used the hole length for the IO Slots. They should have give below some space. they should have implemented more screw holes. Not every put through cable hole has a protection plastic. Preinstalled Fans which I never want. Not worth looking more into details anymore.



I see this case as a 30€ case with the fans. Too many small things which I dislike.
 
Last edited:

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
24,579 (3.76/day)
Location
(currently) Hong Kong
System Name WorkInProgress
Processor AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI X670E GAMING PLUS
Cooling Thermalright AM5 Contact Frame + Phantom Spirit 120SE
Memory 2x32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 6000 CL32
Video Card(s) Asus Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage WD SN770 1TB (Boot)|1x WD SN850X 8TB (Gaming)| 2x2TB WD SN770| 2x2TB+2x4TB Crucial BX500
Display(s) LG GP850-B
Case Corsair 760T (White) {1xCorsair ML120 Pro|5xML140 Pro}
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V573|Speakers: JBL Control One|Auna 300-CN|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply Seasonic Focus GX-850 80+ GOLD
Mouse Logitech G502 X
Keyboard Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software Windows 11 Home
Benchmark Scores ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
2,742 (0.57/day)
Location
East Europe
System Name PLAHI
Processor I5-10400
Motherboard MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS
Cooling 120 AIO IWONGOU
Memory 1x32GB Kingston BEAST DDR4 @ 3200Mhz
Video Card(s) RTX A2000
Storage Kingston Renegade GEN4 nVME 512GB
Display(s) Philips 288E2A 28" 4K + 22" LG 1080p
Case Silverstone Raven 03 (RV03)
Audio Device(s) Creative Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Fractal Design IntegraM 650W
Mouse Logitech Triathlon
Keyboard REDRAGON MITRA
Software Windows 11 Home x 64
I see this case as a 30€ case with the fans. Too many small things which I dislike.
Ain't no way this case costs €30. I mean USB-C front panel GEN2 is nowhere to be found until your reach what? Zalman P30 which is like ~€75 price point.

On a side note: I mean I am kinda pissed case manufacturers haven't caught up with the fact, EU already voted USB-C as "official" connector. When it is going to trickle down to budget cases? There are fantastic budget cases practically unusable without having one. There are no 5.25 bays anymore to solve this issue.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
6,238 (0.85/day)
Location
Ikenai borderline!
System Name Firelance.
Processor Threadripper 3960X
Motherboard ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming
Cooling IceGem 360 + 6x Arctic Cooling P12
Memory 8x 16GB Patriot Viper DDR4-3200 CL16
Video Card(s) MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ventus 2X OC
Storage 2TB WD SN850X (boot), 4TB Crucial P3 (data)
Display(s) Dell S3221QS(A) (32" 38x21 60Hz) + 2x AOC Q32E2N (32" 25x14 75Hz)
Case Enthoo Pro II Server Edition (Closed Panel) + 6 fans
Power Supply Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 760W
Mouse Logitech G604
Keyboard Razer Pro Type Ultra
Software Windows 10 Professional x64
It never ceases to amaze me how manufacturers are consistently able to fail to understand the concept of "white case". That means white everywhere, not white chassis with black cables and chrome thumbscrews. White EVERYWHERE.

Non-PWM fans and lack of 420mm rad support in the top, are just the dog turd cherry on top of the poop cake.
 
Top