A Closer Look - Outside

Out of the box, the Alphacool Apex Skeleton is not simply a tubular case. It is made up of many small components, most of which are carbon fiber or aluminium. All of these are secured with screws. This means that you could disassemble the case completely into its individual parts, and it also means that someone at the factory had to assemble the whole case before shipping it. This is likely one of the reasons the Apex Skeleton carries the price tag it does.


Looking at the front of the case, you will find a carbon fiber mounting frame for three 120 mm fans or a radiator of up to 360 mm in size. It is held in place by four brackets that attach to the carbon fiber tubes. In the rear, the layout is pretty traditional with the PSU at the bottom and an upright motherboard. We included a picture of it at an angle, as the open air nature of the case does not lend itself well to clearly seeing the details when viewed head-on.


Both sides of the Apex Skeleton have tinted glass panels. These are held in place by large thumb screws using rubber rings. Alphacool has made these panels nice and thick, which is welcome due to the overall dimensions. If you look closely, you can see that the aluminium parts have different hues, with the brackets holding the glass in place being black, while the extruded corner components have a bit of a gray/green undertone.


Taking a closer look at the rear, the PSU bay, it sports one set of mounting holes. The whole tray is pinned to one carbon fiber tube, and out of the box, it is pretty easy to move it along that axis, so it will be interesting to see how it holds up when installing a hefty power supply. Above that are the seven expansion slots, which look pretty unique. Their directions alternate, which makes these align perfectly for expansion cards to be installed inside the system. At the very top, there is another carbon fiber frame for a single 120 mm fan. This one is also hanging off a single carbon fiber tube, so you can easily rotate it around as well.


In the top of the Apex Skeleton, there is another 360 mm mounting frame for three fans or a radiator of the appropriate size. Alphacool has also placed the I/O on top of the open air case, housing these in a clean, black box. The power button looks really cool and is incredibly satisfying to push thanks to its tactile nature. Next to this, you will find two USB 3.0 and a pair of audio ports. This aspect of the case is unfortunately not in line with a high-end enclosure at all. Firstly, Alphacool used the most basic, OEM style USB 3.0 ports there are. The second faux pas is the lack of a USB-C port—again something that is de facto standard these days. Lastly, Alphacool has opted to skip the reset button & HDD activity LEDs, which is unfortunate.


Looking at the underside of the Apex Skeleton, there isn't much. Alphacool has placed a mounting plate for a single 2.5" SSD here, which is attached to one of the carbon fiber tubes. Unfortunately, this is also the only storage capability you will find in this enclosure.