A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the interior, simply remove the thumbscrews holding each panel in place. As is the norm these days, the insides are entirely black to go with the exterior. Overall, the layout is very traditional, with a large opening in the motherboard tray to allow for easy access to the CPU cooler's backplate.


There is around 20-25 mm worth of space to route cables behind the tray to keep the interior clean. In addition to this, Cooltek added a few Velcro strips to hold these cables in place. This is a nice touch and rather rare these days as just a few other companies offers such Velcro strips in their cases.


Taking a look at the interior. you may place up to eight hard drives of either 2.5'' or 3.5" in size into each of the plastic trays. If you happen to have a long GPU, the top cage is removable, so any such device will easily fit. Cooltek fitted the Skall with two 120 mm, LED-equipped fans in front, which cool down any installed drives and create a fairly good amount of airflow. In the very top are the three standard 5.25" drive bays, but these do come equipped with a tool-less mounting mechanism.


Turning our focus to the rear, the PSU bay comes with foam-padded rails on which the power supply will rest. Above it are the eight motherboard-expansion slots, each with its own cover that is held in place by a thumbscrew for easy removal. These thumbsrews also make these covers reusable. You will find another 120 mm fan in the very top, set to push hot air out through the back.


All the cables within the Cooltek Skall are of the default variety, and the USB 3.0 connector unfortunately does come in its default blue color, which deducts from the interior look. It would have been nice to see black sleeving instead, which is not too much to ask for these days. In addition to these plugs, you will find a Molex connector and 3-pin fan headers to power those fans you want to attach to the fan controller.