The new Apevia X-Qpack3-NW-BK cube case is simply a delight to work with! My new ‘Apevia’ build required moving a Ryzen™ 5 3400G processor, 16GB memory & ASUS Prime A320M-K MoBo intact from ‘Test Bench’ to the new case, and then ‘Renaming’ the computer. Still waiting on a Kingwin KF-250-BK Single 2.5” SSD/HDD to arrive for the floppy bay slot (aka external 3.5” bay), and I have already moved a 5.25” Trayless Hot Swap Mobile Rack (used mainly with 3.5” HHD’s or SSD’s w/ ‘Adapter’) from ‘Antec Jr.’ to the new Apevia build so I have been running WIN10 Pro & Ubuntu on ‘Apevia’ already.

The two bays are highlighted in red with descriptions below. There will be no internal drives, just Hot Swappable Bays for OSes, copies of DATA drives, and/or for making backups. BTW, I already removed that Blue Led 140mm case fan from the front – am waiting for a plain ole quiet 120mm PWM Computer Case Fan for the rear. The front and top of this case are removable metal mesh covers w/ foam dust filters, so air movement won’t be a problem for me…fans can also be installed in those areas, for Gamers. The power supply (mounted on bottom blowing downward) also has a filtered open air area – this case will require a power supply that blows downward for best results, IMHO. This next pic shows how easily accessible the inside areas of this case are:

That view shows 2 sides removed and the top opened. This next view shows how it can also be opened further if two holding-screws are removed in the hinge area:

That gives you a little more area to work in, if you need it. Probably won’t need to open it that far after you have finished installing the MoBo. This case is definitely not ‘flimsy’ but removing those two holding-screws continuously may be the weakest part of the case – no biggie if that area breaks or weakens tho, but something will need to be done to stop the top from falling over without those two screws working. The hinge is very sturdy, but doesn’t look like it can be removed. Personally, I would’ve rather just removed some thumb screws, and then remove the whole top and front section. Still, there is plenty of working room in the design as it is, and much more working room than any of my tower cases. After building my ‘Test Bench’ it became obvious to me that having the two sides, plus the front and the top areas totally opened to work in would be perfect. There may be cases like that, but either I didn’t see them – OR – they didn’t have all my needed ‘Requirements’. However, after installing power supply, installing the MoBo, hooking them up, and then hooking all the front panel wires to the MoBo – *PLUS* whatever is installed in external and internal bays that get hooked up in that top and front panel section, and then connected to MoBo and power supply definitely won’t need to come off – OR – opened all the way again. PHEW, that’s a mouthful! Probably another advantage of having the power supply in the lower area, below the MoBo. Here’s a pic of power supply area just before installing it:

The case is up on 1” legs, and notice all the holes for airflow in that power supply area – basically designed for a blowing down type of power supply. Removable drive bay adapters made it easier for installing power supply.

These modern cases and motherboards work so well together nowadays, i.e. the I/O plates (aka shields) just snap in and stay in place … there was a time when you needed 4 hands, 2 foots, and 5 toes to hold the I/O plate in place as you tried to line up the MoBo to case standoffs whilst also fumbling with screws and the seemingly ever moving I/O plate. Here’s a pic of the MoBo installed:

Apevia certainly put a lot of thought into this case’s design; including extra long case lead wires. Power supply wires and cables are also easy to route and/or hide.

Ditto on my earlier statement that the Apevia X-Qpack3-NW-BK cube case is simply a delight to work with!!! Have plenty of hardware tests in the planning stage, with this extremely accessible case, and am looking forward to them all.

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