Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
To remove the two side panels of the XPG Starker, there are four captive thumbscrews: Two for the front tempered glass panel and two for the back panel. The captive thumbscrews are a nice addition as I have a dark-colored desk and they can be difficult to locate when set down. The panels slide off the case towards the back when the screws are loosened. Both the front and back panels are secured quite snug and therefore require some force to pull out. The tempered glass has an opaque black border that allows you to remove the panel without leaving fingerprints behind. The back panel is flat and has a small handle to assist you in removing it. The interior of the case is evenly coated in white with some black accents. There is an XPG logo printed in red on the power supply chamber. The chamber itself has ventilation along the top with openings for motherboard cables to go through, and there is a cut-out on the sides to display your power supply. In addition to covering the power supply, the chamber also houses your storage drives. Ventilation for the power supply comes through from the bottom of the case.
Looking at the back of the case, you will find the rear ventilation where you can mount your exhaust fan. Above this, there is plenty of clearance space if you wish to mount a radiator along the top. If you wish to instead place a radiator along the back, there is plenty of space to do so as well. As a mid-tower case, it is nice to see all the options available for liquid cooling here. Looking at the expansion slots, the XPG Starker comes with a vertical GPU bracket if you wish to mount your GPU vertically. To do so, you will have to remove the horizontal VGA bracket and replace it with the included vertical bracket.
The XPG Starker is a mid-tower case that can support Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, and regular-sized ATX motherboards. The case comes with some standoffs already installed, but if you were to install an ATX motherboard, you would need to install the additional standoffs, which are included in the box. The additional clearance at the top of the case means there is plenty of room for your hands when installing your fans or radiators. The case can support a 360mm, 280mm, or 240mm radiator at the front, 280mm, 240mm, or 120mm radiator at the top, or a 120mm radiator at the rear. Consequently, the front of the case can mount either three 120mm fans or two 140mm fans. The top ventilation can mount two 120mm fans or two 140mm fans. Meanwhile, the motherboard tray has a large opening allowing you to gain access to the back of your motherboard if you are looking to install a heatsink backplate.
Included in the case are two of the XPG Vento 120mm fans; one being the ARGB model. The ARGB fan is installed at the back exhaust and the non-ARGB fan is located at the front of the case. The XPG Vento are 1200RPM rifle bearing fans rated at 45.3 CFM airflow, 0.68mmH2O static pressure, and 23dBA noise. Unfortunately, the XPG Vento fans are 3-pin voltage controlled and not PWM fans.
Three routing openings can be found along the top of the interior of the case and two going up the right side. These routing holes have rubber grommets in place to hide the extra cables that are present. The back of the case gives you 20mm of space for routing your cables. From the back, you can see the two mounting positions for your SSDs. The XPG Starker has a sled where you can attach two of your SSDs on. That plate is screwed on to the back behind the motherboard with a thumbscrew. Beside the power supply mounting location, there are additional drive mounts to be used for either two 3.5" HDDs or two 2.5" SSDs or some combination of them. You also have the option of mounting an HDD or SSD inside the main chamber of the case if you wish to do so. I personally would have liked XPG to expand the drive bay to allow for an additional drive as there is plenty of space still available to be used underneath the shroud.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
