A Closer Look - Outside

Out of the box, the chassis triggers a case of deja vu as its overall shape takes clear inspiration from the Antec Cube, a collaboration with Razer back in 2016. However, the shape of the exterior is essentially the only thing these two cases have in common.


In the front, out of the box, you are presented with a vented plastic front that sports a unique look and feel. Each of the square tips is painted in chrome, which seems a little out of place as there is nothing else that shiny anywhere on the chassis. That said, it doesn't look bad overall. You may easily remove the cover without any tools, which reveals the inner frame and grants access to any 120 or 140 mm fans you may have installed here. In the rear, the Antec Dark Cube features an inverted layout, just like the Antec Cube from 2016, but with a completely redesigned frame.


Both sides of the Dark Cube come with fairly heavily tinted glass panels. You may pull them off for limited access to the interior without pulling out the whole frame.


As the opposite side offers the same possibility, this gives you access to most of the HDD cage. The original Antec Cube had a cover over the CPU opening for additional storage, which the Dark Cube unfortunately does away with.


In the rear, the bottom can hold up to an ATX PSU, which is installed using a frame to slide it into the back of the chassis. There is also a handle for you to easily pull out the case frame for system assembly. Above that is the 120 mm vent for an optional fan, which means the chassis ships with no active cooling. This seems a little odd for a chassis encased in glass, as you can't really get away without active cooling. It would have been nice to see ARGB fans in the front and at least a basic black unit in the back. In the very top are the four expansion slots for an mATX motherboard.


In the top, you will find a glass window panel, which means the Antec Dark Cube utilizes up to four such panels. While this is great, we also know that it translates into thermal issues. Antec did add strips of mesh to the left and right, and designed a small air vent around the glass panel, but without active airflow, heat convection will need more openings to work properly. It would have been beneficial to have metal mesh here instead.


In the front of the top is a large and round power and a small, unlabeled LED toggle button. While the latter is a great addition, these buttons are too close to each other, so odds of powering down your system unintentionally when wanting to switch up your lighting theme instead are high. Their placement is clearly done with symmetry over function in mind. To that extend, Antec could have included a reset switch and placed them to the left and right of the power button, with more distance in-between. In the front, the USB 3.0 Gen2 Type-C connector is in the middle with two USB 3.0 Type-A connectors to the left and right. There are also two audio ports on either end for symmetry. Unfortunately, these aren't labeled in any way, making it a 50/50 gamble when connecting headphones.


On the underside, you will find two rubber pads and a vent for the PSU to draw cool air, and there are two more of the metal mesh strips as well.