A Closer Look – Exterior
While XPG hasn’t gone completely wild with the design here, things do look broadly as you would expect, to be honest. However, the Starker AIR BTF still ticks all the boxes expected in a modern PC gaming case, starting with a large tempered glass window on the side, which runs from the top edge of the case, to the top of the PSU shroud at the bottom.
While I think it’s honestly fair to say most modern gaming cases look pretty similar, there are a few key areas where they can stand out. The front panel is one of the biggest, with a heck of a lot going on here, lots of airflow, lots of mesh, lots of cut metal, ARGB lighting, and best of all, quite a lot of depth. It’s about as 3D as a front panel could be before it becomes a trip hazard.
I suspect it could get a little tricky to clean if you have a dusty house, but there’s mesh there to ensure your PC components stay nice and clean, and you’ll get lots of airflow here.
Down in the bottom corner, there’s a stylish XPG logo, and you can see there’s good ground clearance thanks to some larger feet, ensuring there’s airflow under the case too.
Up on the top, you’ll find a full-length magnetic dust filter, allowing for plenty of passive airflow and additional cooling fans or a radiator.
List the cover out of the way, and you can find both 120mm and 140mm mount spacings, giving you plenty of upgrade options.
There’s a compact but capable front I/O panel, with Type-C, and Type-A USB 3.2, and ARGB lighting control button, reset button, and a master power switch; nice to see reset and RGB buttons, as the reset button is often repurposed as the lighting control.
Around the back, there’s a height-adjustable fan mount, with a pre-installed 120mm fan, but there are mounts for 140mm fans too, should you wish to upgrade the fans to a larger model.
A small detail, but I like the diamond pattern airflow at the back, as well as the usage of silver screws that better pair up with the white hardware.
There’s a removable rear plate, with fully reusable metal expansion slot covers, and as you might expect, it’s fully rotatable to allow for mounting your GPU sideways.
Down the left side, there’s a little extra ventilation for extra cooling, but it’s a bit more complex than it looks.
