The first thing you may notice about the X-QBOII is its BTX-style layout. No, I didn't flip the image around. The main access panel really is on the opposite side of the case. There is a 120mm fan located in the window and a vented portion in the bottom of the front bezel with an Apevia name plate mounted in the center of the grill. The face of the X-QBOII is brushed aluminum, with deep gloss black bay covers. There are two 5¼ and two 3½ bays, USB, audio and Firewire ports, and power and reset switches along with power and hdd activity LEDs.


Moving around to the rear of the case, we find holes for two 80mm fans above the motherboard I/O plate. Since this is for a micro-ATX board, there are only four riser slots, which contain the snap-out style of covers that can be reused. The power supply is mounted in the typical location at the top of the case and displays a free-flowing open mesh back design with only the plug socket and small on/off switch taking up space. The back side panel is completely featureless and is held in place by standard phillips screws, rather than the thumbscrews used to attach the window panel.

Now let's have a look inside the X-QBOII.