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The Antec packaging is extremely heavy – weighing almost 20kg. Those with lesser physical strength will have an issue moving it from place to place.
The chassis is firmly wedged between two thick pieces of styrofoam. It arrived completely unmarked, even though it travelled internationally from Antec HQ.
The P193 itself is extremely attractive with a rather simplistic looking front panel, which has several complex cut out panels on the right side for aesthetic appeal. It isn't quite as simple looking as some other cases in the ‘Performance One' range of chassis, but we feel it won't offend people who found the Dark Fleet DF 85 an eyesore.
While it looks as if aluminum is used, its mainly plastic on the front, but Antec have disguised that well – it has a metallic sheen to the finish. There are 2 USB ports, as well as eSATA, microphone and audio out on the right side. There is also a keyhole to open and lock the door if you are safety conscious.
In the same manner as the P190 before it, the P193 has a fascia which can be opened on a double hinge system meaning it rests level with the side panel. This is the ideal system in our opinion as it proves to be a solid, strong system which is not easily broken by accidentally walking into it.
There are two 120mm fan mounts in this area and support for four external 5.25 inch drive bays and a single 3.5 inch bay. All of these are removable bezels – easily accessible by the front of the case and have dust filters installed which also remove easily.
The side panel is home to a 200mm (tricool) fan which is marketed by Antec as the ideal cooling solution for a dual graphics card configuration. The top has 2 x 140mm TriCool fans for exhausting out excess internal heat.
The rear houses a single 120mm Tricool fan and there are also two protected holes for watercooling already cut into the chassis. The 200mm side fan has a bulky dust filtration system which we will look at later.
At the top there are three sets of switches which control the chassis fan speeds across Low, medium and high settings.
Man, no offense to antec, but both this and the DF 85 are quite ugly looking cases.
ITs not a bad looking chassis, but that side fan system which sticks out is a mess. they should have made it wider and moved that internally.
3.3 kg for the side door? christ, thats madness. It looks ok, but I agree the DF 85 seems the better case, if they had finished the front of it !
This looks much nicer than the DF 85 which is the ugly duckling of the antec range.
However, if you can get past the looks, the DF 85 is probably right up there with the Raven 02 for cooling performance.
I want to see lian li reviews here. that case is quite nice, but im a sucker for aluminum, who isnt?
It does look like metal, shame its plastic at the front and that side door would take some getting used to. fair review.
I quite like it. shame they didnt paint it black inside, I forgot how ugly raw material is.
Its quite attractive, the filtered 200mm fan is a stroke of genius ! i love the idea of a 200mm fan which moves massive air, but not having to deal with massive levels of dust later.
Its quite attractive. DF85 I didnt like, but its a shame about the fan that sticks out at the side, it ruins the whole look of it.
Antec make all their cases with heavy metals and not aluminum, thats a shame. Steel is good, but its just so damn heavy. I like the semi portability of aluminum when I move to my friends for some gaming.
It is a lot of case for the money, they dropped the price a lot from the p190 which i have.
I like these cases a lot, the insides are very spacious indeed.
That is very well designed, all the filtering makes live so much easier and I apperciate a company doing all this. I just dont know about the looks.
THe biggest competition it has is from the 900 and 1200.
Very nice looking case. not sure about the side panel either, its a bit messy looking I think.
I really think this is a lovely looking case, im tempted to pick one up.
Nice price drop, but sadly the looks have also dropped 🙁