Antec P193

This luxury case from Antec has everything bar the kitchen sink – and you could mod than in!

Weighing in at nearly 15kg out of the box, and just generally large no matter how you measure such things, the Antec P193 is a true beast of a case. But that's not to say that weight is a bad thing, because the minute you start poking about the P193's innards you start to see that you really are getting what your sorely abused back muscles are paying for.

Externally, with the exception of the mount for the side-panel fan, the design is classic P-series - very square and kind of plain. The case is mostly plain black plastic, externally, with the odd shiny highlight on the front enclosure, a door that swings away to reveal drive bays and the first of the luxury-grade touches you'll discover in this case.

Each bay has its own pop-out cover, and each cover is filtered by a fine mesh. Behind the fascia there are two unused 120mm fan bays, and each of these also has a pop-out, mesh cover. This is a great touch for those who shun dust in all its forms, and will keep the interior of your case as pristine as the day you built it. Here you'll also find the pleasingly solid power and reset buttons, and the IO ports.

The top of the case is more plain black plastic, and so's the right -hand panel. The left-hand panel, as you can see in the photo, features a protruding fan housing with attendant 200mm intake fan. This might seem an odd design choice, but it does leave the interior wonderfully uncluttered; this fan also has a slide-out mesh screen, once again making clean freaks weak at their immaculate knees. The rear of the case houses all the usual bits, as well as external controllers for the rear and top-most fans - a nice touch for those who like to ramp up fan speed (and ramp down noise) as necessary.

Now, you might be worrying about all these plastic panels, but this is where the P193's weight starts to make sense - each panel is a composite of metal and plastic. When you get inside you'll also spot a lot of rubber dampeners, gel grommets and more; this case is designed with ultimate silence in mind, and it delivers. What's more, if you want to add more fans, there's room for two at the front, and internal mounts as well to make sure air flows where you want it to. It's a very versatile setup, made even clever by a compartmentalised design that keeps the PSU separate from more thermally delicate components. Cable management is a dream thanks to many hooks, catches and cable runs; the P193 beaten only by the Thermaltake Spedo in terms of neatness and efficiency.

Antec's design in the P-series is certainly striking, and while it may not be for everyone there's no doubting this is one of the neatest and quietest cases we've seen. If you want enthusiast grade space with HTPC-grade silence, this is what you've been waiting for.