Internally (once the parts box is removed) the layout is very familiar indeed - it's just the scale that's changed! The P193 will take motherboards ranging from the tiny ITX form factor all the way up to Extended ATX so all you skulltrail users out there can rest assured this case will accommodate it.
All the edges in the case are rounded so the chances of cuts and scrapes are greatly reduced. It should be a pleasure to work in since a great deal of my time is usually spent worrying about snagging wires, scratching components and cutting myself during installs and repairs. There are also strips of foam to stop the doors rattling against the case.
The P193 uses the standard Performance One Dual chamber design which separates the PSU and four HDD's in the lower chamber from the upper main compartment containing the motherboard, graphics, optical drives and space for two more HDD's. Below is an image of the case with both cages removed.
The HDD cages use an identical mounting mechanism to the older P180 design. Thumbscrews hold the unit in place and once removed allow the cage to slide out for the installation of the drives. The upper cage can hold two drives in a set of mini slide in trays containing silicone mounts to isolate the drive from the case. The lower cage can accommodate four drives - due to the greater concentration of drives in this lower cage it does not have space for the slide in tray system in the upper cage. It instead uses the same silicone mounts to install the drives directly to the cage.
Another nice feature carried forward from the P180 is the inclusion of a parts compartment on the rear of the upper cage. This is a handy space to keep essential additional screws, standoffs, spare silicone mounts and fan mounts safe and close at hand. Very tidy.
In front of the cages there are 120mm brackets to allow the installation of additional fans - indeed, one updated feature not present in the P180 is the ability to install a fan on the rear of the HDD cage. For example if you were able to install your HDD's in the lower chamber you could install a 120mm fan at the rear of the upper HDD cage which would blow cool air over installed GPU's, audio or any other expansion cards... nice!
So far so good - the P193 has addressed both performance cooling needs and silence. But what about ease of use. I've already mentioned the thumbscrews which certainly help a lot... and i've also commented on the ability to slide optical drives and HDD's in and out with ease. These are of course major plus points but assuming you do put a high end system in with a couple of GPU's, a variety of HDDs and optical drives... what about all those cables!
The P193 has that base covered too - a combination of shuttered passages between the chambers and cable routes behind the motherboard tray (with cable ties set up and ready to go) means that you can be quite confident even the most involved install won't turn into spaghetti junction.
The remaining parts supplied in the parts box consist of screws, all the rails you'll ever need, the fan mounts and a clever VGA support for additional security when mounting large high performance VGA cards.
To be honest, i'm itching to try an install just to see how easy it is.
