Antec Sonata / 120mm fan cases

[shredisn@tdead]

Anyone got one of them new fangled Antec Sonata cases??

Read lots of rave reviews about this case. Was wondering if it'd be suitable for an air cooled overclocked rig or not. With 2x 120mm case fans should be OK, no? esp if not connected to the PSU regulated lines...

Main concern is how does the case suck in air at the front? Looks like there's a "channel" on the front so I guess its sucking up from the bottom end of this, right?

I'm hearing a lot of my PCs fan noise coming via the drive bays so having a door over this seems like a good idea! Wonder if that new Akasa fan controller would fit behind the door...

Anyone care to suggest a quiet(ish) case with good circulation?

[Austin]

Sonata is about as good as any case will be, by far the best case I know of. 120mm fans move a fair amount of air and can do so at much lower noise levels. You evn get a superb Antec PSU with it, nice and quiet. Undoubtedly the case for you!

[shredisn@tdead]

Glad you think so, was just thinking that it's probably not going to be top a Coolermaster...

Have you played with an Antec Sonata personally?

[shamus21]

Good case shredisn@tdead and well worth the money with that power supply. Save you a llot of time cutting your own 120mm Holes .

[DsW]

I have a Sonata and it's a very good case. Didn't go for the optional second fan myself, but there's some info on its placement etc. here -

http://www.procooling.com/reviews/ht...ase_review.php

cheers,
dave

[grabbi_21]

i think the sonata's ugly

[Austin]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ... I dislike the black ... far too 1980's Dragon for me (and getting stuff to match is a pain). There are other great alternatives though, ARIA are doing a special on the Xspider (IIRC) or more commonly called "Chenbro Gaming Bomb" (Orange), excellent case up there with the Sonata BUT you need to buy your own fans and PSU so £41 may not be 'special' enough. BTW IIRC the fan mounts are intelligent so can take 80, 92 or 120mm (92 is max for frontal intake). Anyway here it is ...

http://www.aria.co.uk/DealforToday.asp

[Stoo]

Naa, it's not square enough for a Dragon32

[shredisn@tdead]

I can remember wanting a Dragon32 as a kid but can't remember for the life of me what the darn thing looked like.

As the box is just going to sit under a desk I'm not all that fussed about the colour, although I still prefer black to ORANGE! Shame it's so shiny but maybe it'll look better in real life. Plus it's for the Mrs and I'm sure she wont have anything to go with the orange!!!

The sideways drive mounting system looks like a winner too.

wilkied,
Am I right to think there a hole/air intake at the bottom of the ducted channel at the front?
Take a look at the first pic here if you're not sure what I'm on about! - the narrowing bit on the far left...

[malfunction]

Originally posted by Stoo
Naa, it's not square enough for a Dragon32

Dragon 32's weren't black. They were an off beige (quite a dark beige IIRC). Dragon 64's were a mid grey tone IIRC. Must mean some other kind of Dragon (Cheiftec Dragon's weren't around in the 80s and you can't quite call the black ones black either)

[5cupa]

i have a SOnata been very happy with it, apart from the motherboard tray isent removable

[Austin]

The tray isn't removable which I also see as a negative aspect BUT I'm pretty sure it is because Antec (who make/design the Sonata) have this thing with maximum structural integrity ... ie they expect their cases to withstand an adult standing on them! Be rest assured that there is plenty of ventilation at the front of the case, after all mounting a fan there is pointless unless it can take the air from somewhere. I wouldn't rec anything that has a serious flaw like having a fan where there is no/little ventilation. I found some info for you guys...

SONATA:
http://www.procooling.com/reviews/ht...ase_review.php
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/003/c.../sonata-1.html
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/revie...e/index4.shtml
http://www.antec-inc.com/wheretobuy_...&Submit=Submit

XPIDER (Chenbro Gaming Bomb):
http://hightekpc.com/reviews/xpider.html
http://www.modsynergy.com/Review%2087.htm
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/oth...t/chenbro.html

[pdug175]

Originally posted by grabbi_21
i think the sonata's ugly

I very nearly bought the sonata case, as I'm always after silence.

I don't think the pictures do it justice and think that if it was on your desk it would look much better than all the cwappy pictures you see of it.

[overfloe]

the sonata is probably the best steel case
bought one but swapped for a lanboy coz the girlfriend prefers lighter case (screw antec for not making the sonata aluminium!)
the sonata looks better in real life! nice 120mm exhaust, removable front intake filter, and the anti-vibration hdd mounting works wonder! build quality is much better than the lanboy

[DsW]

Originally posted by shredisn@tdead
wilkied,
Am I right to think there a hole/air intake at the bottom of the ducted channel at the front?
Take a look at the first pic here if you're not sure what I'm on about! - the narrowing bit on the far left...
[/B]

The intake is on the bottom half of the case at the front, yes.

The single fan does a good job of cooling, though, so you may not need to put a second fan in. If you did it would obviously increase noise levels.

cheers,
dave

[darkside]

I bought one as I was more concerned about overall system noise than any kind of super cool system. This is where the Sonata triumphs.

Highly recommended for a good quality, quiet case that is excellent to work on once your system is installed.

Highlights:
-120mm fan on PSU temp speed control nearly silent.
- excellent quality PSU with quiet single fan
- sideway drive bays are genius if you swap hdd's
- ditto side mounted snap fit mounting rails for cd drives
- shiny black looks classy to me
- rubber drive and fan mounts
- front USB access panel quite slick

Not Sures
- drive door annoying for power up and cd access (but untidy when open)
- no removable motherboard tray (only useful for sytem build)
- shiny black picks up dust

Overall, I love this case and would happily buy another for my server that needs quietening down since it is on 24/7.