Antec Sonata III

[Lord Banshee]

so what was changed in the sonata 2 from the sonata 1 that makes the GTX not fit?

I've played with a sonata 2 and i have a sonata 1 and the inside with out duct seemed to be exactly the same.

 

[Puffnstuff]

That case looks pretty good however it's too small IMHO.

 

[Lord Banshee]

THis thread says the 8800GTX fits the sonata 2 with air duct removed so why does antec say it doesn't fit and maybe it will fit the sonata 3.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=1959556&enterthread=y

I guess we will have to wait for someone to try it to find out.

I like the size of the sonata's. To me it is the perfect size for a normal case and should fit most needs as long as you replace stock fans with better ones. It holds 4 hard drives 3 cd-roms and 2 floppy disks. You could always even put hard disks in the spots of the floppy and cd-roms.

So my next case will be a sonata 3 or a p18x. I like antec and i think the sonata 3 looks nice and better than the 1 and 2.

 

[blake99]

Lord Banshee -- I am with you on the sonata III!

I am interested in your comment re: replacing fans. My plan was to add a Noctua 120mm fan intake at the front of the case if I can squeeze it in alongside an 8800GTS.

Do you think the Antec TriSpeed fan at the back should be replaced? I thought this was a respectable fan in terms of power and quietness?

 

[Lord Banshee]

Blake99,

Yes the TriSpeed is an "OK" fan. At "Hi" they are loud but pushes lots of air. At "Med" they are normal loudness if i can call a loudness normal setting. At low is quiet but pushes no air. My Sonata, a Sonata 1 did not come with TriSpeed, before they sold them in cases lol. But i did plan with some in my HTPC NSK2400 and at work a Sonata 2 and Titan550.

I like the yate loons because they are quiet and at about 1k rpms they push "enough" to keep my system from getting too hot. It really depends on what you consider quiet and what temps you want to live with. If i was able to remove all my fans and run passive i would But i think things will start to burn up lol.

I just changed my system a little. I changed my 7800GT to a X1950XT and my HR-05 to HR-05 SLI and removed the front intake fan. My temps idle are CPU: 30*C, PWM IC: 43*C, CHIPSET: 47*C.

I been thinking of a way to add my intake fan back in and make a box in the HD area and move the fan all the way to the ground so it cools my chipset and Video card as i don't need any more cooling for my CPU area. Two instances of Prime95 for 12 hours my load temp on the CPU was only 42*C. If you want I'll post some pictures of my setup maybe you can get an idea of sizes?

 

[blake99]

Lord Banshee

Sure I would love to see pics of your setup ! Please post..

 

[Lord Banshee]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2055594&enterthread=y

If you want other pics let me know you can PM me

 

[murrayE]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Any changes to the [Sonata] II other than the PSU?

From both the pictures and the descriptions on the Antec site, there seems to be one significant difference: The big air duct (shroud) that the Sonata II had is gone from the Sonata III.

I don't know whether this is overall good or bad from the standpoint of best cooling. But I recall some folks complaining about the shroud interfering with components and therefore removing it.

 

[murrayE]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Any changes to the [Sonata] II other than the PSU?

From both the pictures and the descriptions on the Antec site, there seems to be one significant difference: The big air duct (shroud) that the Sonata II had is gone from the Sonata III.

I don't know whether this is overall good or bad from the standpoint of best cooling. But I recall some folks complaining about the shroud interfering with components and therefore removing it.

 

[cb]

Here's a good review of the Sonata III:
http://www.bjorn3d.com:80/read.php?cID=1109

Also, MWave is selling them for $109 right now.