Anyone using an Antec Aria?

[MichaelD]

I'm toying w/the idea of building my next rig in one...should be at least a few mATX NF3250 boards coming.

Opinions? Pics?

 

[MikePanic]

for a small form factor case its not bad - and the fact that you can put other micro atx mobo in it is nice - but i think shuttle has that market cornered right now

 

[yhelothar]

I have the Antec Sonata.. looks nice, works nice. It won't take full sized cards though, but I got integrated everything on nf2ultra400 with mcp-t

 

[Dman877]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
I have the Antec Sonata.. looks nice, works nice. It won't take full sized cards though, but I got integrated everything on nf2ultra400 with mcp-t

Full sized cards as in... massive nvidia vga cards? There's plenty of room in my sonata for full size cards... but he was asking about the aria anyway. I hope they redesign the front bezel at some point, its kinda fugly imo.

 

[Bookie]

I'm been wanting to purchase this case, for a while now, but my wife will kill me if i get another case. I may have to wait a while before doing it. From what I've read, this case looks like a winner. The only thing I don't care about is those blue vertical leds, but no reviewer has ever said anything bad about them. Hopefully they look better in person than in the pics.

 

[fxsts]

I just ordered one last week for my wife from Amazon for $98 shipped & no tax.

I am hoping to receive it later this week.

 

[thebestMAX]

Got one on order here. Going to use a shuttle MN31N with AMD chip unless anyone can suggest anything better. AMD only.

 

[fxsts]

I will be using my wife's with my Biostar M7NCG 400 and Mobile Athlon XP 2600 Barton. I like the Biostar for all the overclocking features including the voltage control to run the cpu at lower voltage.

 

[thebestMAX]

Thanks, ill look at that that one also. Shuttle had built in sound and video, nVidia chipset. Build and upgrade later.

I ordered from Amazon also. About $30 cheaper than NewEgg but they use UPS for free shipping. NewEgg, ordered 26th, here 28th. UPS ordered 27th, here may 5-7. Don care about the time but worried about UPS, pkgs here always beat up and Drivers like to bowl down the drive way with them.

 

[thebestMAX]

BTW, Does anyone know just what heatsink/fan combo will fit in the Aria?? (AMD)

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks guys. There are always things I'd like to change about a case...I'd like the card reader in the Aria to be removeable and be able to fit a floppy in it's place...but that's just me.
Alternatively, I'd like a floppy AND a card reader.

I figure in a few months, we should see some mATX NF3250 boards. Could make a killer rig in one of these Arias!

 

[fxsts]

I am also wondering about HS/fan as well. I have several Socket A HS/fans so I will try them and post feedback here.

 

[Tab]

I dont think it would be able to power a AMD 64...

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: Tabb
I dont think it would be able to power a AMD 64...

thank god for back up psu's

i'm curious on y they dont make stronger psu's for sff cases, especially for something very customizable like the aria. 300W is about hte largest i've seen too, but not nearly strong enuff to support the new cpu's, the new and super fast video cards, multiple harddrives, and etc.

 

[AntecCSR]

partially the expense of making a high wattage small PSU. That and you have to really start worrying about the heat it generates (using a P4 2.4, with a Radeon 9600 Pro the air coming out was pretty warm) with just a 300 watt PSU.

Anyway to get higher wattage you need to start using more expensive components which would put the price of the Aria in the unacceptable range (cause really would you pay $200-300 for case with a 400W PSU?). Beyond 400 watts I'd wonder a bit about the feasbility of the PSU at that size and still be able to make it reasonably quiet.

With that in mind though we're looking at what we can do for high draw systems.

AntecCSr

 

[Tab]

Sell the powersupply seperate? Some would buy it.

 

[Tab]

Has Antec ever thought of making faceplates so they would match their unqiue colors? Why havent you? Has Antec ever though of just making a 'plain jane' aluinium case with no windows and a plain front face that could easily be modded. Just a thought

 

[AntecCSR]

Here's a link to the suggestion box:

http://www.antec-inc.com/us/info_suggestionForm.php

Matching face plates, I assume you mean for drives? If so we've at times tried to partner with various drive manufacturers to get color matching (ie they offer it, or we buy some from them and list what drives they'll work with). Beyond that though it's not something we've done a lot of researching on it. Mostly the concern is which drives they would work with and taking the time to research it blah blah blah.

For the P160 and Aria we got around this by using flip down doors so that the drive is behind it, keeping the look.

AntecRep

 

[Zebo]

I'm going to build a system with this case after having read this review:@ SilentPCreview.com

- plan to couple it with a zalman CPNS7000 w/ the 92 MM fan and turn fan to about 5V so it's inaudible.
-a moblie barton at default Vcore (1.45) which translates to very low temps
-Shuttle MN31N with integrated video and soundstorm Audio.
-Remove NB HSF and put a passive device on it
-2 x 40 gig notebook HDs so it's inaudible
-a sony DVD burner which are rated very quiet.
-Get rid of that "cyclone" fan

Anyway, My goal is to build a silent in the dead of night computer that's not Watercooled and one fan @ 5V in the whole system should do it.

 

[fxsts]

I just got mine today. I will have a project going tonight and post some feedback.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: fxsts
I just got mine today. I will have a project going tonight and post some feedback.

Cool.

/waiting

AntecCSR; thanks for posting.

 

[Gravity]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Thanks guys. There are always things I'd like to change about a case...I'd like the card reader in the Aria to be removeable and be able to fit a floppy in it's place...but that's just me.
Alternatively, I'd like a floppy AND a card reader.

I figure in a few months, we should see some mATX NF3250 boards. Could make a killer rig in one of these Arias!

You still using floppys? I'm not using them anymore since I have a few usb drives and most bios's are flashable on the net.

Hmm.

 

[Gravity]

Originally posted by: Zebo
I'm going to build a system with this case after having read this review:@ SilentPCreview.com

- plan to couple it with a zalman CPNS7000 w/ the 92 MM fan and turn fan to about 5V so it's inaudible.
-a moblie barton at default Vcore (1.45) which translates to very low temps
-Shuttle MN31N with integrated video and soundstorm Audio.
-Remove NB HSF and put a passive device on it
-2 x 40 gig notebook HDs so it's inaudible
-a sony DVD burner which are rated very quiet.
-Get rid of that "cyclone" fan

Anyway, My goal is to build a silent in the dead of night computer that's not Watercooled and one fan @ 5V in the whole system should do it.

I thought that the review indicated that the slot fan was inaudible but I would pull it too if it was loud. I wonder about the psu fan? If the fan is on auto, then you have to watch your case temps or the fan will be on HIGH the hole time, thwarting your efforts. If the Aria has the same mounting config for HD's as the sonata and other Antec cases, you won't hear a regular hard drive. I have two about a foot from me in a sonata and can only hear them once in a great while, and I've got data moving!

Please post pics for us when you're done?

thanks

 

[jdogg707]

The Aria looks sweet, I have been tempted several times, but will wait to see how they perform well stocked with an A64!

 

[thebestMAX]

Website says UPS will deliver my ARIA today so I may have something to add over the weekend or not depending on time available. Hope to love this case as I do my 3 1030s and 1040.

2x40 notebook HDs

This is a good idea and I happen to have a 30G available. Never played with these so a dumb question. How do you hook them up to the MB and get them power? Need a special cable ? Hook to standard IDE I suppose. Might be evident if I just look at the drive but its packed away so any answers would help.
Thanks

Nice to see the Antec CSR here!

EDIT: UPS just delivered it.