Need Sonata II Questions Answered.

[marley1]

Hey Antec Sonata II Users -

I was looking to buy this case but have a few questions -

1 - Can the front door be closed with devices like a Creative Front I/O box for their soundcards?

2 - Is that internal duct thing any good? I want a quiet and cool system so i figured i would add an addition 120mm up front, and the 92 and 80mm in duct.

3 - Can that 450watt psu included power the follwing: AMD Opteron or X2 processor, 3 sata harddrives, 1 7800gt, 2 opticals, motherbaord etc. I know it will not if i do SLI but what about without?

[Frank4d]

Hey Antec Sonata II Users -

I was looking to buy this case but have a few questions -

1 - Can the front door be closed with devices like a Creative Front I/O box for their soundcards?

2 - Is that internal duct thing any good? I want a quiet and cool system so i figured i would add an addition 120mm up front, and the 92 and 80mm in duct.

3 - Can that 450watt psu included power the follwing: AMD Opteron or X2 processor, 3 sata harddrives, 1 7800gt, 2 opticals, motherbaord etc. I know it will not if i do SLI but what about without?

1. I have the original Sonata case which appears similar to the Sonata II. I have a DVD-RW drive behind the door, as well as a Vantec NXP-305 fam controller with knobs that protrude about 1/2 inch. No problem with them fitting with the door closed.

2. The original Sonata doesn't have the internal duct thing so I can't answer on that. But what I do know it that there is a place for mounting a 120mm fan directly behind the drive bays that are turned sideways (not in front of them). If you mount a 120mm fan there it won't improve temperatures... it only adds to system noise. Because of the fan location, it is only recirculating already heated air... not drawing in cool air. I tried it.

3. The 450 watt PSU is probably adequate for the configuration you described.

[0810]

I have the Sonata II.

2.) The case IS quiet, if you have quiet enough componentsm and I personally think the duct is useless, I dont use it. It sucks because its hard for air to move in a zig zag formation in a plastic box with no internal curves to let air flow easier.

I have 2 120mm fans in there, the one in the back, and the one described above, it doesnt really improve temperature, only airflow I guess, but i had extra rubber grommets and I used an Antec Tricool Fan which is pretty quiet on low. I can only hear my computer if I have my TV off or stick my head under my desk, but that is only because my stock fan on my video card sucks.

The case is nice, except it is easily scratched, like a car door.

My complaints are:

1.) It can get really dusty, even inside the bay door and disc drives. Also the bottom of the case in the front bezel is really dusty too, but the fan filter is nice. (Just clean it every month or so. But remember, I have a fan in front that sucks air in.)

2.) The front ports arent stable. Since the ports are on the bottom half of the case, if you use headphones or other device, the wire can pull on the ports upward and eventually the port will rip off of the mini board it is connected to. But you can have it replaced by contacting Antec.

3.) The direction in which the harddrives are placed sucks, the end of the HDD is placed facing the side panel, and if your SATA cable is long at the ends, it can be bent with the side panel pressing on it. It happened to me and ended up bending the pins on the HDD and broke the SATA cable itself, it took me about an hour to fix it.

4.) Very sharp inside the case.