How's the Sonata as an O/Cing case?

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Shakshuka

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So, I started a thread here...They told me I should ask over here, so here I am :D

The Antec Sonata comes as a really good deal out of the really small selection of cases I can get. Good PSU, front ports and 90 degrees drive cage. But then, it's tiny and I'm not sure how good the cooling is. The one rear exhaust fan is great, but there's really nothing to pump air through in the front of the case. I'm not talking extreme overclocking, but I do hope to get 200-500MHz extra out of my A64 3000+. Should the Sonata be enough for that, or should I go looking into another case? Thanks in advance.
 
The Sonata is decent, but I find it overpriced for a mini-tower case with no removable motherboard tray. It's cramped to work in, and installing CD drives and IDE hard drives on the same ribbon is a damn near impossibility. Also, airflow isn't the best, as you only have room for two 120 mm fans. But if you have two high CFM screamers in there, it might negate the poor design for airflow. For serious overclocking, I would recommend an old dragon style case.
 
I highly recommend the Antec 3700BQE over the Sonata. It has all the same features, but is more silent (no ANTEC written on the side to allow noise to escape). I also think it looks better (I don't like the high gloss finish).

For an A64 system, either will allow suffienct air flow for cooling, however, you might want to open up the front bezel on the Sonata a bit and add an intake fan.
 
id say it cools nicely, 2X120mm fans are real good for the size of the case.
 
I second the Antec 3700 case. I have one and my case temp is 29c...which is about the same as my room temp. I have 2x120mm fans in there that push about 78cfm each (at least that's what was advertised on them) and it isn't too loud. Cut out the grills and open up the front bezel a little and the case has very good airflow.
 
Since when is it "only" two 120's? Back in the day... 80mm was big. :)

I know my SX835II has two 80's in the back, along with the PSU, and there's a hole in the front where I cut a rectangle for my heater core.... which has a 120 in it.
 
The 3700 doesn't come with a TP power supply though. I guess my remaining option is to get the PSU and case seperately (and that means more money. When you consider the fact that the Sonata comes with a good PSU it's not expensive at all)..
 
Shakshuka said:
The 3700 doesn't come with a TP power supply though. I guess my remaining option is to get the PSU and case seperately (and that means more money. When you consider the fact that the Sonata comes with a good PSU it's not expensive at all)..
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what's a TP power supply??? TruePower I guess? My 3700 came with an Antec SmartPower 350w, which powered everything in my sig AND was enough to overclock my system to 3.7ghz stable. Voltages were good too. Nothing wrong with the ps that comes with it. It's just meant to be quieter I guess.
 
Yeah, TP = True Power. I know the Smart Power series should also be good, but the TP has seperated rails or something like that...Which should mean better stability. I also doubt a 350 watter would hold my system (either way I don't want to take the risk).

Anyway, I ditched the Sonata for the Antec 1080 AMG. Bigger, badder and with a crapload of fans. Now I hope it won't be too loud (some friends assumed me it won't be).
 
I don't like where the Sonata's intake fan is. Right behind the hard drives, where it really isn't doing much. I suggest the SLK3700BQE, because the fan grilles are less restrictive if you don't cut them out.
 
I am in the process of removing my hdd rack, since I moved it up to the floppy bay and I'm cutting out the entire thing to make room for my watercooling... I'm hoping the front intake will allow enough air to get through to my heatercore...

And my case temps with one 120mm on 7v are only a couple degrees above ambient under idle conditions. (room 24-25 c , case 27-29c). When I turn on my other 120 it cools it down quite a bit.
 
haha...I cut my fan grills out completely. no fingerguards or anything. I figured if someone is dumb enough to go sticking their fingers in a fan they deserve a good bruising :)

actually, not really, I did cut them out, but just haven't put the metal guards back on (like the ones on high quality ps's that don't restrict the airflow much at all). b/c I put the pc back under the desk and I'm lazy.
 
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