Antec Sonota cooling ?

[cremator]

So I'm building a new system with the following specs:

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55

RAM
1 GIG Mushkin PC3500 Level II

VIDEO
NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT (single, since I plan to go dual after prices drop)

PSU
OCZ PowerStream 520W


BOOTDRIVE
Western Digital Raptor 2

My question is, since the Sonota is a "silent" case, does it provide enough cooling for these top of the line components? If not, what would you guys suggest for another quality case

 

[Mik3y]

it'll be fine. just get another 120mm fan to the front and you're set.

 

[TJones2]

A couple of points, first, the Sonata isn't silent. I don't really notice a difference between it and my other systems. Right now, I have a Prescott 3.2, WD120, 9800 pro, 1GB Ram, and two optical drives. Many complain about how hot the Prescott is, often idle over 40c and peaked at 60c. Mine runs 35c idle, 46c peak. Readings from Asus Probe. So, it does a decent job of keeping things cool.

Another point, those connectors in the front of the case are crap. The audio out keep loosing the left side shortly after I got it, and even causes the speakers to loose audio (you have to giggle the plug around to get the sound going again). My advice is to not connect the front connectors, at least, not for audio. It also scratches easily, so it doesn't look so great after you've had it a while. Its also a tight squeeze for most motherboards, both my A7N8X and my current P4P800SE took a bit of manuvering. Other than this, its a pretty good case, and should be fine for cooling.

 

[TJones2]

Originally posted by: Mik3y
it'll be fine. just get another 120mm fan to the front and you're set.

Where do you fit the fan? I've looked over and over and can't see where one would fit.

 

[IEC]

The Sonata is fairly quiet, but the design could have been better (placement of stuff, cramped quarters... etc.)

 

[HiroProt]

The front fan fits on the HD cage (behind it).

 

[cyberknight]

Yeah, placed such that it'll cool down the hard drives and blow over top of your video card.

Are you gonna use the stock 380W to power your system? that may be pushing it a little...

 

[beverage]

yup yup, here's some pics of the "front" fan in my sonata

Pichuar 1
Pichuar 2

 

[cyberknight]

does having fan grills help?

 

[TJones2]

Originally posted by: beverage
yup yup, here's some pics of the "front" fan in my sonata

Pichuar 1
Pichuar 2

Oh!!! That's how you do it! Not needed now, but might come in handy later on.

 

[MDE]

The Sonata is enough for those components. I'm running a P4 3.2 @ 3.6 and 6800GT @ Ultra with more goodies and it's rock solid.

 

[Joerg]

I cant see spending that much and gettign a senata. I would personally go for somethign like a pc v1000 for that kind of money. But then again ive never been a big fan of the antec cases because everyone and there dog has one.

 

[TJones2]

Okay, I just got done bragging about my temperatures, and now Asus Probe tells me my motherboard is running at 42c!!!. Its been running at 25c for days, then suddendly, it takes off to this. I turned off the computer, and looked around inside, and can't see anything out of place. Asus Probe didn't report any problems with power or the fans (I had "history" running, nothing odd outside the sudden heatwave).

Any ideas what might have happened? Now, its running 27c. And the room temp, if anything, dropped during that time. I'm baffled!

 

[iamtrout]

What's your ambient? 25C or anything in the 20's is HIGHLY unrealistic because it's most likely below or at ambient, two things that are not possible for a fan-cooled CPU. Your temp sensor is wrong. 42C sounds like the right reading to me. Unless your computer is directly next to the window and it's freezing outside, you won't even hit the high 20's.

 

[TJones2]

Seems like 42c is pretty high for a motherboard temperature. My other motherboard (A7N8X-D) runs normally around 24c. My room temp is 20c (yes, I like it cold). It's now back to 26c, but the Asus Probe "history" chart shows it taking a steep jump upwards from 26c to 43c over ten minutes and staying there for an hour. Could some hidden Windows activity cause that much heat?

I can't say I'm overly impressed with this motherboard (P4P800SE). This is the second one I've had in a week, the first one did even odder things. Just incase any of you are thinking I'm a complete newbie, I've been putting systems together for nearly ten years, and this has been the most troublesome board I've had yet...maybe just back luck.

An update, I checked at Asus Probe history again, and it shows the CPU fan taking off at the same time as the case heat. I suspect something get the CPU going, which caused the fan to blow the heat off, then heated up the motherboard. I didn't have Smart Fan on, so I didn't suspect the fan would spontaneously go faster as the cpu heats up.

Still don't know what the trigger was.

 

[sbuckler]

I have a sonata with 3 120mm fans - two in the standard slots, and I drilled a hole in the side and put a 3rd one blowing over the cpu/graphics/mem. None of the fans are blowing fast. I also put sound dampening material on the inside, blocking the holes in the side spelling antec - silly place to suck air in from as you'll be pulling all the hot air (which rises) back down again. It is much quieter then you're average case, but not silent. o/c 2.6p4 at 3.2 using Zalman 7000 all copper (fan running flatout), Asus P4P800 deluxe. Currently my temps (according to asus) are 25C for the cpu, 28C for the motherboard, a few minutes of cpu burn take cpu up to 37C, motherboard to 30C - room temp about 24C.
Also have a galaxy 6800GT (with nv5 standard cooling), that is the loudest thing in my system.

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: cyberknight
Are you gonna use the stock 380W to power your system? that may be pushing it a little...

BS. that 380W psu is more then enough to power the system. hell, a quality 240W can handle the strain of that setup.

 

[Thermalrock]

the antec psu runs hotter than most psus tho so ive read.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Thermalrock
the antec psu runs hotter than most psus tho so ive read.

Because it only has a single 80mm fan to keep it quiet.