OT: Sonata Case Suggestions

[mikecel79]

I've currently got an old Enlight case that I bought about about 5 years ago when I had a PIII 500. Since I've started running 2 copies of F@H on my 2.6 P4C I've noticed my temps get really high. They usually average between 66-69 degrees now and according to MBM my MB temp is about 25 degrees. I'm not sure how accurate the mbm temp for the MB is because I have never ever seen it go up.

So now I'm thinking that maybe now is a good time to upgrade my case since warmer weather is coming. I like the Sonata because it's very very quiet and it has front mounted USB and Firewire. My question is how good is the cooling on the Sonata? I don't overclock at all but I'm worried that my temps inside are getting too high.

The current case has a Antec 330W smart power supply, an 80mm exhuast fan, an 80mm intake fan, and the stock Intel HSF. Right now it's too f-ing loud. I didn't mind it at first but now the fan noises are driving me nuts. Also since the case it heating up the PSU is raising the RPMs on the fans now!

The rest of the specs are in my Signature.

 

[grendel8]

I don't use the Sonata, but I do have the Overture, which I believe is very similar in internals but just in a desktop vs. tower format (it's oriented toward the home media crowd).

Mine has a XP2400 Palimino/512MB PC2100/Asus A7V266 MB/VanTech Aeroflow VA4 HS-fan/artic silver 5.

My experience has been positive. The HS/fan is loud, but the case is very quiet. I'm sure some other HS/fan combo would work just as well on cooling and keep the sound down better. CPU core temp is 47C under 100% load on SETI. It's been running for around 3 months now without a reboot and temp is pretty stable. Your mileage may vary.

If you REALLY want quiet, check out the SFF systems. I've the BioStar IDEQ 200 with a 2.8 HT P4, and it is pretty much silent except for occasionally when the HS fan kicks on for a few second. It runs 24/7 with two instances of FaD and stays below 50C.

Good luck :beer:

 

[Robor]

The Sonata is *excellent* at cooling. I've got a pair of them and both have plenty of gear inside yet stay nice and cool. Main rig has a pair of Raptors mounted up front and they are cool to the touch. My 2nd rig has 4 WD 120's and they are also cool to the touch. Did I say cool enough in this post? Oh, the Sonata looks cool also!

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I have a Sonata and the cooling is great, nothing I can complain about. Only thing I can say is that I don't OC, so keep that in mind.

 

[GLeeM]

Hey mikecel79
I have a Sonata. It is quiet. The rubber drive mounts keep me from hearing the 10,000 RPM Raptor, which I've read can be very noisy.
The large 120mm fan moves quite a bit of air but is not loud.
I am considering adding the optional front 120mm fan, as I too am concerned about when the summer temps arrive. I may also have to lower my overclock - P4 3.0C @ 3.3. I too run two copies of F@H.

If you get the case, check their web site. The manual has the front firewire connections backwards or something.

 

[rgsaunders]

The answer to the question depends on whether flash or substance is more important. The Sonata is flashy but the cooling design is handicapped by the positioning of the front 120mm fan. In addition, the drive cage is mounted sideways, giving insufficient clearance if you want to use something like the Abit Serillel adapters. The Antec 3700AMB is not as flashy, (ie does not have those bloody annoying blue leds in the front) however the interior design for cooling and drive mounting is better than the Sonata. The front 120mm fan mounts at the front of case instead of hanging off the drive cage. Another bonus, the 3700AMB is cheaper. I have built 7 systems with the Sonata cases and have learned to hate them for those leds, the fingerprint attraction, and most important of all, the poor interior design resulting in mediocre cooling.

Amplification: Mediocre is not that bad, most cases have terrible cooling systems. either inefficient or noisy or both. In my opinion, the airflow pattern in the AMB3700 is superior to that of the Sonata. Part of the reason for this is the transverse mounting of the drive cage, which has the fan drawing air through the side, as opposed to the cleaner and more efficient airflow of the front mount fan in the AMB, which pushes air in a more conventional path through the open end of the drive cage over the drives.

 

[Robor]

No offense but I totally disagree with the poster above me. As I stated, I've got 4 WD 120GB 7200 RPM drives running in one case and a pair of 10K RPM Raptors in my other case. Both cases keep the hard drives cool to the touch. The cooling is *excellent* in the Sonata.

 

[Coolkid]

Originally posted by: Robor
No offense but I totally disagree with the poster above me. As I stated, I've got 4 WD 120GB 7200 RPM drives running in one case and a pair of 10K RPM Raptors in my other case. Both cases keep the hard drives cool to the touch. The cooling is *excellent* in the Sonata.

I would have to agree with that, I am running 3 7200RPM drives in mine, 2500+ @ 2.2Ghz(1.72v), Radeon 9800. I get very stable MB temps, low HD temps, and best of all, its extremely quiet

 

[imported_MarkP]

I've got a pair of Lian-Li machined aluminum cases, and they have worked great. Both run AMD XP 2500s / GeForce 4200s and both machines stay between 35 and 40 degrees C.

Although I recently did loose an 80mm fan on my main rig, so I upgraded the two front intake case fans to Vantec Tornados... Talk about loud... :shocked:

 

[lobadobadingdong]

The sonata's are great, but if you plan to OC, I would suggest getting another (low speed) fan for the intake to help move some air in there (especially if you use a hot video card and/or raid array).

keep some alcohol and lint free cloths around too, the paint collects fingerprints and dust like it's going out of style.

 

[Overkiller]

i have a raptor in my sonata. a 80 GB WD , a 2.8 p4c @ 3.2 , 9700 pro, etc etc.

The cooling is excellent with 2x 120 mm fans

my cpu is @ ~32 C full load...so i';d say the sonata is good

 

[Coquito]

The case is generally not recommended for an OCing system, but should be pretty cool & quiet for a regular system.

 

[MDE]

I'm using a Sonata for my system. I have a 7200RPM drive, as well as two 36GB Raptors, an overclocked XP 2500+ (@2.2GHz), FX5900 @ 475\950, and I have no problems with cooling at all. I did unplug the front LEDs, but other than that I have no complaints about the case.

 

[RaySun2Be]

I too have the Sonata, and really like the case.

I actually like the sideways design of the hard drive case, makes it a lot easier to change things around. And the front fan on the HD cage helps pull in air over the HDs and keeps them cooler, without having to install additional cooling for the HDs themselves.

Once thing I've noted, and it's in the install manual, if you need a lot of cooling, it's recommended that you not connect the 2 120mm fans to the fan control connector of the P/S, but instead plug them into a regular connector.

And if you don't like the blue LEDs, don't plug them in.

I wish I had the $$ to replace all my cases with the Sonata.

 

[mikecel79]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm probably going to pick one up this week sometime. I'll probably get another 120mm fan to go with it too.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: mikecel79
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm probably going to pick one up this week sometime. I'll probably get another 120mm fan to go with it too.

Does this case take a standard 120mm fan, or do you need a slimmer 120mm X 25mm fan?

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: Sundog

Originally posted by: mikecel79
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm probably going to pick one up this week sometime. I'll probably get another 120mm fan to go with it too.

Does this case take a standard 120mm fan, or do you need a slimmer 120mm X 25mm fan?

the front fan is actually in the middle of the case on the bottom beside the hard drive carrier, it may be good to have some kind of fan grill if you aren't good at cable routing.