Hi everyone,

I need a new case and am wondering about the Antec Sonata. However, I'm arguing with myself about this because I've very recently bought a new PSU and changed the 2 internal fans to quieter ones. However, it is still very loud and there is no fan control inside (I didn't realise how noisy it would be even with quieter fans). So I'm looking at the Sonata but buying a case like that with a PSU already fitted will mean I've wasted the one I just bought (which I really regret buying now!). However, I do really like the PSU that comes with that case.

My options seem to be one of these:

1) Buy the Sonata and use the PSU in comes with (which looks very nice and has features my other one hasn't got) and just swallow the fact that I've wasted £40 last month. I'm also considering that alternative cases I've seen (only 2 so far that I don't like for other reasons) cost the same as the Sonata even though they don't have a PSU with them, so am I really wasting any money?

2) Buy a case similar to the Sonata that doesn't come with a PSU, and fit my current one. However, I'd need to do something about the fan noise in it. I wondered about maybe taking one of the 2 fans out then fitting some sort of thermistor control of my own? Any ideas how possible that's going to be?

I really like the black Antec Sonata and really need a low noise case but would PREFER a full tower rather than MIDI tower. I don't want to spend more than what the Sonata costs (£100 in the UK) and I can't find a quiet full tower costing less than about £160. Also, many cases I've seen reviews for can't even be bought in the UK as far as I can tell!

So there's my dilema. Sorry for all the details! What would you do? Any suggestions that would help me at all?

Thanks for any help,
Geoff.

Well I have a Sonata and I really like it.

But, based on reviews/comments by others here, I'd say go with the Antec SLK3700AMB for ~$74 (~£50).
But a quick search through Newegg's website, you could do worse than the Enermax FS-501 series cases. Base price starts at $45 (~£30). Granted, that particular case would require about a weekend of intimate closeness with a drill and Dremel tool to cut out the fan grills, and drive grommet mount holes but it's a pretty good case for low cost. If you put two panaflo 80mm L1A's in the back and one 120mm L1A in the front you'd have decent airflow with little noise. Ditch the crap PS and go with your own quiet one.
The fans on the side panel and blowhole invite some wild ducting experimentation!

Alternatively, you could get a plain Evercase 4252 series ~$21 (~£15) but that would require significant work with a dremel tool to be adequate.
It all depends on how much work you're willing to invest. More work=less cost, and vice-versa.

Enermax Pics:

Thanks for all that information and for the pics. Unfortunately I'm a bit useless at drilling and cutting! I'm fine with electronics but that's about it, so I'd rather pay more and get a case that's pre-built to what I like. That's why the Sonata looks ideal for me - I'm just annoyed that it'll mean I've wasted money on my other PSU. I think the cheaper cases you mentioned really wouldn't be what I'm after. I already have a full tower case but it's useless at getting rid of noise, which is the only reason I need to get another one.

Cheers,
Geoff.

I'm with you!

I burned out my Dremel last year and I'm too lazy to go buy another one.
Hence the Sonata purchase!

Another option (expensive) is the D8000 from www.coolcases.com.

It's an Evercase that's been fully modded to your specs.

Just do a search for 'D8000', and you'll find lots of threads to read here.

Enjoy.

What components are you putting into it??
What PSU have you got now? The one that comes with the Sonata is not at all thrilling.
And forget all about the Enermax case.

The Evercase 4252 is a great case, no cutting required. It has the best airflow design of any case we've seen, thats part of the reason its on the top of the SPCR Recommmended case list. Its also the cheapest!

2x80mm rear + 1x120mm front is a ton of airflow, there's absolutley no need for that unless your box is packed full of red hot components.

Thanks for the replies. To answer a couple of the questions, I'm putting into it a P4 2.4GHz, Barracuda 7200.7 80GB HDD, Radeon 9000 Graphics card and a few other standard parts that aren't worth mentioning. It's all pretty standard stuff really.

The PSU I currently have in a Q-Tec 550w dual fan gold. I bought it because it was a cheap way of getting a decent wattage. I don't need 550W and I know it won't provide that sensibly, but I wanted around 400W available and it's cheaper than most 400W PSU's. I changed the 2 internal fans to YS-Tech ones. They're not a lot quieter though because they're running at 12V, so I need a plan to get them to 5V when the system is cool. If I keep that PSU in whatever new case I buy, I'm probably going to take one of the fans out completely and put some sort of thermistor control on the other one. I'm not exactly sure how to go about that yet but I can't leave it like it is. I'll also put a 120mm exhaust fan in the case if there isn't already one fitted, to help out with the cooling I lose from removing one of the PSU fans.

As I'm sure you can tell, I'm a novice at silent computing.

Geoff.

I've just looked up the Evercase ECE4252 and D8000 cases that you mentioned. I firstly tried to find them in the UK before reading any reviews because so many decent cases can't be bought here-And sure enough, I can't find them anywhere.

Geoff.

Again, I'm not sure you need that kind of cooling power if you can find a case with good airflow. The more restricted the airflow the more fan power you will need to pull the air through (and louder).

As for getting your fans down from 12v, this is the most basic method from Zalman that does 2 fans @ 5v: http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product ... ector1.htm
But 5v doesn't push very much air, you may want to use Zalman Fanmate's instead.

If you have a good exhaust solution you'll have cooler air running through your psu, so the fans in there can run slower.

He who controls the air controls the silence!