How quiet would this Sonata based system be...

Pontiac · Post by **Pontiac** » Thu Apr 03, 2003 1:06 am

I'm considering a system based around the popular Antec Sonata case, because it seems good value for money with it's included PSU and rear fan. I will probably be putting 2 of the new Maxtor SATA's in it for some quiet storage, and using a Zalman Flower cpu cooler for my Athlon.

I figure I won't break the bank and buy a separate case/case fan and PSU for now, unless I'm not happy with the ones supplied with the Sonata.

Any comments on the prospective noise level of this system? I may add in a pre-cut Acousti Pack for the Sonata once they're released.

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Apr 03, 2003 8:26 am

Fairly, moderately, pretty (pick your adjective) quiet. Probably ~30 dBA @ 1 meter, maybe a bit lower. How audible it is will depend on your hearing/mind and your acoustic environment -- both ambient and damping. The AP will drop it more for sure. But it's not exactly great value to add because the biggest noise maker will most likely be the PSU fan and the 2 drives, unless you float them -- the HDDs, I mean. Because the PSU noise generally goes straight out the back, the damping can't reduce it much.