Replacement for Antec Solo?

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Stcrispinsday
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Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:28 pm

Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by Stcrispinsday » Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:53 pm

I'll soon be building my first new system in over four years and it looks like I'll have to switch to another case since the Solo won't accommodate current generation video cards (specifically, the GTX 570 or 580). I'm looking for something as small and quiet as possible, understated and elegant in appearance (no interior lighting, crazy angles, or windows if possible), and with reasonable airflow characteristics. My machine will be used heavily for gaming, but it's also in my home office, so it needs to look good. The only components I know I'm getting so far are:

i7 2600K
GTX 570--or maybe HD 6970--SLI or CF maybe in the future, but not currently planned.
Some version of the ASUS P8P67 Mainboard.
8 GB Ram
Standard HD and possibly a solid state down the road.
DVD Player
750W or Higher power supply.

Will definitely overclock the 2600K, but just the best I can get on air.

Anything "Soloish" out there that would work for me?

speedkar9
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by speedkar9 » Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:51 pm

Antec P183 or Fractal R3.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=58579

DaveLessnau
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by DaveLessnau » Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:54 pm

speedkar9,

Since he asked for "small," I'll guess that the p183 is too big (and they increased the size of the P183 V3 by another inch, too). I don't know anything about the Fractal R3.

I'm in a similar boat to Stcrispinsday. I sort of lean towards the P183, but except for the video card, I have absolutely no need for all that space. With my SSD, I really don't need a drive cage at all. It's sort of a conundrum: we need a small case for a long video card. Maybe nVidia should mount a CPU onto their graphics boards and sell a brick sized case to hold it -- no need for a motherboard.

dhanson865
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by dhanson865 » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:15 pm

How about the Antec One Hundred + some mass loaded self adhesive vinyl tile. It's 5 pounds lighter than the solo so you'll need some mass on the side panels to absorb vibrations and it gives you a quick way to block off the side vent.

It's only .3" longer but the inside layout differences let it handle multiple video cards of up to 11.5” (292 mm) in length according to http://techwiki.hardwarecanucks.com/pro ... e-Hundred/

and then if you are anywhere near me give me your Solo or sell it to someone since you are set on buying long video cards. So long as your Solo still has a fully functioning power button I'm sure it's worth something to enough people that it should sell easily.

Dr. Jim Pomatter
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by Dr. Jim Pomatter » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:48 pm

Stcrispinsday wrote:Anything "Soloish" out there that would work for me?
Nothing is more "Soloish" then your Solo! Why not try to make the card fit with a little work. You could drill out the rivets that hold in the hard drive rack. This is much less work then cutting the sheet metal (as someone on Anandtech forums did).

Once you have removed the drive rack, you will need a way to mount your drives. I have one of these units, they have no fan and the drive vibrations are isolated by the rubber bumpers. (I twist-tie the key on the inside of the case, so I don't lose it.)

Image
Image

iStarUSA T-5-SA 1x5.25" Bay Trayless Anti-vibration SATA Mobile Rack

dhanson865
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by dhanson865 » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:56 pm

If you like the looks better the Antec Three Hundred is another option. Again it will need some mass on the side panels to equal the weight of the Solo (again about 5 pounds). Dunno how many floor tiles that'd be but it can't be that hard to peel and stick.

In this case it'll only hold a 11" card, more than a Solo but less than a One Hundred.

The price is about the same between the One Hundred and Three Hundred. Neither of these have gaudy windows or lighting. The One hundred does have the newer TwoCool fan vs the old TriCool fan. See viewtopic.php?t=60126 for specs comparison.

Personally I think the Two Hundred, Six Hundred, Nine Hundred, and Twelve Hundred all look gaudy.

The Mini 180 only does 9.5" cards, that's LESS than a Solo.

And the P183 V3 which would be sweet to have is expensive and larger than you seem to want.

flemeister
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by flemeister » Sat Jan 22, 2011 3:39 am

dhanson865 wrote:The Mini 180 only does 9.5" cards, that's LESS than a Solo.
Keep in mind that the hard drive cage in front of the video card can be removed, which allows for even the longest cards to be installed. If the P180 has ~15" of space with the cage removed, and the Mini P180 is ~1" shorter, then there would be ~14" of clearance with the cage removed.

johnniecache7
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by johnniecache7 » Sat Jan 22, 2011 3:54 am

speedkar9 wrote:Antec P183 or Fractal R3.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=58579
Forsure the Fractal Design R3 larger then the Solo with many modern improvements and better airflow, cable management.

dhanson865
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by dhanson865 » Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:13 am

flemeister wrote:
dhanson865 wrote:The Mini 180 only does 9.5" cards, that's LESS than a Solo.
Keep in mind that the hard drive cage in front of the video card can be removed, which allows for even the longest cards to be installed. If the P180 has ~15" of space with the cage removed, and the Mini P180 is ~1" shorter, then there would be ~14" of clearance with the cage removed.
If so then the wording on http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=Mw== is poor

"Maximum video card size: 9.5"/241mm (Note: some video cards may require removal of the adjacent hard drive cage)"

If that means 9.5" with all drive cages and more than 9.5" without one drive cage they should re word that somehow.

speedkar9
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by speedkar9 » Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:58 am

Since he asked for "small," I'll guess that the p183 is too big (and they increased the size of the P183 V3 by another inch, too). I don't know anything about the Fractal R3.
Sorry I only read the words:
...elegant in appearance (no interior lighting, crazy angles, or windows if possible), and with reasonable airflow characteristics. My machine will be used heavily for gaming, but it's also in my home office, so it needs to look good.
:lol:
How about the Antec One Hundred + some mass loaded self adhesive vinyl tile. It's 5 pounds lighter than the solo so you'll need some mass on the side panels to absorb vibrations and it gives you a quick way to block off the side vent.
If you like the looks better the Antec Three Hundred is another option. Again it will need some mass on the side panels to equal the weight of the Solo (again about 5 pounds). Dunno how many floor tiles that'd be but it can't be that hard to peel and stick.
+1 for the One Hundred or Three Hundred, with peel and stick tiles, although I'd go for the One Hundred for its 4 USB ports, slightly longer video card accomodation, and black interior. Those Antec fans should be swapped anyway :wink: .

Why not consider other video cards that can fit in the Solo? Like the discussion going on here...

In my opinion, there really isn't a case out there that can replace a Solo, without heavy modding of course.

I made the switch from my modded Solo to my modded 300 because I need more room to work in. I used the peel and stick tiles for mass damping and it worked great! Your going to have to be creative (like me) to rig up hard drive suspension in a 300 though....see sig for build log of both rigs.

DaveLessnau
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by DaveLessnau » Sat Jan 22, 2011 2:41 pm

I don't want to steal the OP's thread, but here are some of the general thoughts I have on the topic.

Generally speaking, of Antec's lines of enclosures, only the Performance One, Sonata Family, and a few of the Gaming cases are even in the reasonable "Solo Replacement" category:

- In the Performance One series, all of the cases there except the Mini P180 are too big and have that top 120mm fan. The Mini P180 would be good except that it only fits Mini-ITX or microATX motherboards, doesn't seem to be in production, and also has that top 120mm fan.

- In the Sonata Family (minus the Solo, itself), all the Sonata's except the Elite and Proto have their own power supplies. Neither the Elite nor the Proto appear any more capable of accommodating large video cards than the Solo.

- In the Gaming series, as dhanson865 mentioned, most of them are garish (well, that's my word), and the non-garish ones (One Hundred and Three Hundred) both have those 140mm fans on top and need added mass. The Three Hundred does mention it will take 11" video cards. But, there's nothing on the One Hundred's page about what it will hold.

I keep swinging into the "modding my Solo" camp. But, then I think that I'd have to take everything out and, at a minimum, drill out the rivets for the power supply support beam (for easier replacement of the power supply (which I really should do because of the new, power-hungry card)) and the hard drive cage (so a long video card will fit -- I considered the shorter HD 6850 and HD 6870, but I just don't like ATI cards and the 10.5" GTX 570 seems to be the first competitive (efficiency-wise) nVidia card in a long time). That's a pain (and a bit scary). So, I swing back into the less painful alternative of buying a replacement case. If I could find one.

Of course, buying a high-end video card, power supply, and case will run me something like $650. And, if I'm going to spend that much, I might as well quit my complaining, bite the bullet and go for the P183 with the CP-850 power supply. Then, I think that I really should increase my RAM to 4GB. That's a total of $700-ish. Well, heck. If I'm going to spend that much money just to accommodate a video card upgrade, I might as well replace the motherboard and CPU as well. But, if I'm going to do that, maybe I should try to find the Mini P180 and get a microATX motherboard. Then I start oscillating like a pendulum between those two extremes. Back and forth. Back and forth. Arghhhh...

Stcrispinsday
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by Stcrispinsday » Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:09 pm

Thanks for all the responses folks. My current Solo and all the goodies inside are going to be handed down to my daughters (lucky girls indeed) so I'm starting fresh with a new case anyway; I was just planning on getting another Solo until I realized that current and (probably) future gen graphics cards wouldn't fit. I'm hoping my my next build lasts at least 5 years so I need some future proofing and am not looking to mod things that much. I'll take a look at some of the recommendations above and give the board a shout back when I've figured out what to get.

m0002a
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by m0002a » Mon Jan 24, 2011 1:23 pm

DaveLessnau wrote:The Mini P180 would be good except that it only fits Mini-ITX or microATX motherboards, doesn't seem to be in production, and also has that top 120mm fan...
Actually, the Mini P180 has a 200 mm top fan (Antec Tri-Cool 3 speed fan). I think it is amazingly quiet on low speed, especially if the PC is under a desk or table (but within arms reach). I have been able to forgo a fan on my CPU cooler (Xigmatek S1283) because of the close proximity of the top fan to the Xigmatek (and the fact that hot air rises).

I can't imagine that many people would have a problem with a Micro ATX board unless they want to run multiple video cards. How many adapter slots do people need these days? The Mini P180 has plenty of room for the longest video cards, and at least two more slots (many high end video cards block one additional empty slot nearest the card).

The only think you have to worry about with the Mini P180 is to get a short DVD player (required if you leave the 200 mm fan in place and want to install in top bay).

DaveLessnau
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Re: Replacement for Antec Solo?

Post by DaveLessnau » Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:46 am

Well, with the introduction of nVidia's GTX 560 Ti, it looks like I might have dodged the immediate bullet on this Solo replacement quest (I'm not the OP, though, so I don't know about him). The card is probably much better suited to my needs than the high end GTX 570. It's a step up from the GTX 460 and has lower power needs than the GTX 570 (170 watts for the card (500 watt power supply recommendation) vs 219 watts for the GTX 570 (550 watt power supply recommendation)). The reference card is supposed to be only 9 inches long (though it looks like the GPU could be dropped into the old 8.25 inch GTX 460 cards if they can handle the extra 10 watts of power). That should fit into a Solo without problem.

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