I picked up an Antec Sonata on black friday to replace my old lian li case. Problem is, it doesn't seem much better at all. The hard drivers are much quieter thanks to the rubber mounting but the overall sound levels seem higher. The case seems to buzz or resonate I think and the hard drive sounds seem to echo within the case.
I'm considering picking up a P180. I briefly tested it once before and I think I remember it being almost silent with my setup but that was before I got my 7800GT. The fan noise seemed to be louder on the Sonata as well if I remember correctly, but I don't see why it should. The PSU on the P180 is mounted on the bottom so it's farther away but I wonder if it really makes that much of a difference. The coolermaster PSU I have ramps up quickly with temp but I'm not running full load or anything right now so temps should be fine.
Does the P180 silence hard drives better? The mounting on the Sonata and P180 look similar but if my memory is correct the P180 was quieter. Possibly due to the separate chamber. I'm also considering the P150 because of the suspension mounts.
Pretty much the only noise makers in my PC are the 3x Seagates (2x 200 gb 1x 160gb), 120mm Panaflo L1A @ 5v, Zalman v700 @5v, Coolermaster 450 watt.
Antec Sonata seems pretty loud to me.
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Did you get the Sonata or Sonata II?
In any case, I put together an Intel system in a Sonata II. It was LOUD! Since the Intel runs so hot, I needed the rear fan on high to keep the case temps reasonable.
I wound up moving the thing into a P150 case. The P150 is a bit quieter and runs a bit cooler. You may also want to replace the Antec fan with something quieter.
But, there are problems with the Neo HE 430 that comes with the P150 and many motherboards. It wouldn't power up my system and I had to replace it with another PSU.
In any case, I put together an Intel system in a Sonata II. It was LOUD! Since the Intel runs so hot, I needed the rear fan on high to keep the case temps reasonable.
I wound up moving the thing into a P150 case. The P150 is a bit quieter and runs a bit cooler. You may also want to replace the Antec fan with something quieter.
But, there are problems with the Neo HE 430 that comes with the P150 and many motherboards. It wouldn't power up my system and I had to replace it with another PSU.
cases, by themselves, do not make a system quiet or loud. its the components you put in them and the way you put them in it that determines if its gunna be loud or not.
try suspending the harddrives with elastic, or enclosing them in somthing like a Smartdrive 2002c.
if a panaflo L1A at 5volts is noticable in your case, then your going to find it very hard to lower its acoustics further. mabey try swapping out all the fans in the system with the nexus line of fans instead as they run slower and undervolt well.
try suspending the harddrives with elastic, or enclosing them in somthing like a Smartdrive 2002c.
if a panaflo L1A at 5volts is noticable in your case, then your going to find it very hard to lower its acoustics further. mabey try swapping out all the fans in the system with the nexus line of fans instead as they run slower and undervolt well.