Chenbro Xpider vs. Antec Sonata temps

JavaLava · Post by **JavaLava** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 6:07 am

I thought I'd share some of my experiences with the two cases. All components are the same except for the addition of NoVibes III in the Xpider: XP1700+([email protected]), SLK900A/Panaflo 92LB1X@1600rpm, 8RDA+, 256x2 Corsair @2-3-2-12, Radeon 9500Pro w/MagicGFX@7v, 180GXP, Zalman 400w PSU, Papst 4412F/2GL @1100rpm(exhaust).

Ambient temp: 25°C
Chenbro Xpider: CPU=44°C/50°C, System=35°C/38°C
Antec Sonata: CPU=42°C/47°C, System=32°C/35°C

BTW, the 180GXP is just too noisy in the Xpider drive cage, but very quiet with NoVibes. In the Sonata, the drive is quiet but not as quiet as in the Xpider with NoVibes.

IMHO, the Xpider does not seem to have very good airflow, even when compared to the Sonata. Bringing up the Papst exhaust fan to 1400rpm would cool the system down to the same level as the Sonata, but noise would be too loud by SPCR standards.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 6:29 am

Hmm, interesting. I would have expected the results to be flip-flopped in favor of the Chenbro.

JavaLava · Post by **JavaLava** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 7:19 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:Hmm, interesting. I would have expected the results to be flip-flopped in favor of the Chenbro.

So did I, Ralf. In fact I even remounted the heatsink with a fresh application of AS5 but the results were the same. I'm actually quite disappointed with the Chenbro, since it is a far superior case when compared to the Sonata in form and function.

One more item I forgot to add is the HDD temp read from SMART:
Xpider w/NoVibes: 39°C/44°C
Xpider drive cage: 34°C/38°C
Sonata drive cage: 36°C/40°C

Would you think 39/44 is too high?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 12:38 pm

JavaLava wrote:Would you think 39/44 is too high?

Probably not.

JavaLava · Post by **JavaLava** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 1:02 am

This just shows how much the "Antec" vents contribute to the cooling of the Sonata system. With the vents closed, temps would rise between 4-8 degrees.

So with the Sonata, all fans could be operated at a lower rpm and still achieve good thermal performance, but the Antec vents would allow some noise to escape.

With the Xpider, lower system noise could be achieved at the expense of slightly higher temps (about 2-3 degrees). The Xpider HDD cage is unacceptable for silent enthusiasts; alternate HDD mounting techniques such as NoVibes is a must.