Sonata ver1 vs Solo

ichabod · Post by **ichabod** » Thu May 10, 2007 4:45 pm

My current system is in a Sonata ver1 case. I am putting together a new second system and cant decide whether to just buy a cheap case for the old system (as I wont be using it much) then transfer the Sonata case to my new system, or, alternately, leave the old system in the Sonata and splash out on a flash new case and PSU for the new system.. perhaps the Solo with a Seasonic S12? Can anyone tell me if I will see much of a noise decrease compared to the old Sonata?

A final alternative would be to use the Sonata but replace the PSU with something better and do some of the mods mentioned in this forum.

Can anyone give me any advice?

Thanks
Dan

Calgarian · Post by **Calgarian** » Thu May 10, 2007 5:28 pm

For me, the cost of getting a P150 and replacing the psu with a Corsair 520 was well worth the price. (factoring in the time it will be used, etc)

I had a voodoo case pushing close to 7 years, with internals that had been upgraded 3.5 years ago.

It's three months now and I'm still loooooving the quiet of my new system.

If cost is not the top factor, I would suggest Solo+new psu.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu May 10, 2007 5:46 pm

Greetings & welcome to SPCR,

What will your new system be? Transferring the old computer to a cheap case would seem to be time consuming and you'll end up with a less-nice computer. Since you won't use it much, I would just leave it as is; and only replace the PSU (or any fans) if they start to get really noisy.

The Solo with an S12 330 or Fortron Source "Green" 300watt PSU would be my recommendation.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Thu May 10, 2007 8:16 pm

ichabod wrote:My current system is in a Sonata ver1 case. I am putting together a new second system and cant decide whether to just buy a cheap case for the old system (as I wont be using it much) then transfer the Sonata case to my new system, or, alternately, leave the old system in the Sonata and splash out on a flash new case and PSU for the new system.. perhaps the Solo with a Seasonic S12? Can anyone tell me if I will see much of a noise decrease compared to the old Sonata?

A final alternative would be to use the Sonata but replace the PSU with something better and do some of the mods mentioned in this forum.

Can anyone give me any advice?

Thanks
Dan

I was/is in the same situation as you and I knew immediately that I wanted a Solo combined with a PSU of my choice. The Solo just has enough airflow improvements and design features to make it a far better choice than the original sonata.(My personal biggest like is the easy to reach 92mm dual front fan panel) Also there's a great feeling to having a brand new system with a shiny new case! If you're trying to go as cheap as possible, I'd recommend waiting for a good solo deal from frys (seems to occur every 2-3 months) and then buy that Seasonic. My system isn't built yet since I'm waiting for a good bearlake mobo.

pputer · Post by **pputer** » Fri May 11, 2007 6:59 am

Hello,
I was considering the Solo as there are so many recommendations here. I never would have heard of it otherwise.

But, can anyone tell me if it's just good for an all-round computer case? I want to have a HTPC but not necessarily the desktop style as I'll be doing video work on it, too (i.e. making DVDs). I'm planning on using an Intel chipset board and a E6600 cpu. I haven't decided on a video card yet but it will be Nvidia (as I'll have a linux distro on a partition). The PSU will be either Seasonic or Corsair.

Can the Solo keep all those components cool as well as quiet? I was thinking a case with 2 120 mm fans would be best but the Solo is a decent price and so many here recommend it. But, what hardware are they using and the other thing, the Solo is a mid-size tower so I thought the hardware would be a tight fit.

Can anyone comment? I was considering the P180 before.

openwheelformula1 · Post by **openwheelformula1** » Fri May 11, 2007 8:21 am

I got my Solo from Frys at $20 AR. Rebate came a week ago. I love it and just wanted to brag about it.

ichabod · Post by **ichabod** » Fri May 11, 2007 9:07 am

Hey, thanks for the advice! Sorry I forgot to mention my new system will probably be:

CD2 e6600 overclocked a touch maybe to 3GHz?
Thermalright Ultra120 plus decent 120mm fan
Fanless Gigabyte 7600GT GPU
Single HDD of around 320 to 400GB - perhaps the Samsung model T

I have been looking into the Solo and the p180. Would anyone reccomend using a fanless PSU in either of these cases with this setup?
How do the Solo, Sonata and p180 compare in terms of noise? The Sonata only has the single case fan so doesnt that make it a bit quieter? Will using the p180 instead of the Solo give me a bit more airflow and allow a better overclock? How does the PSU in the p180 compare to PSUs such as the Seasonic S12?

Sonata ver1 vs Solo

Sonata ver1 vs Solo

Re: Sonata ver1 vs Solo