Antec 3480 vs 4480 - what's the difference?

wayner · Post by **wayner** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:32 am

It looks like the 4480 can take a full ATX vs. mATX in the 3480. It also looks like the HD bays block airflow from the front in a 4480. Is that correct? Should one therefore stay away from the 4480?

pjeremy · Post by **pjeremy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:11 am

I don't have any experience with the 3480, but the 4480 is a decent case with a good and quiet PSU, especially at such a low price.
The airflow in my 4480 is good as well, although I'd prefer a 120mm fan in the front instead of an 80mm.
I use a Noctua NF-R8 1800rpm in the front and and a Scythe S-Flex 1200rpm in the back and the loudest part I currently have is the stock cooler of my AMD.

wayner · Post by **wayner** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:59 am

I guess another option would be to get a Sonata - since it isn't much more than the 4480 and is a much better looking case. The only issue is restricted airflow from the HD cage. But is that an issue if I am only using one drive?

pjeremy · Post by **pjeremy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:11 pm

I have a single Samsung HD403LJ in the bottom part of the HD cage and its current temperature is 28Â°C with an ambient temperature of 20Â°C.
Here's an older picture, the cables look worse than they actually were.

I don't know the Sonata either, so I can't comment on it.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:31 pm

I assembled a computer in a 4480 today and all I can say is - stay away from that case. It looks pretty on the outside, the PSU is quiet, but cable management is horrible.

The metal shroud on the top prevents you from routing any cables to the back (despite the MBO backplate having some nifty holes that could be used), so *everything* has to go through a small 5x10 cm opening on the horizontal plate that runs roughly between the first and the second 5.25" bay.

Since you basically have to place an optical drive in the second or the third bay (to have room on top of it for unused PSU cables), power and xATA cables have to go through there as well. I did use a short drive, so there was a tiiiiny opening used for the PATA cable, but the power cable couldn't pass.

Found these two through Google to go along with pjeremy's photo:

http://members.socket.net/~ioliver01/Pics/NSK4480.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb26 ... copier.jpg

It's a mess.

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:42 pm

The 4480 doesn't have audio conectors in the front.

RedAE102 · Post by **RedAE102** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:49 pm

The 4480 is definitely a PITA to work with after working in a nicer case like a Solo or P180. It's also very flimsy compared to my Solo, but my system needs the side vents open in order to keep everything cool. From what I've heard, it sounds like the 3480 may be sturdier than the 4480 too.

For what I paid though ($35 after MIR), the 4480 was a steal with the EA-380 PSU, and I love it. It does exactly what I needed it to do.

kaange · Post by **kaange** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:38 pm

I didn't find the 4480 too bad to work with, although most of my experience haas been with generic cases.

The lower fan mount is pretty useless though, unless you need to cool a video card or other heatsink down near the bottom, since the drive bay is above the fan mount. Also, there is no easy way to suspend the drive cage unlike the SLK3000B

DeoreDX · Post by **DeoreDX** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:38 am

I was in need of a new PSU and ran across the 4480 at Best Buy for $63 on sale. I was planning on one of the Seasonic's or earthwatts in the ~430 range for my old case but bit the bullet and got the new case. With the Antec case I got immediate buyer's satisfaction and was able to play with it that same day. My new PSU turned into a new case project. Definitely not a case you want to get into every day, the way you remove the side panels and top are not the nices methods I have seen. Cable routing is not it's strong point either. But, it does have some pluses.

-The first and biggest IMHO being the Earthwatts 380 PSU, which is quite nice for a PSU which comes with a case especially at this price point. Nice and quiet.
-The Tri-Cool fan isn't half bad at it's lowest setting.
-Rubber-isolated hard drive mounts, nice touch! Too bad they didn't do the same for the optical drive slots.
-Stock out of the box with no other fans the case is pretty darned quiet.

The front fan opening is pretty much useless, there is a plastic piece of the front panel which blocks about 30% of the front opening immediatly killing much of it's effectiveness. I threw a fan in there anyways, hoping a little moving air and Bernoulli's principle will help draw some of that cool air up through the hard drives. I put a old generic really loud 80mm fan in the side port, I should have some replacements comming in today. The side cover is not the thickest/sturdiest/noise dampeningest of side panels and I think it helps exacerbate any harsh noises coming from the side panel mounted fan. When I get home tonight I'll bust out my Radio Shack SPL meter and take a few readings.

Athlon XP 2800
Radio AiW 9600 XT
15 gig 5400 rpm HDD
80 gig 7200 rpm HDD
160gig 7200 rpm SATA HDD

Not much in the box, and it's running 33C on the CPU and 26 in the box at idle.

hans007 · Post by **hans007** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 3:20 am

i've had both these cases.

well i returned the 4480 (i think it was the 4400 i had though).

i've had a nsk3300 and nsk3480 and both are much much better cases than the 4400/4480.

they use thicker steel, rubber grommets etc in the 3000 series. a much higher end case. the 4400 is very similar to the utter crap slk1400 series from before. the side panels are real thin and are taller than the microATX one so they flex. if you have a hard drive that seeks a lot it might even rattle. the 4400 also has no front audio ports.