17" tall case - Sonata II vs Solo?

SGCSG1 · Post by **SGCSG1** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:29 am

I'm going to pull my gaming system (due core 6800, geforce 8800) out of the P180 it's in now. I want a case that fits under my desk, and I'm tired of the huge size of the 180.

I'm thinking of a Solo, but I have access to an older case, a Sonata II.

Any thoughts on those two cases? I'm not extreme on anything, quiet enough is good enough, airflow being ok is good enough. I'm looking for an 'all-rounder' but it has to be 17" tall or less.

All comments welcome.

PS: On the third hand Frys has the Sonata III on sale...

SGCSG1 · Post by **SGCSG1** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:08 am

Shoot. I just found out you can't put a fan in front of the Sonata II to cool your hard-drives. That's one difference between it and the Solo right there.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:39 pm

Sonata has a door covering the external bays. Some like a door, others hate them. Also note the power/reset are behind the door on the sonata, so you have to open the door every time to power on/reset, or use an optical drive along with anything else in your external bays, like fan controls, hot swap bays, floppy etc etc.

Solo comes with stock suspension, Sonata II has railmount system for internal 3.5" drives.

Airflow through the front vents on the solo is better.

Solo comes with stock dampening on the side panels.

Both will have dificulty with long video cards without modification to the HDD bays.

Sonata III is basically a Sonata II with a new front bezel, otherwise they are identical.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 4:36 am

Out of those two, get the Solo, it's better in every way unless you particularly prefer the Sonata's aesthetics. IMHO any special deals available on the Sonata aren't really a factor worth considering, given that you'll probably be living with the case for many years and it could see you through many future upgrades.

You could have trouble with long video cards, as said above - you don't say what particular 8800 you have, but an 8800GTS or GT should slot in OK, and it's a fairly minor surgical procedure to get an 8800GTX to fit (I'm sure there's a thread or two here with pics showing what you have to do). You might not be happy cutting your case though, and you'll lose at least one available HDD bay, if that's a consideration.

Also, according to Antec's specs, the Solo is *exactly* 17" tall, whereas the (old) Sonata is 16.7", so that could be worth bearing in mind if you literally have 17" and not a shred more of available height.

maf718 · Post by **maf718** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:54 am

My Solo is 17 inches tall without the feet, add the height of the feet and you are talking 17 and 5/16 of an inch.

FuturePastNow · Post by **FuturePastNow** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:19 pm

SGCSG1 wrote:Shoot. I just found out you can't put a fan in front of the Sonata II to cool your hard-drives. That's one difference between it and the Solo right there.

All of the Sonata versions take a 120mm fan to cool the hard drives. But it goes on the inside of the drive cage, not in front of the drives. That can interfere with long graphics cards, but it works fine.

DaveD · Post by **DaveD** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:49 am

Go ahead and read Ralf Hutter's review of the Antec P150/Solo, and then go ahead and get the Solo. You can't beat the built-in HDD suspension system and better HDD cooling. I recently replaced the Antec SLK3700BQE case which has the same HDD mounting system as the Sonata III, and yes, there is a big difference in HDD noise (both hum and seek).

goofee · Post by **goofee** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:20 am

I've just ordered the Solo myself, it will be replacing the old SLK3000B i have. I use it as a gaming rig too (E8400 scythe ninja 2, 4870 with Thermalright TRAD2 cooler).

Problem with the SLK3000B for me is mainly vibrations from the hdd and fan mounts, which i hope will be solved with the Solo like mentioned here. I think the Sonata II and III will have these hdd vibrations as they have the similar poor hdd mounting systems.