Sonata III 500 vs. P182?

JackyPerformance.com · Post by **JackyPerformance.com** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:33 am

Hi everyone,
I'm considering building a new personal computer, but need to know which Antec case is quieter? I'd sincerely appreciate any insight from you more experienced forum members regarding this question. Thanks in advance!

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 4:14 am

Hello & welcome to SPCR,

The case itself is not quiet, nor can any case "make" a loud computer be quiet. A good case makes it possible to make a quieter computer, than it would be in a poor case -- you still need to use quiet components in order to achieve a quiet computer.

Inherent in it's design, the Sonata is not in the same league as the P182, or the P150/Solo. The hard drive frame is impeding the air flow for the intake, and the fan location in the front is less than ideal.

The Antec Solo would be the case I would use: you pick the power supply, the hard drive mounting is superior to almost any other case, and it's cable management is excellent. The P182 is also excellent, but it is more complicated, and it lacks the option to suspend the hard drives.

ntavlas · Post by **ntavlas** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 5:47 am

The p182 and solo also use thicker steel, a plus for silence. An advantage of the p182 over the solo is that the power supply is located at the bottom. This could help keep it cool and thus quieter.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:46 am

one advantage of the Sonata III is that it comes with an Earthwatts PSU, which is efficient and quiet. depending on how silent you need the computer to be, the Sonata could be a good deal.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:41 pm

I'd go with a Solo as the perfect beginners/intermediate case. Start with the Antec Tri Cool on low and add a cheap 92mm low rpm fan to the front bottom position and run it at 5v or 7v.

Add one of the power supplies below and enjoy...

Corsair VX450W $70-80
Seasonic S12-II 380 $80

If you need to keep costs down look for deals on an Earthwatts 380w or 430w.

JackyPerformance.com · Post by **JackyPerformance.com** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:41 am

Thanks for the insight everyone. Right now, it looks like a toss-up between the p182 and Solo. I've built many computers over the years, so this isn't my first build. What I want to know is, which case typically reduces more internal noise; p182 or antec solo? (i realize internal components will affect this, but in general has any1 noticed one case better at "sound deadening" than the other?)

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:47 am

Solo III doesn't really have any sound deadening. In Sound wise and cooling aspect, P182B is superior I think. Although Sonata III seems very good deal, especially if you do not have already a PSU or don't have quiet one and need one.

mikeom1 · Post by **mikeom1** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:55 am

Well the Solo does have it's "Dual-layer steel & plastic sound-deadening panels" but the P182 has it's "Special three-layer side panels and front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum)".

I was undecided on the 2 also, what it came down to for me was after working so long in a old Sonata case I wanted more space in my new PC. That said I think I'm going to switch my Sonata case for a Solo and house my new PC in a P182.

Out of the 2 I'd go with the P182 and you could always try to suspend your HDDs in that to match the Solo's excellent built in HD suspension system

You may also want to consider the case dimensions the P182 does have a considerable size advantage (or is that disadvantage, depending what your requirements are), but if you have all the space in the world and you are looking to make a monster go with the P182, if you like a nice clean more compact PC take the Solo

P182
- 21.3" (H) x 8.1" (W) x 19.9" (D)
- 52cm (H) x 21cm (W) x 51cm (D)

Solo
- 17"(H) x 8.1"(W) x 18.5"(D)
- 43.18cm(H) x 20.57cm(W) x 47cm(D)

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:43 am

Solo also has sound absorption material attached inside the case, unlike P180-series.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 1:33 pm

thejamppa wrote:Solo also has sound absorption material attached inside the case, unlike P180-series.

And you can tell when you pick it up. The Solo is just about the same weight as my old Antec performance series SX835II which is much larger.

P180 31 lbs at 21.3" tall
P182 30.9 lbs at 21.3" tall
SX835II 25 lbs at 20.6" tall

Solo 25.3 lbs at 17.5" tall
P150 20.3 lbs at 17" tall (25.3 lbs - 5 lbs weight of an Neo HE 430)
Sonata III 500 17.2 lbs at 16.7" tall (20.2 lbs - 3.5 lbs weight of an earthwatts 500)

The extra density in the solo is important for vibration dampening / Noise Reduction.

JackyPerformance.com · Post by **JackyPerformance.com** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:55 pm

Thank you everyone,
it looks like the Antec Solo case will be quieter for my needs and take up less room, plus I like the suspended drive feature. I plan to put 3 hard drives in the system, best video card, and 2 opticals drives..with the goal of making a high-performing, yet quiet gaming system that also does well in video / audio editing and CAD applicattions

.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:32 am

dhanson865 wrote:
thejamppa wrote:Solo also has sound absorption material attached inside the case, unlike P180-series.
And you can tell when you pick it up. The Solo is just about the same weight as my old Antec performance series SX835II which is much larger.

P180 31 lbs at 21.3" tall
P182 30.9 lbs at 21.3" tall
SX835II 25 lbs at 20.6" tall

Solo 25.3 lbs at 17.5" tall
P150 20.3 lbs at 17" tall (25.3 lbs - 5 lbs weight of an Neo HE 430)
Sonata III 500 17.2 lbs at 16.7" tall (20.2 lbs - 3.5 lbs weight of an earthwatts 500)

The extra density in the solo is important for vibration dampening / Noise Reduction.

Hmm, something doesn't quite add up on the weight measurements for Solo...because the P150 is exactly the same as Solo except for being white. They should be the same weight.

dewdman42 · Post by **dewdman42** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:38 pm

Based on the above discussion I am also leaning towards a Solo, which seems like about the right size for my 2 HD audio production system. Where does the Antec Designer fit into this comparison?

Calgarian · Post by **Calgarian** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:23 pm

The Solo and P150 are the same. (oh, the P150 came with an Antec power supply which I replaced with a Corsair)

I picked the P150 last year because I liked the white better.

I've discovered this month it seems the P150 has been renamed as the Sonata Designer. (with a choice of face plates, hmmm)

The cases are the same, it just depends on what look you want.

Calgarian · Post by **Calgarian** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:26 pm

.....and I should conclude by saying, I can't say enough good things about the P150 (Sonata Designer 500) case. I love it!

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15135

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 5:54 am

merlin wrote:
dhanson865 wrote:
thejamppa wrote:Solo also has sound absorption material attached inside the case, unlike P180-series.
And you can tell when you pick it up. The Solo is just about the same weight as my old Antec performance series SX835II which is much larger.

P180 31 lbs at 21.3" tall
P182 30.9 lbs at 21.3" tall
SX835II 25 lbs at 20.6" tall

Solo 25.3 lbs at 17.5" tall
P150 20.3 lbs at 17" tall (25.3 lbs - 5 lbs weight of an Neo HE 430)
Sonata III 500 17.2 lbs at 16.7" tall (20.2 lbs - 3.5 lbs weight of an earthwatts 500)

The extra density in the solo is important for vibration dampening / Noise Reduction.
Hmm, something doesn't quite add up on the weight measurements for Solo...because the P150 is exactly the same as Solo except for being white. They should be the same weight.

Was in the Antec Specs or in my paying attention to net instead of Gross. I didn't take screenshots so I'm not sure but I remember doing math and triple checking it as it seemed odd at the time.

The correct comparison should be

P180 31 lbs at 21.3" tall
P182 30.9 lbs at 21.3" tall
SX835II 25 lbs at 20.6" tall

Solo 25.3 lbs at 17.5" tall
P150 25.3 lbs at 17" tall (does not include the 5 lbs weight of an Neo HE 430)
Sonata III 500 20.2 or is it 22.0 or is it 25.5 lbs at 16.7" tall (25.5 lbs - 3.5 lbs weight of an earthwatts 500)

I mean really what is gross and net on the antec specs? I once thought gross was in the shipping box and net was out of the box. I know from comparing specs that they don't seem to jive between the Sonata III and the P150/Solo.

They sure wouldn't want to make it easy to tell the proper specs for their hardware would they?