Antec Sonata III is out

blake · Post by **blake** » Sat May 19, 2007 8:34 pm

The Antec Sonata III is available thru most distributors. I have yet to find any comprehensive reviews, here or elsewhere. Anyone have any comments?

The biggest improvement is a 500W Earthwatts power supply, stronger (metal) front panel, front eSATA, and improved air venting system. People are saying it will not fit a 8000GTX gpu as the metal hard drive chassis blocks it! Can anyone verify this? Would it fit a 8000GTS (which is what I plan to get)?

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15137

As an aside, the Sonata III press release from two days ago also references the new "Sonata Designer" and "Sonata Plus", but I can find NO references to these models anywhere on the internet, and Antec is not responding to my queries!

http://www.sys-con.com/read/376789.htm

Varun · Post by **Varun** » Sat May 19, 2007 11:00 pm

I have the Sonota and the 8800GTX would not fit. I have an 8800GTS and it barely fits so there for sure would be no room for the GTX.

Assuming the Sonata III is along the same lines inside as the Sonata and II, they the GTX will not fit. I'm sure you can find some specs on Antec's site for dimensions.

Sylph-DS · Post by **Sylph-DS** » Mon May 21, 2007 2:55 am

Personally, I hate it when people see a brand new, kick ass case like this, and the first thing you hear is "WILL THE GTX FIT?!". The GTX is a rediculously huge card, if it fits, then you're wasting space

Anyways, back to the Sonata, looks nice, something I might've bought had it been released a month or two earlier. Lets see if MikeC has any thing to say about it.

blake · Post by **blake** » Mon May 21, 2007 3:02 pm

I checked with Antec customer support.

Indeed, the 8800GTX will NOT fit in the Sonata III, but the 8800GTS should - as long as the card is <10" long. The EVGA 8800GTS is 9", so I assume it, and most other boards based on its reference design will fit.

blake · Post by **blake** » Wed May 23, 2007 1:46 pm

Does anyone have a front 120mm fan running adjacent to a 8800GTS board? Is there any clearance for the fan to fit?

=assassin= · Post by **=assassin=** » Thu May 24, 2007 5:52 am

The outside looks nicer, the inside looks virtually unchanged?

Might be a beefier power supply, but I don't trust Antec PSU's at the moment - they seem to be going through a bad spell. They could do with making one without the PSU.

JaYp146 · Post by **JaYp146** » Fri May 25, 2007 8:50 pm

Earthwatts power supplies are surprisingly good. Antec switched to Seasonic as their OEM of choice for these particular units. While they're not as good as Seasonic S12s, they're still much better than the Sonata II's "Smart"Power PSUs.

Garfield3d · Post by **Garfield3d** » Sat May 26, 2007 12:34 pm

I think I read somewhere that the Sonata III will exclude the plastic ducting from the Sonata II. When I saw the case at Fry's, indeed the ducting system was missing.

So, the main changes with the Sonata III seem to be 1.) A new P.S., 2.) No more ducting, and 3.) Cosmetic exterior changes.

Nothing fundementally different with the design, it seems.

--Garfield

rei · Post by **rei** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:38 am

anyone know if there's enough room to shut the lid and cover one of the sunbeam rheostats?

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=Sunbeam

redgeek · Post by **redgeek** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:37 pm

rei asked:

anyone know if there's enough room to shut the lid and cover one of the sunbeam rheostats?

Even if the door would close over this (very unlikely IMHO) it's not possible to secure a device like this with the rails that come with the Sonatas. I tried to fit an Akasa AllInOne to my Sonata II but it flopped around with only one screw holding the rails to each side.

Might be possible to fix this with a Dremel

but I bottled out and stuck a small Icy Box removable card reader in one of the 3.5" bays instead: fits perfectly and is both handy and cool (though I have now stopped saying "Open the shuttle bay doors Mr Sulu" when I insert it...)

p.s. My first post here...go easy on me...

mentawl · Post by **mentawl** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 5:06 pm

blake wrote:Does anyone have a front 120mm fan running adjacent to a 8800GTS board? Is there any clearance for the fan to fit?

This should give you an idea of the clearance. It's a Sonata II, but the frame is identical in dimensions. The card is an eVGA 8800GTS 320mb with a HR-03+.

(Full size - http://www.banzaiinstitute.net/ment/P1010044.JPG)

(Full size - http://www.banzaiinstitute.net/ment/P1010047.JPG)

Hope that's of some help

--Tom

blake · Post by **blake** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:22 pm

Mentawl,

Thanks for the pics. Not much room between the GTS and 120mm fan, but at least it fits.

Just curious what kind of padding you run around the inside of the case? Also, do you need a heat sink for the GTS if you are not overclocking it?

mentawl · Post by **mentawl** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 3:36 am

No problem on the pics. Like you say, it's not the most comfortable fit in the world, but it does work if you're careful when inserting/removing the card.

As for the foam, it's just a pre-cut Acoustipack kit for the Sonata II (http://www.acoustiproducts.com/en/acoustipack.asp), although I've made a few modifications to it over the last year or so. I've got some larger studio soundproofing foam to pop in the case sometime, just waiting for the urge to haul it all apart and do that, hehe.

As to the heatsink on the GTS, I'd say don't bother with an aftermarket heatsink unless you're really crazy about overclocking/noise control. The stock GTS sink fan is extremely quiet and kept the temperatures fine and low - I never heard it spin up, even during heavy gaming or benchmarks. Honestly, the only reason I bought the HR-03+ was because I took the stock sink off, with the intention of cleaning off the existing goop/thermal pads and putting on some fresh AS5, and found that the pads actually filled a gap between the RAM and the sink, and that plain AS5 would not allow contact between the RAM and the sink. Having damaged the thermal pads when removing them, I thought it best to be safe and bought the HR-03+.

/phew Sorry for the long spew of text, hehe.

--Tom

rei · Post by **rei** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:46 pm

I can't figure out how to remove the front bezel on mine to put a fan in the front :/

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:34 pm

Hello,

Doesn't the front fan on the Sonata go just behind the HD cage? (See the photo above...)

blake · Post by **blake** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:15 pm

I was hoping to see a review of the Sonata III on this site, but none yet. I found one on another site that is quite detailed:

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1109

doudou · Post by **doudou** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:49 am

Hello everyone,
Just received the case today and I ca confirm about the Geforce GTX thing, as there only an inch or so of free space between the hard drive cage and the back end of a GTS.
Quality feels very good, as usual

Sputte · Post by **Sputte** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:24 am

I'm planning to get one. But, does anyone know if the Thermalright Ultra-120 will fit? I saw that the Schyte infinity fit, but what about the Thermalright cooler?

This should give you an idea of the clearance. It's a Sonata II, but the frame is identical in dimensions. The card is an eVGA 8800GTS 320mb with a HR-03+.

Hope that's of some help

--Tom

Looks good, how about the temperature?

miahallen · Post by **miahallen** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:08 am

blake wrote:The Antec Sonata III is available thru most distributors. I have yet to find any comprehensive reviews, here or elsewhere. Anyone have any comments?

Antec Sonata III @ techpowerup.com
Antec Sonata III @ XSReviews
Antec Sonata III @Bjorn 3D

RobinL · Post by **RobinL** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 4:26 am

Am I right in saying that a 8600GTS is smaller and thus will be OK in this case? I've bought the graphics card already, and am about to buy this case. Just wanted to check it would be OK. Graphics card I bought is here (but doesn't give dimensions):

"MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256EZ HD GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Silent Heatpipe Video Card - Retail "

(sorry, first post so I wasn't allowed to post a link!)

ceraf · Post by **ceraf** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 2:00 pm

i'm deciding whether i should get this or a p150. any thoughts? The earthwatts power supply is quite enticing.

quadraphonic · Post by **quadraphonic** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 3:09 pm

I think the fact that the p150 offers slightly better cable routing options (via removable right AND left panels), integrated HD suspension, and the opportunity to select your own PSU make it the winner over the Sonata. That said, I think the Sonata III edges it out slightly in aesthetics, but that's purely subjective.

DanceMan · Post by **DanceMan** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:51 pm

JaYp146 wrote:Earthwatts power supplies are surprisingly good. Antec switched to Seasonic as their OEM of choice for these particular units. While they're not as good as Seasonic S12s, they're still much better than the Sonata II's "Smart"Power PSUs.

Antec's SmartPower and TruePower psu's are made by CWT, Channel Well Technologies, and there were reports of higher than normal failure rates on them a year or so ago.

The switch to a Seasonic unit makes the Sonata III a much better buy.

Snowdog · Post by **Snowdog** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:55 pm

The P150/solo also has front intake fan potential, where the Sonata has fan location between the HD and Video card. The P150/Solo HD cage is also oriented to allow better air flow.

I think the Solo in Black looks sharp. I think the are on cheap($45 after MIR) at Newegg and you pick whatever power supply you want and come out ahead of the Sonata if you are in the USA.

If there is a better designed mid tower than the Solo/P150, I would like to know what it is.

accord1999 · Post by **accord1999** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:29 am

To answer a couple of questions, the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme fits the Sonata 3, as does a 8800 GTX if the 120mm fan is not attached to the HD case.

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:53 am

ceraf wrote:i'm deciding whether i should get this or a p150. any thoughts? The earthwatts power supply is quite enticing.

Then take Antec Sonata Designer 500. It's a P150 with EA 500 and some blue lights on front.

[email protected] · Post by **[email protected]** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 9:32 am

YES YES. i have sonata III with 8800gtx install..
and i can put another one...but i have problem with front fan mount..
but i think that i will risolve this problem...
it is problem that i can put only hard drive...but hard with 500 gb it is more than necesary....

DragonOptical · Post by **DragonOptical** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:44 am

Hey guys, I'm bringing this topic back from the dead because a friend of mine was thinking about buying a Sonata III.

Here are some questions: would an ATI HD 4870 fit (if a 8800GTX would fit I guess a 4870 would fit)?
And would an AC S1 rev. 2 fit (I find the height restriction drawing from the AC not that clear)?

Thx!

Arcalis · Post by **Arcalis** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:59 am

If anyone is still interested in this...
Got the Sonata III 1 month ago and was pretty exited back then. Nice looks, but u have to brush it every time you touch it, the semishiny paint says "Hello fingerprints!". Wide enough for a TR 120 Extreme, long enough for an Asus EAH4850 (so i assume a 4870 would go in as well), with the stock TriCool fan moved to the front. As long as you keep the fan on low speed (which is 1200 RPM) you get silent and an impressive (for me at least) airflow. Even if the fan is in the back of the HDDs, it sucks enough to feel the airflow in the front intakes and, the good thing for me, it blows right on the video.
Now, the bad thing on this piece is the bay door, not because it gets in your way when handling CDs/DVDs or just wanna turn the PC on (hell, it looks better with the door closed), but because it's not very hermetic. It has a "finger-inserting" gap about 1 cm which is just perfect for the 120 suckers inside to draw air through... and guess what, there's no dust filter there, so in 1 month i got about the same amount of dust inside as i got on the front filter and i could see the white trails left between the gaps of the bay panels. I guess i have to vacuum my room more often

Except the thing that they forgot there's dust around us, Antec built a suitable Case for me, and, thinking i'll get an AC S1 for the video, it's a very, very quiet one. With a TR 120 Extreme, a Nexus Realsilent on it and another one on the back, going @ 900 RPM, i can only hear the TriCool (which i'm planning to get rid of for another nexus) and the stock video fan which i have to keep @ 5000 RPM, because i'm not the type who cooks eggs on the video board. That's until i get the AC S1...
What to say more... if you want to keep your PC on non stop, you hate windtunnels and your room is squeaky-clean, go for it

dddp · Post by **dddp** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:58 am

Ive got a Sonata 1 and i too noticed the dust coming in around the door but found you can seal those finger size gaps around the door with draft seal tape - it comes in a back colour so it blends in well with the case.

I also used some black vinyl electrical insulation tape to seal the small gap where the hinge is on the side of the door - that too keeps a bit more crud out of the case.

A slight drawback i found is that to be able to pull the dust screen out you have to tilt the case up at the front quite a lot to get the screen out, i see that design is stil the same on the later versions of the case - would have been better IMO if it was able to be pulled out sideways from the front bezel to clean it. Not keeping it clean really restricts airflow into the case.

Antec Sonata III is out

Antec Sonata III is out

Removed Ducting

Re: Antec Sonata III is out

Hmmm..