Choosing a case

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I expect that the choice of a case affects the efficiency of cooling.

At this time, I’ve narrowed the choice of cases to the following three:

Antec Sonata: 2 fan mounts, 120mm fans, 1 fan included.

Antec P160: 2 fan mounts, 120mm fans, 1 fan included,

Antec Plus1080AMG: 5 fan mounts, 80mm fans, 3 fans included,

The P160 and 1080 have 10 drive bays, Sonata has 9 drive bays.
All 3 have 2 external and 4 internal 3.5 inch drive bays.
The P160 and 1080 have 4 external 5.25 inch drive bays.
The Sonata has 3 external 5.25 inch drive bays.

In the short term, I would plan on have 2 optical drives, a floppy drive and
1 or 2 hard drives.

If memory needs to be installed in pairs, I’d start with 2GB.
Likely get one of the newer Intel mobos to get SATA, NCQ and PCI Express
Express.

Which of the three cases would be recommended?

Should I install ALL optional fans?

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Should I install ALL optional fans

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[/indent]I guess that depends on what you define as an acceptable noise level. More fans make more noise. A larger case helps keep the system cooler without additional noise (but cables might be tight), so you may want to factor that in to your decision making process.

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In this newsletter is a section about quiet fans: LangaList Std Edition 2004-06-10 which leads to InformationWeek > PC Noise > Langa Letter: Cool And Quiet: Warm-Weather Follow-Up > June 7, 2004 and more in the IW article.

Joe

--Joe

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The Sonata and P160 are designed to be quiet.
The 1080 is not.

All three are supposed to be excellent cases.

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The 1080 appears to be a gaming case, something intended for a high-powered and high-heat system. I have seen a number of favorable reviews about the Sonata case, although I have never used one. Regardless, I have always liked Antec power supplies because they deliver their rated output and are very quiet.

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I saw a floor model demo of te P160 at CompUSA yesterday.
The upper front panel was missing.
I was surprised to find some rather sharp edges in the part of he case expoosed by the removal of the upper panel.
I could not see any obvious way to remove the full front panel.

I also saw side by side, a box containing a Sonata and a box containing a P160.

The P160 is much roomier, likely better for this klutz’s hands..

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I built the wife’s system with the Sonata and am very happy with it.

Pros
Easy access – Side panel comes off with lift of handle
Front access slide-in 5.25 drive bays
Side mounted, slide-in 3.5 drive – this is cool
120mm Fans move massive amount of air with very little noise!
Rock Solid
Very Quiet
High gloss piano finish looks great
Very effective screen filter in front.
No sharp edges (as expected with an Antec
Blue power light looks nice

Cons
Heavy – thick skin helps deaden noise but…
Piano finish shows fingerprints and dust (akin to a black car – gorgeous when clean and shiny – a bear to keep it that way) – of course the PC case shies away from the rain.
Right side of case is not removable – to enhance rigidity thereby less noise – according to Antec.
Blue power light may be too bright (even for me – see user name)

I believe the 160 case has most of the practical pros – just not the looks.

Side comments – highly recommended if this will be used in a highly visible location, like in a Home Theater. I bought mine from Directron.com where I was able to sub out the power supply with a Antec True430 Quiet power supply – good prices there too.

Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!

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A number of folkes have recommended Directron and their policy of replacing the power supply.
One concern is that may void th ewarranty on the case.

Note that not all Antec casaes have no sharp edges.
THe floor model of t eP160 at CompUsa had a missing upper front panel.
Fortunately, I was careful when lifting, elsew I could have gotten a nasty cut from tyhe sharp edges inside.

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Swapping out the power supply should not void the case warranty – and except for a seam coming apart, there’s not much that can go wrong with the case anyway. I trust Antec cases enough that I would certainly be more concerned about delivering solid, clean power to the critical components, with watts to spare for heavy demands and future expansion, than having the case fall apart.

Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!

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