Antec Sonata II opinions please

Traducer

Traducer

Traducer

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4 Apr 2006
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346
I need some information on this case regarding fans and cooling, I am looking to put my system in this insted to save some cash, so I can spend the extra on the cpu and graphics.

Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU

I don't really want to have to buy any extra fans or anything, I just want it to be ready to go, but I looked on the spec of it from ocuk, and it says optional on some of the fans, does this mean I have to buy them? :confused:
Would just like some opinions and such on the case.
Anyway seems your the man to ask about cases round here hehe. :)
 
Good little case, very good buy as a PSU combo. Comes with a solid PSU and is not too noisey either.

It has 1 fan at the rear, so it might be a idea to buy 1 more 120mm fan if your running a high end rig.

But as ever, NEVER skimp on the PSU, if your spending £1000 on the PC, £100 needs to be on the PSU ideally as a starting point.

What is the rest of the system going to be?

(Oh and a general thing aimed out to everyone, could you please just name the threads normally, if its in cases I am likely to read it and post in either way, just makes it easier to work out what is in the thread, and there is always someone else out there who may be able to add something in I miss. Good to get more than one persons opinion aswell as I am not right all the time, well I do try :p)
 
No Benjo my name isnt Yewen so don't start :p


They are great cases and PSUs for the price, they come with 1x120mm rear exhaust (tricool speed controlled). Theres also space for another 120mm at the front and a 90mm in the cpu cooling duct, but the duct is useless so just remove it.
My mate is running a 3500+/7800GT system in one with only the rear fan and stock cooling and his temps are fine.
 
Don't know if you caught my ninja edit Raikiri ;)

I would not trust the PSU with a 1900xt and a full rack of hard drives though; the PSU is the most important component in the PC. Although that one is good, the high high end will slaughter it.
 
I'll be spending a good 1k on my rig, I just thought maybe I could save a few quid and get this case, meaning I could get a X2 4400 insted of the 3800 or a X1900XT/X insted of something like an X1800XT or 7900GT.
Its not what I would be using forever, just for the mean time, anyway just an idea.
Sorry about the thread name I did not realise it would cause an trouble. :o
 
No trouble, just harder for the Antec Sonata II owners to see you and come in and help out.

If thats the sort of rig your looking at then ideally you will want a £80 PSU in the 520w+ bracket.

The PSU is the one thing you don't cut back on!

How much money do you have for the PSU / Fans / Case?

I will see what I can juggle up.
 
FG-020-AK Akasa AK FC-06SL Fan Controller Junior - Silver (FG-020-AK)
£7.50 £7.50
CA-038-LL Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Silver Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-038-LL)
£47.95 £47.95
CA-025-EN Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-025-EN)
£61.95 £61.95
Subtotal £117.40
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £9.95
VAT £22.29
Total £149.64

Maybe something like this, very good PSU, a basic but high quality case and a fanc ontroller to keep the noise down (I didnt pick black cos the fan controller was out of stock)
 
Well really mate, I only got between 900 and 1000 maybe 1 or 2 pounds over and no more, this is just for the base unit, as everything else I will just have to cope with what I already got, untill I can afford more.
Not really got a budget for any certain part, just been doing it with an overall budget as such.
I did make a new build post in the general section and have had some nice replys with advice and friendly help.
But this is really a lot of money to me, hence me going over all the possible options.
The case would not be in use forever, maybe a few months if I went for the cheaper one untill I could afford to splash out.
 
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I guess it will be a gaming system? I could try and spec you something

Edit

GX-060-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-060-PC)
£259.95 £259.95
MB-131-AS Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-131-AS)
£99.95 £99.95
CD-028-NE NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Silver) - OEM (CD-028-NE)
£19.95 £19.95
HD-010-HI Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 160GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM (0A31635) (HD-010-HI)
£34.95 £34.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£94.95 £94.95
CA-038-LL Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Silver Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-038-LL)
£47.95 £47.95
CA-025-EN Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-025-EN)
£61.95 £61.95
FG-020-AK Akasa AK FC-06SL Fan Controller Junior - Silver (FG-020-AK)
£7.50 £7.50
CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£169.95 £169.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£15.95 £15.95
Subtotal £813.05
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £12.95
VAT £144.55
Total £970.55
 
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Yes its a gaming system, mainly for online gaming as thats all I tend to do with games, I never had the power to play them in decent detail in single player, I do use it a lot for other normal things though, work, music, downloading, the usual.
I was originally going to go with the Eclipse 62 with two Akasa Ambers, and a Tagan Modular 530w or 580w, but thats so damn expensive man, mean't I had to skimp on other stuff.
I don't play at crazy resolutions as I only have a 17" CRT ( I know, don't laugh. ) but thats not for long either, just wanted to build up a really strong machine first so thats what I am focusing on at the moment.
I know people will say no point getting an powerfull card like the X1900XT/X with that monitor, but there is also no point in getting a lesser card then upgrade my screen and wish I had the other card, then end up buying another one anyway.
If you want to spec me a machine thats fine by me mate, any help or advice is welcome.
 
I'd rather not go with a crossfire board, I was thinking more along the lines of an Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard or something.
I was planning to go with the X2 3800, but I also was looking at the 4400.
And the 3700 single core was my original idea, but that went out the window when I seen all these nice CPUs.
 
Buy the 3800+ instead of the 4400. Save some money and clock the 3800 to the same speed as the 4800+!! Should be able to do that quite easily. :)
 
I would love to do that mate, but I have never clocked anything before and these guides seem complicated. :confused:
What speed does the 4400 and 4800 run at anyway?
 
Traducer said:
I would love to do that mate, but I have never clocked anything before and these guides seem complicated. :confused:
What speed does the 4400 and 4800 run at anyway?
Click to expand...

It really isnt, theres only a few things you need to know for a small overclock.

HTT multiplyer - set to 4x for up to 250fsb

CPU multiplyer - set to 10x (default)

CPU FSB - As high as it will go stable

Memeory Devider - 166mhz is fine for geil value up to 250fsb

CPU voltage - 1.55-1.6 is generally considered the max for air cooling

Memeory Voltage - 2.7v works well with Geil value

Chipset voltage - 1.5 stock, raise to 1.6v if system is unstable
 
4400+ = 2.2ghz but 1024 L2 as opposed to 512kb on 3800+

4800+ = 2.4ghz but 1024 L2 " "

3800 has proven a great overclocker with many getting 2.5ghz with ease
 
Sounds interesting, I guess I can always ask for more help when I actually get the system up and running.
X2 3800 at 4800 speeds, really do like the sound of that though.
 
Overclocking is where it is at, and the system that has been specced up already in this thread, if you overclock the 3800 heavily would blow mine away :(

The PC7+ is the case to get if your on a tight budget, as it is the cheapest case that can handle anything comfotably for a long time to come, so is the base for this system, and the next, and probably the next!

1900xt, will play anything at 1280 x 1024 maxed out, my 7800gt oc does!

Motherboard is a good one.

DVD re-writer for me has yet to make a single coaster, I have a 4550.

Hard drive is a nippy reliable model.

Enough ram to run anything at the moment, and gives you some headroom to overclock.

Fan controller keeps the INCLUDED fans noise down, big plus.

Processor is up to anything, and will get faster in games once they support dual core, overclock it to 2.4ghz and your laughing really. (Not hard to do :))

Nice cooler, used on a lot of builds and copes with most you throw at it with reasonable noise.

For £1000 for what is listed, that is almost exactly what I would buy with my own money, maybe a different motherboard and a slower graphics card.

It is a good solid base, but remember you will need to add £5 on that or any rig for some Artic Silver 5 which almost everyone forgets to include, it is a must if your overclocking! (Keeps the processor cooler).
 
Looking for a stable 125fps for online gaming is the main thing, especially once I upgrade my monitor, and that will be to something like 19" 2ms 4ms 8ms or so.
Online gaming is the main thing for me, so I need it to perform the best as it can.
I thought the XT clocks to XT X speeds easy?
The PC7 uses 120mm fans?
Off topic but whats the spec of your machine out of intrest?
 
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I have no idea on that, last time I upgraded was 2003. :o
I am still running a xp2200 at stock with 9700 pro and 1.25gb of pants ram.
 
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