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Antec Aria PC cube case $99

N

natenut

Senior member
Text

a little bit better than pricewatch and there are a bunch of other good deals on Circuit City Outlet's webpage so look around. this just happened to be what I was looking for.


Merry Chirstmas
-nate
 
The ASPIRE looks cool but its missing the card reader. Every rig I have built with an Aria case has sold in less than a week. Computer newbies all want something small and fast with a card reader for their cameras.
 
The aria has very poor cooling so its not a good idea if you want a game sff pc. But as a media center it would be ok, just make sure u use parts that don't get very hot.
 
I have the aria... definitely only want to use 1 hard drive with it.. The 2nd/3rd hard drive slots are actually ocated vertically and hang down from the removable CD DRIVE mounting cage... they obstruct airflow and get very cramped especialyl for cabling. SATA or rounded cables are an absolute must if you are using this... ribbons will not work. Because of the way the CD cage and 2nd/3rd 3.5 drives fit a lot of PCI cards will not fit in most of the slots. I'm not just talking about video cards, my SBLive was too long. If any of you have one you know that's not a big card at all and it didn't come close. I'd wager not much at all in the way of AGP cards will fit in this so get a nforce2 or nforce6100 with onboard video and think external for tvtuner and possibly sound. I picked up the philips external audio device which matches rather nicely with it's Blue LEDs and metal look. I'm going to try putting a zalman 'chinese fan' heatsink in it and just using the PS or PCI slot fan to suck air across it... makin it a bit quieter than it is with a regular heatsink and fan. The front LEDs are VERY bright so you may even want to disable them if you're making this a home theater PC. Card reader works as advertised but there's no dustguard on them and I could see them getting dirty kinda fast.
 
actually the best SFF cases I've seen by far (other than the $200 HTPC cases with no included motherboard) are the barebones soltek Qbics with motherboard... unfortunately it's hard to find the nforce2 versions of those that would be good for onboard video.. a nforce6100 version of them would be great.
 
Originally posted by: DavidKing
WTF? passive reading? You still have to buy a card reader.
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you have to buy one for the antec if you actully want it to work all the time without hassle, it is a flimsy piece of crap. A card reader can cost a whole $8. The Antec costs about that much more. I was way into the antec until I found a MUCH better solution. I will never use it again.
 
Thanks for the feedback, i will have to weigh my decision carefully. Also, if someone has some more time, i'm sure there are some other good deals on circuit city outlet's website if you look around.
 
Originally posted by: BigDaddyD
Nice deal, but if you are looking for sff, this case is better and cheaper. The silver/black color is cheaper than the full black and both are cheaper than the Antec. I have built three computers in the Aria and one in the Aspire. The Aspire is better hands down...more room, removable mb tray, easier to work in, more powerful psu.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144162
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Thanks for the info, you sold me!

Do you have pics of your Aspire rig?
 
I built it for a coworker, but I might. We just used the black case, with a socket 939 board and 74gb raptor.. It was a pretty basic rig, but the great thing is that there is a lot of room in that case for whatever you need to put in there. I would not hesitate to run two or three hardrives in there. the Antec is very cramped. I love antec. I used Sonatas for all of my office cases, as well as my home case. My media pc will be in the aspire though. If I can find the shots, I will post them.
 
I forgot to mention the side and top windows that are available, although they do have windowless versions, my coworker chose this one. I don't think it cost more, maybe $1 or $2. I also forgot the digitala display that comes with it as well as the blue light on the psu. Here are the pics.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a90/bigdaddyd/ASPIRE%20SFF/DSC00539.jpg]
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if you are going to continue the thread crap, at least post where you can get the "quality" internal card reader for $8. Not that it matters, the two cases have a different target audience.
 
I am not thread crapping just posting informative info. I have a few Arias. They are good, but not perfect. Feel free to find your own card reader, and I never said it had to be interrnal. I did post a linkt to a quality floppy and card reader, it cost more but it does more and is quality. The one in the Aria is a flimsy piece of plastic that becomes dislodged quire frequently. For someone like you or me it isn't a problem, but when building for the less computer savy it becomes an issue. Why do you care so much? You are the only one with the problem. Go make out with your aria if it does it for you and go away. All you can say is where is the card reader. Ok, for you and the aria, where is the Aria's 450 watt psu? the removable mb tray? the windows (if you want them?), the optional colors? digital dispaly? room for 2 5.25" drives and a 3.5" bay? Room for multiple hardrives in a convenient arragement? Good airflow? Interior space? The only thing on the Aspire that isn't great is the handle, but the Aria doesn't have that either.
 
A friend liked the look of the aria, so he bought an MSI 939 motherboard, a 3000+ with a Zalman cnps 7000 and a 6800gt and I put it together for him. It's a bit awkward, but what the hell do you expect from a tiny little case like that? That Zalman and 6800gt are not small but the aria takes it like Jenna Jameson. :thumbsup:

aria: A solo vocal piece with instrumental accompaniment, as in an opera.
 
I dont own an Aria, I have only built with it. But when someone clearly clueless comes in and post opinions as facts, I take issue. I have never had an Aria with a CPU temp above 35C. Neither case is designed for the constant upgrader. And the Aspire is not even close to the same league in the looks department, so colors make little difference. Im sure the Aspire is a nice case( I wouldnt know since I dont have one), its just not meant for the same crowd as an Aria.

I do however own the floppy/card reader you linked to, and its by no means "quality" or anything greater than the arias. My crappy ECS board will not even boot with the 4 pin Card Reader cable connected. I had to use it on a different board else it would have been Floppy only.
 
Originally posted by: DavidKing
I dont own an Aria, I have only built with it. But when someone clearly clueless comes in and post opinions as facts, I take issue. I have never had an Aria with a CPU temp above 35C. Neither case is designed for the constant upgrader. And the Aspire is not even close to the same league in the looks department, so colors make little difference. Im sure the Aspire is a nice case( I wouldnt know since I dont have one), its just not meant for the same crowd as an Aria.

I do however own the floppy/card reader you linked to, and its by no means "quality" or anything greater than the arias. My crappy ECS board will not even boot with the 4 pin Card Reader cable connected. I had to use it on a different board else it would have been Floppy only.
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I am clueless? I have worked on both and have an aria on my desk at work. Looks are subjective. I like the looks of the aria, but I actually like the looks of the aspire, minus the windows better. As far as cooling, I have not had an issue with either, but there are plenty of reviews of both and they all claim that the aspire is better in the cooling dept...go do some research on your own. You have never even looked at an aspire. Don't call someone clueless when you are clearly ignorant. I have owned and worked on both. By the way, at what point did I post opinions as fact. These are all my opinions. They just happen to also be the opinions that are shared by others as well. By the way, the card reader is a card reader, the reason that the one in the aria isn't good is because it becomes dislodged easily and is flimsy. it reads fine when it works. As for your trouble with the one i linked to, you said it yourself your mb is crappy, that isn't the readers fault.
 
There is a reason why the Aria has the shieded panels and the Aspire uses thin aluminum panels. There is a reason why the Aspire has a front handle while the Aria does not. The Aria is designed for Pro audio and Home theater needs. The Aspire is designed for Gamers and Lan parties. A person unable to see the difference is clueless. As I have said over and over, the two cases are meant for different people.

If you have had no troubles with cooling, then why did you bash the aria for it? It can't just be from the reviews, because I just read them (on the Aspire) as you advised and many (Ok, just about ALL of them) warn against the worthless PSU. Yet the higher watt PSU is one of the things you say makes the Aspire supierior. It just seems too fishy when all of your post about the Aria are negative, while all about The Aspire are positive. You failed to mention the thin filmsy case, low quality parts, and what could be defined as the worst PSU in existence. Not to mention its own share of heat issue concerns. And those are just the reviews from the link a few posts up.

P.S. A quick similar review search at newegg on the Aria, just couldnt find anything bad about the Card reader. A card reader is a card reader. The floppy reader is just as cheap as all the rest. You cant just add a floppy and say its better. Didn't see anything bad about the Drive cover either, yet you say your opinions are shared by others? So, so much for your advice to research, maybe you should practice what you preach.
 
I have owned an Aria for a while and like it for my purposes. It's my mid-level gaming box which works just fine. I'm not overly concerned with high end components, so I use onboard sound from a Shuttle MN31/N nForce2 motherboard (has firewire and lots of USB) and an AGP 6800GT fits no problem.

I could see if you loaded the Aria up you would probably have trouble with cooling. I use the included slot cooler, but don't really need it as it is. The case is sized nicely for me, I have traveled with it often.

The Aspire is a bit bigger, but of course that room allows you more options.

Sizes as stated by each mfr:

Aria: 10.6" x 7.9" x 13.2" (WxHxD)

Aspire: 11.2" x 9" x 13.8" (WxHxD)

Both are probably decent choices, to me the Aspire felt less solidly built. The real pisser is the few mATX motherboards to choose from 🙁
 
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