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Antec Sonata Case Modding

B

Burner27

Diamond Member
I have 4 HDDs in my machine in an Antec Sonata and I am using an enermax 94cfm 120mm exhaust fan only. I am including a picture of my computer's "guts" where I did have a fan next to the HDD rack up until 3 days ago. After I installed my 7800GTX, I found that the card is so long the PCIe power connector won't fit in with the fan in place. It had to come out. So......

My question is, at idle my HDDs run between 38c and 41c. Is this considered an "unsafe" operating temp?

I plan on adding a blowhole over the CPU/GPU on the side panel using another enermax 94cfm 120mm fan which should move a lot of air into the case.

Do you think adding a blowhole to the side of the case closest to, but not on top of the HDDs drawing air in would:

A) Mess up the airflow design of this case
B) Help in cooling the HDD even though the fan wouldn't be directly on the HDDs?


Or should I just get a bigger case with an intake fan near the HDDs so air can flow over the HDDs?

Opinions/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Pic:

http://images.dr3vil.com/uploads/PICT0087.JPG
 
I'm interested in how you got temps of your hard drives.

Also, I'm not too sure how much that 120mm fan helps (the one directly attached to the hard drive rack). Have you tried running a comparison of the fan there and not there?
 
I used Everest@home, which I am not too sure gives such accurate temps. I would need a program other than Everest to determine the temps. Actually, I have removed it and my CPU temps and GPU temps have remained the same.
 
In your picture there is space between AGP and fan. Am I to assume your picture is of a different AGP?
With the fan removed you might see a very slight increase in case temp., but you are still sucking air in thru the front while blowing out the back.
You might get better airflow if you turn your HDD's around and hide the cables in the space behind the drives. That will give you a neater looking installation as well.
If I were going to cut the case to add a fan; I would be tempted to cut an 80 mm into the top, in the space just ahead of the power supply. Gives you a chimney effect.
 
My board has dual PCIe slots. No AGP here. Which fan are you talking about? The copper looking one? If so that video card/gpu cooler combo is no longer in my machine.
 
Thanks Burner; The pic is as it was ... not, how it is now.

I still think you will have adequate airflow, with the PS and rear 120mm fans pushing air out. Air is still being sucked in from the front vent. Temps may go up slightly, but I doubt dangerously.
 
Originally posted by: Burner127
I have 4 HDDs in my machine in an Antec Sonata and I am using an enermax 94cfm 120mm exhaust fan only. I am including a picture of my computer's "guts" where I did have a fan next to the HDD rack up until 3 days ago. After I installed my 7800GTX, I found that the card is so long the PCIe power connector won't fit in with the fan in place. It had to come out. So......

My question is, at idle my HDDs run between 38c and 41c. Is this considered an "unsafe" operating temp?

I plan on adding a blowhole over the CPU/GPU on the side panel using another enermax 94cfm 120mm fan which should move a lot of air into the case.

Do you think adding a blowhole to the side of the case closest to, but not on top of the HDDs drawing air in would:

A) Mess up the airflow design of this case
B) Help in cooling the HDD even though the fan wouldn't be directly on the HDDs?


Or should I just get a bigger case with an intake fan near the HDDs so air can flow over the HDDs?

Opinions/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Pic:

http://images.dr3vil.com/uploads/PICT0087.JPG
Click to expand...

Those HD temps (you can use SpeedFan and detect with S.M.A.R.T) are fine IMO. Their longevity does increase with lower operating temps though. The side blowhole will move a lot of cooler "room" air into the case and will definitely cool things off, but at the cost of more noise and more dust. If I were going to add the side hole I would use a lower cfm fan (or put yours on a controller or SpeedFan). If you got the $$ than why not get a larger case.....Unless you are partial to your Sonata. The P180 would be a nice upgrade with your setup. It would cool better and be quieter at the same time. What are your room temps out of curiosity?
 
Room Temp is currently 73F. I think I have "outgrown" my Sonata but at this time I do not have the $$ to get the P180 which I really think would be a wise upgrade.

I am going to use a 120mm enermax fan that will be hooked up to a fan-bus and I will use an aluminum mesh fan filter to prevent dust from entering.
 
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