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Antec Sonata II or Antec Performance One P180?

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Yeah, the big shoulders are supposed to prevent overtightening, but I never really found the shoulders big ENOUGH. The silicone rubber is so soft, that you can still force the grommet through the drive cage holes when installing. You just have to use a soft touch, I guess....maybe I installed them wrong?
-A
 
Originally posted by: keldog7
You used the term "rubber band"...are you thinking of the P150? It has more of a band holding the HDD...might want to check that. The Sonata has relatively firm, black rubber grommets.
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My apologies. I failed to make that clear. I am now deciding between the Sonata II and the P150 (not P180). And yes, the rubber band type hdd housing of the P150 is what really piques my interest. I will also look into quieter hard drives (any suggestions?) but it seems like the rubber bands would also help a lot in reducing hdd noise.

 
if you decide on the P150, be warned that people have reported problems with the PSU that the case comes with.

i'm quite happy with my P180. the loudest fan is the stock HSF on my 7800GT. the sonata II is also a good case, i've built one that was really quiet. granted, i used a cheapo PCIE graphics card that didn't produce much noice.
 
Been eyeing the P180 for a while. Might have to pick it up for my dual Xeon rig. Now that I've moved to a smaller appartment ... it's too noisy in the ol chieftec.
 
I have a 20 GB Maxtor that I had in an old case. It whines like a banshee although you can't tell when it's seeking. I thought putting it in my Sonata would make it quieter because of the rubber grommets, but it made very little difference. I also have a 120 GB Maxtor that idles very quietly but makes a lot of noise when seeking. When I put it in my Sonata, you couldn't hear it seeking anymore. In other words, if your hard drive makes a lot of idle noise (loud whine), I don't think the suspension and/or grommets will help much. If it's quiet while idling and makes a lot of noise while seeking, then the suspension/grommets will help a lot. Having a Sonata II, I can tell you that the Tri-cool fan is pretty quiet even on medium and moves a lot of air, and the PSU is fairly quiet (definitely not the quietest, but decent).
 
I guess ultimately, will either or both cases offer signifcantly reduced noise from my current Antec Performance II SX630II mini-tower case?
 
Originally posted by: GizmoFreak
the biggest noise culprit is my hard drive, which runs pretty loud - a Western Digital 120GB drive. I was thinking the P180 might be able to make a significant difference in hard drive noise.
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get a new drive, preferably a Samsung Spinpoint. much more quiet.
 
I have an Antec P180 and i love it. It is a bit heft since it doesnt have a P/S along with it. but the many features that come along with the p180 is orgasmic. seperate compartments make cooling a breeze. My system temps idle at 30 and load is around 37 max. So if u can go for the P180 but if you're limited on cash, a sonata is always fine.
 
Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I would read the reviews over at SilentPCReview can come up with your own opinions. Each case has their own pros and cons, but the P180 does have the performance advantage in my opinion. But check out the P150, built-in HDD suspension helps quiet down your case a lot. Many people don't realize how much HDD vibration affects noise on a silent PC.
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nice link
 
Originally posted by: natethegreat
Originally posted by: One43637
if you decide on the P150, be warned that people have reported problems with the PSU that the case comes with.
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As stated before, the psu bundled with that case has had some problems, if you are interested in the P150 read this thread: http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=27863
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What kind of motherboard is the OP using? It was mainly a few Asus motherboards that had problems with the Antec Neo HE PSU (which is included in the p150). Some old motherboards (older than a few years) might also have problems with that PSU. But it seems that most people are very happy with the P150. I am thinking about getting the P150 for my next quiet computer. The 2 main issues with it are 1) the PSU incompatibility with certain ASUS motherboards, and 2) for a small nuimber of people, the elastic used to suspend the drives has snapped. But that elastic can easily be replaced. No case is perfect.
 
Originally posted by: GizmoFreak
Originally posted by: aidanjm
get a new drive, preferably a Samsung Spinpoint. much more quiet.
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Is this generally considered the quitest drive out there?
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yeah. I have one samsung spinpoint 2.5 inch notebook drive, 1 80 GB Seagate drive and 1 250 Gb Samsung spinpoint 3.5 inch drive in my rig. I don't hear the Samsung drives at all, the Seagate drive I do hear drive seeks when I am e.g., defragging the disk. they are in an Antec SLK3000B which was inexpensive, but doesn't come with a PSU and feels a bit flimsy at times.
 
The Spinpoint drives could probably be considered the quietest "current" drives around. They also run cooler...hence less air to move...hence less fan noise required. Of course, they don't perform spectacularly either, but I doubt you'd notice the difference, provided you've got a good bit of ram to avoid paging to the disk much. The following page will summarize the noise characteristics of the drive:
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200601/250_7.html

Cheers,
A
 
Originally posted by: Varun

To the original poster - the P180 is one of the best cases out right now, and rated at the top for silence. If you don't like silver check out the black version.
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ya, but my black and silver version matches my DELL 2005FPW perfect!!!!

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Originally posted by: aidanjm
some people with the P150 had their elastic bands snap or break:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto...28322&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

but you can easily replace them with clothing elastic, apparently.
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wow, right when i was getting interested in the case... a hard drive falling in my case!!!... Fo-GEET that Sheet!!
 
Let me throw in a new wrinkle. Just how quiet are the BTX based systems from Dell, like the Dimension E510? With desktop computers so cheap these days, am I better going with a new computer than dropping $200+ on a new case and hard drive?
 
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