I've seriously considered the Antec Sonata 2

[seymourman]

of the cheap plastic door on the front. But for the money it seems to be a decent case with a good PSU. The PSU is a 450W ATX 2.0 12V I believe
Lets say I was willing to raise my case/PSU budget to ~$150, what would some decent case and PSU combos be.

I had considered the CoolerMaster Cavalier. I think Lian Li has an aluminum case for about $90, that would leave $60 for the PSU.

This is for a new system build.

 

[Varun]

It's a great case for the money. I've built a couple computers with the Sonata series and I really liked the case. People will tell you the sideways mounting of the hard drives somehow makes them run hotter (BS). The sideways mounting hard drives are SO easy to pull out or add new hard drives etc... it's hard to believe it hasn't caught on everywhere.

It's got some nice features like a nice solid steel chassis to reduce vibration, rubber mountings for the fans and hard drives, etc.

I've had no issues with the door, but if you were aggresive with it I could see how you could break it.

It's a nice looking case, if you like something less flashy. It comes with a good power supply, and the price is really good. If I were buying a new case right now I would look long and hard at the P150, but if I was on a lower budget it's pretty tough to not get the Sonata II.

 

[Cheesetogo]

I built a computer for my friend with a sonata ii, and it's a really nice case. I don't really like the front door on it very much, but other than that it's very nice. It's also very lightweight.

 

[hclarkjr]

here is what i bought link of course i did not need the power supply as i already had one but it still is a great case with great cooling

 

[johnnqq]

get the p150

 

[egale]

I built my system originally in a Sonata II. All I can say is that the case is small, hot and loud. I moved my rig into another case!

 

[potato28]

If u have considered the Cavalier series, BUY IT!! Wisper quiet stock fans, but not a great case for a great wiring job...

 

[yadda]

Originally posted by: egale
I built my system originally in a Sonata II. All I can say is that the case is small, hot and loud. I moved my rig into another case!

The Sonata loud??? I am really surprised by this. It still has 1 - 120 mm case fan in back right??? Are you sure it wasn't something else in your case??? CPU HSF???

just curious???

Y

 

[stevty2889]

I have 2 Sonata II's I like them. I have my X2 and my Pentium-d in them. The X2 system is virtualy silent, the Pentium-D is a bit loud, but I have a 103cfm fan in there to keep that insanly hot proccessor from throttling.

 

[A554SS1N]

I'm going to be getting the Sonata 2 myself - all 'problems' I've heard about haven't put me off. If i wasn't on a budget, I'd consider the P150, but the price difference is too large for me, and not worth it for someone like myself on a budget.

'Hot and Loud'? Well, that's down to what you put in your case?? I only plan to Ahtlon 64 3200+ and a 6600GT, so I don't think I'll be getting any heat issues (which make the fans run faster). As long as cables are tied neatly, it should be alright.

 

[egale]

The first thing I did was replace the Intel stock cooler with an SI-120. That did quiet it somewhat. But in order to keep the case temps under 40 degrees, I had to keep the Antec tri cool on high.

The case was cramped anyway so I just swapped the guts into a P150. Temps went down and the case is quieter. Then I replaced the Antec tri cool with a Silenex and it became even quieter.

 

[Unkno]

the only reason why i bought the sonata II was because it is very good for the price (because of the PSU). It's a very good case and i would recommend getting it if you are not willing to shell out 100 bucks on an "average" case and ANOTHER $70 just for a quality psu.