Sonata I or II, 1 fan vs 2 fans?

[Lord Banshee]

Has anyone done any test with either SONATA on using 1 fan vs using 2?

 

[Lord Banshee]

I guess not lol..

I guess i will have to try it out and document it

 

[Ike0069]

Are you asking about airflow or noise testing?
Airflow is very restricted on the original Sonata, even with 2 fans. Although the front fan really just seems to only recycle air in the case rather than bring in much 'new" air. It makes very little difference in my case temps with it on or off.
Haven't tried the Sonata II, and don't plan to. The changes they made might have helped, but IMO the overall case design sucks for cooling.
For quietness though, it's excellent. There is a very noticeable audible difference when I have my front fan running, but that is just because my front fan is loud.

 

[imported_DarkPenguin]

The front fan seems to cool the drives better. And if you turn everything on high it really does wonders for your case temps. However, there is still a dead spot around the top front (around my memory) that I can't tell if the front fan helps or makes worse.

Noisy as %#** tho.

 

[Unkno]

i think the front fan is mostly used for cooling the hard drive....so you won't really notice a temp drop in the case....not sure though

 

[Lord Banshee]

I haven't got my second fan in yet but i was thinking maybe if you use some sort of shim on the bottom two holes to make the fan angle up a little it will help more???

I plan on doing some testing..

Agree about the Sonata II. I have the first and i can not belieave the second one cost more... Not much of an improvement from what i seen. Oh well.

MY next case should be the P180 or something like it. BUt till then i will try to improve my flow as best as possible without cutting thing lol

 

[The Boston Dangler]

The Sonata II is significantly better. Any typical setup can get by with 1 120mm fan at the back, preferrably on a fan controller. The Sonata II also adds a removable duct at the back, but it's not clear how effective it is. It has potential for experimentation. The power supply is upgraded too, from a 380W 1-fan to a 450W Active PFC 2-fan.

Edit: If you have a Sonata, how hard is it to get your hands on a Sonata II front panel? That would add a lot to the airflow of the original. I have a grille on a 5 1/4" bay, and the PCI blank beneath the vid card, removed.

 

[0roo0roo]

only reason i see for2 fans is a really really crowded case. the rear does fine generally

 

[Lord Banshee]

I woundn't call an upgrade power supply, more free flowing front, and a crap duct worth an upgrade though.

It is certainly wiseable to buy the second over the first if you have neither but not worthy enough to go from I->II. Now if they somehow managed to fit a 120mm actually in the front of the case then things look brighter.

Good question about the front panel though, have to give Antec a ring to see if they sell it all by it self and if the holes lines up.

 

[Lord Banshee]

Confirmed does nothing... Too lazy to angle it lol.. I don't think it will do much.

It did decrease temps of 1 out of 2 hard drives by 2*C under load. but thats it... Blah why in the hell did Antec even put holes for a fan there.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Lord Banshee
Confirmed does nothing... Too lazy to angle it lol.. I don't think it will do much.

It did decrease temps of 1 out of 2 hard drives by 2*C under load. but thats it... Blah why in the hell did Antec even put holes for a fan there.

Cause some people need it to cool scsi harddrives. thats about it.

I keep a fan in the front of my superlanboy around 5V. My raptor temp increases by 10C if there isnt a slight amount of airflow. (I have it suspended, so there is no where for the hdd to conduct the heat to.)

 

[Unkno]

i heard somewhere that the intake fan on the sonata would help lower the amount of dust entering the case, since with an intake, the air is coming thru the front of the case to the back, which enters the air filter....

 

[Gravity]

My drives are much cooler with the front fan. I also noticed that in about 2 weeks time, the usb/front audio are covered in dust with the front fan indicating increased airflow.

Both my 120's are quiet so I'm leaving them in.

 

[Lord Banshee]

I found the best way to get rid of dust in the Sonata is to cover up those holes that spell Antec on both sides of the case.

What i did was use Blue painters tape (3M) and tape the inside to over the holes.

On top of less dust inthe case, it looks cool from the outside, you notice it says Antec now with the blue in the background.

And i also close the front USB/audio port when i am not using it.

 

[0roo0roo]

well you do lower your ventilation if you do that, addedup all the holes add up to a bit of area. i just clean the dust every now and then, its mostly caught by the front filter anyways. once every other month is enough since the sonata isn't a wind tunnel. and blue lighting behind the holes looks better then tape or whatever plus the holes stencil a nice dust "antec" inside the case heh..shows theres decent airflow

Airflow is very restricted on the original Sonata, even with 2 fans. Although the front fan really just seems to only recycle air in the case rather than bring in much 'new" air. It makes very little difference in my case temps with it on or off.

its not recycling air. its just the fact that two fans in series will only better match the airflow of one fan. like having two water pumps on a tube, you aren't going to pump twice as fast as the max of a single pump. to even try doubling airflow you need two exhausts or two intakes.

 

[Unkno]

yea but having an intake fan on the sonata forces the air to be coming from the front, instead from holes or cracks in the case when there's only an exhaust.

 

[sbuckler]

When I got my original sonata I drilled a large hole and placed 3rd 120mm fan into the side of the case which blows over graphics, cpu and memory. I also added acoustipack sound damping (covering up the holes in the side that spell antec). I can now have my cake and eat it - I have an o/c, o/v P4 running nice and cool yet I am still run all 3 fans at low rpm so it's very quiet.