Antec Sonata (0761345-15137-5) ATX Mini-Tower Case

The Antec Sonata III is a mid tower ATX computer case for mainstream use. While its not a top of the line case, it is one of the better mainstream computer cases available. I recently put together a new server for my home network. To house my server's hardware, I wanted a high quality, quiet, affordable case that offered lots of storage options. When Outpost.com offered this case for $78 ($90 plus $13 shipping less a $25 rebate) delivered (Jan 2008), I ordered one. The features that attacted me to this case included…..

- 9 drive bays (three 5.25" and two 3.5" external bays, four 3.5" internal bays)
- One 120mm 3-speed case cooling fan
- 500 watt Antec Earthwatts power supply included (80 plus certified)
- Washable air filter
- Near- tool-less design, easy-open case
- Steel case designed for quiet operation
- Front USB and eSATA ports
- Lockable front drive door and side panel

I've installed the following items in this case:

- Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R micro ATX Motherboard
- Western Digital 750GB hard drive (WD7500AAKS)
- Intel E2200 Dual Core CPU
- 16X DVD writer
- Windows Home Server operating system
- 1GB ram

First Impressions

My first impression of the Sonata III was how terrific it looked. The top and sides of the case are glossy piano black in color. The front of the case is flat black. With front drive door closed, the only breaks you see in the all black exterior are the door locks and a row of I/O ports on the front of the case, two USB ports, microphone and headphone jack, and eSATA port. Shortly thereafter, I thought…. Wait, only two USB ports and no firewire? I'd want those extra external ports on my desktop PC, but for a server, these included ports are more than adequate.

The case is appropriately heavy (20 lbs), and feels solidly built. To help ensure quiet operation, the case has 4 rubber feet, but they're only glued to the bottom of the case. Two came off as I slid the case around while putting it together. Easy to fix, but disappointing. Good idea, bad execution. Other that the rubber feet, my first impressions were excellent.

Opening the Case

Most users will appreciate the easy to open side panel, on the left as you face the PC. To open and remove the side panel, one pulls a latch near the back edge of the side panel, then swings open the panel (like a door), eventually to a point where you can remove the panel. Optionally the door can be locked (with a key). Unfortunately, the right side panel can't be removed, limiting access to the back of the motherboard tray. There's really no need to access the back side of the case, all drives, expansion cards, and the motherboard connections can be accessed from the left side, or the front.

Installing the Motherboard

There's enough room in this case to install a standard ATX motherboard and not worry about blocking parts of the board with the power supply and drives, so my micro ATX motherboard was a piece of cake to fit in place. Layout of I/O back panel that came with my motherboard was a little different than the standard panel that came with the case, but dimensions were a match, so my motherboard's i/o panel fit easily into place. The motherboard tray holes and included screws all matched up neatly with my Gigabyte motherboard, which only took a few minutes to set into place.

Although I'm using the standard Intel fan with my cpu, there is about 7" of clearance above my CPU, enough room to install just about any aftermarket cpu fan.

Wiring and Cooling

I ran into "almost" no problems attaching all the case cabling to my motherboard. The wires from each of the front panel I/O ports (USB, eSATA, audio), LED's (power, HDD) and buttons (power, reset) had clearly identified connectors on the end, which easily mated up to my Gigabyte motherboard.

I mated the connectors on the tri-speed single case fan up power supply rather than the motherboard. The fan wiring has a small switch for setting the fan speed (1200, 1600, or 2000 rpm), and I set the switch at the mid point. You can set the fan at high speed, and then connect the wiring to the motherboard, if you prefer to have the motherboard control fan speed based on temperature. Since this was a server, and I wasn't likely going to be in position to check the temperature often, I chose the middle fixed speed, balancing cooling and sound level.

Earthwatts Power Supply

Its extremely rare to find a quality power supply like this included with the case. This 500 watt power supply is certified to be at least 80% efficient at any load from 20% to 100% of design. Efficient operation means less energy costs and lower cooling requirements, leading to quieter operation. This Antec power supply has two 12V rails, rated for 17 amps each. While this won't meet the needs of serious gamers with high end video cards, its more than enough for all mainstream users and even those who have affordable gaming requirements. For example this power supply would be adequate for someone with a 8800GT video card, a very good, but not start of the art video card.

The power supply has all the standard motherboard connectors, 6 molex connectors (for drives), 4 SATA power connectors, two PCI-E connectors, and one floppy drive connectors. The wiring is not modular, but permanently attached to the power supply, but long enough to easily reach anywhere in the case.

One problem I have with this wiring is that Antec didn't provide much to help with cable management in the case. When I first closed up the case, one of the power wires got caught in the cpu fan, keeping it from running. I found a way to tie the wiring off, but it wasn't as elegant as I like.

Drives

There are slots to allow installation of 9 drives in this case. There are four 3.5" hard drive caddies which slide into mounting brackets in the bottom half of the front area of the case. Above that caddy area are external bays for up to three 5 1/2" drives and two 3.5" drives. The external 5 1/2" drives slide easily into place from the front of the case, and lock into place with spring loaded clips on the side of the drive caddies. The cleverly designed clips are unobtrusive, but accessible from the front of the case, a nice touch. The four 3.5" internal caddies are held in place with similar clips, and slide easily in and out of the case when the side panel is removed. Each caddy has four silicone rubber grommets that help absorb hard drive vibration, lessening any noise from the case.

The case fan included with the Antec Sonata III is installed on the back panel. If you want to provide additional cooling to the hard drives, there is a mounting bracket for a second 120mm fan near the drive bays. While my cooling needs are moderate, I'd expect many users to want this additional fan, and I feel it should have been standard, rather than optional

Expansion Cards

The Antec Sonata III allows for seven expansion cards. Cards and/or slot covers are held in place with phillips head screws.

Other Comments

While the Antec Sonata III is a good case, there are a few weak points worth mentioning. There are only two front USB ports and it lacks a front firewire port. The bottom rubber feet are glued on, and easily become unglued when you slide the case around. I would have also liked to see some sound dampening liner on the side panels. I would also have liked to see the second case fan included.

The case is very well built, looks great, and is fairly quiet, even without the sound dampening liners. The front drive cover looks great, yet opens 225 degrees, nice when you use the drives a lot. The internal and external drive caddies are extremely easy to use, yet provide good protection for the drives. The design isn't perfectly toolless, but close.

I've not installed much hardware in this system (and I don't even have a monitor connected), but I still am surprised by how little power it draws. I've plugged it into a Kill-a-Watt power meter to check the power usage, and find that most of the time, the system is drawing about 46 watts. When the system is backing up one of the other computers on my network (its primary function), power draw runs between 55 and 60 watts.

For my current and expected future needs, the case was perfect. It runs quiet, looks good, draws minimal power, and has lots of room for expansion. I believe this case would suit all but the most serious gamer, who would find the case cooling and power are inadequate.

Mfr Website:
http://www.antec.com/pdf/flyers/sonata3.pdf
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15137#