Anyone have an Antec Sonata?

[Deemo13]

Hey community,

So I just picked up my new Antec Sonata, upgrading from a NZXT Vulcan and I installed everything and it looks great! Temps are also fine, my CPU reaches about 60C when pulling a stress test, which is alright for me. I have some new thermal paste in the mail (I had to use some crummy paste).

The thing though that is annoying is my Radeon HD6950 reference card. I love this card and do not plan to get rid of it, but its just so darn loud! I'm looking to install an intake fan somewhere in the case even though there are no actual fan ports left.

I'm wondering if anyone has this case and has done any airflow modifications to it?

Thanks
-Gunner

 

[Rugger]

Haven't done any modifications to a Sonata, but it shouldn't be too hard to put in a side intake fan to provide cool fresh air to your 6950. I've got a 6950 in a P183 so I feel your pain in the noise department....I actually use Speedfan to control the RPMs/noise of the GPU fan. To be safe I monitor temps during gaming, but I haven't run into any signifcant overheating issues.

 

[Deemo13]

Yea I have my fans on my H60 radiator connected to a front fan controller, and I use MSI Afterburner to adjust my fanspeed. Its near silent at idle and temps are fine. My CPU idle temp is about 43C, which is kinda warm, but its warm in summer right now, and I need some new thermal paste anyway.

 

[Rugger]

I have an H80 with a couple of Yate Loon fans on a Scythe Kaze Master fan controller...1000 RPM of silence. No way to get the GPU fans on that controller, but I found that Speedfan allowed me to control the GPU fan speeds.

 

[Deemo13]

I just have a cheap Aerocool unit I found on sale, it seems to work well. I also ordered a PCI slot exhaust fan to see if that would improve airflow, as it seems my hard drives get very got.

 

[Rugger]

The PCI slot cooler may not do a lot of good unless it's acting as an intake; the GPU cooler is needing more cool air. Since you're having some HDD heating issues I'd also make sure that any/all front fan locations were full/intakes. Which one of the Sonata cases do you have? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=antec+Sonata
The only one that i saw with front fan mounts was the Solo II. If you don't have front fan mounts then I'd seriously consider doing a side mount mod.

 

[Deemo13]

I've got the Sonata Proto. It doesnt come with a front intake fan, but it seems that I would be able to install one pretty easily. Either way I decided last night while playing Sleeping Dogs that I am going to swap my GTX460 into the computer because it runs cooler and quieter. The 6950 was running at 70% fan at 82C.

I'm looking into aftermarket cooling, but either way I have to leave the 6950 at home, as I'm leaving for school tomorrow.

 

[Rugger]

It's a shame to have to downgrade due to heat but a blaring fan is not necessarily a good thing.

 

[Deemo13]

Well its temporary for the time being, I'm going to leave it be while I look for a cooler for it online. I'll probably end up putting it in my LAN rig, which has a nice ventilated NZXT Vulcan.

 

[Deemo13]

So as it turns out, as I was putting in my GTX460, I found holes in the HDD rack precisely fit for a 120mm fan. It would not have fit with the 6950 in there.

So GTX460 and a HDD cooling fan. I call that an even trade.

 

[Rugger]

Awesome - great find!