Customer Reviews

Antec Sonata III 500 Quiet Super Mid Tower ATX Case (Black)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent case for my home theater needs. Very quiet and extremely well put together. Installing the motherboard and drives was very easy. The locking front is absolutely essential if you have young children. It prevents them from powering on and off the system. I previously had one of my hard drives crashed by one of my cute little button pusher. Thank goodness for backups. Could not ask for a better case in this price point.

There is a very big and annoying problem with this product. It does not adequately discharge static electricity. If it has been running for a while and you, or your pet, brushes up against the metalic insert on the front of the panel, you can discharge your energy and crash the system. This happens all the time for me when inserting a USB drive. Antec is aware of the problem, here is their response:

Comment: 1. We are working on this problem with a high priority, and have already tested multiple proposed fixes. Unfortunately, the problem is turning out to be more difficult than anticipated. The case is currently being tested in a special ESD lab.
2. The metallicized plastic IS grounded. That fact is one of the reasons this problem is proving so difficult to pin down.
3. We cannot refund monies that were not paid to us, but if a customer needs help returning product to a distributor we can usually help arrange that if the distributor is being uncooperative.
4. We actually expect an answer fairly soon, and as soon as we can we will be making it available to customers encountering this problem. We definitely apologize for the inconvenience, but Antec is well known for the quality of its customer service and for the way we stand behind our products.

UPDATE 3/17/08: As an update, Antec has come up with a solution. they have replaced the front silver metallic panel with a flat piano black panel. I have yet to see if this will fix the problem, but I think that bodes well to their commitment to fixing the issue.

I have had this case a few weeks and have been super pleased with it. My third build with Antec cases this year. Two 900 cases for gaming systems and now this Sonata III for myself. Hey, I'm 58 and a nice cool and quiet case are what I want. I have never worked with a case this well thought out. All the cables can be run without crossing the motherboard. I picked up a second fan as I have three hard drives. My CPU stays at 104F or less no matter how hard I run it and the mobo is the same. Beautiful black finsish and the drive bays are the easiest I have worked with. Mounting the hard drives to be in side mounted, sound isolated trays makes them super easy to install and remove. The sound is almost imperceptable, even on drive access. Maxtor sata drives, gigabyte GA-EP35 DS3R mobo and Core Duo 6550. Best system I have had since I started building them in 1984. Buy this case and you won't be sorry.... unless you are a super overclocker and running wide open.. then go the 900.. not as nice, not as quiet but super cool.

The product is excellent. I believe the 2&3 year old reviews should be removed as the company has fixed issues and all the old reviews do is diminish the products worthyness. Just sayin. If it was my product I would petition removals of any reviews past current manufacture dates.

This case is nice and sleek, had good access to ports and is quiet on the low or medium setting, but a bit loud on high. It would be nice to adjust the fan speed from the exterior (it is on about an 8in cable inside the case and would take some work to get it on the outside). I haven't had any the static problems that others reported (had it since beginning of Feb '10). The case is a nice black piano finish everywhere except the front, which is black plastic. The front panel is nice and opens wide (I have a 2 yr old, and a 9 month old who is starting to walk and it keeps them out of the optical drives/card reader I have installed). I didn't have any cuts from the metal from the initial install or when adding all the extra hard drives and re-routing cables, but there are a few sharp edges, so be mindful. Also, one of the rubber feel fell off when I was sliding it back into my desk, but it caught on an edge (it went right back on and have had no problems since, but it's only glued on not screwed).

The internals are nice too. The front panel cables are long enough to reach near the back if your motherboard has connections toward the rear. The motherboard installed easily, and the power supply has plenty of power connectors (see Antec's web site for specifics). I don't think it will work with dual video cards though. I have 2 optical drives, card reader and 3 hd (going to ad a 4th soon) and the power supply still has extras if I need it. The hard drives have rubber gromets that isolate them. There are a few areas that allow you to tuck away the extra cables to keep the case clean. There's not a cable management system, but it was easy to zip tie where I wanted to to keep things clean and organized.

Air:
I initially used only the single 120mm fan on medium and everything kept cool, so I put it on low and found that everything was still very cool. When moving large files though, my hard drives got a little warm, so I added a second Antec Tri-cool 120mm fan in the front to help. It actually mounts in the middle of the case (if looking at the side-shot photo) just to the left of the hard drives. This is ok, but I had to move a few wires around since this is right where all my SATA and front panel hookups are on my motherboard. Not a big deal though, and my hard drives are running a little cooler. The power supply is also amazingly quiet and, along with my hard drives during larger transfers, is the only thing that gets even SLIGHTLY warm with my setup.

Overall, still quiet running the rear fan on med or low and my front (middle) fan on low. The front fan isn't even necessary though, just thought I'd add one since they're under $15. Can't even tell the cpu fan is running, and can barely hear my caviar black hard drive and 2 older western digital ide drives.

My setup:
- This case
- AMD Athlon II x2 240 w/stock fan & radiator
- Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H Micro ATX Motherboard
- Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 XMS3 4 GB PC3-12800 Core i5 Memory Kit (yes, it works on an AMD system too)
- Windows 7
- 2 120mm fans (1 included (rear), 1 added in front (mounts behind hard drives)
- 1tb wd caviar black hdd, 2 wd ide hdd

I recently purchased this case to build a custom PC for my brother. He wanted a tower case that wasn't too big like the behemoth sitting next to his desk then. I am a big fan of Antec cases and power supplies so I've had my eye on this one and the usually cheaper NSK-4482B for a while. Features-wise, looks-wise and at the time pricewise, this one proved to be the better of the two so it's the one I went with. I was not disappointed.

The case itself is a thing of beauty. The piano black finish looks beautiful and it was actually more compact that I expected. The front design is interesting, not just a big black box. The front features two USB 2.0 ports and an eSATA port. I am not sure how useful and eSATA port in the front is going to be for anyone but it's there. There is also a mic and headphone jack. Above those, there is a swing out door that hides the 3 x 5.25" drive bays (for ODDs and such) and 2 x 3.5" bays (for floppy drives and card readers) as well as the power and reset switches. The swing out door is lockable though it'd be pretty easy to break off if someone really wanted to get inside.

This combination of 500W power supply and Antec Sonata case is a bargain. Mine came with the latest Antec EA-500D power supply. If you were to buy the Sonata case and power supply separately it would cost quite a bit more. The included power supply is 80+ rated meaning it's energy efficient. These power supplies get great reviews.

Accessing the interior of the case requires removing two thumbscrews from the back and then using the handle to swing the door open. It can then be removed fully. There is a ton of room inside. I didn't even need to remove the power supply to install the motherboard. The hard drive and optical drives were easy to install with the included screws. The hard drive cages/rails have rubber bushings and are secured with special screws. The intention is to reduce vibration. It does make the drives feel more secure. Everything was well labelled and and the cable were long enough to reach everywhere needed on the motherboard. There was tons of space to route cables neatly. It came with a ton of different screws with plenty leftover for adding more harddrives later.

Starting up, I found it to be very quiet. It was certainly inaudible sitting under my desk.

Best of all, my brother loves it. I am thinking of build a new server and I am thinking this will be the case unless I decided to go with the Antec 300. If I need to build any tower desktops for anyone else I'll be sure to use this case. I looks great, is easy to build with and feels and looks like quality. And, with the included PSU, it's a great deal.

This is my third Antec case and by far the best. The hard drives are very easy to install and maintain in this case. The mounting system system keeps vibration from being transmitted to the frame. Another plus is the removable filter in front of the air intake. In my older cases, the hard drive became coated with lint without this feature.

It is very quiet with the case fan on low speed. I had to run it at a higher speed probably because of my four hard drives. I replaced the fan with one that could be controlled by the BIOS.

When it comes to cases you can't beat Antec. A lot of cases come with power supplies, but the power supply is one of the most important components in your computer. It has the potential to damage everything else. Antec is highly respected in the power supply industry and I personally have used them exclusively since my second computer and have yet to replace one (I've built at least a dozen now). The power supply has all the connectors you need for a midrange modern computer. It even has enough PCI-E power connectors for a beefy video card (though this 500W model would be pushing it).

The case is also of the highest quality and Antec really takes the steps to make sure the installation is a breeze. Convenient rails, plenty of screws and fasteners and rounded edges (i.e. no cutting yourself reaching within the box). The large rear fan is also very quiet on its lowest setting and at low it should be sufficient for your typical computer.

Depending on your point of view the case or the power supply is free here. Can't beat that.

Pros: Very quiet. High quality, seems sturdy, easy to load the drives. Love the all black look. Power supply is good and 500 Watts.

Cons: Plastic door seems a little flimsy. Also the front USB, firewire and audio ports are kind of difficult to use, I mean that you really need to push the usb plug into the outlet and it scratches the cord's metal, same with headphones they are a little difficult to push into the front port.

Other than that it is a nice sturdy case. I got it on sale for 80$ and am very happy with the deal.

I am a first-time builder, and the machine I was previously using was housed in a Sonata III case. Since that case worked well in my old XP box, I decided to buy a new Sonata III case for my Windows 7 machine. The new one is every bit as good as the old one. The case comes with a 500-watt power supply and cooling fan pre-installed, and there's lots of room to work inside. My full ATX motherboard went in without any problems. The power supply has numerous power connectors -- probably more than anyone could possibly use.

The front panel has various wires ready to be attached to the motherboard. These include LEDs showing HDD activity and power on, as well as the usual power button and reset switch. There was another (orange and black) pair labeled "Speaker", which -- oddly -- was not documented in the Sonata III manual. After some Googling, I discovered that the Sonata III case includes a built-in speaker, which makes it easier to hear POST beeps -- a nice touch, but the manual should mention it. However, my motherboard had no header for the speaker wires' connector, so I left this feature unused. (That's unfortunate, as built-in motherboard speakers can be difficult to hear when the case is closed and the fan is running.)

The Sonata III's built-in fan has three speeds that must be adjusted manually (its fan is not controllable by the motherboard). The default setting is "Low", which seems perfectly adequate for my build (DZ68DB motherboard, i5-2500k processor). Intel's Desktop Utilities report the processor idling at 25 degrees C, which is about as good as it gets.

In order to access the power button and/or DVD drives, a door on the case's front must first be swung open. There's a variety of opinion on this feature, but it's not a problem for me. Just be careful to leave that door open when burning a CD; otherwise, at the end of the burn, the optical drive tray may have trouble sliding out.

Older versions of the Sonata III had a silver metal strip surrounding the ports on the front of the case, and some people complained that this caused static electricity problems when a USB drive was inserted. That issue appears to have been addressed, since my new case has a black plastic strip instead of the metal.

All in all, this case is well made and easy to work with. Since it comes with a high-quality power supply and cooling fan, I think it's an excellent value.