Antec Sonata PSU with AMD Athlon 64

[Shantanu Sen]

I bought an Antec Sonata case with 380 W PSU and will install an Athlon 64
in it. On reading up various docs in the AMD web site I saw that AMD thermal
engineers specify a PSU with bottom air intake as the desirable PSU for all
AMD processors. I have read through a lot of reviews of the Antec case - and
in some of the reviewers were running Opteron in the case - but nowhere I
could find anything regarding this.

By default the case comes with one 120 mm rear fan with the option to
attach a similar air-intake fan at the front. The 380W PSU has the air
intake opening at the end and not at the bottom as specified by the AMD
engineers. I do not plan heavy duty games and do not plan to overclock. So I
plan to run the default settings - i.e. no fan installed at the front.
Should I go for a different case with a different PSU? Or should this
suffice?

Any comments?

Thanks,
Shantanu Sen

 

[jaster]

I bought an Antec Sonata case with 380 W PSU and will install an Athlon 64
in it. On reading up various docs in the AMD web site I saw that AMD
thermal engineers specify a PSU with bottom air intake as the desirable
PSU for all AMD processors. I have read through a lot of reviews of the
Antec case - and in some of the reviewers were running Opteron in the case
- but nowhere I could find anything regarding this.

By default the case comes with one 120 mm rear fan with the option to
attach a similar air-intake fan at the front. The 380W PSU has the air
intake opening at the end and not at the bottom as specified by the AMD
engineers. I do not plan heavy duty games and do not plan to overclock. So
I plan to run the default settings - i.e. no fan installed at the front.
Should I go for a different case with a different PSU? Or should this
suffice?

Any comments?

Thanks,
Shantanu Sen

I have the SLK3700 which similiar design but better than the Sonata. But
that design does keep the air around the psu fan and cpu warmer than a no
name case I was using. So the cpu is running 4-6 degrees hotter than it
was before moving it to the SLK case. Still a great case, easy to open,
work on components and clean.

 

[Shantanu Sen]

So, the PSU that you had for the old case - was the inlet at the bottom
instead of being at the opposite end of the outlet?

 

[jaster]

So, the PSU that you had for the old case - was the inlet at the bottom
instead of being at the opposite end of the outlet?

Inlet at the opposite end of outlet.

 

[Toshi1873]

I bought an Antec Sonata case with 380 W PSU and will install an Athlon 64
in it. On reading up various docs in the AMD web site I saw that AMD thermal
engineers specify a PSU with bottom air intake as the desirable PSU for all
AMD processors. I have read through a lot of reviews of the Antec case - and
in some of the reviewers were running Opteron in the case - but nowhere I
could find anything regarding this.

By default the case comes with one 120 mm rear fan with the option to
attach a similar air-intake fan at the front. The 380W PSU has the air
intake opening at the end and not at the bottom as specified by the AMD
engineers. I do not plan heavy duty games and do not plan to overclock. So I
plan to run the default settings - i.e. no fan installed at the front.
Should I go for a different case with a different PSU? Or should this
suffice?

I'm running an Opteron 144 in a Sonata case with the
default PSU. I moved the 120mm stock fan to the front
(to draw air in over the hard drives) and installed an
auto-speed 120mm fan for the exhaust port (speed adjusts
based on temp). Using the stock heatsink/fan that comes
with the Opteron 144 CPU.

Everything has been working fine for me (gaming,
creating PAR2 sets) for a few weeks, and the ambient
temp in the office fluctates from 70F to 85F.

The 120mm exhaust fan can move *a lot* of air, and if
you're really worried you can always replace the PSU
with a side-intake model.

The only disadvantage of the Sonata vs the p160 case (my
other favorite) is that the Sonata is smaller, which
means you end up with a hotter interior (or need more
air flow). All the components are also packed closer
together, and the 3rd 5.25" bay can interfere with some
motherboards if you try to put a "long" 5.25" device in.
The temp gauges on the Antec p160 case are a nice bonus
(as is the additional 5.25" bay).

 

[Pat Keith]

I have one of these running with 4 hard drives it it. Seems okay.

 

[knows nothing]

I bought an Antec Sonata case with 380 W PSU and will install an Athlon 64
in it. On reading up various docs in the AMD web site I saw that AMD thermal
engineers specify a PSU with bottom air intake as the desirable PSU for all
AMD processors. I have read through a lot of reviews of the Antec case - and
in some of the reviewers were running Opteron in the case - but nowhere I
could find anything regarding this.

By default the case comes with one 120 mm rear fan with the option to
attach a similar air-intake fan at the front. The 380W PSU has the air
intake opening at the end and not at the bottom as specified by the AMD
engineers. I do not plan heavy duty games and do not plan to overclock. So I
plan to run the default settings - i.e. no fan installed at the front.
Should I go for a different case with a different PSU? Or should this
suffice?

Any comments?

Thanks,
Shantanu Sen

The sonata is designed so that fresh air goes in through those funny
"SONATA" holes on the side covers, gets sucked into the power supply
and shot out the rear of the case. Straight through cooling. The way
they ALL ought to be.

Having a power supply trying to suck air out of the same space a 120mm
case fan is blowing out is pretty poor design, don't you think ?

Since the power supply has a "silent" slow rpm fan, the fast case fan
will be pulling air into the power supply opposite the supply's own
airflow. This air won't be helping the overall case cooling either
since it's a short circuit for all practical purposes.

Crank up your case fans all the way and feel how much airflow is
coming out your power supply compared to with the case fans off.

 

[Toshi1873]

The sonata is designed so that fresh air goes in through those funny
"SONATA" holes on the side covers, gets sucked into the power supply
and shot out the rear of the case. Straight through cooling. The way
they ALL ought to be.

Having a power supply trying to suck air out of the same space a 120mm
case fan is blowing out is pretty poor design, don't you think ?

Since the power supply has a "silent" slow rpm fan, the fast case fan
will be pulling air into the power supply opposite the supply's own
airflow. This air won't be helping the overall case cooling either
since it's a short circuit for all practical purposes.

Crank up your case fans all the way and feel how much airflow is
coming out your power supply compared to with the case fans off.

On the Sonata, I move the provided fan (which moves at a
fixed RPM or can be controlled by the power-supply...
forget which) down to the (4) internal drive bays to
pull air in over those drives through the front of the
case. The top internal drive bay on the Sonata/p160
cases doesn't really get good cooling, so I usually put
a 5400rpm drive there.

I then add a SmartCool, or other thermistor-controlled
120mm fan as the back exhaust fan. It's then able to
adjust its speed based on the air temp that it's sucking
out of the case.

Right now, the Opteron 144 is running at full tilt (as
are the two hard drives). Feeling the back of the unit,
the standard power-supply is producing a good bit of
heat (that exhaust is warmish), while the 120mm exhaust
FAN for the CPU area is actually quite cool.