Antec Sonata Elite Review

Testing:

To test the Antec Sonata Elite, I will run a few benchmarks that will stress the CPU and the GPU and compare the test results to other cases to see how the Sonata Elite stacks up. In overclocking, every degree counts, but for those who would use the case as a home for a HTPC, temperature may not be as big a deal as being silent. Antec seems to have taken large strides to make both wishes come true, so I am extremely excited to see just how this case performs. To test the CPU at 100%, I will run the CPU segment of Prime95. Then, to test the GPU temperatures, I will run the graphics portion of 3DMark Vantage at default (performance) settings. In both instances I will record the temperatures given by SpeedFan 4.37 in degrees Celsius. The ambient temperature through all the testing is 26 degrees Celsius. All fans are set to their highest settings. Now that that's out of the way, on to the data!

• Processor: Intel Q9450 Core 2 Quad 333x8
• Motherboard: eVGA nForce 790i ULTRA
• Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC & Patriot Viper Fin Series 1333 @ 7-7-7-18
• Video Card: BFG GeForce GTX280 OC
• Power Supply: CoolerMaster RPP 850
• Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 7200.11
• CPU Cooler: Stock Intel 45nm Heatsink
• OS: Windows Vista Home Premium - 64-Bit
• Ambient Room Temperature: 26 degrees Celsius

Comparison Case:

• ULTRA m998
• Tagan El Diablo Advance

These scores blew me out of my chair when I saw them! In just about every scenario, the Sonata Elite is dead center between the case scores. Keep in mind that with all the fans preset to high, the case is not silent, but it is still fairly quiet compared to many other cases' sound levels at these settings. When set to medium or low, the fans become really quiet and with the rubber grommets I can't hear the hard drive spinning up in the case, which is a big plus. I would test the case at lower speeds, but this is an overclocking site after all, so I'm ready to wrap everything up in the conclusion.