Thermaltake Soprano vs Antec 900

[mkjaekmi]

2 questions,
first is, If I buy the Antec 900, will I need any other fans?
If so, what if all my fan necessary products were retails so the fan comes with them, would I still need other fans?

Second question is, Why is everyone telling me that it is ahrd to work around with the Antec 900? Their saying thtat it is hard to put stuff in and stuff, is that correct?

Thank you

 

[mep916]

2 questions,
first is, If I buy the Antec 900, will I need any other fans?
If so, what if all my fan necessary products were retails so the fan comes with them, would I still need other fans?

The windowed side panel has a slot for an additional 120mm fan. I have one and use it as an intake to cool my graphics adapters. It's up to you whether you think that is necessary.

Second question is, Why is everyone telling me that it is ahrd to work around with the Antec 900? Their saying thtat it is hard to put stuff in and stuff, is that correct?

If this is your first build, then it may be difficult. That's probably the case with any mid-tower, however. IMO, the Antec 900 is currently the best mid-tower case available.

 

[paratwa]

2 questions,
first is, If I buy the Antec 900, will I need any other fans?
If so, what if all my fan necessary products were retails so the fan comes with them, would I still need other fans?

Second question is, Why is everyone telling me that it is ahrd to work around with the Antec 900? Their saying thtat it is hard to put stuff in and stuff, is that correct?

Thank you

Yes, get all new 120mm fans. Replace the existing with Nexus fans. The stock Antec fans are noisy and do not have the best air flow. The Nexus fans are much quieter and have better air flow overall.
http://www.xoxide.com/nexus-120mm-fan-black-white.html

The Antec 900 is hard to use. The power supply sits on the bottom of the case, and most motherboards are designed for PSU's that sit above the motherboard. So the placement of the PSU in the 900 leads to some problems running wires to the different connectors.

The 900 comes with an optional mount for a fan that installs on one of the drive cages, but if you use it, you can not install anything inside that cage because the fan would block any wires coming off the drives inside of the cage.

The drive cages that come with the 900 are very poorly designed. Nothing in this case is tool less, and the drive cages are the worst. You have to use non standard screws to mount the drives inside the case (the screws are about an inch long) and if you happen to turn the cage upside down and then install the drives, you will have to remove the drives and reinstall them because the drive cage only goes into the case in one direction.

The front case screens are very easily knocked out of place, resulting in taking off both sides of the case to adjust them.

There is not much room inside the case at all for running wires, you can run them on the back side of the motherboard to hide them as much as you can. But even then there is not much room.

The 900 has great potential, but it needs some redesigning to make it a great case.

 

[mep916]

The stock Antec fans are noisy

They are very loud.

The Antec 900 is hard to use. The power supply sits on the bottom of the case, and most motherboards are designed for PSU's that sit above the motherboard. So the placement of the PSU in the 900 leads to some problems running wires to the different connectors.

Depending on the layout of the motherboard, you can run into that problem. One of my 8800 Ultras sits on top of the AC 97 front panel connection on the mobo. Unless I remove the Ultra, I cannot use the audio on the front of the case.

Nothing in this case is tool less

That's true. You'll need a screwdriver, a thumb, and an index finger.

The front case screens are very easily knocked out of place, resulting in taking off both sides of the case to adjust them.

Yep. I've also had that problem.

There is not much room inside the case at all for running wires, you can run them on the back side of the motherboard to hide them as much as you can. But even then there is not much room.

Agreed. If you get the 900, consider purchasing a modular power supply. In this thread, there's a few pics that show you can keep the interior of the 900 really clean.

The 900 has great potential, but it needs some redesigning to make it a great case.

Agreed.

The 900 is the only mid-tower case I've worked with. All in all, I think it's pretty good, even though I've experienced many of the same problems Paratwa described. If you would like an alternative, the CM Elite 330 looks pretty nice. I just purchased that case for a budget build.

 

[funkysnair]

ive just bought the antec nine hundred!! looks nice

got a big watercooling system im gonna try cram inside so im guessing its gonna be a hard job by the sounds of things

 

[mep916]

got a big watercooling system im gonna try cram inside so im guessing its gonna be a hard job by the sounds of things

ha ha. Yeah, good luck with that.

 

[paratwa]

i
got a big watercooling system im gonna try cram inside so im guessing its gonna be a hard job by the sounds of things

Good luck, like I said, there is not enough room for wires let alone a water cooler set up.

 

[mkjaekmi]

So the fans that come with antec900 isn't that great?

Would getting Nexus or Zalman to replace all the fans there be a lot better?

What's better Zalman or Nexus?

Lastly, what's a liquid/water cooling?

 

[mkjaekmi]

oh yeah, also wouldn't I need a heat sink even tho I have a lot of fans? Since I would need to spread the heat over for the fans to take care of?

Thank you

 

[ducis]

neither get a CM 690
liquid cooling is a popular method for "power users" to cool their CPU GPU and chipset.
it is the best way to cool a pc if you intend on over clocking and don't want sub ambient temperatures.
however it is expensive and has a learning curve that some don't want to take time with.
min price id recommend would be 300 dollars for liquid cooling

 

[paratwa]

So the fans that come with antec900 isn't that great?

Would getting Nexus or Zalman to replace all the fans there be a lot better?

What's better Zalman or Nexus?

Lastly, what's a liquid/water cooling?

Nexus fans are super quiet and push some serious air. If you do get the antec, replace the fans with Nexus ones.

Zalman make some good cpu coolers, but I do not like their case fans.

 

[royalmarine]

i just picked up my soprano today got it for 50 euro's! lovely case.

am gonna dremel it to death! planning on 2 x 160mm fans on top.

 

[mkjaekmi]

Wouldn't I need a heat sink even tho I have a lot of fans? Since I would need to spread the heat over for the fans to take care of?


Also how fans are there in the antec 900? What size/ quantity?

Thank you

 

[paratwa]

There are 4 fans inside the 900, 3 120mm and 1 200mm. I would replace the 3 120mm fans with the Nexus ones, and leave the 200mm in it, but turn the switch to low so it's not that loud.

 

[WhiteFireDragon]

soprano is going to be HEAVY for its size. i have the full tower armor and i didn't expect it to be that heavy when i bought it. i don't know how much the antec weighs because i never owned one. if you don't care about weight, then soprano is a good choice.

despite what others have said, i think placement of the PSU on the bottom in the antec is a plus. having it on top makes the wires hang down across all your hardware. if the PSU is on the bottom, the extra wires can just rest at the bottom of the case

 

[paratwa]

soprano is going to be HEAVY for its size. i have the full tower armor and i didn't expect it to be that heavy when i bought it. i don't know how much the antec weighs because i never owned one. if you don't care about weight, then soprano is a good choice.

despite what others have said, i think placement of the PSU on the bottom in the antec is a plus. having it on top makes the wires hang down across all your hardware. if the PSU is on the bottom, the extra wires can just rest at the bottom of the case

Since you have not owned/built one in a 900 case yet, you don't know what a pain it is having the PSU on the bottom of the case.

The main 4/8 pin connector is at the extreme opposite side of board from where the PSU mounts. This makes it very hard to route the wire from the PSU to the connector and still keep the wire routed out of the way.

As for the spare wires, if you use a modular PSU with this case (or really any case) you would be better off. Not having extra wires in the first place is always a plus.

 

[mkjaekmi]

Wouldn't I still need a heat sink?

Also, do you think liquid colling would be worth it? Even with all those fans?

Also, What are those wire or string that ties the wires together? So it doesn't look chaotic?

Thank you

 

[paratwa]

If you plan on doing some serious overclocking, then water cooling makes sense. If you just plan on overclocking a little bit, then the fans in that antec would be fine. As long as you have a decent CPU fan like the Zalman 9700.

The things people use to tie up their cables are called Zipties.

And yes you always need some kind of CPU heatsink, it does not matter if your water cooling or air cooling, you still need one.

 

[Raven62482]

The Antec is only 79.99 after a 40 dollar mail in rebate so it whens my vote and its also going to keep everything cooler.

 

[oscaryu1]

IMO Antec 900 is better.

Heights can vary, but yours is probably close.