Advantages: Quiet, solid, good cooling
Disadvantages: Big, heavy, expensive

...that is a sign of quality :) Great! But beauty is only skin deep. Inside its….. ---------------------------------------------------------------- ….crazy, actually. After opening up the case (using the thumbscrews - very user-friendly) you are greeted by the guts of what could be the most complex case I've ever come across. There are separate compartments for PSU, HD's and the main system board. Most cases, in comparison, have just the one or maybe 2 compartments. The PSU fits at the bottom of the case, behind a rather industrial fan (it's a 120mm, fact fans, but its also a custom Antec one that's 2 inches deep). In front of this is Hard drive area number one, which uses an innovative, though fiddly, cage system to mount the drives. The drives themselves are mounted on rubber grommets that really quieten them down. There is another HD cage... Read review

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Advantages: Compatible with newer 24pin motherboards and EPS12v Server boards, High wattage, Silent fan operation
Disadvantages: Needs adapter to use with 20pin motherboards,

...Upon upgrading my computer to an athlon MP system, i thought it would be a good idea to change my power supply for something a bit more powerful. When i looked up the specifications for this power supply at antec`s website, there was nothing i could fault. Looking into it further, i found that i would need a 24pin to 20pin adapter to use this on my motherboard. The handy thing is that although this isnt an ATX2.0 power supply, the 24pin pinout for the EPS12v ATX connector is 100% identical to the ATX2.0 24pin pinout. Another reason why i decided on this powersupply (so when i upgrade to dual opterons - this powersupply will be ample and will already provide the correct connectors). You can always tell the quality of a power supply by its weight, and these ones are heavy! Comparing it to my old Q-tec 400w power supply you would... Read review

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Advantages: Innovation with a Decent Price Tag
Disadvantages: Nothing

...The Antec P180 has been around for a long while now, and with the launch of the Antec 900 aimed specifically at gamers, Im here to suggest that you might want to re-think that purchase. The interior of the P180 is truly innovative, with the power supply unit located at the bottom of the case instead of the top, it has it's own 120mm fan, which is around 38mm thick, to suck cool air from the front of the case, over the hard drives (too cool them) and then pushes the hot air from the PSU out through the rear without it heating up the case. It also has another 2, yes 2 120mm fans fitted as standard (most cases come with one 80mm), but antec have been generous, and being multi-level fans with speed control they've been super generous. One of these 120mm fans acts as an exhaust for hot air in the roof, to loose that heat also... Read review

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Advantages: Almost silent
Disadvantages: Need second fan

...Whilst not computer geeks, me and my brother have gained the ability to knock up our own PC, simply to save money. We needed a case to house it in however, and after reading many professional reviews settled on the Antec Sonata. Appearance Perhaps one of its strongest points - its stunning. The piano black surfaces and the piercing blue lights look brilliant. The sides have air holes shaped as the word 'Antec' - another cool touch. The only negative on the looks is that the front panel is plastic. Whilst it’s functional, it lets the case down somewhat. Silence s'il vous plait The unique selling point of the case is that its meant to be as damn-near to silent as possible. It almost succeeds. It has several features that contribute to this. The first is the silent 380W PSU. This is a unique version of Antec’s 380W PSU... Read review

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Advantages: Looks, Cooling, Build Quality, Design
Disadvantages: Price, Size, Noise

...enclosure. Thirdly, it's got to have enough space to fit in all the bits you need to fit in - hard drives, DVD drives and expansion cards must all be catered for to reasonable levels. The Overture II does well here, with two internal and two external 3.25" bays as well as two 5.25" external bays your storage needs should be catered for, if not quite as well as with a tower case. It also has good room for expansion cards with 6 plates at the rear providing enough room for the USB plates and 3 / 4 PCI cards should you need them. Finally, it needs enough power to do the job, again delivered as quietly as possible. As with other Antec cases in the LifeStyle range, this is catered for by the supplied Antec PSU that has smart fans and other technical trickery to ensure that it runs as quietly as possible without blowing up (although it still... Read review

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Advantages: Quiet, Construction, Sensible Layout
Disadvantages: Weight, Price

...have to admit these internal 3.25" bays had me confused to begin with. Being sideways mounted, it is far easier to install and remove drives. The supplied mounting screws and rubber grommets help reduce noise here too, ensuring that the spinning disks don't cause unwanted vibrations in the chassis. And it's actually rather effective. Obviously it's not a true silent HD enclosure but it does make a big difference. The supplied power supply is a good one - manufactured unsurprisingly by Antec, it's a quiet model with intelligent fan control that supports 450W of consumption, which should be comfortably moer power than you are likely to consume given the size of the case. It comes with regular peripheral power connectors as well as the newer SATA power connectors so all types of drives are catered for. In operation the PSU does get pretty... Read review

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Advantages: Powerful, cheap, quiet
Disadvantages: none

...Modern PC's are requiring more and more power. Cheap power supplys simply arent cutting it anymore, and can often cause problems. I recently purchased a Hercules Radeon 9700Pro graphics card (which I have also reviewed on Ciao), and thus I decided to equip my PC with a more capable PSU. >Value< Thermaltake do several lower models, but I felt that the 420w would be a safe bet to cope with my 2 Optical drives, new graphics card, and other hardware. Online reviews of this power supply were very good, so I was pleased to find the unit lived up to my expectations. I was even more pleased to find that the unit retails for about £40 on dabs.com - much cheaper than equivalent models from Antec or Enermax. >First Impressions< First impressions were good - the unit sports a dual fan configuaration with smart, strong gold... Read review

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Advantages: Modular so there's no mess with cables, made by CoolerMaster
Disadvantages: The sheathing around the cables can make them hard to handle

...I purchased this PSU when I got the rest of my new system to build because I know Cooler Master have a good reputation when it comes to power supplies and computer cases, and I must say that I made a good choice in doing this, as I have had no problems with it since it was installed. When I received the power supply with the rest of the bits it came in a large box with all the various power cables which can be plugged into it. I have to say that although I've never actually bought a power supply before, the way this one was presented was actually really nice. I mean I know it's just a black box that gives your computer the power it needs but the way the box came open and the way everything came packaged made it seem as though Cooler Master really have thought about everything when designed this product. At first it seemed a bit... Read review

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Advantages: Finish, build quality, quiet, looks, cooling
Disadvantages: not many, prehaps dificult to install power supply

...Although it was actually the antec p180b that i purchased (basically the same case but in black and with a small logo at the bottom of the front door which reads'spcr' relating to the fact that it is a limited edition created for pc component review site silent pc review) the cases are otherwise identical. I managed to aquire mine for £160 which may sound expensive but the reason for this was the inclusion of cutting and applying custom vinyl decals to all sides as well as changing the power and hard drive activity LEDs from green and orange to UV in order to better suit my case. Taking these out of the equasion and the case levelled out at approx. £110 which was, at the time of purchase, a little under the average price i could find. While some may say that this is an insane amount to spend on a computer case this is a case... Read review

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Advantages: Well built, looks nice, works well
Disadvantages: Instructions a bit vague, cheaper options out there

...Modern PCs are getting warmer inside. Faster processors and graphics cards all mean a lot more heat being generated. To add insult to injury, hard drives are also getting faster and hotter. The bad news is, hard drives don't much like being too hot. If you want to ensure your data remains safe and sound, you may want to consider some extra cooling just for your hard drive(s). Enter the Antec HD Cooler. Installation The Antec HD Cooler consists of a well made aluminium jacket which holds the drive and a front panel which contains two fans and a temperature display. The package also consists of a pair of thermal probes, one for the drive and one for the case, some screws and 4 pieces of thermal tape. A switch lets you select between Celsius and Fahrenheit display modes. I'd recommend you set this before fitting the drive unless you... Read review

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