# Thermaltake Soprano vs Antec 900



## mkjaekmi

Which is better looking?
Which is better?

Thermaltake Soprano
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133040

vs

Antec 900
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec+900


Their both high in ratings and their both $120

Take your pick


Also, how tall is a full tower and how tall is a mid tower?
full tower = 22"
mid tower = 18"  
Am I correct?


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## Cleric7x9

i really like the antec 900, but since it is a mid tower it is a little harder to work in


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## DSM1999

I would get the Antec 900, it has 3 120mm fans, it looks nice and it cools better than the Soprano.  and both are Mid towers.


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## mkjaekmi

how tall are mid towers and how tall are full towers?


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## paratwa

The antec is a better looking case, but one pain in the rear to use. It is not a tooless case and has some weird drive cages. It is not like any other case I have worked on. 

But, having said that. The Antec will keep anything you put inside of it nice and cool. It has 3 120mm fans and a 200mm fan on top of the case. The one I just built kept the Athlon 64 x2 6000+ at a nice 48c while running a burn in for 2 hours at 100% cpu utilization.


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## mkjaekmi

How tall are full towers and how tall are mid towers?


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## DirtyD86

the 900 holds a special place in my heart. if you replace the stock fans with some good thermaltakes, your comp will be frosty


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## The_Beast

Thermaltake Soprano for looks
Antec 900 for cooling

IMO I'd get the Soprano


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## tuxify

IMO I like the Antec 900's looks and (from what I've heard) the performance. The Soprano looks kinda like a cheap version of the PS3, but that's just IMO.  I'd go with the 900, because that's what I'm planning on doing.


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## epidemik

The_Beast said:


> Thermaltake Soprano for looks
> Antec 900 for cooling
> 
> IMO I'd get the Soprano



Ditto, 
But its a tough decision, you picked the 2 best looking cases in that price range. Its really personal oppinion on looks.


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## mkjaekmi

me too. I'm tied with both. I want a good looking case, and there both good looking imo, i want a good performance i thinkt here both good performance, and I want 1 for gaming, and there both for gaming imo.

Hard to decide.

How tall are mid towers and tall towers? is it 19" for mid and 22" for tall? are those 2 the only sizes or is there such thing as small tower? Is it those small cases that's like 10" high? lol

Thank you


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## MixedLogik

Antec 900 for design, but a pain because of PSU location. 
Soprano for easy to use.


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## mkjaekmi

How tall are mid towers and tall towers? is it 19" for mid and 22" for tall? are those 2 the only sizes or is there such thing as small tower? Is it those small cases that's like 10" high?

and what color is antec900? black? cause in newegg's pic it looks blueish.


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## epidemik

mkjaekmi said:


> How tall are mid towers and tall towers? is it 19" for mid and 22" for tall? are those 2 the only sizes or is there such thing as small tower? Is it those small cases that's like 10" high? lol
> 
> Thank you



The demensions are under specifications, yeah theres also smaller towers that house microATX boards if your looking for tiny...


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## mkjaekmi

Nah no way i'm gettin a small case. I prefer mid towers. Last thing I need to know is, is antec black or blue? Cause I saw that antec was black, but on newegg picture it's blue.

Thank you


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## epidemik

Black with a window with blue lights inside.
Fans in front are blue to...what pic are you refering to?


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## mkjaekmi

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec+900

Looks a lil bluish to me. hehe


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## Schonza

The blue look is probably from the fans, and the angle on which the picture was taken, if you look at the other pics where the fans are not on, the case looks black.  I agree, the 900 is a fantastic case, and I would pic it over the Soprano, as I PERSONALLY think it looks better, but that's just my 2 cents. Either way, you should be mighty happy.


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## JSpecGC8

I rather have the improved cooling, any case can be improved upon for looks!!


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## epidemik

Coulda been the lighting/blue screen (if thats how they keyed it)


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## 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


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## mep916

mkjaekmi said:


> 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.



mkjaekmi said:


> 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.


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## paratwa

mkjaekmi said:


> 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.


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## mep916

paratwa said:


> The stock Antec fans are noisy



They are very loud. 



paratwa said:


> 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. 



paratwa said:


> Nothing in this case is tool less



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



paratwa said:


> 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. 



paratwa said:


> 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. 



paratwa said:


> 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.


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## 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


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## mep916

funkysnair said:


> 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.


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## paratwa

funkysnair said:


> 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.


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## 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?


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## 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


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## 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


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## paratwa

mkjaekmi said:


> 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.


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## 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.


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## 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


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## 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.


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## 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


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## paratwa

WhiteFireDragon said:


> 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.


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## 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


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## 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.


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## 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.


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## oscaryu1

IMO Antec 900 is better.

Heights can vary, but yours is probably close.


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## funkysnair

paratwa said:


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



well i got all the radiators in the ony thing that is outside is the pump and resivour so im well pleased!! 

i wll get them in soon... just need to get a drill thats all!!!

who said there was no room?


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## funkysnair

this is it----

well my cables will be sorted once i mount the pump/resivour


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## HumanMage

I'd probably go with the 900. I'd take cooler temps over looks any day. Besides, the 900 isn't too bad looking either.


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## mkjaekmi

1 last question.
Should I buy products that are retail (with fans)?? Reason I'm asking is, if I have retail, then it comes with fans. Are those fans any good?

How many heat sink should I get? Just 1? and What kind should I get?


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## mep916

funkysnair said:


> this is it----
> 
> well my cables will be sorted once i mount the pump/resivour



Wow! Nice job, funkysnair. Looks pretty good. How are the temps on the CPU?


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## funkysnair

25-31 medium load-(downloading 5films and media player with visuals)

i also got a zalman northbridge block aswell so motherboard is reading 30

few little cuts here and there, just waiting to get a thermaltake psu 750watt+ then al be happy


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## mkjaekmi

Should I buy products that are retail (with fans)?? Reason I'm asking is, if I have retail, then it comes with fans. Are those fans any good?

What kind of heatsink should I get? And is there only 1 kind of heatsink (For cpu)? As in like, theres a heatsink only for the cpu?


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## mkjaekmi

Are these the zip ties that people use to tie there wires?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811989010

What's the difference between these 3?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811989011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811989010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811989010R


What happens if I use like a regular string or w/e instead? Is there really a difference?

Also If I do decide on buying those zip ties, how many would I need to buy?


One last thing, Will this slim samsung dvd burner fit into an antec 900?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151135

Thank you


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## paratwa

Slimline dvd/cd drives are usually used for laptops.  And if you decided to use one in your 900, you would have to make a custom cutout in one of the front panels for it to fit. It's usually not worth the time and trouble to do what you want, unless you just really like the look.

You would also have to do some mods to your wiring to get it to work.


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## mkjaekmi

Are these the zip ties that people use to tie there wires?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811989010

What's the difference between these 3?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811989011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811989010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16811989010R


What happens if I use like a regular string or w/e instead? Is there really a difference?

Also If I do decide on buying those zip ties, how many would I need to buy?


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## oscaryu1

mkjaekmi said:


> Are these the zip ties that people use to tie there wires?
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811989010
> 
> What's the difference between these 3?
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811989011
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811989010
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16811989010R
> 
> 
> What happens if I use like a regular string or w/e instead? Is there really a difference?
> 
> Also If I do decide on buying those zip ties, how many would I need to buy?



Zip ties are all the same... however many you need...

None of your links work.


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## mkjaekmi

oh there led kits, sorry


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## mkjaekmi

Also, can someone show me the links to the nexus fans? I can't seem to find them on newegg

Thank you


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## paratwa

Newegg does not sell the Nexus fans. But here is a link.

http://www.xoxide.com/nexus-120mm-fan-black-white.html


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## mkjaekmi

Is it really worth getting 3x 120 nexus fans? I herd Antec 900 fans were really nice. Also Nexus fans don't have size 200mm??

Also anyone know any sites that sell these zip ties? How many packs should I get If I plan on getting Antec 900?

Thank you


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## paratwa

The Nexus fans are very quiet. The Antec fans are not. It's up to you if you use them or not.

Do you live near any kind of home improvement or electronics store? If so they all sell the zip ties. Just go in and ask for them.

20 or so zip ties should do you. Get the small ones, they are about 3 inchs long, and a few that are 6 inches long, that should cover everything.


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## mkjaekmi

Nexus doesn't carry the 200mm fan?


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## mep916

mkjaekmi said:


> Nexus doesn't carry the 200mm fan?



The Antec 900 200mm fan is proprietary and doesn't need to be replaced. Keep it in the case.


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## cannouu

i wud totally get antec 900, better overal look, not to fancy, good lighting, and good cooling, 900 is my bet


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## mkjaekmi

Nice, we got this case closed  =D


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