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Antec’s Aria enclosure

Geoff Gasior
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Manufacturer Antec
Model Aria
Price (street) $104
Availability Now

SMALL FORM FACTOR PCs are all the rage these days, and for good reason. Running a high-performance system inside a toaster-sized enclosure is a tantalizing prospect for LAN party regulars, users looking for a less obtrusive desktop or home theater system, and PC enthusiasts who are looking to ride the bleeding edge of the latest trend.

Although the portability and performance of small form factor systems like Shuttle’s XPCs can’t be denied, the diminutive cubes aren’t perfect. For starters, the majority of small form factor systems offer only one PCI slot. Most users probably won’t feel restricted by a single PCI slot, but anyone looking to run a 24-bit audio card alongside a PCI-based TV tuner or Wi-Fi card need not apply.

In addition to the PCI slot limit, most cubes have only one free internal 3.5″ drive bay, limiting users to one hard drive. It’s possible to run multiple hard drives by tearing out a cube’s integrated memory card reader or taking over its 5.25″ drive bay, but those are hardly practical solutions.

These limitations are the least of the problems for most SFF systems, though. Since most cubes are sold as barebones systems that rely on proprietary motherboard, case, and cooling designs, you can forget about mixing and matching barebones components from different manufacturers. Companies like Shuttle have changed their case and motherboard layouts slightly over time, too, making it difficult, if not impossible, to upgrade older cubes with the latest motherboards.

Finally, small form factor systems have relatively weak power supplies that currently top out at 250W. With Prescott Pentium 4 processors pulling watts like they’re going out of style and the GeForce FX 6800 Ultra sporting two auxiliary power connectors, a 250W power supply is cutting it a little close.

So, while the extreme portability and petite footprint of small form factor systems has enabled and inspired all sorts of interesting system designs, the tiny systems also come with a fair bit of baggage. If only there were a middle ground, a platform that took up less space than traditional ATX or Micro ATX cases without suffering from the limited expansion and upgrade potential of most small form factor barebones systems. There is: Antec’s Aria enclosure.


The Aria: A different kind of cube

Unlike barebones systems, the Aria is just a case. The Aria comes with a power supply, but the motherboard and processor cooling are up to you. Fortunately, you should have no problem finding a suitable motherboard for the Aria; the case is designed to enclose standard Micro ATX boards as large as 9.6″ x 9.6″. This compatibility with standard Micro ATX boards gives the Aria a much clearer and more flexible upgrade path than typical small form factor systems. Also, since most Micro ATX boards sport three PCI slots in addition to an AGP slot, it’s easy to build an Aria-based system with more expansion potential than the average cube.

To accommodate larger Micro ATX boards, the Aria is a little bigger than most small form factor systems. However, the size difference is actually less than you might expect.


The Aria next to Shuttle’s XPC ST61G4

Measuring 7.9″ tall, 10.6″ wide, and 13.2″ deep, the Aria is bigger than the average cube, but much smaller than standard ATX fare. The extra internal space leaves room for three internal 3.5″ drive bays, eliminating another gotcha associated with traditional small form factor systems.

With upgrade path, PCI slot, and internal drive bay baggage a non-issue for the Aria, the only small form factor shortcoming left is limited power supply wattage. Antec has an answer for that, too. The Aria comes with a 300W power supply that is a definite improvement over small form factor PSUs rated for 250W or less.

So far, it looks like the Aria addresses the typical shortcomings of small form factor systems. However, in avoiding typical gotchas, Antec has also saddled the Aria with some baggage of its own. Join me as I explore the Aria’s triumphs and flaws to determine if this unique take on the cube form factor is right for your next PC.

 

From the outside
It’s supposed to be what’s inside that counts, but for PC enclosures, looks matter.


The Aria’s understated face

Blue LEDs: now with less blinding

Fortunately, the Aria looks pretty good. The case’s two-tone plastic exterior doesn’t have the same visual impact as Antec’s high-gloss Sonata or aluminum and faux-chrome P160, but it gives the Aria a more understated look that helps the case blend into its surroundings rather than stand out. At least Antec didn’t go with the clinical all-white look that makes Shuttle’s most recent XPCs resemble iMac clones.

The Aria’s understated aesthetic carries over to the case’s blue LEDs, which face up rather than out. Recently, we’ve seen enclosure manufacturers go a little nuts with blinding blue LEDs that cut through the darkness with all the subtlety of a death ray. Antec’s own Sonata is a perfect example of the ultra-bright blue LED trend, but the Aria’s approach to lighting is much more subtle. The case’s blue LEDs produce two muted columns of light that, at least in my opinion, look far better than high beams. The Aria’s lighting won’t vaporize small children or household pets, either.

If you prefer the shroud of total darkness, the Aria’s blue glow can easily be disabled by unplugging the LEDs’ Molex power connector.


Plenty of ports to go around

In addition to tasteful blue lighting, the Aria’s front panel comes equipped with a complete array of peripheral ports and an integrated memory card reader. The case doesn’t have an external 3.5″ drive bay, so floppy users will be out of luck. However, there are a couple of front panel USB ports, a Firewire port, and a pair of audio jacks.

The internal headers for the Aria’s front USB ports and memory card reader are keyed, which makes hooking them up a snap. Unfortunately, there’s no keyed standard for audio or Firewire ports, so those pin connectors must be plugged in individually. To Antec’s credit, the individual pin plugs are clearly labeled, so hooking up the Firewire and audio ports is as easy as following the pin diagrams found in most motherboard manuals.


Even a beige optical drive looks good behind the Aria’s optical bay cover

… just make sure the eject button lines up

To ensure that the Aria’s classy exterior isn’t marred by an ugly beige 5.25″ optical drive, the Aria comes with a spring-loaded drive bay cover. The bay cover neatly masks optical drives of any color, but the eject button won’t necessarily line up properly with every drive. Unlike the eject buttons on drive bay covers found on Shuttle’s SB75S and Antec’s own P160, the Aria’s eject button can’t be moved from side to side to line up with different optical drive button placements.

To be fair, all of the optical drives I have in the Benchmarking Sweatshop work just fine with the Aria’s eject button, but keep in mind that some configurations might not line up properly. The drive bay cover also doesn’t work with slot- or cartridge-loading optical drives.


Baby got back!

Hardly any restricted air flow here

Around the rear, the Aria is dominated by a massive 120mm exhaust fan. This variable speed fan is attached to the system’s power supply, but it’s also tasked with venting warm air from inside the case. At idle, the fan’s low speed setting is all but inaudible. However, as the case’s internals heat up, the fan ramps up the RPMs and reminds you it’s there.

The Aria has the same honeycomb fan grill as Antec’s Sonata case, which is open enough not to impede air flow. However, the honeycomb grill seems a little redundant considering that the 120mm is also protected by a standard circular fan grill. Neither grill is particularly restrictive, but the fact that there are two has to impede air flow more than a single grill would.

While I’m griping, I should point out that the Aria’s PCI and AGP retention brackets could use a little work. The all-thumbscrew design of Antec’s P160 PCI retention bracket raised the bar, and it would be nice to the same convenience on the Aria. While we’re on the subject of PCI brackets, take note that the Aria can accommodate a total of four expansion cards. There’s enough room for double-wide cards like the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra, too.

A standard IO port shield rounds out the Aria’s booty and highlights the case’s compatibility with multiple motherboard configurations. While traditional small form factor systems use proprietary port shields, the Aria can accommodate the standard port shields that ship with nearly all Micro ATX motherboards.

 

A look inside
Now that we’ve had a look at the Aria’s exterior, it’s time to lift the lid and see what’s inside.


The Aria from above, with the top panel removed

Lifting the lid is easy enough—just remove a single thumbscrew and pop the top—but it will take more than that to get a meaningful glimpse of what’s inside. Fortunately, the Aria’s lid is one of several components that easily pop off to make the case’s internals more accessible. The case’s side panels are next, and they slide off without putting up much of a fight.


An Aria side panel

While we have all the Aria’s panels off, it’s worth taking a closer look at their unique construction. The panels are nearly a quarter of an inch thick and made up of layers of aluminum and plastic to dampen vibrations. Antec has obviously done their homework, because the panels don’t vibrate at all. In fact, knocking on them produces little more than a dull thud.

The Aria’s thick panels should also insulate the case’s internals, and the Aria could run pretty hot as a result. The panels’ sparse venting won’t do much to cool the Aria, either.


The Aria’s drive cage, pictured upside down

Rubber washers dampen vibrations

Back to disassembly, the Aria’s drive cage is the next component to be pulled out. The cage slides in and out of the case with ease on a couple of metal rails, revealing one 5.25″ drive bay and room for three 3.5″ hard disks. One of the hard drive mounts is located under the 5.25″ drive bay, while the other two are cocked at 90 degrees so that drives hang from on either side of the 5.25″ bay.

Hanging drives on their sides is a neat trick, and I like the way it doesn’t sandwich multiple disks right on top of each other. Antec even ships the Aria with special screws that feature rubber washers to dampen any vibrations that hanging hard drives might create. Unfortunately, the screws that Antec provides for the standard 3.5″ drive bay and optical drive don’t get any rubber washer love.

Before I move on, I should mention that hanging hard drives must be removed to access the screws for the 5.25″ drive bay and the 3.5″ bay directly beneath it. It’s a minor inconvenience, especially since the drive cage is so easy to remove and handle.


Now that looks a lot easier to work with

Hooks hold motherboards in place

With the panels and drive cage removed, the Aria opens up, making it easy to swap out internal components. Well, almost all internal components. Installing or removing a motherboard can be awkward unless the case’s power supply is removed. Unfortunately, taking out the PSU requires removing six tiny screws. It would be nice if the power supply were only held in place by a couple of thumbscrews.

Once you squeeze a motherboard into the case, mounting it to the posts is a snap. Well, more accurately, it’s a hook. All but two of the Aria’s motherboard posts use hooks to secure the board to the case, with screws securing the board to the remaining two posts. When combined with the two screwed posts, the hooks hold boards tightly in place and save users from having to screw down hard-to-reach posts under the Aria’s power supply.

While we’re looking at this handy top-down view, note how the Aria’s front panel is riddled with holes. That’s pretty much the extent of the Aria’s venting, and given that the plastic front panel has only thin air intakes, it’s another clue that the Aria could get toasty with a system inside.

 

Power, cooling, and extras
One of the Aria’s key advantages over traditional small form factor systems is the 300W power supply that Antec specs with the cube.


Venting? Anyone?

The Aria-branded PSU’s 300W rating won’t be enough for NVIDIA’s power-hungry GeForce 6800 Ultra, but the PSU does offer 20% more wattage than the current leader in small form factor power supplies, Shuttle’s XPC PC40 250W. We’ll take a detailed look at how the Aria’s power supply responds to various loads and stacks up against a couple of competitors in our performance testing section.

Given Antec’s reputation for building quality power supplies, there’s every reason to be optimistic about the Aria’s ability to deliver consistent voltages under load. However, it’s not the power supply’s ability to deliver power that I’m worried about. A quick look at the PSU reveals there isn’t much in the way of venting on the power supply’s enclosure. Remember, the PSU fan is the Aria’s only fan; it has to keep the entire system cool. Without adequate internal venting, the Aria’s PSU fan will have a hard time drawing warm air out of the system, especially from around the CPU. Poor air flow could raise system temperatures under load, causing the power supply fan to spin faster, and potentially compromising Antec’s low-noise intentions.


Antec is so confident of the Aria’s air flow they included a blower?

Technically speaking, the Aria’s 120mm PSU fan is the case’s only active cooling element. However, the Aria comes with an auxiliary PCI slot blower, suggesting Antec may think the Aria needs a little help with cooling. To Antec’s credit, the 7V blower is quiet and simple to install. However, it fills one of the case’s empty expansion slots, blocking either an AGP or PCI slot.

Because the Aria’s internals are so cramped, AGP graphics cards can easily block air flow between the CPU and PCI ends of the system. Unfortunately, the PCI end of the system is the only place to put the blower when an AGP card is installed, giving the blower little chance exhaust warm air from the hottest part of the system: around the CPU.


Brackets for CPU fans

The Aria’s weak air flow and cramped internals make CPU cooling a nightmare, but Antec tries the ease the pain by including a CPU fan mounting bracket that makes it easy to place a nice big fan directly over the CPU socket. Not that there’s much room, though.


Tight height clearance around the CPU socket

There’s only about 2.75″ of clearance between the surface of the CPU socket and the Aria’s power supply, which doesn’t leave much room for taller heat sinks. Fortunately, the PSU’s shape easily accommodates shorter, wider cooling solutions. The fan mounting brackets can also be flipped to make more room, though a motherboard’s socket placement will largely dictate how much or how little heat sink clearance there is to work with.


A card reader that doesn’t compromise anything else

It might seem like a small thing to bring up, let alone document with a picture, but I want to emphasize the fact that the Aria’s memory card reader doesn’t take up an internal 3.5″ drive bay. The memory card readers found in small form factor systems like Shuttle’s XPC line typically monopolize an internal 3.5″ drive bay, but the Aria’s card reader is tucked out of the way.

Looking at the card reader, you can see that the Aria has a lot of cables associated with various front-panel goodies. Add to that the internal cables associated with a typical system, including power leads, Serial ATA or IDE cables, and of course fan connectors, and you’ve got yourself quite a mess of wires inside what amounts to quite a small case. Small form factor barebones systems have loads of cables to deal with, too, but because they’re sold with the motherboard installed, manufacturers usually shoulder the burden of neatly organizing and routing cables. With the Aria, cable routing is up to you, and it takes a small handful of zip ties to get the job done neatly. Unfortunately, the Aria doesn’t come with zip ties or anything else to clean up cable clutter, so you’re on your own.

 

Our testing methods
All tests were run three times, and their results were averaged, using the following test systems.

Processor Athlon XP 3200+ 2.2GHz Athlon XP 2500+ 1.83GHz
Front-side bus 400MHz (2 x 200MHz) 333MHz (2 x 166MHz)
Motherboard Albatron KM18G
North bridge NVIDIA nForce2 IGP
South bridge NVIDIA nForce2 MCP
Chipset driver ForceWare 3.13
Memory size 512MB (2 DIMMs)
Memory type Corsair XMS3500 PC3000 DDR SDRAM
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra ATI Radeon 9600 XT
Graphics driver ForceWare 56.72 CATALYST 4.4
Storage

Western Digital WD1200JB 120GB 7,200RPM ATA/100 hard drive

Power supply

Antec Aria 300W
Shuttle XPC PC40 250W
Antec TruePower 550W

Operating System Windows XP Professional
Service Pack 1 and DirectX 9.0b

Since enclosures have no impact on frame rates or application performance, we’ll be using our test apps more for loading up our test systems’ CPUs and graphics cards. Folding@Home was used to generate a CPU load for our systems, and a looping 3DMark03 demo with antialiasing and anisotropic filtering cranked all the way up was used to create a GPU load. All load tests were run for 10 minutes before noise and temperature measurements were taken. After each load test, the system was powered down and the case panels removed to let it air out for another 10 minutes. The ambient temperature during testing was 27C—it’s called the Benchmarking Sweatshop for a reason.

To really stress the Aria, I’ve put together a kind of worst-case system for heat output with an Athlon XP 3200+ and a GeForce FX 5950 Ultra. It’s doubtful that Antec had high-end systems like the 3200+/5950 Ultra in mind when they designed the Aria, but we’ll see if the cube can handle the heat anyway. We’ll also be looking at the Aria’s performance with a more realistic mid-range system featuring an Athlon XP 2500+ and a Radeon 9600 XT.

We used the following versions of our test applications:

The test systems’ Windows desktop was set at 1024×768 in 32-bit color at a 75Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests. All of the 3D gaming tests used the high detail image quality settings.

All the tests and methods we employed are publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.

 

Noise levels
Our noise level readings were taken using an Extech 407727 Digital Sound Level Meter placed one inch from the front of the case. Such close proximity was used to highlight differences in noise levels that are harder to detect at greater distances, so keep in mind that the measured noise levels are louder than what you’d actually hear sitting a couple of feet from the case.

In addition to testing both systems with the Aria’s auxiliary blower enabled, I also tested the 2500+/9600 XT system with the blower off to see how much of an impact it had on noise levels. Unfortunately, the 3200+/5950 Ultra system was a little too toasty to run without the blower.

At idle, our system configurations all make about the same amount of noise inside the Aria, but things get a lot more interesting when we starting crunching Folding@Home work units.

The big surprise here is that, under load, the Aria is actually quieter with the blower on. Why? Likely because the system temperature gets too high with the blower deactivated, forcing the 120mm fan to spin faster and louder in an attempt to cool things down.

When we add 3DMark03 to our Folding@Home load, noise levels are again lower with the blower on. That’s a pretty compelling case for auxiliary cooling.

At idle and under a CPU load, our 3200+/5950 Ultra configuration was nearly as quiet as our 2500+/9600 XT. However, the Aria’s thick paneling isn’t enough to disguise the 5950 Ultra’s fan noise as the card spins up under a GPU load.

 

Temperatures
For our temperature testing, we used Motherboard Monitor 5 to measure CPU and system temperatures under various conditions. Things got so hot with the 3200+/5950 Ultra that we also measured temperatures with the side panel closest to the CPU removed.

Even at idle, it’s easy to see how much of an impact the blower has on system temperatures. However, its impact on CPU temps is a less dramatic. Interestingly enough, removing a side panel doesn’t change the system or CPU temperatures of our 3200+/5950 Ultra system at idle, but when we load things up, it’s a whole different ballpark.

Under a CPU load, the 3200+/5950 Ultra gets toasty inside the Aria. Real toasty. Removing the side panel drops CPU temps by 13 degrees, making cutting a blowhole next to the CPU mighty tempting.

On our mid-range system, running the blower keeps temperatures lower and the Aria quieter. Score another point for the blower.

Subjecting the Aria to a CPU and GPU load turns up the heat even more, and for our 3200+/5950 Ultra system, it’s too much. CPU temperatures for the 3200+ in a closed Aria hit 77C within minutes, and an application crash or reboot would invariably strike before the 10 minute test period ran its course. The 3200+/5950 Ultra did just fine with one of the Aria’s side panels removed, though. I think it’s time to warm up the Dremel.

Our mid-range system has been well-behaved so far, and that doesn’t change here. The 2500+/9600 XT’s CPU and system temperatures are warm, but not unreasonably so considering they’re in a small form factor system on a hot, sunny day.

 

DC voltages – Idle
Voltage tests were performed over a 100 second time interval using a Pico ADC-212/3 digital oscilloscope. DC voltages were averaged over that period since there was very little deviation over the test interval. The systems were measured at idle and under a load consisting of Folding@Home and 3DMark03.

At idle, there’s not much to see. The Aria’s deviation from each voltage is small and no cause for alarm, unlike Shuttle’s XPC PC40 250W, whose deviations on the 5V and 12V rails are a little high for an idling system.

 

DC voltages – Load

Under load, the Aria’s 300W PSU starts to deviate a little more on the 5V and 12V rails, but it’s still pretty consistent. The XPC PC40 250W shows more weakness here, but neither small form factor PSU can hold a candle to the TruePower 550W’s consistent performance at idle and under load.

 

AC ripple – Idle
AC ripple was measured over a 100 second interval at idle and under the same Folding@Home/3DMark03 as our DC voltage tests. Here, the less AC voltage on each DC rail, the better.

There’s not much to see at idle, and that’s a good thing. None of the power supplies stand out as being significantly better or worse here, so the Aria is right up there.

 

AC ripple – Load

Under load, both the Aria and XPC PC40 power supplies start acting up, but AC ripple is still low for both. The Aria actually comes out of our ripple tests looking a little worse than the PC40, but with ripple spikes all under 200 millivolts, the power supplies are well within their operating tolerances.

 

Conclusions
With the Aria, Antec has successfully overcome the expansion limitations, relatively weak power supplies, and restrictive upgrade paths that plague small form factor systems. Unfortunately, maintaining compatibility for a wide range of Micro ATX boards that have different socket types and layouts prevents Antec from bundling the Aria with fancy processor cooling system like Shuttle’s ICE heat pipe, which does a remarkably good job keeping processors cool in cramped quarters, all while barely making a sound.


Shhh: There’s an Aria about

With AGP cards blocking the Aria’s blower and inadequate internal venting limiting the 120mm PSU fan’s effectiveness, internal air flow is far from ideal, especially for systems that won’t be spending much time at idle. Improving air flow may be as simple as more aggressively venting the power supply’s internals, but more side panel venting next to the CPU wouldn’t hurt, either. I can’t help but wonder if cutting a blowhole in the side panel and using a low-RPM 80mm fan to cool a massive passive processor heat sink would be the best way to keep the Aria cool and quiet under load.

While the Aria’s air flow problems made our toasty high-end system unstable under load, our mid-range system configuration was better behaved. Considering the Aria’s small footprint and low noise levels, I can deal with a mid-range system running a little warm under a punishing CPU and GPU load. I doubt that low-end systems will run warm enough to expose the Aria’s limited air flow, either.

At the end of the day, the Aria is a fine alternative to the glut of small form factor cubes currently on the market, at least if you plan on running a system with more reasonable cooling requirements than an Athlon XP 3200+ and GeForce FX 5950 Ultra. The Aria is full of good ideas and low-noise innovations. Although it could use a little refinement here and there, it’s a good first step towards bridging the gap between the flexibility of full-size systems and the portability and aesthetic appeal of small form factor cubes. And really, poor air flow is nothing a Dremel can’t fix. 

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