DAN A4-SFX: The smallest gaming case in the world

Hey Dan (or anyone who knows),

I'm getting my complete kit ready and am busy ordering custom sleeved cables for my SF600.

Are 20cm cables sufficient for this case? I am using an ASUS Z170i Pro gaming motherboard so the connectors will be really close to the PSU (everything is actually really close come to think of it, this case is so damn small!)

Anyways, any information you have would be appreciated.

Thanks,
 
GPU: 20cm will be enough.
24-pin ATX: 20cm will be enough.
SATA: 20cm will be enough.
8 pin CPU would be a bit too short I guess since the connector is almost at the end and the rams and CPU fan are in the way. Go 30cm there. For all others, 20cm will be awesome.
 
Are there more affordable custom cables available for the SF600 in 20cm and 30cm lengths? There was a link posted to some custom cables which come in multiple colours but they are really expensive..I don't need them in any colour except black if they can be a lot cheaper, its the custom lengths which are more important to me, to keep things tidy
 
Blackreplica said:
Are there more affordable custom cables available for the SF600 in 20cm and 30cm lengths? There was a link posted to some custom cables which come in multiple colours but they are really expensive..I don't need them in any colour except black if they can be a lot cheaper, its the custom lengths which are more important to me, to keep things tidy
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How much are you looking to spend? DIY?
 
Blackreplica said:
Are there more affordable custom cables available for the SF600 in 20cm and 30cm lengths? There was a link posted to some custom cables which come in multiple colours but they are really expensive..I don't need them in any colour except black if they can be a lot cheaper, its the custom lengths which are more important to me, to keep things tidy
Click to expand...
Maybe cablemod?
You can buy just the cables you need in any color combo you want.
 
Aircoookie said:
GPU: 20cm will be enough.
24-pin ATX: 20cm will be enough.
SATA: 20cm will be enough.
8 pin CPU would be a bit too short I guess since the connector is almost at the end and the rams and CPU fan are in the way. Go 30cm there. For all others, 20cm will be awesome.
Click to expand...

Awesome that's what I was thinking, thanks for your input brother.
 
Hanakuso said:
How much are you looking to spend? DIY?
Click to expand...

Curiositie said:
Maybe cablemod?
You can buy just the cables you need in any color combo you want.
Click to expand...

I just played around with the cablemod confgurator. They're all expensive as hell too, all the cables i need, combined, will cost me more than my SF600! Thats just nuts since I won't be showing off the internals. All I need is the regular flat cable (preferably flexible) in custom 20cm lengths and was hoping to spend less than 40USD on a complete set.

Guess I'll be sticking to whatever comes in the box. I hear the SF600 cables are really stiff though they are shorter than typical ATX cables
 
A small update to the compatibility list:

Gigabyte GTX 1080 G1 = fit
Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! = fit
Inno3D GTX 1080 HerculeZ Twin X2 = fit
EVGA GTX 1080 FTW = fit


I include the list in the first post of this thread.
 
Are there any issues with motherboard layout and compatibility e.g. Asus Z170I PRO GAMING vs. Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5?

vnFHJcE.jpg


oLBzLiq.jpg
 
No all ITX Boards will fit and only boards with angled SATA connectors to the PSU have compatibility issues. Anyway with this SATA cables it will work : SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd.- CP11


There is only one board that makes real trouble: The ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Impact has bad influence on the temperatures because the CPU heatsink is kettle in between RAM, PWM Board and Audio Board.
 
Guys, do you know if there is a mITX board with 2 M.2 slots? If not, can we expect them in the future, or is there some fundamental limitation of the form factor that prevents it from having 2? Plenty of space on the back of the motherboard.
 
QuantumBraced said:
Guys, do you know if there is a mITX board with 2 M.2 slots? If not, can we expect them in the future, or is there some fundamental limitation of the form factor that prevents it from having 2? Plenty of space on the back of the motherboard.
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Yes, there are loads of boards with one M.2 M-Key and one B-Key, but I guess you want two M-Keys with PCIe x4 for storage, right? In that case, no and probably no. While there is physical space for the slot, the traces for the signals have to be placed as well, and you can't really place the slot underneath the CPU socket, PCIe slot, rear I/O or RAM slots, so actually there's not that much space. If you wanted to make it happen, you'd have to move the CPU socket very close to the back or the front of the board, which limits heatsink compatibility and the board would probably also need a few more layers, which makes it even more expensive.

I think manufacturers just see this as too much effort for too little payoff. Heck, apparently most of them don't even care about implementing Thunderbolt, and the user-group for that is arguably larger than for double M.2 SSDs.
 
iFreilicht said:
Yes, there are loads of boards with one M.2 M-Key and one B-Key, but I guess you want two M-Keys with PCIe x4 for storage, right? In that case, no and probably no. While there is physical space for the slot, the traces for the signals have to be placed as well, and you can't really place the slot underneath the CPU socket, PCIe slot, rear I/O or RAM slots, so actually there's not that much space. If you wanted to make it happen, you'd have to move the CPU socket very close to the back or the front of the board, which limits heatsink compatibility and the board would probably also need a few more layers, which makes it even more expensive.

I think manufacturers just see this as too much effort for too little payoff. Heck, apparently most of them don't even care about implementing Thunderbolt, and the user-group for that is arguably larger than for double M.2 SSDs.
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I see, thanks very much for the insight. I guess we can't expect dual U.2 ports then either. It's a bit restrictive to those of us who want to go all NVMe, to only have 1 slot. Perhaps if they got rid of 2 of the 4 SATA slots that are usually found on ITX boards they'd have space for the connections. But that may take some time for demand to shift. In the near future, I see SATA being only useful for mechanical drives, and everything else being M.2 or U.2. U.2 frees up space on the motherboard, but M.2 frees up space in the case... Not sure if they'll continue to coexist.
 
QuantumBraced said:
I see, thanks very much for the insight. I guess we can't expect dual U.2 ports then either. It's a bit restrictive to those of us who want to go all NVMe, to only have 1 slot. Perhaps if they got rid of 2 of the 4 SATA slots that are usually found on ITX boards they'd have space for the connections. But that may take some time for demand to shift. In the near future, I see SATA being only useful for mechanical drives, and everything else being M.2 or U.2. U.2 frees up space on the motherboard, but M.2 frees up space in the case... Not sure if they'll continue to coexist.
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Funny you should say that…!

Intel bridges the U.2 gap with an M.2 cable for its 750 Series SSD

ssdu2.jpg
 
That looks a lot better than the Hyperkit!
And slimmer, so it seems feasible to use in backside M.2 in the A4-SFX.
 
God, I guess it's convenient, but it really is the worst of both worlds.

However, it enables plugging in a 2.5" drive into the M.2 slot on the back of motherboards, which would be a serious challenge with the U.2 kit for most cases.
 
Curiositie said:
That looks a lot better than the Hyperkit!
And slimmer, so it seems feasible to use in backside M.2 in the A4-SFX.
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QuantumBraced said:
God, I guess it's convenient, but it really is the worst of both worlds.

However, it enables plugging in a 2.5" drive into the M.2 slot on the back of motherboards, which would be a serious challenge with the U.2 kit for most cases.
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Exactly what I was getting at, no need to worry about temps behind the MB, just mount that 2.5" NVMe speed demon elsewhere…
 
Some new motherboards will come with perpendicular m.2 slots on the front of the motherboard. This way, there is no compromise, except that you have a funny SSD sticking out of the board like a tree branch. I don't mind though. I think this makes much more sense than the rear m.2 slots, which force you to remove the motherboard to change the SSD.
 
bAMtan2 said:
Some new motherboards will come with perpendicular m.2 slots on the front of the motherboard. This way, there is no compromise, except that you have a funny SSD sticking out of the board like a tree branch. I don't mind though. I think this makes much more sense than the rear m.2 slots, which force you to remove the motherboard to change the SSD.
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Except that that will essentially disqualify M.2 use on them in the A4.
Unless you find a short SSD, or just use it for wifi.
Edit:
Like this one, maybe.
 
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QuantumBraced said:
Guys, do you know if there is a mITX board with 2 M.2 slots? If not, can we expect them in the future, or is there some fundamental limitation of the form factor that prevents it from having 2? Plenty of space on the back of the motherboard.
Click to expand...

By the time we get our DanA4's Kabylake should be very close. I'm personally going to wait for them & the Z270 motherboards, Kabylake will have extra pcie lanes to work with, so who knows, we may get lucky :D
 
OmenemO said:
By the time we get our DanA4's Kabylake should be very close. I'm personally going to wait for them & the Z270 motherboards, Kabylake will have extra pcie lanes to work with, so who knows, we may get lucky :D
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no shit eh! all the people going I'm gonna do this, gonna do that, bought this, bought that and its months away. get the case first then get the parts when new shit is out and prices have settled.
 
pendragon1 said:
no shit eh! all the people going I'm gonna do this, gonna do that, bought this, bought that and its months away. get the case first then get the parts when new shit is out and prices have settled.
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So long as parts get used in the meantime I don't see the harm in "preparation" buying. It's when they sit on a desk for months that I question the logic.
 
How would perpendicular installation of M.2 drives work? They're quite tall, they'd need some way to secure them. And yes, not viable in the A4, but the A4 is not about flexibility. There are plenty of other options for NVMe storage in the A4.
 
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QuantumBraced said:
How would perpendicular installation of M.2 drives work? They're quite tall, they'd need some way to secure them. And yes, not viable in the A4, but the A4 is not about flexibility. There are plenty of other options for NVMe storage in the A4.
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What about this???

M7Impact-18.jpg


Why they don't just do this on new mobos???? That's the perfect solution for everything!!!!
 
Oh, you mean the port is perpendicular to the board, and the drive sits on its "side" so to speak. Yes, that's a good way to it, almost like how the memory sits, but all the connections are at one end, and maybe have a clip on the other end. You can stack a few M.2 drives next to each other. I still don't like having 2 standards though. I hope M.2 and U.2 won't become like Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
 
Or they stand up straight near the sata ports. There's a x99 board like that. Looks funny.
 
Dunno, EVGA's newest stinger motherboard has is literally sticking up out of the motherboard.
In a normal case this is fine, since even a 2280 M.2 drive won't extend past a reference GPU in height, but in the A4 this disqualifies use of the M.2 port on the stinger.
 
Or any chassis of similar design (back-to-back CPU/GPU chambers)…
 
Great photo example.
That's exactly how EVGA does it, though it's placed better on theirs, near the rear IO/ cmos battery.
111-SS-E172-KR_XL_5.jpg
 
Yeah, but the M.2 port on the Stinger is a Key E, which is much shorter. They actually got a lot of flack for that, and for the lack of USB 3.1 on that $200 board. The aesthetics of it are amazing though. I am an EVGA fanboy, eagerly awaiting their next mITX board which will hopefully add the needed functionality.

But anyway. For Type M M.2, I think they'll need some kind of stability control/way to secure it like that metal bracket on the ASUS board, or something. Otherwise it's just too unsafe to have it sticking out randomly, it may get whacked by something, be it a hand or a tube or a cable... The ones laying flat on the board have screws, let alone this. I really don't see it. It's such an awkward standard.
 
EVGA has best aesthetics, but lacks features. Probably they will include a real M.2 SSD port on the next board for Kaby Lake, but then I am sure they will worsen the aesthetics instead... Can't get both. Universal law.
 
dondan said:
A small update to the compatibility list:

Gigabyte GTX 1080 G1 = fit
Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! = fit
Inno3D GTX 1080 HerculeZ Twin X2 = fit
EVGA GTX 1080 FTW = fit


I include the list in the first post of this thread.
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Dan, congratulations on 1500 cases sold on Kickstarter.

It is amazing that virtually all the AIB 1080 cards that are not more than a few mm wider than double slot fit in this case (assuming that MSI gaming work with right angled power connectors). One thing that is on a few peoples minds is whether 3-fan GPUs would be noisy in this case as the fans will be partly covered by the non-ventelated areas of the case. It would be appreciated if you could share your experience of such GPUs if you get a chance to test them in the A4-SFX.
 
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Looks like cyrorig just came up with a similar idea called the Ola, implemented a la mac pro. Internally its similar to the A4, it takes a full size GFX card, an ITX board and SFX PSU



I own a macbook pro retina which I use to get my work done (my PC is purely for gaming) so I am an Apple fanboy at heart (go easy on me folks) but given a choice I'd still take the Dan A4 for a desk PC build...for a HTPC though, it's pretty close IMO
 
Blackreplica said:
Looks like cyrorig just came up with a similar idea called the Ola, implemented a la mac pro. Internally its similar to the A4, it takes a full size GFX card, an ITX board and SFX PSU



I own a macbook pro retina which I use to get my work done (my PC is purely for gaming) so I am an Apple fanboy at heart (go easy on my folks) but given a choice I'd still take the Dan A4 for a desk PC build...for a HTPC though, it's pretty close IMO
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and is HUGE as fuck!
 


Thoughts? I'm trying to figure out how I can watercool but still make it portable, so the thought right now is quick disconnects on the GPU side, it's just figuring out how I can realistically cool the CPU this way. May have to drill holes in the I/O panel on the CPU side or find a way to route the pipes internally so I don't modify the case.

I just realized I forgot to include the pump/reservoir on the side, but this is the thought.

-Charles
 
At the moment I have a Silverstone SF450G powersupply, but been eyeing the Corsair SF600 and SF450. Anybody in here with experience with these PSU's?

Also curious about the dimensions of the Corsair PSU's next to the Silverstone SF450
 
I own a Corsair SF450 and I think it's the best SFX unit so far. Zero annoying fan noise and no crashes yet. Voltage levels are really stable. The dimensions are exactly the same (64x100x125mm) because they both comply to the SFX size standard.
 
readeh said:
At the moment I have a Silverstone SF450G powersupply, but been eyeing the Corsair SF600 and SF450. Anybody in here with experience with these PSU's?

Also curious about the dimensions of the Corsair PSU's next to the Silverstone SF450
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I have the ST45SF-G and SF600. Both are great PSUs, but some people complain about the fan noise on the Silverstone.

What do you mean about the dimensions? They're the same size.
 
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