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

Blackreplica said:
Cinebench alone isnt nearly tough enough. You need to run a proper cpu stress test like intel extreme utility and then run your GPU 100% which dumps more heat into the chassis while the cpu is taxed. just my opinion
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A single 77C peak after the asus intel extreme tuning stresstest. prime95 just somehow clocks down to 4.5...maybe because of avx. (otherwise same results)
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CknSalad said:
Have you tested with games?
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I played LoL at high settings around 60fps...stock igpu clocks. Gw2 on medium settings at 65fps, Tf2 high sttings around 140-180fps varies though... and AC 3 &revelations at min. settings around 30-55 fps depending on the amount of npcs running around..
seems like the dancase is holding everything well tight even without having to upgrade to the lp53 heatsink.
next i will buy a Monitor & a 1080ti.
 
Blackreplica said:
I got restless and ordered an LP53 so I decided to put it head to head against my C7 heatsink and use the winner

C7 vs LP53 Test

Specs:

Stock Intel 7700K used for this test. Undervolted to 1.12V and clocked at 4.3GHz
Asus Strix Z270i Gaming (bear in mind default settings on this board will overclock the 7700K to 4.5GHz on all cores)
Noctua a9x14 fan on both heatsinks
Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste
GTX 970 mini (waiting for my FTW3 to arrive)
Identical CPU and GPU fan curves (above 75 degrees, the CPU fan runs at 100% anyway)
LP53 is mounted with the heatpipe curve pointing down
C7 heatsink is mounted with heatpipes facing side to side

Test 1: Intel Extreme Utility Stress Test + Uniengine Heaven Loop, running concurrently for 1 hour, heatsink swapped, then test done again
Ambient conditions: Ambient 28-30 deg C. No airflow where the computer is situated. I literally had sweat on my brow the whole time sitting at my computer while running the test, so it was a pretty hard test

LP53 + Noctua A9x14: Averaging 91-92 degrees with occasional maximum spikes into 96-98 degrees

C7 + Noctua A9x14: Averaging 88-89 degrees with occasional maximum spikes into 93-94 degrees

Test 2: Observing temps on BF1

LP53 + Noctua A9x14: 85 degrees average (max 88 degrees) while gaming with maximum spikes into 90 degrees during map loading

C7 + Noctua A9x14: 81 degrees average (max 83 degrees) while gaming with maximum spikes into 87 degrees during map loading

My honest opinion:

The LP53 is pretty overrated. Sure, its made of copper, but thats the only good thing about it compared to the C7. It is absolutely dinky in size (similar to the NH-L9i size) and only has 2 heatpipes. Using it with the Noctua fan, a lot of available height for the CPU cooler is not used, and therefore wasted. Material type alone will not overcome the lack of fin surface area, especially since the size differences between the 2 heatsinks is so large. I also like the mounting solution of the C7 heatsink better (with a backplate under the motherboard). Plus it is also much easier (not to mention more elegant) to mount the noctua fan to the C7 heatsink compared to the LP53, because the fan is about the same diameter as the C7 heatsink, whereas it is larger than the LP53 heatsink.

I would take the LP53 over the NH-L9i, but with my setup, the C7 heatsink is clearly superior to the LP53 by 3-4 degrees on all loads
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How did you managed to mound Noctua's fan on C7? Can you share a photo? How is the noise level?
 
Kennedy Kolmes said:
I have finally got the last parts for my build and here is the result :)

wnvg1Ir.jpg

3b5ZExF.jpg


The list of current components:

Ryzen 1700
Biostar X370GTN
Cryorig C7 & Thermalright TY100
Sapphire RX570 8GB
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15
Corsair SF450
Samsung 960EVO 256GB
Crucial MX300 525GB

The RAM is currently running only on 2133 and I will probably change the RX570 with a Vega in the future. Next week I will receive a window kit and some led strips.
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How is the clearance for ram with this cooler? What temps do you get?
Did you bought C7 with AM4 mount kit or you had to order it separately through their web site?
 
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Kennedy Kolmes said:
I have finally got the last parts for my build and here is the result :)

wnvg1Ir.jpg

3b5ZExF.jpg


The list of current components:

Ryzen 1700
Biostar X370GTN
Cryorig C7 & Thermalright TY100
Sapphire RX570 8GB
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15
Corsair SF450
Samsung 960EVO 256GB
Crucial MX300 525GB

The RAM is currently running only on 2133 and I will probably change the RX570 with a Vega in the future. Next week I will receive a window kit and some led strips.
Click to expand...

Also, what clock speeds are you running at for the Ryzen 1700?
 
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Yeah I don't see the point. You still need to cart around the dock that has all the plugs in it...which the PC already has? Am I missing something?
 
What modular semi-passive PSU I should consider buying?
I need it to power 1060 and Ryzen 1700, so that's like 400 Watt PSU, and I'd love if it would use a temperature sensors to start fan, instead of power draw
 
Update:

Survey:

Here is the result of the survey with 280 votes in total:

formotk7g.jpg


As you can see 48% of the participants vote for the DAN cutout so it will be available on the Kickstarter kampaign.


Kickstarter

Currently I am in the process of creating the Kickstarter campaign for the A4-SFX v2. As you maybe know my english isn't the best so I need your help.
If you are a native english speaker and you have skills in writing and grammar please please contact me over the HardForum message system and help me proofreading the text for the campaign.


New Pictures

Here are some of the new pictures from the A4-SFX v2 with black background for my website:

a4sfx_168jg4.jpg


a4sfx_2ulk6e.jpg


a4sfx_3ykj6t.jpg


a4sfx_4x2kpa.jpg


a4sfx_5nbjyb.jpg


a4sfx_60qj3f.jpg


a4sfx_7m9jff.jpg


a4sfx_8rak76.jpg


a4sfx_9f5je2.jpg


One preview with white background:

dan-cases-00509jc8.jpg



With best regards

Daniel Hansen
 
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Julio Espinosa said:
MMMMhhhh yeah.
But I prefer to have an option than not having it.
It's 40Gb/s
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I'm with you there!

Modular PC's are fast approaching the market.

Once Apple does it, I think we will see a rush to stripped down NUC style PC boxes with eGPU docks.

I can personally tell you being able to take an eGPU from office to home is pretty convenient.

It makes on of sense for business consumers and PC laptop manufacturers. They can sell higher sticker SKUs (Laptops) at a faster and more constant clip.

Currently, other than external fast storage, its difficult to find a mainstream reason for it on a decked out PC.
 

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dondan said:
Update:

Survey:

Here is the result of the survey with 280 votes in total:

formotk7g.jpg


As you can see 48% of the participants vote for the DAN cutout so it will be available on the Kickstarter kampaign.


Kickstarter

Currently I am in the process of creating the Kickstarter campaign for the A4-SFX v2. As you maybe know my english isn't the best so I need your help.
If you are a native english speaker and you have skills in writing and grammar please please contact me over the HardForum message system and help me proofreading the text for the campaign.


New Pictures

Here are some of the new pictures from the A4-SFX v2 with black background for my website:

a4sfx_168jg4.jpg


a4sfx_2ulk6e.jpg


a4sfx_3ykj6t.jpg


a4sfx_4x2kpa.jpg


a4sfx_5nbjyb.jpg


a4sfx_60qj3f.jpg


a4sfx_7m9jff.jpg


a4sfx_8rak76.jpg


a4sfx_9f5je2.jpg



With best regards

Daniel Hansen
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You should take an officiall promo pic with that all in one cooler for the CPU, it promotes flexibility.
 
No USB-C in front panel for v2? I'am expecting/hoping/wishing Type-C will be the norm by then.
 
Beautiful, as always. Wasn't hot on either of the window kit cut out designs, but the possibility of increasing the standoffs for the window to slightly increase cooler compatibility, which might obviate any concern with airflow anyways, is intriguing.

Or, go nuts and discard the window entirely and just use the giant hole to install some tower monstrosity. :D
 
Maybe a stretchgoal on the ks campaign, but USB-C is very expansive $20.000 tooling + $10 for each with a MOQ of 2000. So if I include it for 2000 cases it will costs me $20 for each. I think if I sell 4000+ cases I will add it but not before.
 
dondan said:
1. Rubber feets instead of metal feets for better grip with the same look
2. 92mm case fan mount point if you not use the hdd bay ( will also support Asetek 92mm AIO)
3. A cover plate for the GPU mounting hole
4. Better centered USB front port
5. Stamp-in motherboard stand-off instead of screwed ones
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Awesome!

#3 was the only thing holding me back from preordering the V1 version.
 
I think you should remove the front USB... would look so much better without it... Was there ever a survey of V1 users on utilization of the front USB?
 
yeah, no, that front usb port gets used all the time when the xbox360 controller needs to be charged while palying :p
 
illram said:
Yeah I don't see the point. You still need to cart around the dock that has all the plugs in it...which the PC already has? Am I missing something?
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You don't take the dock with you, you buy two of them, leave one at work and one at home for example. Then you can just plug one cable for data and your power cord and your ready to go.
 
Hi, question about the Thermalright AXP 100 (and any of its variations)

Is it possible to remove this bracket that holds the fan ? Planning on buying the window kit and it looks ugly with it

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Maybe by removing these 4 screws (at the front & back) ?

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Sold my 1080TI for 900CAD today, im without a GPU until my Elite FTW3 ships on the 22nd, I should probably get around to powder coating this weekend, hopefully i don't ruin the ram covers trying to separate them.

Im planning to spray RAM covers, PSU housing, and my mobo heat spreaders lime green, maybe the outside of my noctua fan frame as well.

The lime green 1080 ti ftw3 shroud should be large enough to match the amount of lime color on the other side of the case. And it also matches my Plank mech I purchased off of massdrop in lime green with white keys.

I wont be spraying those green until at least the card comes in, I cant afford to spray before matching the color, so right now its just deciding upon the final color of the A4 case: Pearl white, or a flat Smoke grey.

Pearl white has a really nice shine effect to it, similar in example here: http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20130103/zapudysa.jpg

flat Smoke grey would look really nice with the green painted components inside, an example of the color here: http://www.powderkegcoatings.com/wp-content/gallery/pc/smoke-gray.jpg

I'm really torn between the 2, I feel like i should lean towards the pearl white because the shiny luminescent effect would make me feel like im not wasting my efforts to powder coat it, while the Smoke grey appears not too far off the current colors in black or silver, making me feel like it would be a burn of money to color it that way, but it is the safer color to choose.

And i'll do custom sleeving later on, because who cares?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯



Any thoughts?
 
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