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

antioch said:
I've also been debating between the two and, while I'll likely get the 450W, I'm most concerned with heat and noise. Though the PSU is "Gold" certified, it's only efficient in this range at half load, not full load, so I wonder if, in the interest of heat and silence, it's better to get the 650W and use it at partial load?
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The efficiency difference will be too small to matter (and if the computer is more often run in idle than in load it could actually be worse, since efficiency at low loads is usually worse the higher the power rating the psu has), but a psu with a higher power rating may have beefier heatsinks and could thus be quieter (if the fan is run at a lower rpm) in practice. I'd pick the one that is generally considered quieter, regardless of power rating.
 
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backfeed said:
The efficiency difference will be too small to matter (and if the computer is more often run in idle than in load it could actually be worse, since efficiency at low loads is usually worse the higher the power rating the psu has), but a psu with a higher power rating may have beefier heatsinks and could thus be quieter (if the fan is run at a lower rpm) in practice. I'd pick the one that is generally considered quieter, regardless of power rating.
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The 450 and 600 have the same fan - or at least they did when reviewed - so the 600 may have a harder time cooling a higher load. Tom's reviewed both, so everyone on the fence go and read the reviews already!
 
crisisv87akd said:
Although it won't need constant 300, but it can ramp up to 300w when it comes to OC versions. I'm going SF-450 +1070 too.
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the graph you linked is the system load, not video card! very few sites measure or estimate the actual video card power load. guru3d tried, and here they find the 1070/1080 using up to 180 watts under synthetic load MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming X review

techpowerup found similar results, with the reference 1070 using 150W in a game, but the MSI non-reference using 193W. MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X 8 GB Review
 
The SF600 can deliver much power than 600W, i see reviews and some info where this PSU can reach 650-700W

So i think (MAYBE) the SF450 can go up to 500W if the system need it.
 
In some review (i don't remember which one but it was detailed and professional) they measured the SF450 could deliver 515W continuously before safety shutdown.
 
I would say GTX 1080 or below is fine with the SF450. SF600 for a the 225-250W TDP highest tier GPUs, but I have read that it ran quite noisy running a 980 TI build. This is probably due to it being a lot harder to cool down a fairly high wattage 600w SFX psu.

The Asus Strix Gaming 8GB GTX 1080 review by HardOCP takes 311W (no OC) under gaming loads with a i5 6600k@4.5GHz. I would say that the worst under gaming loads would be in the low 300-325W system at the wall. I guess it is great for future/upcoming Dan A4 owners since the clock speeds that third party vendors have are so close to the possible max OC you can achieve (within 2-3 FPS for most games at 1440P).
 
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CknSalad said:
I would say GTX 1080 or below is fine with the SF450. SF600 for a the 225-250W TDP highest tier GPUs, but I have read that it ran quite noisy running a 980 TI build. This is probably due to it being a lot harder to cool down a fairly high wattage 600w SFX psu.

The Asus Strix Gaming 8GB GTX 1080 review by HardOCP takes 311W (no OC) under gaming loads with a i5 6600k@4.5GHz. I would say that the worst under gaming loads would be in the low 300-325W system at the wall. I guess it is great for future/upcoming Dan A4 owners since the clock speeds that third party vendors have are so close to the possible max OC you can achieve (within 2-3 FPS for most games at 1440P).
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Where did you see that a 980Ti build ran noisy? I've got a 980Ti and am planning to replace my SX600-G with either the SF450 or 600. I think I was already leaning toward the 600, but hoping it wasn't going to be noisy. (Though I guess if it's quieter than the SX600-G, that's progress.)
 
CknSalad said:
Reddit - 980 TI + 6700K (Last Post By nonah)
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Thank you so much! He said that "980ti + 6700k, which draws 380W from the wall when being tortured" and someone else said he was getting 300W readings from the wall with a Titan and 6700K. I might opt for the SF450 after all. I've just seen conflicting numbers from calculators (which I know are approximations only) for recommended wattage, but most user input has seems to go toward the 450 being good enough for a 6700K/980 Ti. Thank you again.
 
barvis said:
Thank you so much! He said that "980ti + 6700k, which draws 380W from the wall when being tortured" and someone else said he was getting 300W readings from the wall with a Titan and 6700K. I might opt for the SF450 after all. I've just seen conflicting numbers from calculators (which I know are approximations only) for recommended wattage, but most user input has seems to go toward the 450 being good enough for a 6700K/980 Ti. Thank you again.
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My guess is that it was Furmark + prime95 (or w/e heavy cpu benchmark tool). The 980 TI is more power hungry than the Titan in Furmark and we do not know if it was a reference or non-reference. The titan I am guessing was reference and not overclocked.

I will wait for the upcoming 500w Silverstone SFX psu (92mm fan version) and based on reviews will get that or the SF450. I wish that Corsair made a SF500 instead of a SF450 as it is the best in terms of wattage and noise for really small mini-itx builds like the Dan A4.
 
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barvis I also read through a few Reddit threads where a good portion agree that idle noise is better in comparison to the SFX-L 500w and SX-600G (both Silverstone). However, on gaming loads, it is still by far the loudest pc part. Unfortunately, I think for a good while, 450-500w SFX psus are going to be the most optimal in terms of noise, while easily powering <200W TDP GPUs.
 
CknSalad said:
barvis I also read through a few Reddit threads where a good portion agree that idle noise is better in comparison to the SFX-L 500w and SX-600G (both Silverstone). However, on gaming loads, it is still by far the loudest pc part. Unfortunately, I think for a good while, 450-500w SFX psus are going to be the most optimal in terms of noise, while easily powering <200W TDP GPUs.
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What GPU are you running? A 980 Ti as well? I swear the more I read, the more unsure I am of what PSU to put in my A4.
 
Oh well. Some very enligtening information I'm reading here. Too late for me though since I already picked up my SF600. More headroom can never hurt I guess
 
Blackreplica said:
Oh well. Some very enligtening information I'm reading here. Too late for me though since I already picked up my SF600. More headroom can never hurt I guess
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I think you should be fine for many years. I am more sensitive to noise than most, so the SF450 is more for me especially since I will just get a GTX 1070 or similar card. I just do not see the point in getting a >$400 GPU. A 450w should be fine for GTX 1070 or lower Priced GPU builds.
 
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a shortened ITX gtx 1070 by MSI is out!!!
this should change how we (I) decide the layout of the machine, with the addition of 3.5" HDD maybe possible... I'm interested to see how they perform compared to the full size 1070 and/or the 1080.
also waiting eagerly for the new AMD cards... the RX480 was a good introduction of what is to come imo.
whiskey does weird things to people. :)
 
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Eggyegg said:
a shortened ITX gtx 1070 by MSI is out!!!
this should change how we (I) decide the layout of the machine, with the addition of 3.5" HDD maybe possible... I'm interested to see how they perform compared to the full size 1070 and/or the 1080.
also waiting eagerly for the new AMD cards... the RX480 was a good introduction of what is to come imo.
whiskey does weird things to people. :)
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Not to be mean, but that is a Gigabyte ITX version. I am pretty sure that Asus and MSI will eventually come out with their own mini ITX versions.
 
Eggyegg said:
a shortened ITX gtx 1070 by MSI is out!!!
this should change how we (I) decide the layout of the machine, with the addition of 3.5" HDD maybe possible... I'm interested to see how they perform compared to the full size 1070 and/or the 1080.
also waiting eagerly for the new AMD cards... the RX480 was a good introduction of what is to come imo.
whiskey does weird things to people. :)
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Or a 120mm AIO. It doesn't seem very practical, but a bracket that accommodates either a 3.5" drive or a 120mm rad would definitely increase the versatility/value of the case. There is 45mm of clearance between the PSU and the graphics-card-side panel. With a 25-30mm rad and a 15mm slim fan, such as this one from SilverStone:

FW Series FW121

you should be able to install an AIO with the tubes routed south of the RAM and thru the hole under the PSU, and connecting to rad fittings facing down. That may prevent usage of the SSD cage, or limit it to one drive, but there is an additional SSD spot behind the front panel, plus you can use an M.2. Then the question is how much better would a 25-30mm single rad + slim fan pressed against a PSU perform compared to the Cryorig C7. I think a fair amount better. And the system would look absolutely sick. Won't require any major changes to the case, just a bracket and some holes to accommodate it.
 
Those itx-gfx are getting popular. It'd be cool if PSU's would follow the same route to make a smaller Dan A3. A shuttle-like psu can save like 8cm in depth, or about 5.5l total
 
jjsyht said:
Those itx-gfx are getting popular. It'd be cool if PSU's would follow the same route to make a smaller Dan A3. A shuttle-like psu can save like 8cm in depth, or about 5.5l total
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You mean an A5? :ROFLMAO: What you're looking for is the new FSP FlexATX 500W PSU (see iFreilicht's thread on this). They are quite a bit smaller than SFX, but also make a LOT of noise with their rear mounted 40mm fans. They're meant for servers, but it's possible to optimize them for consumer use, that is put a big fan on the side of them. But that hasn't happened yet. iFreilicht is trying get them out to consumers. Hutzy's 4L case may use them too.

As far as "ITX" graphics cards (I really hope that name sticks) -- I don't understand how ASRock can make an ITX X99 motherboard that can fit an LGA 2011-3 chip on it and is so dense you can't see the PCB from all the connections and chips, but graphics card manufacturers can't cram a 1080 onto a short card. HBM memory will certainly help, then they will have no excuse. Also, those DVI links have to go, so single slot watercooled versions are possible. /rant over
 
It will be your choice what my next project will be. I have 3 case layouts in my pipe and one completely new idea. I will make a poll in early 2017 where you can vote for your favorite project. But for now I have to put all my energy in the A4-SFX project. So we can talk about new projects in January.
 
QuantumBraced said:
Also, those DVI links have to go, so single slot watercooled versions are possible. /rant over
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I agree 1000%...they really have to do away with DVI. I understand some may still use them but high end cards like the 1070 and 1080 should be single slot when watercooled. I may be wrong but most ppl using high end cards are most likely using HDMI or DP.
 
jtd871 said:
The 450 and 600 have the same fan - or at least they did when reviewed - so the 600 may have a harder time cooling a higher load. Tom's reviewed both, so everyone on the fence go and read the reviews already!
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I thought the 600 was SFX-L? Doesn't really make sense to put an 80mm fan in a SFX-L unit when it can fit 120mm

Aircoookie said:
In some review (i don't remember which one but it was detailed and professional) they measured the SF450 could deliver 515W continuously before safety shutdown.
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Good guy Corsair, underrating their PSUs instead of overrating them unlike some people *glares menacingly at OEMs*

Curiositie said:
Awesome!
Although 2x DVI is kind of stupid.
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Agreed. If you REALLY need DVI, adapters are like $5. The least manufacturers could do is use Mini DVI.

QuantumBraced said:
Or a 120mm AIO. It doesn't seem very practical, but a bracket that accommodates either a 3.5" drive or a 120mm rad would definitely increase the versatility/value of the case. (...)
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Don't forget my side panel idea!

jjsyht said:
Those itx-gfx are getting popular. It'd be cool if PSU's would follow the same route to make a smaller Dan A3. A shuttle-like psu can save like 8cm in depth, or about 5.5l total
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This would be so epic!
 
dondan said:
It will be your choice what my next project will be. I have 3 case layouts in my pipe and one completely new idea. I will make a poll in early 2017 where you can vote for your favorite project. But for now I have to put all my energy in the A4-SFX project. So we can talk about new projects in January.
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Don't make me buy another case :D
 
itschop said:
Anyone think the Sapphire 480 will fit? Has a weird lip at the top that goes past the backplate.
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It should as long as the connector is not on the side of the card where it exapnds past the bracket

a4sfx_2.jpg
 
Coming from an EVGA Hadron Air with its super noisy PSU fan I really don't want to deal with noise :( I think there were problems where the fan was noisier than normal on the firsts batches.

"I'll tell my grandfather I'm finally a baker as he always wanted me to be, he'll be proud"
 
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ranix said:
In french : Le « dissipateur cinétique » serait proche de la commercialisation

70W dissipation.
Still no date. It will be so nice to associate this Kind of solution in The A4.
Is 70W enough for a highend CPU?
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On the Coolchip FB, they specifically say "for locked Skylake". There is a larger high end cooler with multiple heat pipes, but the prototype is 55mm tall, so unless the final release is somewhat shorter it looks like it won't fit the A4-SFX.
 
what will happen if you cut/sand the heatpipes (vapor chamber) in the HPC model???

coolchip.png
coolchip2.png


I know it sounds stupid, and it will get messed up, but it will probably fit right?

I made a search for a video of someone cutting/piercing a heatsink heatpipe with no luck...

Using the first picture as a reference, if we cut the heatpipes at the edge, it will be 47mm/48mm tall, making it fit in the case, just like the Cryorig C7...

But about cutting the heatpipes.... I don't know guys, pretty sure it's a bad idea...


Also there is the ram limitation, check this out:
coolchip3.png
 
Pantera_666 said:
what will happen if you cut/sand the heatpipes (vapor chamber) in the HPC model???

View attachment 4947 View attachment 4948

I know it sounds stupid, and it will get messed up, but it will probably fit right?

I made a search for a video of someone cutting/piercing a heatsink heatpipe with no luck...

Using the first picture as a reference, if we cut the heatpipes at the edge, it will be 47mm/48mm tall, making it fit in the case, just like the Cryorig C7...

But about cutting the heatpipes.... I don't know guys, pretty sure it's a bad idea...


Also there is the ram limitation, check this out:
View attachment 4949
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If they're just copper pipes, not much. If they're vapor chamber, the whole thing wouldn't work anymore.
 
Hello! I am new to the forum and recently started to look around for a SFF case. I really like DAN's A4 design but after following the thread it seems than the kickstarter campaign is over. Any idea how to order? Is it still possible in some way? I subscribed in the website to get notified as well. Just wondering if there are other options.
 
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