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

Ok so I finally finished building my dream pc (with RGB everything, even the desk!)

32039636164_0d1b6ab367_o.jpg

32882217375_60fb9cbd45_o.jpg



Rig:
Intel Core i7 6700k @ 4.4Ghz
Cryorig C7 CPU cooler
Gigabyte Z170N-Gaming 5
32GB G.Skill Trident Z 3000Mhz
Titan X (Pascal) Overclocked
DAN a4-sfx case
1tb Samsung 960 PRO m.2 SSD
Corsair Strafe RGB
Corsair MM800 RGB Polaris
Razer Mamba

I'm very happy with this case, I can't believe that you can fit all that power inside a shoebox sized case, and at lower temps than my old NODE 202 case!

The C7 does sound horrible when the fan is going all out though, sort of sounds like a handheld vacuum cleaner, i'll replace it later this week.




could you possibly share how you set up RGB LEDs in the A4-SFX case?

looks great :)
 
I Asked When Nexus Low 7000 R2 will be back in stock.

Got this Answer : "Thank you for your inquiry however the Nexus LOW-7000 CPU Coolers have been discontinued unfortunately"
 
Swapped out the C7 for the NH-L9i and it's much quieter, practically silent.

Haven't got the exact numbers but it also seems to running up to 10c cooler than the C7 which seems a bit odd.

Running with a i7 6700 (65w) so unless your using a K version CPU I'd imagine it would cover most use cases.

Also would definitely be interested in a Dan cooler, would happily pay in the £100 range it it could cool a K series and stay cool quiet.
 
Swapped out the C7 for the NH-L9i and it's much quieter, practically silent.

Haven't got the exact numbers but it also seems to running up to 10c cooler than the C7 which seems a bit odd.

Running with a i7 6700 (65w) so unless your using a K version CPU I'd imagine it would cover most use cases.

Also would definitely be interested in a Dan cooler, would happily pay in the £100 range it it could cool a K series and stay cool quiet.
I wonder if the C7 was extremely starved for air with the old fan.
 
Can you share a video of the C7 going all out?

Sure, here you go:



Idle fan speed = 930rpm

Then i did an instant jump to

100% fan speed = 2500rpm

Then i put the side cover on and did the same

No idea what the dB's are as i don't have the equipment to measure it. But the high pitched spinning when the side cover is on sure is annoying :p
 
The Nexus is nearly end of life and is hard to get it, so i thought about developing my own heatsink.
The heatsink will be very similar to the Nexus, but with more heatsinks and the option to mount a 120mm fan under it. It will include a bracket to shift the fan if you don't have low profile ram. I think about Noctua as manufacturer.

Will be somebody interested in something like this?

I'd be interested too.

I put in an order for the Nexus cooler on Amazon (US), but I don't think it will ship... which also caused me to miss the last one at Performance-PCs. I emailed Nexus, and they said it's been discontinued.

Another cooler that might be useful if modified would be http://www.thermalright.de/en/cooler/65/axp-100h-muscle but you'd need to trim the underside heatsink fins.
 
Sure, here you go:



Idle fan speed = 930rpm

Then i did an instant jump to

100% fan speed = 2500rpm

Then i put the side cover on and did the same

No idea what the dB's are as i don't have the equipment to measure it. But the high pitched spinning when the side cover is on sure is annoying :p



It's definitely the turbulent air flowing through the holes. If there was more space, you'd likely have more linear flow through the holes and less noise. The side of the case is acting as a fan grille because they are so close together.

THe honeycomb pattern from this test is similar to what we see here: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Effects-of-Grill-Patterns-on-Fan-Performance-Noise-107/
 
Receive de my case today.

Thanks Dan for your work.
I was t willing to start my build now, but after seeing the case, it s quite hard to refrain from ordering all the part!
I have the case and the nexus cooler.
Not sur if the cooler will work with the asus strix MB.

Thx again Dan, looking forward for this bestpoke cooler;)

i eagerly wait for your confirmation for strix z270i and the nexus cooler
 
could you possibly share how you set up RGB LEDs in the A4-SFX case?

looks great :)

Thanks!

Sure, I bought all these things:

http://**************/2kpKH1G

http://**************/2kpPjoN

http://**************/2l8p3U1

I put the main unit in the drawer of my desk to keep it out of the way

But i needed to extend the connection to the pc with:

http://**************/2l8tpe7

http://**************/2kkigHn

I got the sticky tape into three long lines, put them on the inside top, side (the inside of the front of the case), and inside bottom of the case on the gfx card side.

Then i cut the plastic sheath off of the LED strip (saves loads of space and is easier to bend without the sheath)

Then i stuck it onto the tape and attached a connector to the end and hung that out of the back of the case (that gap above the gfx card comes in handy!) and connected that to the extension wire.

The main box for the LED strip has 133 effects built into it. You can also attach two strips to the main box, i have one in my desk and one in the dan case, i'm not sure if you can control them individually though.

It was really easy to do, I installed the LED strip before i installed any of the other components.
 
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50mm is max but for example the thermalake apx-100 muscle at 52 mm is too much.

bought it (the AXP - 100 RH to be precise) I am planning on grinding this one down until it fits (no actual grinding involved).

I just spend a serious amount of money to get all CPU coolers which perform decent and fit in the case (even if they require some modding first) I am absolutely determent to make this PC as quiet as possible (hence the totally over the top PSU noise meassurement I did).
I also got a mic for audible frequency tests and a simble sonometer to test this coolers as soon as they arrive.

Dan, if you are able to deliver a better performing heatsink thanks to your superior (<- just a joke) German design and engineering skills I will buy it, no matter the price.
 
Ok so I finally finished building my dream pc (with RGB everything, even the desk!)

32039636164_0d1b6ab367_o.jpg

32882217375_60fb9cbd45_o.jpg



Rig:
Intel Core i7 6700k @ 4.4Ghz
Cryorig C7 CPU cooler
Gigabyte Z170N-Gaming 5
32GB G.Skill Trident Z 3000Mhz
Titan X (Pascal) Overclocked
DAN a4-sfx case
1tb Samsung 960 PRO m.2 SSD
Corsair Strafe RGB
Corsair MM800 RGB Polaris
Razer Mamba

I'm very happy with this case, I can't believe that you can fit all that power inside a shoebox sized case, and at lower temps than my old NODE 202 case!

The C7 does sound horrible when the fan is going all out though, sort of sounds like a handheld vacuum cleaner, i'll replace it later this week.



Can you please not embed 20+ MB images?
 
Thanks!

Sure, I bought all these things:

http://**************/2kpKH1G

http://**************/2kpPjoN

http://**************/2l8p3U1

I put the main unit in the drawer of my desk to keep it out of the way

But i needed to extend the connection to the pc with:

http://**************/2l8tpe7

http://**************/2kkigHn

I got the sticky tape into three long lines, put them on the inside top, side (the inside of the front of the case), and inside bottom of the case on the gfx card side.

Then i cut the plastic sheath off of the LED strip (saves loads of space and is easier to bend without the sheath)

Then i stuck it onto the tape and attached a connector to the end and hung that out of the back of the case (that gap above the gfx card comes in handy!) and connected that to the extension wire.

The main box for the LED strip has 133 effects built into it. You can also attach two strips to the main box, i have one in my desk and one in the dan case, i'm not sure if you can control them individually though.

It was really easy to do, I installed the LED strip before i installed any of the other components.

Thank you! This is great information.
 
Sure, here you go:



Idle fan speed = 930rpm

Then i did an instant jump to

100% fan speed = 2500rpm

Then i put the side cover on and did the same

No idea what the dB's are as i don't have the equipment to measure it. But the high pitched spinning when the side cover is on sure is annoying :p


Thanks man, that was eye-opening.

[ear-opening?]
 
No one has them yet. I have some on the way and will let everyone know if they fit once received. It will likely be early March though that I have everything and can build it. (Out of the country last week of February.)
 
The axp100h with buttom fan will only work with window kit. I already test that mod. The nexus is better.
 
Sure, here you go:



Idle fan speed = 930rpm

Then i did an instant jump to

100% fan speed = 2500rpm

Then i put the side cover on and did the same

No idea what the dB's are as i don't have the equipment to measure it. But the high pitched spinning when the side cover is on sure is annoying :p


This is the same sound my H100 with x2 fans in Ncase M1 makes when it ramps up it's speed with sidepanel on. So it's just too close to the sidepanel-problem :-(
 
TLDR If anyone plans to go with Cryorig C7 with the A4, don't do it! Buy Noctua L9i and be happy!

Today I swapped my C7 for the L9i and it really is night and day difference. At first I thought my system would not even POST, it is that silent. In idle you have to press your ear against the case to hear it.
Under load it gets audible, but it is barely louder than the C7 IN IDLE. Even the temps are, well, acceptable. They reached 85°C with the C7 aswell as the L9i, only that the C7 sounds like a jet engine.
Don't get me wrong, the C7 is a nice cooler and it served me well for half a year in an ATX case, but with the distance to the side panel so close it creates a horrible convection noise.
 
TLDR If anyone plans to go with Cryorig C7 with the A4, don't do it! Buy Noctua L9i and be happy!

Today I swapped my C7 for the L9i and it really is night and day difference. At first I thought my system would not even POST, it is that silent. In idle you have to press your ear against the case to hear it.
Under load it gets audible, but it is barely louder than the C7 IN IDLE. Even the temps are, well, acceptable. They reached 85°C with the C7 aswell as the L9i, only that the C7 sounds like a jet engine.
Don't get me wrong, the C7 is a nice cooler and it served me well for half a year in an ATX case, but with the distance to the side panel so close it creates a horrible convection noise.

So uhh anyone looking to buy a BNIB cryorig C7?
 
Anyone with the Corsair SF600 that think it's noisy? Mine is really loud under load.

I don't have a Dan A4 case so I cannot say for how it is in that case but my Sf600 is nearly silent. I barely hear it with my 4790k and gtx 1080 at full load. Even with both at 50% load the fan usually isn't even running on the sf600.
 
Has anyone mounted the noctua fan on the C7? I know everyone says it's the distance to the case but I suspect it could be worse in some fans. Also, if you have tried or plan to make sure to try it in push and in pull orientations...

Something else someone mentioned was mounting a 120mm fan in front of it, I don't think a 120mm fan would resonate like the C7, it could provide great airflow...
 

I'm not convinced the problem isn't fixable. I'll be trying a couple different solutions to see if I can't make it quieter when my case comes. Mostly because I don't think I could settle for the brown fan. I'm too deep into the black and white build and I can't go back now.
 
IIRC Nocua has some industrial series fans that are all black besides the mounting points in the corners
 
I was going to buy the C7 and try and mount some slim 12mm fans to the C7 to see if that alleviated the noise, but I decided to go with the LP53 instead. I encourage people with a C7 to try the large slim fan route before ditching it, there are 100mm and 120mm 3 pin options online from Scythe, each at 12mm thick, for about $12. One guinea pig on here could assist a lot of others who I know must be lurking this thread and wondering what to do. The extra 3mm of space plus the larger fan may make a difference. Or just try an A9x14 fan...
 
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Purely theoretical here, I don't have the exact C7, a slim 120mm fan to confirm, or even a DanA4 case, but based on theory,
- I would expect only minimal improvement if any for 1) thermal performance and 2) noise if we were to use a 120mm fan (of the same thickness)
- Proximity to the side panel is most important - need a slimmer fan.

Thermal performance
Most of the fans airflow comes from the outer diameter of the fan, (especially if the blades are not forward raked), therefore a 120mm fan will have most of its airflow go around/outside the heatsink rather than through it. So by size we get a larger dead zone, and then combine this with a larger motor hub we might not get as much air through the heatsink as numbers might suggest.
- This is certainly something to test!, I would be very interested.

Noise performance
Noise wise, the turbulence is because of the close proximity to the perforated case panel. If we had a 120mm the same distance from the side panel, the noise would still be there. The only saving grace is a reduction in the frequency of the sound due to the lower RPMs of the 120mm, and hopefully a slight reduction in amplitude.

I think the biggest difference will be creating distance between the side panel and the fan. So the thickness of the fan is the most important factor here.

Gaining a few mm will make a huge difference and might be what is needed. This means simply using a Noctua 14mm, or any other slim fan is your first move. The Scythe 120/100mm offerings at 12mm thickness is also a good choice but are not known for good static pressure(pulling air through case panels, filters) and are not PWM compatible (not really an issue with good voltage control, and I think those fans have reasonable starting voltages)

Someone suggested milling a few mm of the top of the C7 fins, not easy but should further improve the noise, especially if paired with a slimmer fan.

I would love to see what the actual performance will be like with all of the above combinations, and I am already stocking up on most of the different fan sizes. Once it all arrives, the testing begins.
 
One other thing to note about the Scythe slim fans is there are multiple versions based on max RPM's. I bought the highest-rated 120mm and 100mm ones, rated at 45 CFM and 27 CFM, respectively, (both at 2000RPM) thinking it is better to start high and then from there try 7v and 5v.

I think there are some 10mm 80mm fans even, but that might be getting too small.
 
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Low Profile DDR4:

Super Talent

4GB F21VEA8GS DDR4 2133 R-DIMM 15-15-15
8GB F21VEA4GS DDR4 2133 R-DIMM 15-15-15

Transcend
4GB TS512MHR72V1HL DDR4 2133 R-DIMM 15-15-15
8GB TS1GHR72V1HL DDR4 2133 R-DIMM 15-15-15
16GB TS2GHR72V1BL DDR4 2133 R-DIMM 15-15-15
16GB TS2GHR72V1CL DDR4 2133 R-DIMM 15-15-15
16GB TS2GHR72V4CL DDR4 2400 R-DIMM 17-17-17

The Transcend modules are available in Europe

By the way: If you use Nexus + A9x14 you can use normal RAM.

R-DIMM does not work on normal desktop motherboards.

AFAIK the ECC-feature won't work, but you still have a chance that UDIMM ECC sticks can be used without the ECC feature. With RDIMM and RDIMM ECC you don't have this chance. I hope I'm not speaking rubbish :D

Correct

What about these? crucial ct16g4xfd824a
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ct16g4xfd824a
Accoding to some German web-shops, they will be avaible in three weeks.

ECC UDIMM "Unbuffered" should work according to Asrock (operate in non-ECC mode).

258a49af5b.png
 
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R-DIMM does not work on normal desktop motherboards.



Correct



ECC UDIMM "Unbuffered" should work according to Asrock (operate in non-ECC mode).

258a49af5b.png

Well I ordered two ct16g4xfd824a 16gb udimm very low profile. It's out of stock, and they might cancel my order, but if it goes through, we'll see if it works
 
Well I ordered two ct16g4xfd824a 16gb udimm very low profile. It's out of stock, and they might cancel my order, but if it goes through, we'll see if it works
I think there are some alternatives from Micron and Supermicro.
For Innodisk, this is their reply:
For your reference, Innodisk is focusing on B2B (business to business) business, so currently we don’t have plan to sell into retail market such as Amazon, E-Bay etc..
If consumer has demand to our product, we will sell to our distributor and distributor will fulfill the needs.
 
Can someone give me the measurement here? I'm guessing like 60mm or so? I have a kinda crazy idea and I just want to see if it'll pan out. I think you guys will like it. I need it from the edge of the GPU to the floor of the "basement" where the SSD would be mounted (still inside the case). Thanks!

ps. It's important!

YtTXdTy.jpg
 
Anyone looking to go with custom cables, unless it's 100% for aesthetics reasons, I'd wait and see how you fare. I was fairly certain the cables would be so long to be airflow restrictive. And the first time I put everything together (following Dan's instructions) that was the case. But after carefully considering how to better route them, I'm happy to stick with the original cables. One good thing about them being stiff is that once bent, they retain the shape.
 

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I measured 50mm with my ASUS GTX 970 Mini, but the type of video card should not matter here.
No, it shouldn't... Anyway, I made a little mock-up with cardboard to get custom cable lengths and I was looking at my SF600 PSU thinking, there's a lot of wasted space down there once I have the more manageable custom cables...hmmm. A 120mm cooler wouldn't fit so I started to see if there was a 92mm AIO cooler on the market and there is!

I'm not sure if this will work now or not based off the 50mm measurement, but I found this tiny AIO manufactured by Asetek. As many as you know Asetek basically invented the AIO cooler. They manufacture all of Corsair's and NZXT's coolers to this day. The rad is 92 x 92 x 30 with no fan... I thought if I were to fabricate a fan window where the SSD/HDD mount is, maybe I could liquid cool this beast out the bottom! I mean it's still possible I suppose. 60mm would have been a lot better, but with some minor modding/slim fan it could work! The only downside to this of course is figuring out a way to get air around the mainboard. But there could be a fan suspended above the heatsink via threaded sleeve nuts/standoffs coming off the mounting hardware... I dunno. Just an idea as I researched the best form of cooling. Thoughts? It's hard when you don't have the case in front of you... I feel like I'm forgetting about something that might cause interference...
 
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The axp100h with buttom fan will only work with window kit. I already test that mod. The nexus is better.

Sadly I can't get the Nexus from anywhere because it isn't produced anymore and all vendors are out of stock.
I know that the AXP-100 RH won't just fit inside like that but I will just make it fit.
 
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