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

Checking in from Honolulu, Hawaii! Finally got my case. Eventually, I want to try and see if I can fit some watercooling into this thing. I see that others are already on the job, which is pretty exciting! Thanks Dan for this awesome engineering of a case.
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HoodedHusky said:
Can confirm that.

Was running with the Cryoig + TY-100 fan and was getting a max of 71 deg C (prime 95, delidded + liquid metal + no I/O shield + 4mm Standoffs + hifi feet), with "ok" noise levels (but which was SIGNIFICANTLY better than the Cryoig + C7 fan).

I have previously tried AXP-100H MUSCLE (max 87 deg C), and the Nexus 7000 low R2 (max of 76 deg C). Both pre-delids.

Today I swapped to LP53 + NF-A9 (92mm x 25mm fan), and am now getting a max of 64 deg C (prime 95 @ over 30 mins run time) with very impressive low noise levels (noticeably better than the TY-100 fan). To be honest, I can not see how this could be easily improved!
I have tried to capture the sound levels here....



Edit: For whats it worth, if I change the motherboard setting from a "normal" to a very aggressive fan cure you can obviously hear the fan more with the noise level probably about the same as Cryoig + TY-100, but the max temps are now 56 deg C (@ prime for 23 mins). Quite simple, it seems as if airflow wins here.
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So, do you think I would be fine to order: http://noctua.at/en/products/product-line-industrial/nf-f12-industrialppc-3000-pwm & it would fit?

The reason I would want to order that fan is because it is a Noctua fan & it is all black.

My other concern is that it may not fit with the Asus Strix Motherboard. Does anyone know if it would?
 
mcheddadi said:
It'll fit mounted directly to the inside of the side panel if using a lp53 without removing any heatsink though :)
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The tall IO heatsink is about 36mm high. So you have about 11-12mm between that and the side panel, so it still won't fit, unless I suppose you put it way off center, hanging over the RAM?

Mark Casteel said:
Good to know! I will most likely go with the bequiet fan. Mainly because it will mount tiredly to the LP53.
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That's the problem though. You cannot mount a 120mm fan directly to the LP53 on the Strix mobo unless removing the IO heatsink. I tried this and posted ad nauseum about it with lots of ugly pictures and stuff....;)

Keep in mind the LP53 sits under even normal height (30mm) RAM so you will always have at least a mm or 2 or 3 between the fan and the LP53. If you remove the heatsink you can just rest it on the RAM and the wifi module, with whatever attachments you want to the LP53 (or anywhere else, really).
 
richiegore said:
I can't decide whether a dynatron t318 with a 25mm noctua or a dynatron t408r1 cut down to 38mm with a 14mm noctua would be better... Both would be with ~3mm standoffs... Anyone have any thoughts?
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I have 4mm standoffs. A T318 with a Noctua 92x25mm fan fits but the fan is mashed up against the side of the case. It makes a horrible whining noise and I'm not sure if another 1 mm of clearance will be enough. As for your second idea, you'll have the same problem unless you cut down the T408 down to about T318 size. The T318 does well with a Noctua 92x14mm or TY100 fan, even with a mild overclock, and I think that's the best us narrow ILM users will do until Dan's heatsink is available.
 
illram said:
The tall IO heatsink is about 36mm high. So you have about 11-12mm between that and the side panel, so it still won't fit, unless I suppose you put it way off center, hanging over the RAM?



That's the problem though. You cannot mount a 120mm fan directly to the LP53 on the Strix mobo unless removing the IO heatsink. I tried this and posted ad nauseum about it with lots of ugly pictures and stuff....;)

Keep in mind the LP53 sits under even normal height (30mm) RAM so you will always have at least a mm or 2 or 3 between the fan and the LP53. If you remove the heatsink you can just rest it on the RAM and the wifi module, with whatever attachments you want to the LP53 (or anywhere else, really).
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Yeah, I figured I was looking at height before even posting that. But, I was hoping I was wrong. This is why it is important to always be ready with another option. I do appreciate the information & confirmation. I am just happy to hear that a 25mm fan will fit with the heatsink in the case without any modifications to the case.
 
Petroj said:
Yeah, that's the size of the Wraith Spire, I want to know the dimensions of the Wraith Stealth which seems to be a lower version of basically the same cooler:)
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Whoops, yea. The thing I've noticed about the spire/stealth cooler is the fan seems to be a bit recessed, looks like it takes up a bit of space... The fan spacings seems to be 80mm so it should be easy enough to put any 92mm fan on it with only slight modification to the fan...
 
Update:

A4-SFX v.2.0 and window kits will be available in may 2017 on Kickstarter!


Because I have so many interests on that case, I will do a second Kickstarter campaign for version 2.0 end of May 2017. Also the window kit will be available in this campaign. If you already have a spot on Caseking or Overclockers.uk don't worry you will also get the version 2.0. But my resellers aren’t able to make a order that everyone will get a case, so I will be on Kickstarter again to give everybody the chance to get an A4-SFX case.

I think this will your last chance to get an 100% guaranteed spot for an A4-SFX, because I will focus on a new project after this and maybe only a few will find a way on retail market in 2018.(The new project will not be finished before end 2018)

The price for the A4-SFX v 2.0 will the identical to 2016.

Regards
Daniel
 
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Mark Casteel said:
Yeah, I figured I was looking at height before even posting that. But, I was hoping I was wrong. This is why it is important to always be ready with another option. I do appreciate the information & confirmation. I am just happy to hear that a 25mm fan will fit with the heatsink in the case without any modifications to the case.
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If I was putting a 120mm fan on my LP53 I would use a low profile 120mm fan, due to the turbulence noise caused by the 25mm fan being right up against the side panel, and use some small bits of low profile 3M dual lock on the wifi module and my RAM to secure it. I did it previously with a mix of zip ties and rubber bands and it was a pain. My RAM is 31mm and basically the same height as the wifi module and a 120mm fan rests perfectly on the edges of those two components in the Strix. (Again, only if you remove the IO heatsink...)

In the attached pic you can see how it might work (or not). Note the IO heatsink is gone, so you're looking at shifting the fan significantly over the RAM and possibly touching the PSU/overhanging the ATX cable to get it to fit if you're not removing the IO heatsink, since you can't fit a 25mm fan on top of that (36mm+25mm = not in the Dan case). IMHO not worth using over the 92mm Noctua in that scenario.
 

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illram said:
If I was putting a 120mm fan on my LP53 I would use a low profile 120mm fan, due to the turbulence noise caused by the 25mm fan being right up against the side panel, and use some small bits of low profile 3M dual lock on the wifi module and my RAM to secure it. I did it previously with a mix of zip ties and rubber bands and it was a pain. My RAM is 31mm and basically the same height as the wifi module and a 120mm fan rests perfectly on the edges of those two components in the Strix. (Again, only if you remove the IO heatsink...)

In the attached pic you can see how it might work (or not). Note the IO heatsink is gone, so you're looking at shifting the fan significantly over the RAM and possibly touching the PSU/overhanging the ATX cable to get it to fit if you're not removing the IO heatsink, since you can't fit a 25mm fan on top of that (36mm+25mm = not in the Dan case). IMHO not worth using over the 92mm Noctua in that scenario.
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that is really amazing information, thank you very much for all of that seriously. I will for sure be using a 92mm fan.
 
richiegore said:
Whoops, yea. The thing I've noticed about the spire/stealth cooler is the fan seems to be a bit recessed, looks like it takes up a bit of space... The fan spacings seems to be 80mm so it should be easy enough to put any 92mm fan on it with only slight modification to the fan...
Click to expand...

That was exactly what I was thinking. When I'll be able to do a Ryzen build in the case I'll see if the Wraith Stealth will fit or if it would fit with a thinner fan. The launch of ITX motherboards couldn't be here soon enough. The case has been empty for almost two months now! :)
 
dondan said:
Update:

A4-SFX v.2.0 and window kits will be available in may 2017 on Kickstarter!


Because I have so many interests on that case, I will do a second Kickstarter campaign for version 2.0 end of May 2017. Also the window kit will be available in this campaign. If you already have a spot on Caseking or Overclockers.uk don't worry you will also get the version 2.0. But my resellers aren’t able to make a order that everyone will get a case, so I will be on Kickstarter again to give everybody the chance to get an A4-SFX case.

I think this will your last chance to get an 100% guaranteed spot for an A4-SFX, because I will focus on a new project after this and maybe only a few will find a way on retail market in 2018.(The new project will not be finished before end 2018)

The price for the A4-SFX v 2.0 will the identical to 2016.

Regards
Daniel
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Great news, when do you think they will be shipped?
 
Petroj said:
That was exactly what I was thinking. When I'll be able to do a Ryzen build in the case I'll see if the Wraith Stealth will fit or if it would fit with a thinner fan. The launch of ITX motherboards couldn't be here soon enough. The case has been empty for almost two months now! :)
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Just based on looking at it I think the shroud/led bit may be removable without too much effort, that should take about 5mm off the height.

Waiting for itx Ryzen boards myself but only got the case on Friday, you must be going mad! I refuse to buy Intel's non-soldered chips on principal, last chip was a 2500k btw, also Ryzen suits me better for rendering work...
 
richiegore said:
Just based on looking at it I think the shroud/led bit may be removable without too much effort, that should take about 5mm off the height.

Waiting for itx Ryzen boards myself but only got the case on Friday, you must be going mad! I refuse to buy Intel's non-soldered chips on principal, last chip was a 2500k btw, also Ryzen suits me better for rendering work...
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Yeah, I've been waiting for a new build for quite a while now. Waiting for Ryzen and the A4 for probably two or maybe even close to three years. Can't wait to start buying the rest of the components. Sooooo close. Running a 2500k right now. It performs well but it's just fun to build something new
 
Petroj said:
That was exactly what I was thinking. When I'll be able to do a Ryzen build in the case I'll see if the Wraith Stealth will fit or if it would fit with a thinner fan. The launch of ITX motherboards couldn't be here soon enough. The case has been empty for almost two months now! :)
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I'm on the same boat, waiting for a decent rizen itx motherboard while having the case here for two months now...
 
Ozymandias said:
I have 4mm standoffs. A T318 with a Noctua 92x25mm fan fits but the fan is mashed up against the side of the case. It makes a horrible whining noise and I'm not sure if another 1 mm of clearance will be enough. As for your second idea, you'll have the same problem unless you cut down the T408 down to about T318 size. The T318 does well with a Noctua 92x14mm or TY100 fan, even with a mild overclock, and I think that's the best us narrow ILM users will do until Dan's heatsink is available.
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Thanks for the info, yea I was thinking of using the t408 with the 14mm fan. I would reduce it to a total height of 50mm, so 3 mm or so clearance. That would give a heatsink height of 36mm, 9mm more than the t318 which equates to 33% more fin area, probably a bit more as there is a fixed amount taken up by the vapour chamber.... Still it's a lot of work though and I'm not sure if 3mm is even enough clearance?
 
illram said:
The tall IO heatsink is about 36mm high. So you have about 11-12mm between that and the side panel, so it still won't fit, unless I suppose you put it way off center, hanging over the RAM?
Click to expand...

yep! I put it so the right edge of the fan rests right on the grove on top of the heatsink with strix written on it. that was using the nexus 7 120 mm fan thats 25mm width. it was not worth it (5C reduction but HUGE noise increase). the prolimatech slim one fits without any problems though, and doesn't make much more noise, but isn't flush with the lp53, it's tilted like 1 or 2 degrees. I didn't like the way that was.

I think that unless we find a way to fit a 140mm heatsink or a 120mm one with a dense copper array, we won't gain anything more, on air.

i'm itching to fit a three fan radiator AIO bellow the case. it would be pretty cool!!
 
mcheddadi said:
yep! I put it so the right edge of the fan rests right on the grove on top of the heatsink with strix written on it. that was using the nexus 7 120 mm fan thats 25mm width. it was not worth it (5C reduction but HUGE noise increase). the prolimatech slim one fits without any problems though, and doesn't make much more noise, but isn't flush with the lp53, it's tilted like 1 or 2 degrees. I didn't like the way that was.

I think that unless we find a way to fit a 140mm heatsink or a 120mm one with a dense copper array, we won't gain anything more, on air.

i'm itching to fit a three fan radiator AIO bellow the case. it would be pretty cool!!
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I got a rajintek slim 140mm pwm fan that came with the pallas cooler I am putting in my old Q11 case, which they sell separately. 13mm wide. Assuming no IO heatsink in the way, you could just secure it to the IO and the RAM (if RAM is same height, mine is at 31mm) and it would be more or less centered, and about 4-5mm clear of the side panel.

It's a great fan, on the Pallas at just 600 RPM it cools an i5-7600K in Prime95 in the low 60's.
 
Yeah my Ti FE gets pretty loud when gaming. It hits 84 c (i.e., throttling, I think) at >2k RPM. Fortunately I game with headphones on so that isn't a problem. Also 4K 60hz ultra-everything awesomeness on my 65" TV for a loud annoying fan is a bargain I will accept.
 
Anyone tried the l9 with a 25mm fan, with standard or 4mm standoffs? It should be 48mm tall which should fit with the regular stand-offs but might whine, I would think it would definitely work well with 4mm standoffs...

Edit: i see some results in the spreadsheet, investigating them now...
 
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^should be the case. Higher surface area typically beats out smaller surface area even with a 'better' fan.
 
So obviously there are a lot of factors but:

i7-6700 with the L9i and a9x25 @ 1300rpm results in 73°, 52° delta (Zeitfresser)

i7-6700 with the C7 and ty100 @ 1850rpm results in 71°, 50° delta (hoodedhusky) Delid and 4mm stand-offs & no IO-shield.

It seems a like there isn't much in it... I would be interested if Zeitfresser could confirm his setup and how quiet/noisy it is?

Edit: added delta's
 
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The spreadsheet seems to get cleaned out, and then have everything re added, every day or so. I have no idea why.
 
richiegore: The values on the list aren't compareable. Because every CPU is different also in the same series. For example: If you buy 9x i7-6700 and test it on the L9i and a9x25: three will be in the 65-70°C range, three will be in the 70-75°C range and three will be in the 75-85°C range. So you can compare only heatsinks that were tested on the same unique CPU.

The list is good for getting an idea what other users have if you trust the values.
 
illram said:
Yeah my Ti FE gets pretty loud when gaming. It hits 84 c (i.e., throttling, I think) at >2k RPM. Fortunately I game with headphones on so that isn't a problem. Also 4K 60hz ultra-everything awesomeness on my 65" TV for a loud annoying fan is a bargain I will accept.
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Has your begun to smell? mine doesnt smell like burning but it definitely smells like its affecting other material inside the case? perhaps its because i gave it it's first spin under load?
 
dondan said:
richiegore: The values on the list aren't compareable. Because every CPU is different also in the same series. For example: If you buy 9x i7-6700 and test it on the L9i and a9x25: three will be in the 65-70°C range, three will be in the 70-75°C range and three will be in the 75-85°C range. So you can compare only heatsinks that were tested on the same unique CPU.

The list is good for getting an idea what other users have if you trust the values.
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I highly doubt you would see 20 degrees of variation on nine different 6700 chips, all at the same settings and all on the same type of cooler, all running the same bench, etc. Otherwise every pro review of coolers or CPU Temps is basically worthless.

The problem with the list is (a) user error and (b) huge varieties of voltages and so on make it hard to really find a decent comp. There are a few if you sort. I think in the aggregate it is useful though at least insofar as you can see if you are just wildly off. For example if you have an LP53 and you are throttling, from the list it is easy to tell something is probably wrong with your setup.

David A4 said:
Has your begun to smell? mine doesnt smell like burning but it definitely smells like its affecting other material inside the case? perhaps its because i gave it it's first spin under load?
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Yes I notice some sort of plastic like smell. I thought it was a sticker on my cat5 cable in the back that was indeed melting but after removing it I can still smell it after benching. I am hoping it goes away after a while. I opened the case just to make sure stuff looked OK and I couldn't see anything amiss.
 
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Also on stock they are not comparable. Some chips become hotter than other.


Otherwise every pro review of coolers or CPU Temps is basically worthless.
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If they made every test on the same CPU it isn't worthless, because you will see what heatsink is the best. But you have no guarantee that also if you have the same CPU and ambient temp, that you will get the same temps.
 
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