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

It isn't a good idea to increase case thickness just to allow cheaper riser... after all, i'm in for the 3M riser, may it cost as much as it need ;)
 
I'm pretty sure it's only needed 1mm or so. Some taller mobo stands could fix it, without increasing the case thickness. CPU cooler support could go down from 48mm to 46-47mm, no big deal, imo. From the renders, the Noctua cooler has room to spare until it touches the panel.

I don't know, imo, he should let buyers chose their riser (3m or Li-Heat). I would gladly choose Li-Heat and make it work with a little bit of diy. If 3M offers the same compatibility and performance as the cheaper Li-Heat, than i would go with the cheaper one. 3M is more expensive probable because it's for server heavy use, not for a home case that gets its components replaced once a year, at most.
 
It will not work with LiHeat the cables are more then doubld thick as the 3M ones and the bend radius is too big to fit in the case. It would be impossible to push the male PCB in the PCIe port. I talk with Chen from LiHeat and the moq is 1000 risers ($20-$30 for each), but i only want to build 300-600 cases. But maybe LiHeat is able to improve their products so that a future version will work.
 
Yes, but you will get a very exclusive high-end product with the best technology on the market. E.g. the LianLi PC-05 series is also a very exclusive and a more expensive product. I wish a can reduce the price for you, but actual there are no cheap good risers on the market.
 
This will obviously be expensive. Custom projects are always expensive. Honestly I'm surprised dondan could get that number of $140. $220 for case and riser is reasonable to me.
 
I'd rather have a good quality case with a quality riser and pay a little more than going with a half assed option.
This case will last for a long damn time and because i travel a lot, this case is the only option for me that wont be a big hassle bringing with me on planes. I appreciate the time dondan has put into this.
 
So guys I talked again with LiHeat and i can get a D-Type black Riser in March. Then I will test it in the prototyp. So we can see if this will work. If not we have to take the 3M option.
 
R-Type:

D-Type:

B-Type:


The letter descriptes the angle of the PCB with the female PCIe Connector. Only the D-Type will fit into the case, because of the less space and possibilities of mounting it. We have to bend the cable 3 time like on this picture:
riser8ru1w.jpg
 
I'm a supporter of this initiative, from the first day and the $220 won't change that, I just think it may compromise this project expansion, after the first enthusiasts...

If there were more then a riser option, I think the case could come without the riser, and have a compatibility list, so people could chose wich one to buy. Since the 3M is the only one, no discussion...
 
I have to bag everybody to say if they are ok with paying $220 for this case exclusive tax and shipment. Also those people who only read this thread and don't write comments. Let me know if the price is ok for you.
 
I'm all for quality and feel that the best quality riser should go along with such a nicely, done custom PC case like yours Dondan. As some others have said, it would compromise the goal of making a unique, incredibly small PC case. Many people were willing to pay for the Ncase M1 despite its cost. Heck, there have been $250 and up Super-tower cases that people bought a lot of back in the days.

Overall, I would go with the 3-M riser as your goal was to make a high-quality PC case that has yet to be seen in the mainstream market.
 
I've been following this for many months and I've wanted this from the beginning, but $220 before taxes and shipping is quite expensive.

If the other Lian Li Type D riser works reliably, I would recommend selling your case with that option. Not only would you get a complete reliable package with a trusted brand name riser, your pricing would be competitive for such an amazing case.
I Believe it will be better for sales when it comes time for retail sale. This case is revolutionary in the SFF market. Cornering this market with a reasonable price tag will do wonders for you and could set you and your company up in the future. The more cases that sell, the more people talk about it.

If you want the A4 to stay in a niche market, sell the case with the 3M riser. If you are looking to expand production beyond what the Ncase M1 has done, you are better off selling it with the Lian Li Type D riser (assuming it works reliably).

Many that say that they would buy it right now with the 3M riser, regardless of price, don't really have your best interest at heart. They just want to acquire the case to stroke their egos. If it takes another month to work out this issue I think it may just well be worth it to wait.
 
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I'm all for quality and feel that the best quality riser should go along with such a nicely, done custom PC case like yours Dondan. As some others have said, it would compromise the goal of making a unique, incredibly small PC case. Many people were willing to pay for the Ncase M1 despite its cost. Heck, there have been $250 and up Super-tower cases that people bought a lot of back in the days.

Overall, I would go with the 3-M riser as your goal was to make a high-quality PC case that has yet to be seen in the mainstream market.
Click to expand...


+1 as above
 
JoeOnePack said:
I've been following this for many months and I've wanted this from the beginning, but $220 before taxes and shipping is quite expensive.

If the other Lian Li Type D riser works reliably, I would recommend selling your case with that option. Not only would you get a complete reliable package with a trusted brand name riser, your pricing would be competitive for such an amazing case.
I Believe it will be better for sales when it comes time for retail sale. This case is revolutionary in the SFF market. Cornering this market with a reasonable price tag will do wonders for you and could set you and your company up in the future. The more cases that sell, the more people talk about it.

If you want the A4 to stay in a niche market, sell the case with the 3M riser. If you are looking to expand production beyond what the Ncase M1 has done, you are better off selling it with the Lian Li Type D riser (assuming it works reliably).

Many that say that they would buy it right now with the 3M riser, regardless of price, don't really have your best interest at heart. They just want to acquire the case to stroke their egos. If it takes another month to work out this issue I think it may just well be worth it to wait.
Click to expand...

Stroke their egos? Maybe they just really want the case? What about all the people who bought the Compact Splash for $280? They bought that case because they wanted it, regardless of price. Same here.

Yes, it may be worth it to sort out this riser supply issue, but I think you've phrased it slightly offensively.
 
dondan said:
Yes, but you will get a very exclusive high-end product with the best technology on the market. E.g. the LianLi PC-05 series is also a very exclusive and a more expensive product. I wish a can reduce the price for you, but actual there are no cheap good risers on the market.
Click to expand...

$140 or $220 or more, I'll be picking one up! :D

What to do with my M1 though.... :confused:
 
rawrr said:
Stroke their egos? Maybe they just really want the case? What about all the people who bought the Compact Splash for $280? They bought that case because they wanted it, regardless of price. Same here.

Yes, it may be worth it to sort out this riser supply issue, but I think you've phrased it slightly offensively.
Click to expand...

You are right. They really want the case because it's friggin' cool, whether or not it is the best business decision for DonDan at this point.

How many Compact Splash's were made? The Splash is and always will be a niche case as awesome as it is. The A4 can do much better as a mainstream product.

Don't you think cost of production is important to the business and its customers? I want DonDan to succeed and sell as many cases as possible. The best way to do this is to be competitive in pricing and still offer a very high quality product.
 
I dont really think additional 50-60$ matters at all for this first run. People who are going to buy this
kind of super enthusiast level case want it to be perfect. If the only reliable riser at the moment is the 60$ more expensive 3M then thats what this case must have. The main thing is to get the case out and not have some issues later because of cheaper riser when there was an option for a better one.
 
It really needs to be right the first time because if it isn't, sending out replacement risers will eat you alive in shipping costs.
 
I don't think this should be a debate, as it's quite obviously to anyone that the case will sell regardless its price. It's just Dondan's decision if he wants a niche, limited release case or something more marketable, that can sell to more people.

I also think the cheaper LiHeat riser IS good enough, since Lian Li already ships expensive cases with them.
 
DG25 said:
I don't think this should be a debate, as it's quite obviously to anyone that the case will sell regardless its price. It's just Dondan's decision if he wants a niche, limited release case or something more marketable, that can sell to more people.

I also think the cheaper LiHeat riser IS good enough, since Lian Li already ships expensive cases with them.
Click to expand...

Exactly my thoughts.

The case is already a winner. It just depends what Dondan expects from this case. I also think the Lian Lian Li riser is adequate (Again, assuming it's as flexible as this case requires it to be.)
 
$220 currently is 200 Euros.

1.19% VAT/Mwst makes it 238 Euros, so shipping within Germany brings the total price to ca. 250 Euros. Correct?

For 250 Euro I pledge to buy the case. Indianerehrenwort!
 
JoeOnePack said:
Many that say that they would buy it right now with the 3M riser, regardless of price, don't really have your best interest at heart. They just want to acquire the case to stroke their egos.
Click to expand...

This statement makes no sense and is rather insulting to the many enthusiasts that are the majority on this forum. I personally have been waiting a long time, essentially forever, for a small mATX case that is truly small so I can have more RAM and a 2011 CPU and soon couldn't be soon enough. It's too late for me now as I stuck with an NCASE but if this was available I very likely would have gone this route instead.
 
"Mainstream product"? No. This is never going to be a mainstream product. Even the M1 isn't that mainstream, although it has grown tremendously in popularity. This is an enthusiast product.
 
i am also in the 3M riser camp

I think it is worth the price for at least indiegogo/kickstarter campain
 
As an NCASE M1 Rev. 1 owner, I am fine with the current price point of $220 before taxes/shipping. The important thing is for Dondan to produce a quality product the first time, and not have owners needing to shell out additional money/effort to fix issues that could have been corrected in the beginning. In order to do that he would need to obtain the actual prototype case and test both PCI-E risers. There isn't much we can do until Dondan can test the risers with the prototype.
 
He said he will test them both, and i agree that's the only way to clear things up.
 
dondan said:
I have to bag everybody to say if they are ok with paying $220 for this case exclusive tax and shipment. Also those people who only read this thread and don't write comments. Let me know if the price is ok for you.
Click to expand...

$220 is definitely expensive and will massively limit your potential orders. That said, quality has to be top notch but you still have time to find and test any possible alternative risers that may be as good but cost less.It would be foolish not to explore possible alternatives.
 
JoeOnePack said:
I've been following this for many months and I've wanted this from the beginning, but $220 before taxes and shipping is quite expensive.

If the other Lian Li Type D riser works reliably, I would recommend selling your case with that option. Not only would you get a complete reliable package with a trusted brand name riser, your pricing would be competitive for such an amazing case.
I Believe it will be better for sales when it comes time for retail sale. This case is revolutionary in the SFF market. Cornering this market with a reasonable price tag will do wonders for you and could set you and your company up in the future. The more cases that sell, the more people talk about it.

If you want the A4 to stay in a niche market, sell the case with the 3M riser. If you are looking to expand production beyond what the Ncase M1 has done, you are better off selling it with the Lian Li Type D riser (assuming it works reliably).
Click to expand...

+1 Agreed.
 
JoeOnePack said:
I've been following this for many months and I've wanted this from the beginning, but $220 before taxes and shipping is quite expensive.
Click to expand...
+1
I'm sorry but I think that the 3M riser is too expensive. Please check this LiHeat D-Type black riser.
 
For all you people thinking its too expensive, what other option are you going to pursue if this case doesn't make it to production because of the riser? Seems to me the case is only one facet of the whole build, and the jump in price for having the riser with which the case was designed around may only be an extra 5-10% of the budget of the pc once all other components are factored in. Is $80-100usd really going to kill your budget?
 
dondan said:
I have to bag everybody to say if they are ok with paying $220 for this case exclusive tax and shipment. Also those people who only read this thread and don't write comments. Let me know if the price is ok for you.
Click to expand...

I'm ok with the price since it seems like it's the only option.
 
dondan said:
I have to bag everybody to say if they are ok with paying $220 for this case exclusive tax and shipment. Also those people who only read this thread and don't write comments. Let me know if the price is ok for you.
Click to expand...

I trust that you are doing the best to balance price and quality, Dan. Unless there is something you have not told us, I do think it is worth waiting until you are able to test the Lian-Li D-type black riser before making a decision, as the lowered cost would make a huge difference in the success of the case. But if it came down to it I would pay $220 much for the case- hopefully overseas shipping is not too much on it.
 
I'm all in for the 3M riser choice, since it has been thought since the beginning and seems to be the best option for this particular case.

Let the orders begin! (so I'm saying I'm down with the 220$).

How much is the international shipping going to be?
 
nallez said:
I'm all in for the 3M riser choice, since it has been thought since the beginning and seems to be the best option for this particular case.(...)
Click to expand...

For this case, maybe the other riser is as good, as the 3M. The 3M is the top notch, used in industrial/enterprise applications. You may put a "Nasa spacial painting" on the case, because is the best, but this case don't need it.

Its a question of flexibility of the alternative riser, not quality.
 
Forgive me if I missed this on one of the 59 pages - is it possible/feasible to buy the riser from somewhere? Or is it something only obtainable through lian li?

If it's difficult to obtain, I wouldn't mind buying one from dondan in the same vein as necere selling IEC cable extensions on his store.
 
Right now we only know one that really works in that case and adds 50% to the total price. We are discussing if there is any viable alternative in the market (bending angles are the main problem).
 
I have a question here. In order to help keep costs down and improve design changes on the fly, wouldnt a 3d printer do you some good? In theory it would keep your costs down on building a prototype chassis and building different segments of the case with modified sizes could be done almost at will. I've seen some fairly decent resin printers at $500-$600(not counting material) which is alot less expensive and may help you in other areas as well. Just an idea Dondan. And the case is phenomenal by the way, the renderings are very nice.
 
Hi guys thank you for all the feedback.

I made a very short poll so I can better validating your suggestions for the price and if it is realistic to bring the case on the market.

Please let me know in this poll how much you are ready to pay and not how much you are wish to pay for the case. I don't make this poll to find out how much profit i could get, rather to know if i could make the price possible you are ready to pay.
There are many factors that are having influence on the price e.g. tax for import the cases, crowdfunding fees, paypal fees, business operating expenses, prototyping cost and a small profit for my work.

So please support me by give me 1 minute of your time and make this poll:

DAN A4-SFX POLL
 
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