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

J_bravo14 said:
What settings and temps do you have for the 4790k oced to 4.5ghz?

Amazing that the LP53 can keep up.
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Just all on defualt, and after some hours of gaming the cpu tops at about 83 degrees :)
remember, the 4790k turbo is 4,4 so it's not that different :)
 
Jspr said:
Just all on defualt, and after some hours of gaming the cpu tops at about 83 degrees :)
remember, the 4790k turbo is 4,4 so it's not that different :)
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My bad, i was thinking of the 4770k that does not reach 4.4ghz by default.
 
dondan said:
Here is a full GTX 1080Ti compatibility list:

  • Nvidia 1080 Ti FE
  • ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti
  • ASUS Turbo GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Gaming
  • EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition Gaming
  • EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Gaming
  • Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Aorus Xtreme Edition 11G
  • Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Aorus 11G
  • Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming OC 11G
  • Inno3D GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Twin X2
  • Inno3D GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming OC
  • Inno3D GeForce GTX 1080 Ti iChill X3 Ultra
  • Inno3D GeForce GTX 1080 Ti iChill X4 Ultra
  • KFA² GeForce GTX 1080 Ti EXOC
  • KFA² GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X 11G
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Armor 11G OC
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Aero 11G OC
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Armor 11G
  • MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Aero 11G
  • Palit GeForce GTX 1080 Ti JetStream
  • Palit GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Super JetStream
  • Palit GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GameRock
  • Palit GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GameRock Premium
  • Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme
  • Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AMP
  • Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Blower
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Hi Dan or anything else in-the-know ~~~ Just making sure: Does the orange highlight on the EVGA 1080ti FTW 3 mean that it fits, but there is an issue? Or is it just a tight fit, but it works? Gotta decide between SC2 and FTW3 soon. I am reffering to V2 compatiblity. I'm building PC this month but want to build for evntual Dan V2 compatibility. Thanks.
 
MIDIBoss said:
Hi Dan or anything else in-the-know ~~~ Just making sure: Does the orange highlight on the EVGA 1080ti FTW 3 mean that it fits, but there is an issue? Or is it just a tight fit, but it works? Gotta decide between SC2 and FTW3 soon. I am reffering to V2 compatiblity. I'm building PC this month but want to build for evntual Dan V2 compatibility. Thanks.
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GPU compatibility for V1 and V2 are the same. I use the FTW3, it will fit just fine, . But you will need to spend a bit of time getting it in and sitting nicely. Tight fit, yes, but nothing impossible, and no modification required
 
MIDIBoss said:
Hi Dan or anything else in-the-know ~~~ Just making sure: Does the orange highlight on the EVGA 1080ti FTW 3 mean that it fits, but there is an issue? Or is it just a tight fit, but it works? Gotta decide between SC2 and FTW3 soon. I am reffering to V2 compatiblity. I'm building PC this month but want to build for evntual Dan V2 compatibility. Thanks.
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As Blackreplica said, the card will fit just fine. I had to unscrew the riser, before putting in the gpu. It only adds a couple of minutes to the installation.
At this moment it is idling at 34 celsius, fans are off. Earlier I played Witcher 3 with the highest settings, and it was sitting around 72 celsius.
 
csfreakno1 said:
Update to M.2:

I'm a perfectionist and want the best results. So a next test with a different cooling solution:
This are 13x13x5mm Copper Heatsinks for Raspberry Pi and fit perfectly on the Chips of the M.2 SSD.

Results are interesting. The maximum temperature are not changed. Up to 76°C.
But the average temperatures at Gaming are much better. Alway under 70°C.
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Don't put the heat sinks on the memory modules, only on the controller. The memory actually performs better (lasts longer) when operating hot. It is only the controller that will throttle when hot.
 
Jann5s said:
Don't put the heat sinks on the memory modules, only on the controller. The memory actually performs better (lasts longer) when operating hot. It is only the controller that will throttle when hot.
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I dont believe that this is a really good idea.
If you cool only the controller, the memory modules can get damage over time.

Quote from a test side:
Source: theeditbench.com said:
Roman, the CEO of Angelbird, contacted me after reading my review. We had a very nice talk about the new generation of M.2 SSDs and he also told me that he wouldn’t recommend placing a heatsink ONLY on the controller of the drive. According to him, the temperature is monitored from the controller and therefore, by cooling only the controller, you would fool it to believe that overall temperatures are alright and throttling was not necessary. As my test showed, the controller did not cause throttling with the heatsink attached and the SSD operated at full speed. Unfortunately, the NAND blocks are then not protected from excessive overheating anymore. They could potentially be damaged and degrade faster. To avoid that, you should attach a large heatsink that covers the controller, the NAND blocks and the memory (or better the entire SSD like the Angelbird PX1).
Source: theeditbench.com
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csfreakno1 said:
I dont believe that this is a really good idea.
If you cool only the controller, the memory modules can get damage over time.

Quote from a test side:
Click to expand...


Perhaps you are right, I was remembering this AT article when I posted. It contains a graph showing that data retention is better if the data is written warm and the disk is stored cold. However, the graph only shows data between 25ºC and 55ºC. It is quite reasonable to assume that this trend does not continue for very high temperatures (like yours).

On a small tangent, apparently, the samsung 950 pro m.2 (i know not the same model) has 2 temperature sensors, one in the controller, one near the storage chips. I'm guessing later models have a similar setup.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Samsung-950-Pro-M-2-Throttling-Analysis-776/ said:
Unfortunately, the sensor that is read by AIDA 64 (and every other hard drive monitoring utility we tried) is actually from the thermal sensor near the storage chips, not the control sensor.
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P.S. I really like the solution posted here for m.2s that are behind the mobo. In short: they thermally connect the ssd to the metal plate behind the mobo, using the case as a thermal sink.
 
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Hansen said:
As Blackreplica said, the card will fit just fine. I had to unscrew the riser, before putting in the gpu. It only adds a couple of minutes to the installation.
At this moment it is idling at 34 celsius, fans are off. Earlier I played Witcher 3 with the highest settings, and it was sitting around 72 celsius.
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Thank you Hansen and Blackreplica for your info on the FTW3 compatibility. That's pretty cool. I odn't know why but I am drawn to the idea of 3 fans over 2. It seems like the cooling efficiency might be a little better than the SC2. It's great that FTW3 fits. Decisions decisions...
 
Jann5s said:
[...] I really like the solution posted here for m.2s that are behind the mobo. In short: they thermally connect the ssd to the metal plate behind the mobo, using the case as a thermal sink.
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This is an awesome idea! I think this possibly would be the perfect cooling solution.

Unfortunately it doesn't work with the DAN because of the PCIe Riser.
 
csfreakno1 said:
This is an awesome idea! I think this possibly would be the perfect cooling solution.

Unfortunately it doesn't work with the DAN because of the PCIe Riser.
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If my memory serves me Dan designed the case such that you can put the riser on either side of the central metal plate. I.e. behind the mobo or behind the GPU. Nevertheless, this thermal sink idea will be less efficient since the center plate in the A4-SFX will be quite hot, being in-between two heat sources.

I have a Z87 mobo, so no m.2s for me. I would really like one though, and frankly i wouldn't care too much if it would throttle (given it is safe). It's just another space to put some data, freeing up some space below the power supply.
 
galletabah said:
I have a peak of 60° but i need to undervolt my 7700k to 4,2 ghz.
If I oc the cpu at 4,6ghz, the ssd go to 75° too. Soooooo I prefer temps than 3-5 fps more in my games
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this is why I recommend the 7700 non-k for this case... save some money ;) but 7700k will probably have more resale value later, this is true too.
 
Here is the thread to my next project please let me know what do you think:

https://hardforum.com/threads/dan-c4-h2o-a-water-cooled-sff-case.1944458/

1k_169xnxuw.jpg
 
Hi all, just looking for a bit of advice.
I have a i5-3570k and GTX 780 , at stock clocks,inside my A4-SFX, and I was using a Silverstone ST45SF. However recently it has started shutting down in certain games, and I have verified using a ATX power supply externally this doesn't happen when using another PSU.
Therefore I am in the market for a new SFF power supply, and as I don't want another Silverstone, I am looking at either the Corsair 450W or 600W ones.
Which would you recommend for my setup? Could running off 450W have killed it over the years?
Thanks
 
Nope, 450Watts are plenty of headroom for your system! I would get the SF 450 since many people had noise issues with their 600 watt
 
rhx123 said:
Hi all, just looking for a bit of advice.
I have a i5-3570k and GTX 780 , at stock clocks,inside my A4-SFX, and I was using a Silverstone ST45SF. However recently it has started shutting down in certain games, and I have verified using a ATX power supply externally this doesn't happen when using another PSU.
Therefore I am in the market for a new SFF power supply, and as I don't want another Silverstone, I am looking at either the Corsair 450W or 600W ones.
Which would you recommend for my setup? Could running off 450W have killed it over the years?
Thanks
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My Silverstone ST45SF also shut down after just 3.5 years and I had only a GTX 760 and slightly overclocked 4GHz i7 4770k. SF450 should be fine with rx vega 56 (undervolted) or gtx 1080 and below cards as there is little overclocking that can be done on the cpu due to restrictive compatible cpu coolers for this case. You can probably undervolt and overclock your GPU and have reasonable power consumption and performance, which is especially useful for small mini-itx builds.

Speaking of psus, I really would like the EVGA SFX-L psu to come out already.
 
Next and i hope last update for a long time for my M.2 issues:

I tested other and bigger copper heatsink. Picture below.

Temperatures never going over 70°C at Gaming.
Most time 63°C to 67°C.
No more thermal throttling.

I'm now very happy with the results.
 

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csfreakno1 said:
Next and i hope last update for a long time for my M.2 issues:

I tested other and bigger copper heatsink. Picture below.

Temperatures never going over 70°C at Gaming.
Most time 63°C to 67°C.
No more thermal throttling.

I'm now very happy with the results.
Click to expand...

Very cool! So is this the same stuff you used? I'll order some tonight for my new PC build. https://www.amazon.com/Enzotech-BMR...1+le+memory+ramsink&psc=1&smid=A3GO5VFCNOM5I7

Also, did you install them using a particular thermal paste to acheive those thermal results?
 
Yeah. Your link are the same Heatsinks that I use.
Also the same product is in normal copper "color" available.

I didn't use custom thermal paste/pads or glue.
The Heatsinks have peel-away adhesive thermal pad pre-installed.

Maybe with custom thermal paste/pads are a bit lower temps possible.
 
csfreakno1 said:
Yeah. Your link are the same Heatsinks that I use.
Also the same product is in normal copper "color" available.

I didn't use custom thermal paste/pads or glue.
The Heatsinks have peel-away adhesive thermal pad pre-installed.

Maybe with custom thermal paste/pads are a bit lower temps possible.
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Ok cool! Thank you for your infos. I will order these. Yeah, I mean, I'll have some leftover thermal paste anyway so I'll probably try adding the heatsinks with thermal paste and see how the temps are. We need all the cooling aids we can get on these SFF builds!
 
MIDIBoss said:
Ok cool! Thank you for your infos. I will order these. Yeah, I mean, I'll have some leftover thermal paste anyway so I'll probably try adding the heatsinks with thermal paste and see how the temps are. We need all the cooling aids we can get on these SFF builds!
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These seem to be painted, the plain copper should be better no?
 
richiegore said:
These seem to be painted, the plain copper should be better no?
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Yes I read some reviews ~~~ Users report that the plain copper ones have better results because the paint takes away some of the benefit of the copper heatsinks' thermal alleviation.
 
It is very interesting how large are the differences between the black painted and the plain copper Version.

For me was the decision for the black Heatsinks because of the aesthetic looking.
 
I have an unopened v1 A4 case (black) gathering dust in the basement. If anyone is interested, I'm going to post it in the FS forum.

Ack! Looks like I need 100 minimum posts to post something in the FSFT forum. Oh well, guess it's going to eBay. Will post in the eBay Auctions thread instead.
 
So I bought a 40mm noctua fan to place on top of the NVME SSD. Stress testing with a 1080 Ti and 7700k at 4.2k ghz. Running unigine heaven and aida 64 together.

Gpu was 76, cpu was hitting 95 and the ssd was at 72.

CPU temps are usually in the low 70’s during gaming so hopefully the ssd should be aswell.
 
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I fixed my over heating CPU (i7 5820k) by placing a Noctua NF-A14 industrial on top of the case, above the motherboard. This is to suck the hot air up and out.

Temps were not above 50 degreess celcius. Its quite loud but I always have a headset on and can't hear it.
 
The way the fins of the CPU cooler are aligned i'd say the airflow is blocked by the ram and the shield behind the HDMI connectors.

Woun't it be better to turn the noctua by 90° so the airflow goes up/down?
 
MrWho said:
The way the fins of the CPU cooler are aligned i'd say the airflow is blocked by the ram and the shield behind the HDMI connectors.

Woun't it be better to turn the noctua by 90° so the airflow goes up/down?
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Can’t rotate 90 because the cooler was touching the nvme shield part.
 
Hey Guys!!!!

I've designed a 3D-printable mod so that you can use the Lian-Li USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C cable in the A4-SFX.

Here's kinda what it looks like:
DSC_0203.JPG

I've uploaded the files to Thingiverse here: http://bit.ly/2wmbG55

Specifically, I used the Lian-Li PW-IC01NH45 cable (http://bit.ly/2fvjwCV). I had to modify the cable by cutting off the screw holes:
DSC_0199.JPG
DSC_0200.JPG
DSC_0201.JPG

Once you've unscrewed and removed the Type A connector, place the clip into the existing hole on the inside. Then, slide the Type C cable into the clip, until it reaches the outer panel (see images).

The cable fit snugly enough for me that I was able to plug things into it without the cable pushing back out. You could use hot glue or something to secure the cable into the clip if you desire.

Here's some images of it in action:
DSC_0208.JPG
DSC_0209.JPG
DSC_0210.JPG
 
While I admire the creativity, I really dislike the black hole in the front. Perhaps it would be nice to fill it with some kind of aluminium powder filled epoxy resin. Only problem is that it would make future changes near impossible.

Edit: or cnc cut an aluminium plate fitting the hole, which might be a bit excessive
 
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Tossy2 said:
While I admire the creativity, I really dislike the black hole in the front. Perhaps it would be nice to fill it with some kind of aluminium powder filled epoxy resin. Only problem is that it would make future changes near impossible.

Edit: or cnc cut an aluminium plate fitting the hole, which might be a bit excessive
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I could try and whip up a "cover" sort of thing that could be printed to fill in the space
 
The current usb port looks like a black cut-out so unless you look closely it doesn't really look that different. I am confused as to what you guys want this front usb type c for?
 
richiegore said:
The current usb port looks like a black cut-out so unless you look closely it doesn't really look that different. I am confused as to what you guys want this front usb type c for?
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I want it because

1. It's USB 3.1 Gen 2 which means 10Gb transfer rates
2. The motherboard connector is smaller and easier to manage
 
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