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

I myself did the same test right after my DAN A4-SFXv1 arrived. My results were the following:

The Noctua NH-L9i has the best build quality and you can barely hear it up to 1900 rpm. Sadly it performs a few degree worse than its competitors.
The LP53 performs a few degree better than the NH-L9i and is as quiet as the Noctua when itˋs equipped with the NF-A9x14. If you don‘t care much about asthetics then this cooler is the best choice.
The C7 on the other hand is insanely loud compared to the other ones. This can be fought by using the Nf-A9x14 instead. Then this cooler will not torture you anymore but still be very loud while not being better in performance than the LP53.

Keep in mind that I used the fan duct which helps to lower the temperatures to the smaller CPU-coolers.
 
I think that fan-duct with the Noctua NH-L9i is probably the most cost-effective cpu cooling solution. May have to sacrifice 100-200 mhz on clock-speeds depending on quality of silicon.

Also, looking at the Google Sheet, somebody managed to hit 4.7 GHz @1.1V with the i7 8700K (delidded + liquid metal) using the Noctua NH-L9i, but with the new slim NF-A12x15 Noctua Fan. :cool:
 
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best value for money solution: Noctua L9i
best air cooling solution: Cryorig C7 with or without Noctua fan

The LP53 is more expensive than anything and outperforms only the Noctua. It's the better solution for other cases, like S4 mini, which cooler height is more limited than this on Dan's case.

Have anyone tried the ID cooling IS40 v3?? It says it can handle 100W TDP.

Or the VC45?? 130W at 45mm.
 
I have the LP53 + Noctua A9x14, and find the setup actually noisy. It must be how I attached the fan, or how it touches the RAM stick?

Here's a picture of my build, is that how we're supposed to attach the fan?
 

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michel v said:
I have the LP53 + Noctua A9x14, and find the setup actually noisy. It must be how I attached the fan, or how it touches the RAM stick?

Here's a picture of my build, is that how we're supposed to attach the fan?
Click to expand...

Most builds I've seen have the fan in push configuration relative to the heatsink (push air at the heatsink fins rather than pull it away)
 
gffermari said:
best value for money solution: Noctua L9i
best air cooling solution: Cryorig C7 with or without Noctua fan

The LP53 is more expensive than anything and outperforms only the Noctua. It's the better solution for other cases, like S4 mini, which cooler height is more limited than this on Dan's case.

Have anyone tried the ID cooling IS40 v3?? It says it can handle 100W TDP.

Or the VC45?? 130W at 45mm.
Click to expand...
never saw those in any dan case so far, but if anybody ever tested them, I'd be curious about the results aswell - especially as the IS40 v3 seems to fit on AM4
 
I'm currently refitting my DAN Case, didn't like the temps. Bought a LP53 to try lowering the temps a bit.

Though I'm currently hitting a roadblock. The only way to fit the LP53 correctly (aligning the heatsink fins parralel to the memory) involves removing a heatsink on the motherboard. See the picture below.

Now, what do I do? Remove the heatsink from the Mobo or turn the LP53 a quarter?

[ Removed the Pics, they were way to big. ]
 
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MrWahloh said:
I'm currently refitting my DAN Case, didn't like the temps. Bought a LP53 to try lowering the temps a bit.

Though I'm currently hitting a roadblock. The only way to fit the LP53 correctly (aligning the heatsink fins parralel to the memory) involves removing a heatsink on the motherboard. See the picture below.

Now, what do I do? Remove the heatsink from the Mobo or turn the LP53 a quarter?
Click to expand...

You have the Asus Z270I right? I removed the VRM heatsinks on mine and replaced them with little copper ones like these but I THNIK anything under 7mm*7mm will work

My 2 cents with a 7700k, LP53, L9x14

Delid plus remove VRM heatsink on Asus Z270I: - about 15 degrees, from throttle to full turbo at 88
Fan duct: -3 degrees
Undervolt at -50mv offset: -3 degrees

Currently sitting at 82 degrees prime95 26.6 8k stable overnight

hope it helps
 
SirJack said:
You have the Asus Z270I right? I removed the VRM heatsinks on mine and replaced them with little copper ones like these but I THNIK anything under 7mm*7mm will work

My 2 cents with a 7700k, LP53, L9x14

Delid plus remove VRM heatsink on Asus Z270I: - about 15 degrees, from throttle to full turbo at 88
Fan duct: -3 degrees
Undervolt at -50mv offset: -3 degrees

Currently sitting at 82 degrees prime95 26.6 8k stable overnight

hope it helps
Click to expand...

It's a H270I, good guess though. I decided to turn the LP53, so now the cooling fins are not actually running parallel to the RAM but I get way better temperatures than I did with the Noctua NH-L9i that I tried before, 35 - 40 degrees Idle, around 80 - 85 degrees stable with a 30 minute Prime95 run. That'll have to do for now.

Maybe I'll turn the LP53 when I'm doing maintenance (after a couple months) will see how it's going to run in the long run. Now I just want to play some games on this badboy.
 
michel v said:
So you mean I should detach the fan and turn it around?
Click to expand...
Yup
MrWahloh said:
It's a H270I, good guess though. I decided to turn the LP53, so now the cooling fins are not actually running parallel to the RAM but I get way better temperatures than I did with the Noctua NH-L9i that I tried before, 35 - 40 degrees Idle, around 80 - 85 degrees stable with a 30 minute Prime95 run. That'll have to do for now.

Maybe I'll turn the LP53 when I'm doing maintenance (after a couple months) will see how it's going to run in the long run. Now I just want to play some games on this badboy.
Click to expand...
Decent temps especially with the heat sinks on! What CPU are you using?
 
I managed to get my Noctua in pull configuration with the asetek aio and SF 600 PSU - which I turned around to pull this off without the PSU cables keeping the fan from spinning, so I'm glad the PSU is super resilient - and my idle temps are now at 27 C, gaming load 51 C, after-gaming holds at about 43 C as heat dissipation is still rough. Wish I could fit a second case fan at the bottom, under the mobo. Otherwise, nothing to complain about here.
 
Alaberti said:
I managed to get my Noctua in pull configuration with the asetek aio and SF 600 PSU - which I turned around to pull this off without the PSU cables keeping the fan from spinning, so I'm glad the PSU is super resilient - and my idle temps are now at 27 C, gaming load 51 C, after-gaming holds at about 43 C as heat dissipation is still rough. Wish I could fit a second case fan at the bottom, under the mobo. Otherwise, nothing to complain about here.
Click to expand...

Post a picture :)
 
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gffermari said:
best value for money solution: Noctua L9i
best air cooling solution: Cryorig C7 with or without Noctua fan

The LP53 is more expensive than anything and outperforms only the Noctua. It's the better solution for other cases, like S4 mini, which cooler height is more limited than this on Dan's case.

Have anyone tried the ID cooling IS40 v3?? It says it can handle 100W TDP.

Or the VC45?? 130W at 45mm.
Click to expand...

VC45 review

 
Alaberti said:
I managed to get my Noctua in pull configuration with the asetek aio and SF 600 PSU - which I turned around to pull this off without the PSU cables keeping the fan from spinning, so I'm glad the PSU is super resilient - and my idle temps are now at 27 C, gaming load 51 C, after-gaming holds at about 43 C as heat dissipation is still rough. Wish I could fit a second case fan at the bottom, under the mobo. Otherwise, nothing to complain about here.
Click to expand...

The Asetek 80x80x12 fan will fit under the board.
 
Do somebody have good sugestion how to silence hdd in dan case. I investigate my problems with noise from psu and It turn out that my secondary drive -> hdd that I install behide it making constant noise even if isn't used. I got https://www.amazon.com/HGST-Travels...347&sr=8-1&keywords=hitachi+travelstar+7k1000. Corsair SF450 is dead silence:) I tried to use bootom caddy hdd slot but it wasnt too much better.
 
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Hotshot619 said:
The Linus Tech Tips video with the DanCase v2 is up on their float plane platform. I'd expect about 2 pages worth of people coming fairly soon asking where and when they can buy it.
Click to expand...
I just want to know where to buy the window kit.
 
Uhm I think it won't be available for quite a while. If my memory serves me right someone asked about window kits at kickstarter and Dan said it won't be available.
 
Sebbie said:
Maaan, why is the EVGA 1080ti FTW3 (black) sold out everywhere, f*cking miners :(
Click to expand...
if you can't beat them join them :sneaky:, been mining on my 1080 overnight before the dan case got here and I'm almost half way to making the case back.
 
michel v said:
I have the LP53 + Noctua A9x14, and find the setup actually noisy. It must be how I attached the fan, or how it touches the RAM stick?

Here's a picture of my build, is that how we're supposed to attach the fan?
Click to expand...

I think your fan blades are right up against the fins and its causing turbulence and interference which is probably your primary source of noise.


This is the same reason why the C7 is soo noisy. The fan blades are in close proximity to the side panel holes, and you get the noise from passing the blades past the holes. Removing the side case panel or having a space of at least a couple mm's will greatly reduce such noises.
 
Hi Guys
New here, read nearly all the pages in the post and I appreciate all the good information. Just made the following build:
Dan Case A4 SFX V2
G.Skill Flare X - 2x8GB 3200 MHz
Intel i5-8400
Noctua NH-Li9
Corsair SFX450
ASRock Z370M-ITX/ac
Asus Strix 1080 8GB

I am really satisfied with the case and the setup, only got some questions to optimize the setup. My temperatures is around 38-42 degress (1600-1800 RPM) idle and 72 degress stress test (2100 RPM) the setup is quite noisy 1950rmp +
The first question is regarding the direction of the Noctua NH-Li9 heatsink - right now i mount so that the heatsink is dispersing air vertically instead of horizontally does that have any impact?
Furthermore, would it give an enormous improvement to go with LC545 from asatek with noctua pwm fan? Gonna keep the case for a while so I don't really mind spending the extra money?
What would you suggest as a safe temperature gaming on a i5 8400 CPU, thinking about adjusting fan speed lower than it is set now while gaming (65 degrees around 1950 rpm)
 
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Hi All,

I've been reading this thread for quite some time, and eventually purchased the A4-SFX v2 based on the builds I've seen here :)

I'm just planning my build now, so far this is how it's looking:

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz
CPU Cooler: ????
Motherboard: Asus Strix Z370-I
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4-3000
Storage: Samsung 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 SSD
Graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW
PSU: Corsair SF600

I have some questions around the cooler configuration with an Asus Strix motherboard. The LP53 seems to be the leader in terms of cooling, and I understand running an 8700 will need some fairly solid cooling. However, I understand the LP53 won't fit on the Strix without removing the various headsinks? I did consider an ASRock board, but the one that had everything I need has the M.2 socket on the rear, which isn't ideal for managing the heat of the SSD. Would a Noctua NH-Li9 be a good alternative for cooling the 8700? I don't plan on doing any OC'ing, but I do plan to run many of the upcoming VR titles.

Also, I was hoping to make my own PSU cables, but I can't seem to find anywhere to buy the pins & plugs, does anyone know where I can source them? or do people typically trim and resolder the existing cables?
 
Is there room for the evga 1080 ti kingpin in this case? Its the same size as the regular 1080 ti ftw3 tho the pcie connectors are in a different location and im not sure it will fit?

Edit:
Maybe there is, just saw the cutout in the front of the case.
 
Alaberti said:
Corsair SP 600 + Asetek 92mm AIO /w Noctua NF-A9-14

.... realized a problem - the PSU cables were pushing down on the noctua fan just enough to prevent it from spinning, so temps flew out of control. Currently, the PSU is outside the case while I try to figure it out. Anyone have a similar problem?
Click to expand...

Yes, I do.
The cables at the bottom of the Corsair PSU is causing a problem, there are too many, too long cables.
I made it 'work' by flipping the PSU 180° and removing the small bracket where you normally mount the PSU on. That way the PSU is not mounted at all, but it is so tightly packed with all the cables that it does not move anyway. The cables now have to be connected at the 'top' of the PUS instead of bottom. The one main power cable to the PSU can be connected at the bottom of the PSU.
Problem with that solution is that the PSU sucks air and blows it out at the bottom directly where the AIO cooler sits, but temps are ok so far.
I don't think this can be a permanent solution (maybe by drilling some holes into the PSU shell to enable fixing while flipped on the removed bracket and changing the PSU fan, so that its air flow is reversed (fan of PSU has to be flipped).

TO still be able to use the initial 'correct' PSU mount setup am looing into modding the main power cable going to the mainboard and the PCIe power cables to something like this:
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=p10109842t5h.jpg

source https://www.hardwareluxx.de/communi...-einen-abgewinkelten-pcie-stecker-683614.html
 
cour said:
Yes, I do.
The cables at the bottom of the Corsair PSU is causing a problem, there are too many, too long cables.
I made it 'work' by flipping the PSU 180° and removing the small bracket where you normally mount the PSU on. That way the PSU is not mounted at all, but it is so tightly packed with all the cables that it does not move anyway. The cables now have to be connected at the 'top' of the PUS instead of bottom. The one main power cable to the PSU can be connected at the bottom of the PSU.
Problem with that solution is that the PSU sucks air and blows it out at the bottom directly where the AIO cooler sits, but temps are ok so far.
I don't think this can be a permanent solution (maybe by drilling some holes into the PSU shell to enable fixing while flipped on the removed bracket and changing the PSU fan, so that its air flow is reversed (fan of PSU has to be flipped).

TO still be able to use the initial 'correct' PSU mount setup am looing into modding the main power cable going to the mainboard and the PCIe power cables to something like this:
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=p10109842t5h.jpg

source https://www.hardwareluxx.de/communi...-einen-abgewinkelten-pcie-stecker-683614.html
Click to expand...

What about using something like this?

https://www.moddiy.com/products/Pre...MIrOPhopv92AIVr73tCh39fgB7EAQYASABEgJrJfD_BwE
 
I‘ve ordered these cables for the psu..

Think, these will be easier to handle
 

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