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

sldr said:
The fan that came with the L9i is already a beefed version of the fan you can buy seperately, this one goes upto 2200RPM, whereas the seperate one only goes to 2000RPM.
Click to expand...
Do you have space for a 120 x 2,5 Fan?
 
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sldr said:
Oh wow, the plexi designs just arrived.

The result is amazing, the quality couldn't be better. At first I was a bit afraid, there were some laser/cut marks, but these were only on the protective film (one white on one side, and a milk-white on the other side)

dondan You have no idea how happy you made me

View attachment 56279View attachment 56280View attachment 56281View attachment 56282View attachment 56283View attachment 56284



Full album here: https://imgur.com/a/2DwYa
Click to expand...

How much did that run you, if you don't mind my asking?
 
How to cover the front USB hole if you mount a AIO?

i9 18core Sticker!

p1060806zes35kfuq3.jpg


Here are really cool pictures of the complete build:
http://www.abload.de/gallery.php?key=k9gVcSHP
 
sldr said:
Oh wow, the plexi designs just arrived.

The result is amazing, the quality couldn't be better. At first I was a bit afraid, there were some laser/cut marks, but these were only on the protective film (one white on one side, and a milk-white on the other side)

dondan You have no idea how happy you made me

View attachment 56279View attachment 56280View attachment 56281View attachment 56282View attachment 56283View attachment 56284



Full album here: https://imgur.com/a/2DwYa
Click to expand...
Wow! These are really cool. Want to look into doing my own design now...
 
My DAN build lives! Finally got all the pieces this weekend except for the shorter cables from cablemod and I do not have a GPU as of yet. I got Windows 10 installed with all the right drivers and utilities, and then ran some tests, which then have me a bit concerned. Here's my build so far:

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700
CPU Cooler: LP53 Heatsink + Noctua A9x14 Fan + Thermal-Grizzly Kryonaut
Delid: Rockit 88 Kit with Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra
PSU: Corsair SF600 600W Supply with cables from Cablemod
Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX z370i
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO 500 GB M.2 NVMe
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-3200 - F4-3200C14D-16GTZRX – 2x8GB Kit
Case Fan: None at the moment!

The delid seems questionable when I run some tests using the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility.... seems idle is around 36 C, but using the CPU Stress test at 5 min it peaked at 94 C, and the Memory Stress Test was worse at 100 C! Looking at the spreadsheet of CPU benchmarks attached here, this seems like the sort of temperatures I should get with an 8700K.... not an 8700 non-K with a TDP of 65W??? What also seems strange is during the test the TDP pushes to 119W.... No clue why.

Any chance that my delid is messed up? What could have gone wrong here or am I freaking out over nothing?
 
The drive bay is designed to fit two SSDs, but I just can't figure out how to actually get your SATA power cable connected to both at the same time. Do I need a special kind of cable or something? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
I don't know if this already posted but there is a copycat of Dan A4, although costs a bit less than Dan's case. It called
LUNA Design DNK-PRIME

d7d968832599957e3501ec3e717d110c.jpg


DNK-PRIME-GALLERY-08.jpg


31f4995a82ed111e6050ccfa2cfc5e61.jpg


8ad80c819906d9bc9016df104241b195.jpg


IMG_0107.jpg
 
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Alaberti, actually its a bit bigger than Dan's case. Phew, nothing to worry about. On the other hand this case NFC S4 Mini is just 4 liters small! Its like 3 liters smaller than Dan A4's case!

detail3.jpg


Back%5D.jpg


Xbc2NvP.jpg
 
Vexel said:
Alaberti, actually its a bit bigger than Dan's case. Phew, nothing to worry about. On the other hand this case NFC S4 Mini is just 4 liters small! Its like 3 liters smaller than Dan A4's case!
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks for this info, there a lot of case out of this thread...
I do not understand if you're trying to convince me that I was wrong to buy this DAN A4 case? :cry:
if you can upload images in thumbnail mode would be a pleasure too, although I think it is better to upload images related to this specific case in this specific thread, for your "useful advice for purchases" a simple link to the product would be exhaustive, in my opinion, of course. (y)
 
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AWDSOME said:
My DAN build lives! Finally got all the pieces this weekend except for the shorter cables from cablemod and I do not have a GPU as of yet. I got Windows 10 installed with all the right drivers and utilities, and then ran some tests, which then have me a bit concerned. Here's my build so far:

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700
CPU Cooler: LP53 Heatsink + Noctua A9x14 Fan + Thermal-Grizzly Kryonaut
Delid: Rockit 88 Kit with Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra
PSU: Corsair SF600 600W Supply with cables from Cablemod
Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX z370i
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO 500 GB M.2 NVMe
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-3200 - F4-3200C14D-16GTZRX – 2x8GB Kit
Case Fan: None at the moment!

The delid seems questionable when I run some tests using the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility.... seems idle is around 36 C, but using the CPU Stress test at 5 min it peaked at 94 C, and the Memory Stress Test was worse at 100 C! Looking at the spreadsheet of CPU benchmarks attached here, this seems like the sort of temperatures I should get with an 8700K.... not an 8700 non-K with a TDP of 65W??? What also seems strange is during the test the TDP pushes to 119W.... No clue why.

Any chance that my delid is messed up? What could have gone wrong here or am I freaking out over nothing?
Click to expand...
By default all the motherboards are auto overclocking intel CPUs so they hit their max turbo frequency on all cores instead of just 1 or 2. This drives up the tdp alot but shouldn't improve gaming performance much. If you find that setting you should be able to switch it off. Also, I remember someone posting that you can set the tdp in some manufacturers bios's.
 
Vexel said:
I don't know if this already posted but there is a copycat of Dan A4, although costs a bit less than Dan's case.
Click to expand...

I’ve found a few copy cats that are similar but not completely the same. Not sure what bringing awareness to them will do other than people could find it in here and decide to not purchase an a4 because they found a cheaper alternative.
 
Lazer1337 said:
I’ve found a few copy cats that are similar but not completely the same. Not sure what bringing awareness to them will do other than people could find it in here and decide to not purchase an a4 because they found a cheaper alternative.
Click to expand...

Dan A4 is a unique case, I think first in its kind, but lately more alternatives are appearing, I stumbled upon them by chance, and wanted to let people know that there are other such cases too, maybe someone thinks that there is only one and no choices. I just posted once, I'm not spamming for you guys to suddenly react so aggressively. Cheers
 
Vexel said:
Dan A4 is a unique case, I think first in its kind, but lately more alternatives are appearing, I stumbled upon them by chance, and wanted to let people know that there are other such cases too, maybe someone thinks that there is only one and no choices. I just posted once, I'm not spamming for you guys to suddenly react so aggressively. Cheers
Click to expand...
Your info are important, guys that belive that this is the smallest case in the world and aren't able to find out theirself this stuff, out of this thread, they should thank you!
If you could edit your previous post, and re-upload images in thumbnail or simply delete and post the link...my 13 inch monitor would be happy and i don't have to scroll so much to go over your post.
I like big shoot of rig, i can navigate in them, it is so usefull! But in the Dan A4 Case thread i would love to see big picture of this case, sincerely.(y)
 
I just got the ek m.2 heatsink and couldn't screw it in with the stock m.2 screws. It needs a longer screw, so I took off rear part+clips off the ek heatsink and just have the top part stuck on with the provided thermal pads.

Anyone got the whole package in on the strix z370i? Also seeing no temp difference with just the top heatsink on and I'm afraid it might fall off when carrying the case around.

Edit: It was stated earleir in the thread, you need to put the supplied smaller standoff on top of the existing one. This allows you to use the whole ek m.2 heatsink.
Protip: Do not twist the existing m.2 standoff off the mobo.. it's glued on not screwed on. Learned that the hard way.
 
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AWDSOME said:
My DAN build lives! Finally got all the pieces this weekend except for the shorter cables from cablemod and I do not have a GPU as of yet. I got Windows 10 installed with all the right drivers and utilities, and then ran some tests, which then have me a bit concerned. Here's my build so far:

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700
CPU Cooler: LP53 Heatsink + Noctua A9x14 Fan + Thermal-Grizzly Kryonaut
Delid: Rockit 88 Kit with Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra
PSU: Corsair SF600 600W Supply with cables from Cablemod
Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX z370i
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO 500 GB M.2 NVMe
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-3200 - F4-3200C14D-16GTZRX – 2x8GB Kit
Case Fan: None at the moment!

The delid seems questionable when I run some tests using the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility.... seems idle is around 36 C, but using the CPU Stress test at 5 min it peaked at 94 C, and the Memory Stress Test was worse at 100 C! Looking at the spreadsheet of CPU benchmarks attached here, this seems like the sort of temperatures I should get with an 8700K.... not an 8700 non-K with a TDP of 65W??? What also seems strange is during the test the TDP pushes to 119W.... No clue why.

Any chance that my delid is messed up? What could have gone wrong here or am I freaking out over nothing?
Click to expand...

Any chance multi-core enhancement is on, running all cores at max turbo? Does seem excessive.
 
Vexel said:
Dan A4 is a unique case, I think first in its kind, but lately more alternatives are appearing, I stumbled upon them by chance, and wanted to let people know that there are other such cases too, maybe someone thinks that there is only one and no choices. I just posted once, I'm not spamming for you guys to suddenly react so aggressively. Cheers
Click to expand...
Sorry about that, I overreacted. I just was bothered that someone would advertise another case in a thread specific to this case.
 
mikelorant said:
Have mostly finished my build. Reasonably happy with the results.

63RhQf+

Have some minor questions though.

I have some tiny case scratches on the matte black finish. Anyone know of some paint that I can use to touch up the markings?

After my latest efforts in cleaning up the cables, I have somehow noticed one of the fans making a louder noise than usual. I have confirmed none of the obvious fans (PSU, CPU and GPU are the cause). Is there a fan on the ASUS Strix Z270i motherboard because I have ruled out the 3 main components and am stumped where the fan noise is coming from. My best guess is there is a fan on the right side of the CPU at the back IO connectors. If so, can I control these fan settings?

Temperatures have been great with my i7-7700 (non K) and it doesn't seem to be a bottleneck for the EVGA GTX 1080ti FTW3 GPU. Temperatures idle around 40C (minimum 35C). Peak seems to be around 80C (maximum observed 84C).

Performance has been insane. Absolutely nothing feels slow. The Samsung 960 EVO 1TB drive is just a beast when it comes to boot times.

My main efforts have been around noise, and until the recent issue I mentioned above the system has been so quiet that often the only sounds I hear are the monitor buzz, which I never knew I had until I had a system this quiet!

Regarding the custom cabling. My recommendations are as follows:
  • 150mm 24 pin PSU cable.
  • 240mm 8 pin EPS cable.
  • 2 x 300mm 8 pin PCIE cable (250mm is absolute minimum but you need to get very creative on routing the cables between the PSU and GPU).
Make sure for ALL of these cables that the retention clip is on OPPOSITE sides. Cablemod puts them on the same side and causes twists when installing. Reversing this would have given a much cleaner cabling and would have also made it easier to work with. I'd also recommend picking up a few cable combs. They really help keep the cables organised.

Beware of the Gskill Trident Z RAM (3200Mhz) with the Strix Z270i motherboard. You will need to increase the CPU system agent voltage to 1.15 to set it to 3200. Enabling XMP will cause the system to not boot. Hopefully ASUS fixes this issue with a future bios, but it was an effort to find the proper solution (thx reddit).

Lastly, the CPU cooler and fan. This is easily the most difficult and complex part of the build. I ordered both the LP53 and the Cryorig C7. I also ordered the Noctua A9x14 fan. I feel the results are so similar (both silent as long as you use the A9x14) that it is best to use the Cryorig C7 heatsink as it is much easier to install on the motherboard. Seems a much better fit. However, the Noctua on the C7 isn't as well fitting (less connection points) however using thin cable ties does the job to an acceptable level. For reference, I found the LP53 was cooler at idle but the C7 was cooler at maximum load. With the difficulty with ordering a LP53, just do the C7 and save yourself significant effort.
Click to expand...

Hi, looks very nice. :)

I have few questions:

1) Did you ordered ModFlex (Paracord) or ModMesh (Nylon)?
2) Did you order it as "cable mod pro version"?
3) How did you measured the length of the cables?
4) Do you mean with "retention clip" the plug at the end of the cable?

Thank you!

Regards, Marcel
 
RGB is life!

Installed 2 Cablemod Aura-sync compatible LED strips, one 30cm above the GPU and one 60cm around the motherboard. Made my own extention cable to connect the 2 strips.

I'll take a new video when it's dark

 
sldr said:
RGB is life!

Installed 2 Cablemod Aura-sync compatible LED strips, one 30cm above the GPU and one 60cm around the motherboard. Made my own extention cable to connect the 2 strips.

I'll take a new video when it's dark

Click to expand...


sldr, is it possible that you tell me where to buy the m2 standoffs (male) and what length the standoffs have? Thanks in advance! :)
 
sldr said:
RGB is life!

Installed 2 Cablemod Aura-sync compatible LED strips, one 30cm above the GPU and one 60cm around the motherboard. Made my own extention cable to connect the 2 strips.

I'll take a new video when it's dark

Click to expand...


Since I'm a fan of your Quake and Doom logos and it's a nice workaround for handling thermals, could I basically clone your order and the window will screw on to my v2 a4 without further customization?
 
d0wnjumper said:
sldr, is it possible that you tell me where to buy the m2 standoffs (male) and what length the standoffs have? Thanks in advance! :)
Click to expand...

I did not find them in a retail store, I ordered 5 pieces of an M2 standoff 25mm as a sample via a wholesale partner. I have no idea where to find them on the internet or in a "normal" shop

ZTylerDurden said:
Since I'm a fan of your Quake and Doom logos and it's a nice workaround for handling thermals, could I basically clone your order and the window will screw on to my v2 a4 without further customization?
Click to expand...

I designed the plexiglasses using Autodesk Fusion 360 (it's free) on macOS (no idea what tools to use on Windows, most lileky they have Windows versions too), it's not that difficult at all.
I got three more designs incoming, they will probably be delivered next week Monday. This time an updated Doom version, the Quake Champions logo and one with all the Quake logo's to date (1,2,3,4, live, champions). The previous ones were acrylic transparent coloerless 3mm, for the new ones I ordered the same "greyish" shade like the original prexy.

All you need is the DXF file dondan provides on his website ( Window Kit Template - DXF File 0.4 MB ), edit in a tool of your liking, keeping the 4 holes to mount it on the sidepanel, and export it as a file format that the company that'll (laser)cut your design. It's about €20 per panel, depending on the complexity of the cuts (more cuts = higher price).

I used https://snijlab.nl/en, they have a webshop where you can upload your drawings and have their systems verify your design. If your design looks ok in the preview, they'll be able to produce it. I don't know where you're from, but they ship internationally.

Would anyone be interested in a "howto" on how to make these plexi designs? dondan : are you ok if I would try to write that up?
 
Thank you!

Yes I would love to know. I never used Fusion 360 so it'd be great to know how to set the dimensions (ie size of the panel, location of 4 holes to screw onto case).

Looking at the DOOM logo, do you think it'll run cooler than the default (non-dan window) side panel?
 
dondan A friend desperately wants to buy a A4-SFX with the window kit. Do you have any idea when the window kits will be available to buy?
 
Does using the noctua b9 on the noctua l9i cause turbulence noise?
I mean, it should when it's about 2mm away from the side panel, but some people are reporting the noise level is the same as the a9x14.
If anyone has that combo, can you check the sound with the side panel on and off?
 
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Woxys said:
Sure. Please keep in mind that the fan duct is custom made for my cooler and motherboard, your results may vary or the fan duct will not fit at all.
Click to expand...
Got it printed (though split the fan shroud from the duct for a cleaner print). https://imgur.com/a/zQQkr
Printing in clear resulted in nice transmission from the LED strip. Will probably do a U channel to cover the LEDs visible through the side panel.

Thanks so much!
 
richiegore said:
By default all the motherboards are auto overclocking intel CPUs so they hit their max turbo frequency on all cores instead of just 1 or 2. This drives up the tdp alot but shouldn't improve gaming performance much. If you find that setting you should be able to switch it off. Also, I remember someone posting that you can set the tdp in some manufacturers bios's.
Click to expand...

CDubbs said:
Any chance multi-core enhancement is on, running all cores at max turbo? Does seem excessive.
Click to expand...

Both of these were correct! Thanks! Followed the instructions in this video to figure out where to disable it in the ASUS BIOS and to get some more background on the issue:



The TDP "boosts" to 122W for a max 28 seconds according to the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. During these periods of boost, I'm seeing all of the cores at 4.6 GHz instead of 4.3 GHz, which is what I would expect. The maximum temperature after running a few tests (CPU and Memory tests) show a running average of 76 deg C, and a max around 84 Deg C. So That makes me feel better about the delid and cooling solution I have in place.

However, this issue now has gone almost completely the other way in that I cannot get a sustained 4.3 GHz across all cores as I would expect a standard i7-8700 to do. Now with MCE disabled and when it's not in this 122W boost period, it comes down to 65W TDP as expected, but the speed seen on the cores bounces around 3.83 GHz to 4.03 GHz. "Power Limit Throttling" is the reason that the Intel ETU is flagging. If the i7-8700 is rated for 4.3 GHz across all cores in "normal TDP operation", what could I have set incorrectly for not being able to sustain 4.3 GHz? So now that I know where the MCE function is and what it does I may see if tried to see if I could tweak it to get a decent clock just above TDP that would then not overload my cooling solution. After a significant amount of playing around with bios settings trying to figure this out, I ran through the following scenarios:
  • Disable MCE with XMP enabled - Temps are good, avg around 76C as above, can run forever like this but I never have long periods of sustained 4.3 GHz on the cores. Constant Power Limit Throttling.
  • Disable MCE and XMP - Really no change (marginal if anything). Temp still avg 76C and heavy power limit throttling. I was expecting to see more change here given that XMP is an overclock, and more power would be available if the memory sits back where the CPU is designed for.
  • Reload Defaults and disable MCE - No change beyond the above.
  • Perform 5-Way optimization as per the Asus Bios Utility - This seemed stable, but the temps were on average for a 5min load test around 98C peaking at 101C and on the verge of the thermal limiter. This had boosted the reference clock to 102.50 MHz. So next step was to try scaling this back to stock....
  • 5-Way optimization with ref clock at 100MHz - Marginal temp decrease, maybe an average of 96C and creeping upward. Still too high for my comfort.
So now I'm a bit lost what to do and how to set the bios as I have no experience overclocking, but willing to dabble and learn. I want XMP enabled and the CPU to sit at 4.3 GHz on all cores, but don't know how to set this up without seeing large temp gains (ie. with the 5-way opt utility). I would like to start off with the default bios settings with no MCE and XMP enabled, and then boost voltage or the TDP maximum just a bit to see if I can get a stable 4.3 GHz multi-core clock with no more than a 10C rise from my current 76C measure. Any guidance would be appreciated. I'll probably post this issue on the ASUS ROG forum to see what I should be looking at in the bios for a nice half-way point.
 
CeresPK said:
Stock Clock is fine.

4,7Ghz Allcore is possible too, but then the i7 is near the Throttle temp.

And you have to delid the CPU.



Edit:

btw i try if the LP53 can handle 25mm fans.
i found my old Noiseblocker Multiframe.
It works ... nahhh, it is realy hot, but it's only the 1250rpm Version.
Without modification there are a lot inteference noises.

But when you put a fly Screen between the fan and the Sidepanel the noises goes down.

My next test will be the 2000rpm PWM Version and a dustfilter.
To get a better Performance and maybe the Filter lowers the noises a Little more.


What antennas are those? Can you fit both? I had problems with too thick antennas to fit onto the motherboard..
_mg_2592ikuc8.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the Support (yes the Aio Fan in pull Direction makes 10 degrees less!), thanks to dondan for the nice case!

Today my smaller ram was arriving (corsair ddr4-3200 without led). So I can close the case and the project.

Note: corsair ddr4-4000 and the Asrock z370 don‘t seems to be compatible.
 

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