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

or your cpu isnt running on "intel specs" and is boosting more often then it should. u can try undervolting etc ;). do the temps get much lower with opened side panel?
 
mirgus said:
or your cpu isnt running on "intel specs" and is boosting more often then it should. u can try undervolting etc ;). do the temps get much lower with opened side panel?
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No, they are almost the same with the side panel off. I'll try undervolting and updating the BIOS maybe, idk.
 
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Hello, i'm waiting that the dan A4 sfx v.4 will be available. Can you tell me Where i can buy the panel with window s for this new version? Thanks a lot for your support!
 
ezeftw:

I have the feeling you have the same problem like this guy on your board:

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/t...emp-i5-8400-nh-l9i-65c-avg-w-asus-z370i.7342/

For this guy the solution was to rotate the heatsink 90°. You could also try to use the boxed heatsink to see if the temps are better - if yes maybe your L9i is defective (bad soldering)
If this will not change the situation you should follow my steps of the thermal guide on dan-cases.com in the FAQ section. Please use CoreTemp as the tool for monitoring temps and power conumption of the CPU.
Make sure all AutoOverclocking features are disabled in the UEFI and the CPU run with default settings. Same for the FAN profile settings in UEFI. On heavy load the CPU fan has to spin with 2500rpm.

Share some picture of the build and thermal past after disassembly of the heatsink.

F4810:
There are now Window Kits available. Please read the "How-to get custom window kits for v4" guide on dan-cases.com in the FAQ section.
 
Anticipating my V4 from SFFlab.
Just to note, it's being held at Belgian customs because no invoice information provided from "Taiwan".
The BelgianPost import division wrote me a letter about this, and I provided the necessary info in return (Declaration form and invoice/receipt copy).
If would'nt reply within 1 month the package would be sent back or destroyed.

Writing this just to make others aware to check their mail. Hope invoice details were provided in the other shipments, otherwise quite some extra work possibly.
 
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Hello, I am new here, I've ordered V4, I have my Noctua ready on Intel 8700, fan duct printed and MSI 1070ITX ready, but it's getting little bit hot on it's back so 2 questions:
  • Is it possible to cool the back's of the boards (GPU and Motherboad) - I plan the bottom fan to be exhaust for the duct->noctua->cpu intake.
  • Does anyone have an information about the fan bracket? When that will be available for V4?
Thank you for your time ♥
 
Has anyone with a V4 tested whether intake or exhaust was the best use for the bottom fan? I know “heat rises”, but I have an open air cooler and with the case being so small... I wonder if my current intake configuration is actually just blowing the hot air back in.
 
So, I decided for my family's new "office PC" to go with the Dan A4 (v4) since my wife and I love minimalism in the office. The parts shopping journey has begun as the case arrived this afternoon. Any gotchas, nice-to-knows, etc. I should know about before doing my research and ordering parts?
 
juaninamilli said:
Has anyone with a V4 tested whether intake or exhaust was the best use for the bottom fan? I know “heat rises”, but I have an open air cooler and with the case being so small... I wonder if my current intake configuration is actually just blowing the hot air back in.
Click to expand...

Hi, I am testing it in another small case and so far if you don't have a duct, intake should work better. There is an issue with the hot air building up inside the case around CPU which needs to leave this area asap from top to the bottom, so pressurizing the area pushes the air away to the zone where you don't care much about it + you cool the mainboard too.

I am waiting for my v4 so far and I guess it will have the results lil bit different with the fan duct attached and vertical heatsink orientation.
 
I should’ve mentioned that. I do have a duct. I ended up flipping it. Seems to be 2-3 degrees cooler, but definitely cools down fast after use.
PalaSicka said:
Hi, I am testing it in another small case and so far if you don't have a duct, intake should work better. There is an issue with the hot air building up inside the case around CPU which needs to leave this area asap from top to the bottom, so pressurizing the area pushes the air away to the zone where you don't care much about it + you cool the mainboard too.

I am waiting for my v4 so far and I guess it will have the results lil bit different with the fan duct attached and vertical heatsink orientation.
Click to expand...
 
juaninamilli said:
I should’ve mentioned that. I do have a duct. I ended up flipping it. Seems to be 2-3 degrees cooler, but definitely cools down fast after use.
Click to expand...
So you are pushing out? What GPU do you use? I ask if you, by any chance, have the SFF GPU and use a bracket for another fan.
 
dondan said:
ezeftw:

I have the feeling you have the same problem like this guy on your board:

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/t...emp-i5-8400-nh-l9i-65c-avg-w-asus-z370i.7342/

For this guy the solution was to rotate the heatsink 90°. You could also try to use the boxed heatsink to see if the temps are better - if yes maybe your L9i is defective (bad soldering)
If this will not change the situation you should follow my steps of the thermal guide on dan-cases.com in the FAQ section. Please use CoreTemp as the tool for monitoring temps and power conumption of the CPU.
Make sure all AutoOverclocking features are disabled in the UEFI and the CPU run with default settings. Same for the FAN profile settings in UEFI. On heavy load the CPU fan has to spin with 2500rpm.

Share some picture of the build and thermal past after disassembly of the heatsink.

F4810:
There are now Window Kits available. Please read the "How-to get custom window kits for v4" guide on dan-cases.com in the FAQ section.
Click to expand...
Hi Dan. I've just ordered 2 laser cut windows for the v4 case, and I'm wondering how long the m3 screw threads should be?
Also, I'd recommend you upload the window file as a 2007 dxf file instead, as that is the only format Ponoko accepts. It's a popular and more than a century old site for online laser cutting. They have a wide variety of materials, are cheap and ship to the whole world.
Please consider changing feet screwholes to m4 for at better selection, and move them a tiny bit into the center of the case to allow higher and wider feet if people want this (atleast 25mm diameter). It makes sense with new 645lt to get more airflow.
Also please consider changing windows screwholes for m4 to allow a wider selection of thumbscrews, such as mnpctech thumb screws.
Thanks for making a great case.
 
I haven't been following the sff scene for a while now. I've got two questions if anyone could help me out.

1. How do the latest sff fanless psu's perform? Are they safe to buy?
2. How does the black ridge perform? Is it worth upgrading to it from the nh-l9i? Most importantly is it as quiet or quieter than the l9i?
 
I was thinking about modifying my V2 to accommodate a 92 mm fan below the mainboard. With the older style flex riser that isn't possible probably because the cable goes downwards from the PCI-E slot on the GPU side and because of the bending radius would interfere with the fan. Does anybody (Dan?) know if the V4 riser is available separately as a spare part and how easily it would fit in a V2?
 
XstreamHard said:
I was thinking about modifying my V2 to accommodate a 92 mm fan below the mainboard. With the older style flex riser that isn't possible probably because the cable goes downwards from the PCI-E slot on the GPU side and because of the bending radius would interfere with the fan. Does anybody (Dan?) know if the V4 riser is available separately as a spare part and how easily it would fit in a V2?
Click to expand...
It has been available separately, but it's OOS right now.
 
XstreamHard said:
I was thinking about modifying my V2 to accommodate a 92 mm fan below the mainboard. With the older style flex riser that isn't possible probably because the cable goes downwards from the PCI-E slot on the GPU side and because of the bending radius would interfere with the fan. Does anybody (Dan?) know if the V4 riser is available separately as a spare part and how easily it would fit in a V2?
Click to expand...

You don't need a new riser, you can see a lot of V2 with Fan below the mobo,
please search in this thread...
...you can find a lot of usefull info, about fan and more ;)
IMG_8233.jpg
 
D10S said:
You don't need a new riser, you can see a lot of V2 with Fan below the mobo,
please search in this thread...
...you can find a lot of usefull info, about fan and more ;)
View attachment 168763
Click to expand...

Yeah I didn't quite keep up with the thread for some time. Thanks. Just ordered a third A9x14 PWM (one for the PSU, one under the PSU and one under the Mobo)
 
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Hey everyone,
Sadly on a recent trip with my black V1 Dan case in a new bag one of my side panels was dented and the other one scratched quite badly.
If anyone has side panels they're not using, please get in touch as I'd like to buy them.
Also if anyone knows how I might order some from Dan successfully, I'd appreciate that too.

best,
dyrdevil
 
Can anyone please post their results of 92mm fan under motherboard in push/pull configuration? I would like to know how this affects CPU and GPU temps, thanks.
 
promaty said:
Can anyone please post their results of 92mm fan under motherboard in push/pull configuration? I would like to know how this affects CPU and GPU temps, thanks.
Click to expand...

Hi, I will just repeat what I've already said somewhere else. After some research, I went straight for push config with vertical NOCTUA NH-L9i.

Setup:
Motherboard: ASRock Z390M-ITX/AC - Intel Z390 (lame, I wanted a different one, made a wrong drop in a basket, but whatevs), still pretty good MB
CPU: Intel Core i7-8700 - I didn't take 8700K on purpose, as the non-overclocked differences are negligible, but 8700 is way cooler and I don't plan to overclock or delid. I wanted to stay aircooled too.
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 AERO ITX 8G OC, 8GB GDDR5 - I could have fit a better one, again I didn't find the difference in the performance in anyway big enough.
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Grey 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000 - Always Crucial!
PSU: Originally I bought Fortron Dagger - 600W, but it was tooooo noisy so I swapped it for Corsair SW600 Platinum.
SSD: ADATA XPG Gammix S11 Pro - Although I am not a fan of ADATA by far, love the performance and design for the price of this unit.
FANs: Noctua NH-l9i and Noctua 92x92x14, as mentioned, I am returning the 25mm, cause I know it won't make any difference.
+sanded fan duct

I am planning to get custom sleeve cables when the bracket is out, cause I believe it can heavily help with the airflow in the box - not for the CPU but for the other parts. At this moment, all the DAN A4 customsleeved are soldout.

I am on 54-59 degrees on average in Apex Legends max settings with peaks to max 72 degrees on the CPU and around 70 on the GPU, which is amazing achievement considering it was close to 80 in the open box in a hot day. My only concern is the top part of the box, where the temps of the alluminum and hence the environment gets easily over 60° so I can only guess what are the temperatures on parts, PSU and SSD. CPU and GPU has excellent temp performence and I don't believe you can get much better with NH-L9i
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These temps mostly ressamble open case scenario, so I don't think it can get any much better on a air flow.
 
So what are folks planning to cool their new Ryzen chips with? I'm looking at the 3700X or 3800X and L9a but I noted the fins would have to be horizontal. Probably not a big deal but makes me wonder if there's some temperature reduction to be gained there with an alternative air cooler that also doesn't ride the edge of the side panels to create that turbulence noise. Black Ridge probably won't be compatible with many X570i boards let alone the ASUS board I'm picking out. I kind of miss the arbitrary noise comparison graph on the thermal benchmark sheet.
 
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Ok, so I've recieved the 120 mm AIO bracket today and a Noiseblocker BlackSilent Pro Fan PLPS - 120mm PWM to fit in.
USING AIO BRACKET FOR A FAN

Why: The GPU and CPU temps are not an issue, but the case itself is a red burning devil, working as a heater, so I got lil bit worried about other parts than GPU/CPU which are not properly vented

Setup: Extension PWM cable coming from Motherboard spliting to the bottom 92 mm Noctua fan and the 120 mm bracket
Main issue: the 120 mm fan-side sticks to the GPU heatsink, blocking the outcoming flow

Max temps without 120 mm: GPU 72° - CPU 72° in Apex Legends over time

  1. INTAKE - The 120 mm oriented so the cable goes along side of the GPU
    - basically the cable blocked the GPU heatsink even more, choking it to death... temeprature raised slowly to 83°, then I stopped the test
    - obviously the PWM is not making it any favor, as the sensor checks the cooler CPU side and therefore doesn't increase the GPU cooling if needed
    - temps on CPU got surprisingly lower about 2 degrees
    - the case stayed cool, only on the IO bracket topside still around 60-75 degrees
  2. EXHAUST - The 120 mm using extension-to-extension and the wire oposite side from the GPU
    - much better temps on GPU, basically similar to "without bracket"
    - cooler side with the bracket
    - same temps on CPU as without bracket
    - heating top
    If this would be the case, there is absolutely no reason to have this fan there. Completely useless solution in my opinion
  3. INTAKE 2.0 - The 120 mm using extension-to-extension and the wire oposite side from the GPU
    - GPU temps similar to "without bracket"
    - CPU temps lower about 2 degrees
    - the case stayed cool, only on the IO bracket topside still around 60-75 degrees
As for the installation, if you decide to go this way, prepare yoursefl for some serious puzzle solving and pain. This is a real struggle. First you need to chose the right fan. Noiseblocker BlackSilent is a great fan, but very hard to install, because it's meant for the case building, not a bracket building. "What's the difference" you may ask. In a deskop case, you have complete access to the bottom of the fan, where in DAN case, you only access is to the top of the fan. You should keep this in mind, cause there is very limited space to screw some bolts - especially when (like in my case) you have a noise-reducing rubbers on top and bottom. I had to flip the setup, use some washers and force the whole bracket-with-a-fan into the case.

This is another problem, because there is no chance you can put the bracket in without removing the GPU! You have to remove the GPU and then - at the best scenario, fit the bracket in on the side of the GPU with the use of the opening above GPU. Then you have to push it aaaall the way to the otherside, wiggling it up and down to avoid the raiser, the bolts which hold the plastic sheet, the sidepanel-holders... Be VERY careful, cause when you put the bracket inside, you will need to shift it and the bolts and nuts holding the 120 mm fan in place can easily !!!damage the GPU raiser!!! Trust me, there is not much space to wobble around.

This would be probably much better, if there is a +1 mm bigger opening on top. But it's not :D Touché
hu4iypB.jpg



 
Thanks for the big post.

Where did you get the bracket? At SFF Lab it says "free shiping" but in the cart it says "$20 for shipping" and tehre are also no dates for shipping.
 
I'm getting unexpected bad thermals and I'm not sure what the reason is. My thermals jumped up by over 15C. Where I was idling at 45C before (Ambient is 30-32C), I'm now idling at 50-60C.


i migrated from a Dan A4 v2 to a v4 and swapped out my pump from the 92mm Asetek 545LC to the 645LT. However, to my surprise, temps shot up through the roof. I swapped cases in hopes of getting better thermals with the added A9x14 under the motherboard tray. To my surprise and shock, my temps are now worse even with the fan and the new pump. Nothing else was changed other than swapping in Pslate custom unshielded PSU cables instead of Corsair stock ribbon cables.


Furthermore, I'm hearing a new whine/engine noise. I'm not sure if that's the turbulence from the added bottom fan or if that's how the 645LT is supposed to sound.


I'm at a loss on what may be the issue here:


Specs are

8700k delidded with aftermarket copper IHS

Asus Strix 370-i

Corsair LPX

Samsung 970 Pro 1TB

Corsair SF600 with Pslate custom cables

EVGA 2080 TI XC Ultra Gaming

Thermal Grizzly Kryptonaut
 
ranker2 said:
I'm getting unexpected bad thermals and I'm not sure what the reason is. My thermals jumped up by over 15C. Where I was idling at 45C before (Ambient is 30-32C), I'm now idling at 50-60C.


i migrated from a Dan A4 v2 to a v4 and swapped out my pump from the 92mm Asetek 545LC to the 645LT. However, to my surprise, temps shot up through the roof. I swapped cases in hopes of getting better thermals with the added A9x14 under the motherboard tray. To my surprise and shock, my temps are now worse even with the fan and the new pump. Nothing else was changed other than swapping in Pslate custom unshielded PSU cables instead of Corsair stock ribbon cables.


Furthermore, I'm hearing a new whine/engine noise. I'm not sure if that's the turbulence from the added bottom fan or if that's how the 645LT is supposed to sound.


I'm at a loss on what may be the issue here:


Specs are

8700k delidded with aftermarket copper IHS

Asus Strix 370-i

Corsair LPX

Samsung 970 Pro 1TB

Corsair SF600 with Pslate custom cables

EVGA 2080 TI XC Ultra Gaming

Thermal Grizzly Kryptonaut
Click to expand...
I would say idle temps of 50-60 usually means the heatsink is not attached correctly, or with a AIO, there’s a problem with the water flow, either with pump or blockage somewhere.
 
What's everyone's delta between their motherboard temps and their CPU temps in HWMonitor?

In my Dan V4 + 8700k delidded + Asus STRIX 370-i + Asetek 645LT + 2 Noctua A9x14 92mm fans @ 2200RPMs

Idle
Motherboard sensor = 37C
CPU sensor = 44C

Gaming Load (Rainbow Six Siege)
Motherboard sensor = 45C (52C Max)
CPU sensor = 68C (82C Max)

Are these temperatures abnormal or normal?
 
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