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

So I'm really late to the party here, but I'm planning a new Ryzen build and see the A4 SFX is all out of stock now in the US. Is there a common schedule of production runs for this case?
 
Today I tested the PCIe 4.0 compatibility with all A4-SFX generations and here are the results:

a4sfx-riserckjpe.jpg


Windows 10 crashed with a blue screen directly after the boot logo on the v3 and v4 risers. Only the 3M Twin Axial riser was able to handle PCIe 4.0.
I made a 6 hours benchmark run through Futuremark, Valley Benchmark and some games without a problem. So if you have a v3 and v4 case, don't worry just setup PCIe link speed gen3 in UEFI. Currently the performance loss is 0%.

Tomorrow I will do some thermal test on the Ryzen 3700X.
 
hello all ,

ive made a new build yesterday , with an 3700x , aorus x570 mobo , aorus gen4 M.2 ,corsair lpx and gtx1080 .
as a cooler ive used the alpenfohn blackridge .
trying to mount the cooler on that mobo seemed to be real horror . the supplied AM4 mounting brackets and screws dont fit nicely or give you a secure feel.
first you have to remove the oem backplate and plastic brackets from amd 's cooler . your left with 4 bare holes to put small screws through . you have way too much play with small screws and big holes .
also the height of the alpenfohn brackets is very high , there absolutly no self centering of the whole mounting problem . all in all it looks very crappy for a cooler being designed for this case :s

then problem nr 2 , but that more gigabyte related .

the aorus m2 does fit the m.2A socket thats just above the x570chip . they've came with a two way alu chipsetcooler with fan , and the m2 sits inbetween the two cooler parts .
BUT : the M2's alu heatsink is a good 2 mm too tall , you can mount the top cooler part but it doesnt make contact with the lower part anymore . so your heatsink is way less efficient .


after some thougts i lefft the upper part away from the system and put an extra cooler on top of the alpenfohn ( stock cooler doesnt cut it )
blackridge.jpeg
. not 100 percent satisfied but its doable ,
the cpu coolers flow blows over the M2/chipset combo aswell .
 
I too installed a 3700x and a Black Ridge with 120mm fan. In my case on the Aorus B450 board. That cooler truly is a PITA to install. firstly I had to cut off the edge of the install brackets as they were sitting on some motherboard components. Secondly, as the screws move in the bracket to accommodate AM3 motherboards, I had a bit of a slip and slide to align them with the AM4 holes. To make things more difficult, the 120mm fan is pushed over by 1-2mm as the wifi module on the motherboard is slightly longer than the other ports and was hitting. Then tightening the cooler, the brackets bent a bit so that each screw is screwed in at different amounts. I did manage to get all the screws on firmly, not too tight.

Proceeded with reinstall of windows and tested CPU to make sure the slip and slide didn't ruin the thermal pasting. All good. At stock I get 87C in prime95 small FFTs. I reduced package power to 80W (from 88W) and now it is at 82C with <1% performance drop in Cinebench. Idle temps are a bit of a mess. Can get as low as 40C but as high as 60C. but this seems to line up with most people on r/amd. So hopefully AMD pulls their finger out with the drivers, etc.

I'll edit with exact cinebench and max temps but so far PBO and autoOC seem to have no effect. Probably due to the power limit and slight throttling at high temps. Might make a difference to those with the 92mm AIO.
 
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blackridge2.jpeg
i partly solved the problem and used the original backplate , ive used the oem screws from two two plastic halves and put them with washers into the blackridge brackets . this way the cooler is fastened properly onto the mobo .
you also bend your mobo way less the tricky parts is to fasten the two bolts under the heatsink , had to force a small screwdriver through the fins
 
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Is it true that in V4, the PSU mount is raised 5mm to allow for easier installation of the 92mm AIO? I've read that in a few places, but the change isn't listed on SFFLab or Dan's website and looking at the case, the PSU mount doesn't seem to have moved. Can anyone clarify?
 
QuantumBraced said:
Is it true that in V4, the PSU mount is raised 5mm to allow for easier installation of the 92mm AIO? I've read that in a few places, but the change isn't listed on SFFLab or Dan's website and looking at the case, the PSU mount doesn't seem to have moved. Can anyone clarify?
Click to expand...

It was a change Dan wanted to implement but was unable to due so due to certain constraints.
 
ranker2 said:
It was a change Dan wanted to implement but was unable to due so due to certain constraints.
Click to expand...

I see. Yeah, I struggled to imagine how it would be possible. It's too bad, it was the change I was most excited about. Seems like the 645LT isn't really that much easier to mount than the 545LC, though the improvements help a little. I blame Corsair's cables, why do they have to be so insanely stiff for an SFF product, it makes no sense. Custom sleeved cables are even bulkier.
 
darxder said:
Hello everybody, I am not exactly new to the Dan Case. I actually ordered the v2 back in 2017 and got it but never built in it. So actually on this note, if anybody wants an open box but never built in Dan Case v2, I am trying to sell it. Anyways, I am parting out a newer build in the v4 of the Dan Case.
Click to expand...

Bit late to the party here I see, so a bit of a long shot, but is the V2 still available perhaps?...

RedSawn said:
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.
Click to expand...

May I ask, why go for the 3800X over the 3700X? You'll pay more for essentially the exact same performance. Even going with the hotter chip (65W TDP for the 3700X and 105W TDP on the 3800X). And also why get an X570 board and not X470 instead? Is PCI 4.0 really that necessary for you? If not, then go for an X470 board and save some cash, as well as some small chipset fan headaches.

dondan said:
Some pictures of the A4-SFXv4

View attachment 139116
View attachment 139117
View attachment 139118
View attachment 139119

Regards
Daniel
Click to expand...

May I ask, why did you decide to switch from USB 3.0 port to USB Type-C?...
 
Aegelward said:
How easy is it adding a fan below the motherboard in a Dan V2 or is it worth upgrading to a V4?
Click to expand...

As far as my understanding goes, the dimensions of the case itself are the same and hence will be the same difficulty in the V4 as in the V2.
 
t
Dawelio said:
As far as my understanding goes, the dimensions of the case itself are the same and hence will be the same difficulty in the V4 as in the V2.
Click to expand...
Oh Ok, for some reason i was under the impression the motherboard had been raised a few mm to accommodate a fan underneath it.
 
I have just finished installing the Black Ridge in my A4 v2 case with the Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM fan configured in pull mode (it's pushing the air from the inside of the case towards the side panel). I have a SuperMicro C7Z370-CG-IW board with an 8700 (stock, not delided) together with 2x Supermicro 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 2666 (PC4-2666) Server Memory (MEM-DR416L-CV02-EU26) VLP memory. I had to remove the VRM cooler from the motherboard and I replaced it with smaller height copper heatsinks, as you can see from the photos. I have also installed SilverStone heatsink on the 970 Pro.
I have also installed an NF-A9 PWM under the Corsair SF600 power supply configured to pull the air under the case into the case itself.
I have not undervolted the CPU (I'm not sure which setting in the board's BIOS is responsible for it).

Currently, I am able to have the CPU run at a multiplier of 36 with EIST and Turbo Mode active. I've tested this configuration with OCCT running with AVX Linpack for 30 minutes and 90% Memory used. The CPU, according to HWMonitor, used 67 W of power and reached a temperature of 77 degrees C, all while the fans were running at maximum RPM (approx 1860).

If I go further with the multiplier to 37, then my CPU consumes 71 W of power and the same test run does not finish, because the CPU goes over the 85 degrees C threshold. A similar situation appears for a multiplier of 38, where the CPU consumes 80 W of power.

I have the following questions:
Can I expect better temps with this cooler?
Have I installed it correctly? I've used the ThermalGrizzly Kryonaut paste.
Can anyone point me to the right setting in the stuffy SuperMicro BIOS to undervolt the CPU, if that will help with the temps?
I have set Power Limit 1 to 65W and Power Limit 2 to 95W in the BIOS.

Any suggestions you may have are greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.
 

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Aegelward said:
t

Oh Ok, for some reason i was under the impression the motherboard had been raised a few mm to accommodate a fan underneath it.
Click to expand...
Fan mounting points were added. The only complication I faced with a v2 was having to reconfigure/bend the v2 PCIE riser cable so that the bend is more flush with the edge of the motherboard tray.
 
nve said:
I have just finished installing the Black Ridge in my A4 v2 case with the Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM fan configured in pull mode (it's pushing the air from the inside of the case towards the side panel).
Click to expand...

That's push mode. Meaning pushing air through the radiator. You'll get better performance in pull mode, pulling fresh air through the side panel and heatsink. I also got improved temps sealing the gap between the fan and heatsink. You can use electrical tape or make a paper shroud, etc.
 
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Hi, I've been reading through this thread trying to find a good CPU cooler, I've got an Alienware X51 R2 that I've upgraded with an ASUS GTX 1070 Turbo (which runs great in this case to my surprise), but I've been trying to find a solution for my i7-4790 as the stock cooler is usually around 65-70°C playing BF1 and I read on another forum about a guy that used a Thermalright AXP-100 Muscle and got good results in his X51 R2.

I recently bought a Thermalright AXP-100H Muscle as it's the only AXP-100 model I could find that didn't cost a fortune in $AUD, however it's not working out as I had hoped.

With the side panel off, I've mounted the fan under the fins to push air up through the fins but that was worse than stock, I've mounted the fan on top to pull and get around the 60°C area but the height of this cooler only gives the fan about 5mm of clearance when the side panel is on and gets too hot 75°C+, with the fan on top set to push, the environment in the case gets too hot 75°C+.

As this case doesn't have the greatest airflow, the stock cooler is made to pull air through the heatsink and exhaust out the back with an air shroud, I've read that the LP53 is good as well as the L9i so I was thinking that I could either get one of those and set the fan to pull and use the stock air shroud to exhaust or perhaps all I need is just a better fan for the stock heatsink?

The X51 R3 has a Dell AIO liquid cooler made for this system but those AIO units are around $285AUD!!!

Sorry if I haven't written clear enough or not the place to ask this, but this thread has a lot to do with small form factor CPU cooling so I thought I'd post here. :)
 
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The thermal design is horrible. I think the best cooling results u will get, with a cooler that is using the stock shroud. Otherwise the perfomance will be worse when the sidepanel is closed. So if u dont want to modify the case, try to stick with the stock shroud. Just swapping the fan will probably make your setup more quiet but i dont think that the cooling perfomance would increase.

The only thing is see as an improvement would be a cooler with similar size, which can still use the stock shroud an some additional 40mm fans at the back of the case

BTW u get the dell water cooling setup for much cheapter! around 50$
 
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mirgus said:
The thermal design is horrible. I think the best cooling results u will get, with a cooler that is using the stock shroud. Otherwise the perfomance will be worse when the sidepanel is closed. So if u dont want to modify the case, try to stick with the stock shroud. Just swapping the fan will probably make your setup more quiet but i dont think that the cooling perfomance would increase.

The only thing is see as an improvement would be a cooler with similar size, which can still use the stock shroud an some additional 40mm fans at the back of the case

BTW u get the dell water cooling setup for much cheapter! around 50$
Click to expand...

Thank you for your very informative answer :)

Yea that's what I was thinking, if the L9i or LP53 gave a bit better performance I should hopefully be able to fit the stock air shroud on top, which of those two has been the best or are they both equal? :) Anyone interested in buying a Thermalright AXP-100H Muscle in Australia?

Where have you seen the Dell X51 R3 water cooling unit for $50? Do you have a link? :-D
 
JD21 said:
Thank you for your very informative answer :)

Yea that's what I was thinking, if the L9i or LP53 gave a bit better performance I should hopefully be able to fit the stock air shroud on top, which of those two has been the best or are they both equal?
Click to expand...

I've had both coolers before, with the LP53 fan replaced with the Noctua 92mm PWM and the LP53 performs slightly better temp wise. Definitely worth a shroud as well.
 
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Van0 said:
I've had both coolers before, with the LP53 fan replaced with the Noctua 92mm PWM and the LP53 performs slightly better temp wise. Definitely worth a shroud as well.
Click to expand...

Sound promising, what was your idle & load temps and with what CPU and case? :)
 
Well... I put the stock heatsink back on and changed the stock fan with an Xbox 360 Slim fan and it's about 5 - 10°C ish cooler and quieter than the stock fan :-D
 
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nve said:
Can I expect better temps with this cooler?
Click to expand...

I don't like this setup. I think it can't work in DAN case, unless you custom-seal it, which is so much hassle, that any other solution is definitely better.
1. In push config - you push case air through the heatsing, you push already very hot temp. to cool the heatsink - this won't obviously work, cause the inside temp in dan case and especially in this area can be 60+ degrees. That can't really cool anything
2. In pull config - because it doesn't stick to the side panel, you get mixed hot air from inside the case and fresh from the side. You block part of the fan with the heatsink itself = worse efficiency (either have to run on higher speed or have worse temps). Last but not least, you will have heaps of airflow loss, because it will just go everywhere through all the other opening around the heatsink into the fan.
20EOH09.png
 
PalaSicka said:
USING AIO BRACKET FOR A FAN
Click to expand...
At the end of the day, I've decided to completely remove the bracket and the 120x120x2,5 mm fan. I am pretty sure it would work well with 1,4 mm fan, but the effect of the current setup is from what I see completely negligable at the cost of higher noise level.

With that in mind!!! I am really happy I haven't installed the 120mm AIO cooling in my case, cause from what I've learned, it can very negatively affect the GPU temps.
 
Are any of the following motherboards incompatible with the Blackridge + 120mm Noctua fan + VLP RAM:

ASRock-Z390M-ITX-AC
Gigabyte Z390 I AORUS PRO WiFi
MSI MPG Z390I Gaming Edge AC
ASUS ROG Strix Z390-I Gaming
 
aiphoenix said:
Do we know if this Zotac AMP will fit in the Dan A4? It has a kinda large backplate.
Click to expand...

I don't think it will fit with the backplate offset like that. There is only space for the PCIE riser itself, not much else.
Bit of a strange design from Zotac, unfortunate for our case's gpu layout.
I'm sure you can remove the backplate without much problem, but you might need new screws.
 
Anyone know if any of the RX5700 AIB boards will fit in a Dan A4? All of the ones i've seen so far look to be wider than 2 slots.
 
Aegelward said:
Anyone know if any of the RX5700 AIB boards will fit in a Dan A4? All of the ones i've seen so far look to be wider than 2 slots.
Click to expand...

Good question. Due to new monitor, I'm looking to buy a RX 5700 XT AIB board myself. So far it seems the Asrock Challenger series and the MSI Ventus are 2 slots.
 
So the Sapphire Pulse seems to have a height of 46mm. The dan cases website says, that card with a max width of 45mm (with backplate) will fit. So the Sapphire could maybe fit
 
Hey helping friend build a Ryzen 3700x, MSI B450i in a dan case. What are the latest air cooling options where the case will fully close and easily handle the 3700x (not overclocked)
 
jtcera said:
Hey helping friend build a Ryzen 3700x, MSI B450i in a dan case. What are the latest air cooling options where the case will fully close and easily handle the 3700x (not overclocked)
Click to expand...

Noctua NH-L9A is probably still the most popular, add a fan duct for better cooling.
 
jtcera said:
Hey helping friend build a Ryzen 3700x, MSI B450i in a dan case. What are the latest air cooling options where the case will fully close and easily handle the 3700x (not overclocked)
Click to expand...

My 2c. Just did a build with the 3700x and NH-L9A (and Asus B450). So even the TDP is just "65W" in practice its still quite a hot chip difficult too cool well. I've re-seated my cooler 4 times to try different amount of thermal paste and techniques. The rice grain in the middle didnt work that well for me, got best result spreading it equally thin over the IHS. I was getting high idle temps ~65 C. Now my idle is around 50-55 C, but can ramp up quite suddenly. This is normal what i've read.

For Gaming the NH-L9A working fine (Witcher 3 / PUBG), the cores are running around 50% (mostly 4c8T), the CPU temp ~60C.
For rendering/productivity the NH-L9A is really maxxed out. Doing Cinebench R20 it ramps up to the throttle temp of 95C.

Going to get the fan duct for the NH-L9a. Alternative cooler would be the Alpenfohn, it might fair slightly better, but don't expect much.
I'm considering getting the Asetek AIO.

Reddit considering some teething/bios issues with 3700x.
 
^^^

Kinda glad that I went with Asetek then. Even though I still that the L9a as a backup in my parts stash. Maybe I shouldn't have got it. :D
 
Frenzy_ls said:
My 2c. Just did a build with the 3700x and NH-L9A (and Asus B450). So even the TDP is just "65W" in practice its still quite a hot chip difficult too cool well. I've re-seated my cooler 4 times to try different amount of thermal paste and techniques. The rice grain in the middle didnt work that well for me, got best result spreading it equally thin over the IHS. I was getting high idle temps ~65 C. Now my idle is around 50-55 C, but can ramp up quite suddenly. This is normal what i've read.

For Gaming the NH-L9A working fine (Witcher 3 / PUBG), the cores are running around 50% (mostly 4c8T), the CPU temp ~60C.
For rendering/productivity the NH-L9A is really maxxed out. Doing Cinebench R20 it ramps up to the throttle temp of 95C.

Going to get the fan duct for the NH-L9a. Alternative cooler would be the Alpenfohn, it might fair slightly better, but don't expect much.
I'm considering getting the Asetek AIO.

Reddit considering some teething/bios issues with 3700x.
Click to expand...
Thank you! Is the Asetek AIO considered the hands down, best cooling solution for the DAN case right now?

I'm thinking of pre ordering the new case and upgrading my V1 DAN, if so. Just for humor - I got so sick of heat issues with my cooljag modded cooler, dual noctua fans that I gathered all my old water cooling equipment and rigged the attached until I can find a solution. (9900k, 2080 ti)

IMG_20190825_144140[1].jpg IMG_20190825_144151[1].jpg
 
Frenzy_ls said:
My 2c. Just did a build with the 3700x and NH-L9A (and Asus B450). So even the TDP is just "65W" in practice its still quite a hot chip difficult too cool well. I've re-seated my cooler 4 times to try different amount of thermal paste and techniques. The rice grain in the middle didnt work that well for me, got best result spreading it equally thin over the IHS. I was getting high idle temps ~65 C. Now my idle is around 50-55 C, but can ramp up quite suddenly. This is normal what i've read.

For Gaming the NH-L9A working fine (Witcher 3 / PUBG), the cores are running around 50% (mostly 4c8T), the CPU temp ~60C.
For rendering/productivity the NH-L9A is really maxxed out. Doing Cinebench R20 it ramps up to the throttle temp of 95C.
Click to expand...

Is this with stock voltages and PBO enabled/stock ?

I'm in the middle of considering a 3700X + NH-L9A + Dan A4 SFX myself and I'm just trying to figure out to expect.

I'm getting the sense that this setup is very borderline based on what I've been reading. Thinking of dropping to a 3600.
 
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