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

The case should support GPU up to 295mm length. Gigabyte's G1 Gaming is 309mm so I doubt it will fit inside.
 
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@ DonDan,

Support of using Lian-li's riser if the performance difference is marginal. 180++ sounds more reasonable....
 
Wow, lots of progress since I last posted. Looking great, especially that Cryorig C7 review (kinda late on that one I know). Still can't wait until release.
 
Registered here just to say that I'm looking forward for this case as many other people here. And aesthetic of pc-q12 case - I just love it.
 
To Dan and the 5-10:
Dan and the 5-10 people on the forum who guided this development, I say bravo!

I know Dan did the heavy lifting, but as I have reviewed the 162 pages of posts I see a lot of people who contributed. And to the main 5-10 who came up with some great solutions, provided data, pondered and thinked, (or thinkered?!) shared relevant experiences, and helped answer the millions of questions posed by us newbies: THANKS
 
As a long time lurker on this forum I would just like to say also thanks to all who contributed and I can't wait to order one.
 
Hi guys, I have some questions for you. I bought an NCASE M1 for my new computer that will be completed in this november. However the case is quite bulky and it fills entirely the cabin sized backpack that I bought for it. I'm thinking to switch to a DAN A4 by mid 2016, but I don't know exactly what to buy (I only have an SX600-G PSU already bought). So my questions would be:
1. What would be the maximum size (w x h x d) of the video board ? (Thinking about MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming)
2. Can I use both a 3.5" HDD and a 2.5" SSD ? (if not possible, I would ditch the SSD...)
3. How much room do I have for the CPU cooler?
Thanks!
 
fxeconomist said:
Hi guys, I have some questions for you. I bought an NCASE M1 for my new computer that will be completed in this november. However the case is quite bulky and it fills entirely the cabin sized backpack that I bought for it. I'm thinking to switch to a DAN A4 by mid 2016, but I don't know exactly what to buy (I only have an SX600-G PSU already bought). So my questions would be:
1. What would be the maximum size (w x h x d) of the video board ? (Thinking about MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming)
2. Can I use both a 3.5" HDD and a 2.5" SSD ? (if not possible, I would ditch the SSD...)
3. How much room do I have for the CPU cooler?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

all of the answers are here:
https://www.dan-cases.com/dana4.php

1. 980Ti Gaming will fit ( max size is 40x144x295)
2. no support for 3.5" drives
3. max height 48mm
 
Created an account just so I can follow this thread better. Can't wait to replace my Caselabs S3 with this case.
 
dondan amazing case ! BUT Will there will be another one with holes for WC or even better WC mount ? For X99 its pretty limited - if I spend $$$ on 6 or octalcore I will want overclock because default clocks are low, with WC to screw it somewhere it would be perfect case.
 
I think a while back in the thread he mentioned that you can thread the hoses through the IO area of the mobo for an external rad. With a bit of creativity maybe you could mount a rad internally in the GPU chamber if you're going for an ITX GPU?
 
It will still look ugly,its shame there is no holes or mount for WC,he should have make holes and mount for WC on top something like LianLi dual fan mount for PC60 test bench where you can mount WC there or mount for radiators under the case.
Or place in front for one radiator.Then you could overclock Cpu and it would best case ever for x99.

Holes or mount for external 120 240mm radiator would be very simple.
 
ElAntonius said:
I think a while back in the thread he mentioned that you can thread the hoses through the IO area of the mobo for an external rad. With a bit of creativity maybe you could mount a rad internally in the GPU chamber if you're going for an ITX GPU?
Click to expand...

Hey, earlier in this thread I did some calculations for an internal rad. If you use an ITX GPU, you could fit a 25mm rad with a 12mm fan in the GPU chamber. The trick would be fitting your pump and reservoir below, but it may be possible. Dondan concurred!
 
jb1 said:
Hey, earlier in this thread I did some calculations for an internal rad. If you use an ITX GPU, you could fit a 25mm rad with a 12mm fan in the GPU chamber. The trick would be fitting your pump and reservoir below, but it may be possible. Dondan concurred!
Click to expand...

Heh, nice!

That being said I personally wouldn't want to sacrifice full length GPUs for a liquid cooler in that spot...if I was hellbent on liquid I would just go for an external rad...but that carries a penalty in terms of footprint.

I wonder if you could use an external PSU and use the space for a rad there...admittedly I know nothing about external PSUs so I don't know if that's a realistic thought
 
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There should be holes in side of the case for WC pipes.And screws/mount for 120 - 240mm external radiator on side of the case as it is 327mm long for people who need some serious CPU cooling.
Now you can still do it but its much moire clumsy as you need to have open case.

I think best solution would be mount frame for 240mm or even 380mm radiator on top, as it would cool down CPU space between radiator and case would be enough to keep cooling of mb/ram intact.With some holes and this mount you could
WC and overclock CPU and even CPU/GPU.

It doesnt change dimensions of the case, what is needed :

1) holes for WC
2) frame for radiator

That's it very simple.I think WC was dismissed because the author is too much love into art/design instead of functionality.External radiator isnt cute but for people who would like to use X99 seriously or overclock it would be very appealing to have such option.In second image, in fact if two fans would be mounted facing down the top of the case they would cool down MB/RAM by taking air out and then cool CPU by cooling down radiator.
 
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ElAntonius said:
Heh, nice!

That being said I personally wouldn't want to sacrifice full length GPUs for a liquid cooler in that spot...if I was hellbent on liquid I would just go for an external rad...but that carries a penalty in terms of footprint.

I wonder if you could use an external PSU and use the space for a rad there...admittedly I know nothing about external PSUs so I don't know if that's a realistic thought
Click to expand...

Depends on how you want to do it. If you want a GPU and a good CPU, you'd either need an external SFX PSU which requires a lot of modding to look decent, or you could go with two external power bricks. I don't think there's a single brick that can supply high end cards and 100W+ CPUs with power at the same time without melting. But if a 970 or 960 was enough, then a single brick could be sufficient.

Either way, you'd still need a spot for the DCDC converter inside the case.
 
ElAntonius said:
Heh, nice!

That being said I personally wouldn't want to sacrifice full length GPUs for a liquid cooler in that spot...if I was hellbent on liquid I would just go for an external rad...but that carries a penalty in terms of footprint.
Click to expand...

My thought was to place two ITX GPUs side by side and have them on single slot liquid cooling, this would give you more than the performance of a normal full length GPU! Possibly this could be done with 2x R9 Nano.

I wonder if you could use an external PSU and use the space for a rad there...admittedly I know nothing about external PSUs so I don't know if that's a realistic thought
Click to expand...

Sure, anything is possible if you get creative, but current external PSUs don't have the power to support a setup like this...
 
jb1 said:
My thought was to place two ITX GPUs side by side and have them on single slot liquid cooling, this would give you more than the performance of a normal full length GPU! Possibly this could be done with 2x R9 Nano.



Sure, anything is possible if you get creative, but current external PSUs don't have the power to support a setup like this...
Click to expand...

The HD PLEX 250W power board if properly cooled can do 400W with an external brick. There's a test floating around here somewhere.
 
iFreilicht said:
Depends on how you want to do it. If you want a GPU and a good CPU, you'd either need an external SFX PSU which requires a lot of modding to look decent, or you could go with two external power bricks. I don't think there's a single brick that can supply high end cards and 100W+ CPUs with power at the same time without melting. But if a 970 or 960 was enough, then a single brick could be sufficient.

Either way, you'd still need a spot for the DCDC converter inside the case.
Click to expand...

Yeah, personally I think I'm more into using the case as intended. Air cool + full length GPU is more than enough for how I use my PCs, personally.

I'd imagine that if you're a hardcore overclocker this case probably isn't a great compromise for that purpose. Even the Cryorig C7 is liable to not be all that capable of anything more than light OC duty.

Just idly speculating as modders should be doing some interesting things.
 
JFK78 said:
It doesnt change dimensions of the case, what is needed :

1) holes for WC
2) frame for radiator

That's it very simple.I think WC was dismissed because the author is too much love into art/design instead of functionality.External radiator isnt cute but for people who would like to use X99 seriously or overclock it would be very appealing to have such option.In second image, in fact if two fans would be mounted facing down the top of the case they would cool down MB/RAM by taking air out and then cool CPU by cooling down radiator.
Click to expand...

Maybe an optional extra like how the no-odd tops were offered for the ncase? But watercooling in a smaller form factor is a small percentage of an already niche market, and it does disrupt the aesthetics quite a bit.

If you're serious about overclocking or have funds for X99, shouldn't you also be able to spring a bit more cash for cutting your own holes for external WC?
 
JFK78 said:
http://s28.postimg.org/eyzclwc7x/0000.png[/IG][IMG]http://s27.postimg.org/xiu7us1sz/0001.png[/IG]

There [B]should be[/B] holes in side of the case for WC pipes.And screws/mount for 120 - 240mm external radiator on side of the case as it is 327mm long [U]for [B]people who need[/B][/U] some serious CPU cooling.
Now you can still do it but its much moire clumsy as you need to have open case.

I think best solution would be mount frame for 240mm or even 380mm radiator on top, as it would cool down CPU space between radiator and case would be enough to keep cooling of mb/ram intact.With some holes and this mount you could
WC and overclock CPU and even CPU/GPU.

It doesnt change dimensions of the case, [B]what is needed[/B] :

1) holes for WC
2) frame for radiator

That's it very simple.I think WC was dismissed because the author is too much love into art/design instead of functionality.External radiator isnt cute[B][COLOR="Red"] but for people who would like to use X99 seriously or overclock it would be very appealing to have such option.In second image, in fact if two fans would be mounted facing down the top of the case they would cool down MB/RAM by taking air out and then cool CPU by cooling down radiator.[/COLOR][/B][/QUOTE]
Lol

You aren't in the target market of this case then, plain and simple. I love how you just joined and are dictating to someone how a finalized product needs to change at the 11th hour to accommodate your edge use-case.

You [B]should [/B]design a case for [B]the needs[/B] of those people and not expect others to do it for you.
Click to expand...
 
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Oh btw for everyone who want's to watercool: If you mount the PSU reversed by 180° you can use its fan to pull through the radiator if you need something a bit thicker. If you want to mod, you could also reverse the fan and use it as a pusher.
 
iFreilicht said:
Oh btw for everyone who want's to watercool: If you mount the PSU reversed by 180° you can use its fan to pull through the radiator if you need something a bit thicker. If you want to mod, you could also reverse the fan and use it as a pusher.
Click to expand...

WHOA. Now that's an idea... Would the PSU fan on an SFX-L psu have enough oomph to properly pull from the radiator? Presumably this would also heat up the PSU with warm air from the rad...
 
+1 to silentbob and iFreilicht

The case was't designed with WC in mind, if you need WC JFK, get the Ncase or modify the A4, if the mods are as easy as you say you should have no issue getting a machine shop to help you.
 
Curiositie said:
+1 to silentbob and iFreilicht

The case was't designed with WC in mind, if you need WC JFK, get the Ncase or modify the A4, if the mods are as easy as you say you should have no issue getting a machine shop to help you.
Click to expand...
I got their machine shop right here:
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=5538998011

Time to stop suggesting changes to design. Time to start planning builds and moddy shenanigans. Anyone else thinking about making plexi sides to show off at parties?
 
I've thought about a plexi side panel. but I'm not sure how I'd go about it.

Maybe a C shape showing the mobo that avoids the CPU cooler?

Same for CPU, not sure how I'd do it since I personally dislike vented plexi.
 
andgo said:
The HD PLEX 250W power board if properly cooled can do 400W with an external brick. There's a test floating around here somewhere.
Click to expand...

The HDPLEX doesn't have the connections for two cards. If it did, there still is no two-card combo that the HDPLEX is capable of powering that wouldn't be better served by a single card.

jb1 said:
My thought was to place two ITX GPUs side by side and have them on single slot liquid cooling, this would give you more than the performance of a normal full length GPU! Possibly this could be done with 2x R9 Nano.
.
Click to expand...

Look at the ports on your single slot waterblock of choice. Now imagine connecting two together. Does it fit in a dual slot space? AFAIK, there is no way to fit two single-slot waterblocks in a dual slot space.
 
Silentbob343 said:
Lol

You aren't in the target market of this case then, plain and simple. I love how you just joined and are dictating to someone how a finalized product needs to change at the 11th hour to accommodate your edge use-case.

You should design a case for the needs of those people and not expect others to do it for you.
Click to expand...

And who are you Mr Nobody to dictate me if Im target market for the case or not.Buzz off.If you want use X99 you must have WC, the 80C for Prime95 with ambient 24-25C is not acceptable.Its much hotter in southern Europe thats first second having so hot cooler inside case may overheat/damage board with time.Mount/holes for WC would greatly expand profits and market for this case and it in the designer best interest.And why I want X99 and DAN A4 ? Its much portable enough for carry on while flying, I could go with M1 Ncase but I would prefer DAN and most probably other customers too.Beside ... with WC you could possibly WC CPU/GPU and do overclocking - another expanded market - gamers who could easily take it for LAN parties and friends.This case is expensive so option for WC would big plus to justify the price.
 
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Personnaly I wouldn't mind having holes for WC on the back of the DAN A4. But not on the side. Hell no ! That would be FUGLY.

Also, you desire to put WC along the DAN A4 is a niche usage for an already niche product. DAN A4 will probably not sell far more units with this option.

In my case i wouldn't buy one with big holes on the side.
 
Runamok81 said:
The HDPLEX doesn't have the connections for two cards. If it did, there still is no two-card combo that the HDPLEX is capable of powering that wouldn't be better served by a single card.

Look at the ports on your single slot waterblock of choice. Now imagine connecting two together. Does it fit in a dual slot space? AFAIK, there is no way to fit two single-slot waterblocks in a dual slot space.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I was thinking, why the hell would you want two ITX 970s or two Nanos if you can just get a Titan X or a Fury X2?

You can actually mount two single-slot blocked cards in two adjacent slots, though. Take a look at this Tri-SLI mATX Build Log.
 
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