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

Personally I'll be using a Camera backpack like I'm currently doing with my Ncase.
hNoeTLg.jpg


Link to bag in case someone is interested in it
 
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I just looked at this project. I feel like the price of $200-$300 seems a bit out of hand. It is a nice case, but I just can't see it becoming mainstream unless it is picked up by a major manufacturer.
 
It's expensive because it's all aluminum and low-volume.

Cases like Corsair makes are plastic and steel, both cheap materials, and they can probably order a few hundred thousand at least which brings the cost-per-unit down significantly.

Unless I'm misunderstanding the process.
 
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The case is not going to be mainstream. The NCASE is not mainstream, neither is this. That's just how things are; this case is clearly aimed at a niche segment of the market.
 
If we manage to order 5000 units we can nearly halve the the price but otherwise we have to live with this price.
Furthermote I don't think it is a good idea if a big manufracture steal this idea because this will have bad influence on dan cases. Spending your money to big companys will result in idleness to the case market. In the last years the great ideas for the itx market came from startups like me and NCASE.
 
Dondan, congrats on you new website going live. I'm looking forward to take one of you cases to Denmark :)
 
Congratulations on the website Dan, it looks rather sleek, fits your case really well.
I've got one quesiton, though: Why did you decide on putting the suggested components in drop-down menus? It seems a bit nonsensical as the selection in the menu doesn't change anything on the site itself, wouldn't a list have been a better option there?

BTW, small typo on the page of the A4-SFX itself:

This principle works perfect and results in an amazing cooling efficiency compare to other cases.
Click to expand...
That should say "compared to other cases"
 
I think the drop down is a good solution to not overflow the Compatibility section with too many information. Otherwise the section whould be hard to read.

Thanks for your help I will correct the typo.
 
dondan said:
I think the drop down is a good solution to not overflow the Compatibility section with too many information. Otherwise the section whould be hard to read.
Click to expand...

Drop downs are inputs used for making choices; inputs should not be used to present information when no user input is required.

I agree with iFreilicht that it is confusing to have be able choose options when the choice doesn't actually do anything. If space is a concern it should be changed to a list that expands when you click it, or pops up when you hover over it.

The rest of the site is really slick, that part just confused me though.
 
Yeah @goodbyegalaxy expresses my thoughts perfectly. You could have regular lists and expand them. I know dropdowns are kinda like that, but they are normally used as inputs and I somehow expected something to happen when I clicked on them.

Something I also noticed: You list a GPU in the compatibility section called "AMD Fury Nano", which doesn't exist. It's called "AMD R9 Nano".
 
If it gets published to such major sites, maybe we can get enougth interest to surpass 5000 orders, which would significantly reduce the price, which would result in even more orders :) However, 5000 is a big number, but i think it would be possible if the case gets commonly known on hardware sites and youtube (thinking of e.g. LinusTechTips). Anyways, I'm a day 1 buyer and really looking forward for it to get along. Best luck for you, Dondan!
 
Hey I live in the UK and REALLY want one of these.

Which distributors will be selling them and what is the price in GDP?

Will it be cheaper than in America because you don't need to pay export tax?

Is export tax even a thing?

Is there going to be a way to fit short cards like the fury nano/ fury x and then space for the liquid watercooler pushing air into the PSU? So the fury X could fit with its 120mm AIO next to it.

Would that be good for the PSU?

Does the PSU blow into the case or exhaust?

A suggestion: have the option for a 120mm fan under the PSU if its proper SFX not SFX-L.

Will there be any sound padding?

How many questions did i just ask?
 
I'm not dondan but:

I don't think we know which distributor for sure, though I think he's got one in mind. Dondan estimated around 200 + shipping and taxes recently so ~$150GBP?

My buess is cheaper chipping, but you guys have VAT, right? So maybe no cheaper overall.

If customs grabs it and want money for looking at it I guess technically?

It's possible through voiding warranties to mount a radiator to the PSU by way of the fan, so maybe?


(Click picture for the rest of the amazing build the photo is part of)

I don't think it'd kill it, though I'd probably have it pulling air through the PSU, then the radiator instead of pushing through the rad to the PSU.

PSU fans usually pull air into the psu, and exhaust that air out the mesh by the AC inlet.

The case isn't even 120mm wide (It's 112mm wide).

No padding that I know of, though I suppose if you want to add some you may be able to. Sound dampening is usually pretty bulky.

Eight questions.
 
As for water cooling, I've been thinking about it and I believe the only way to do it would be to have a mini-ITX sized GPU (like the R9 Nano or GTX 970 mini) and then directly behind the PSU you could place a 25mm thick 120mm rad + slim fan. You then could probably cram the pump and res below the rad and GPU along the bottom of the case.
 
Reading your comment I'm amused by how painfully enthusiast it is.

We're all crazy and it's great.
 
The Spinpoint M10p does not have an official spec listing (and no official announced thickness), but is is a 5-platter drive.. 4-platter 2.5" drives have been 15mm thick, so the M10p is likely either 15mm thick or even thicker (like the old Velociraptor drives).
 
EdZ said:
The Spinpoint M10p does not have an official spec listing (and no official announced thickness), but is is a 5-platter drive.. 4-platter 2.5" drives have been 15mm thick, so the M10p is likely either 15mm thick or even thicker (like the old Velociraptor drives).
Click to expand...

OIC. I don't know what the maximum height for the HDD mount behind the front panel is, but if you use an SFX PSU, you can easily get that drive below the PSU. Maybe not with the stock HDD bracket, but it will certainly fit.
 
I think you can stick one 3.5 hdd on the psu back if you're using an itx gpu
 
Ive been looking at the cooler selection provided by Dan and im not sure which one can tame a e5 2680v3 with a tdp of 120w(at full load during long times) or am i going overkill?Or maybe a E5-2660 v3 with a tdp of 105w?(woud like the first choise but if the second one is safer i supose i woud accept it)
Any recomendations?
 
Dynatron T318 with Noctua L9i fan. Have a look on www.dan-cases.com in the FAQ/Tutorial section. There is a tutorial how to use a 2011-3 System in the A4.
 
Ahhh thanks Dan!Didnt notice it(probably because its not displayed in blue).
Isnt the T318 only for lga 2011 and not the 2011-3?
 
Last nooby question for today :) Ive read the review test with the 5820k(shoud have started there in the firtst place).Do you think if i go with the E5-2660 v3 10 core 105w tdp xeon i shoud expect lower operating temps than the 5820k?
 
dondan said:
Dynatron T318 with Noctua L9i fan. Have a look on www.dan-cases.com in the FAQ/Tutorial section. There is a tutorial how to use a 2011-3 System in the A4.
Click to expand...

Another fan to consider would be the Thermalright TY-100. From Dondan's tests this yielded the best cooling performance for the 2011-3 socket. It's a unique fan: L108 mm x W101 mm x H14 mm

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It turns out that you can purchase this fan by itself (without the cooler above), if you contact thermalright they can find you a distributer in your country. In the US this is http://www.nansgaminggear.net
 
EdZ said:
The Spinpoint M10p does not have an official spec listing (and no official announced thickness), but is is a 5-platter drive.. 4-platter 2.5" drives have been 15mm thick, so the M10p is likely either 15mm thick or even thicker (like the old Velociraptor drives).
Click to expand...
Spinpoint M10P 4TB is the same as Spinpoint/Momentus ST4000LM016 based on a review by techradar and according to Machupo it's just under 15mm in thickness. But it's not sold (yet) as an internal drive in a retail or bulk package other than two ebay resellers and is currently only available as an external USB drive (Backup Plus Slim/P3/M3)
 
dondan said:
@All: Dan Cases A4-SFX features on one of the biggest hardwaresides in germany:

http://www.computerbase.de/2015-09/...ehaeuse-mit-7.25-litern-volumen-fuer-spieler/
Click to expand...
Reading those comments, people sure do love to criticize. I bet if you showed them a Porsche 911 they'd complain it doesn't have enough ground clearance and the back seats are useless. There's a million huge cases on the market to choose from - nothing wrong with doing something different, and doing it well. Don't mind the haters :)
 
@Dondan, it looks like you've got a new front page image on the website? Is that the X99 board with the Thermalright fan?
 
Yes it is. Visit the FAQ page in the Tutorial section to see more pictures of the X99 inside the A4.
 
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