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

Just want to say this case is beautiful. I just signed up for notifications via your site and am eagerly awaiting the kickstarter campaign. Now to start picking out components.
 
I second that Dan doesn't need to be in it. As Freilicht said, whenever I watch a product video and there's some guy talking, I just keep thinking please cut back to the product that's what I'm here to see, not your face.
 
Regarding the M.2 vs. U.2 discussion: I think the industry will eventually converge on U.2, but it will take a while. If Intel releases its Optane drives with U.2, as it most likely will, that will help speed things along.
 
I mean he doesn't need to be in it, but if he is good lookin' , and has a sexy accent. Wouldn't hurt to say like a sentence or two :)
 
QuantumBraced said:
Regarding the M.2 vs. U.2 discussion: I think the industry will eventually converge on U.2, but it will take a while. If Intel releases its Optane drives with U.2, as it most likely will, that will help speed things along.
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As far as I know they are just physical connector protocols and sometimes interchangeable. Lacking of M.2 connector is the sole reason I didnt go for MI VIII. Put a 512G SSD on MB and save the trouble mounting SSD elsewhere with all the cable building SFF is a blessing.
 
QuantumBraced said:
Regarding the M.2 vs. U.2 discussion: I think the industry will eventually converge on U.2, but it will take a while. If Intel releases its Optane drives with U.2, as it most likely will, that will help speed things along.
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The industry has converged on M.2 for mobile platforms. It allows hybrids, tablets, ultrabooks, etc to be as thin as they are. U.2 also has applications obviously so isn't going anywhere. They are both useful.

But can manufacturers please just kill SATA-E? It just wastes mobo space, is slower than 4x PCIE3.0 lanes and there still aren't consumer drives out; it is DOA.
 
Both polaris as well as pascal are rumored to release between june and september and it seems that we'll be able to get our hands on an A4-SFX before that, so the timing is excellent :D

dondan: 1 thing about your site: the second image on your homepage is an image of a silver A4 on its side where you can see the bottom of the A4. I suggest changing this to a more appealing photo as I would say the bottom isn't the most appealing part of your case.
 
Cristan said:
Both polaris as well as pascal are rumored to release between june and september and it seems that we'll be able to get our hands on an A4-SFX before that, so the timing is excellent :D

dondan: 1 thing about your site: the second image on your homepage is an image of a silver A4 on its side where you can see the bottom of the A4. I suggest changing this to a more appealing photo as I would say the bottom isn't the most appealing part of your case.
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But it's useful to have that view of the bottom so one can see the mounting points and ventilation clearly. Sexy is a secondary consideration.
 
Cristan said:
dondan: 1 thing about your site: the second image on your homepage is an image of a silver A4 on its side where you can see the bottom of the A4. I suggest changing this to a more appealing photo as I would say the bottom isn't the most appealing part of your case.
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I used this picture, because I needed a flat one ;)
 
I found a YouTube video where somebody used his Cryorig C7 on his i7 4790K @4.0 GHz and 980 TI in the Silverstone RVZ-02 case (can't read spanish, but in GTA V, I can understand enough that he replaced the thermal paste - delid?):

BioShock Infinite
Tomb Raider
GTA V
GTA V (Recorded in 1080P, in-game settings 4K res)

Looks like on more cpu-intensive games such as GTA V, expect as high as 72C or so for just a brief second or two.
 
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That te
CknSalad said:
I found a YouTube video where somebody used his Cryorig C7 on his i7 4790K @4.0 GHz and 980 TI in the Silverstone RVZ-02 case (can't read spanish, but in GTA V, I can understand enough that he replaced the thermal paste - delid?):

BioShock Infinite
Tomb Raider
GTA V
GTA V (Recorded in 1080P, in-game settings 4K res)

Looks like on more cpu-intensive games such as GTA V, expect as high as 72C or so for just a brief second or two.
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That temp is normal and handable for mordern systems. I don't even mind if a CPU hits to 80-85C whenever the noise is acceptable. Planned to train and OC my Core I7 4790K to 4.5Ghz at low/tweaked volts.
 
Ya, my limit is honestly 75C and below. I just wanted to relay this information for those that are set on getting the Cryorig C7 cooler, which should be more than enough to cool a 4.0 GHz i7.
 
I was wondering, how much space would there be in the GPU area if i was to install lets a R9 Nano?
Would there be space for a 120 radiator, and how much width is there in that compartment, would there be space for a slim radiator like the EK (26mm) and a standard fan (25mm) ??
 
Now look at this, a completely original idea that nobody ever had before and that totally was never ever discussed in the thread. You know this forum has a search function, right? Might wanna use that.

To make it a bit easier for you: Yes, there's space for a 120mm Radiator. There's as much width in that compartment as a GPU is thick + 1-2mm. So no, not enough space for your proposed combination. The Silverstone TD-03 Slim would fit, but then there'd be no space between PSU and radiator, so you'd have mount the PSU the other way around to allow the rad to exhaust.
 
I didnt know you could search in a Thread....

Anyways it seems like you Can fit a radiator with a set of slim fans next to a small gpu like the R9 nano...
 
I just came across this tiny amazing case while I was looking for pics of NCASE M1 watercooling builds! Now I have to admit, I hesitate between the two.
Those are both small high quality cases, this one is smaller and is perfect for an aircooled system while the NCASE is a bit bigger but is perfect for a fully watercooled rig.

I really like those "tiny monsters" rigs, high quality, so small and yet so powerful.
I may as well get the DAN A4-SFX, and later switch to watercooling as soon as I can afford the NCASE and all the watercooling parts for a full CPU and GPU loop. I'll see...

This year the Corsair SF600 PSU was released too, and it seems to be the best SFX power supply available for those kind of builds. That with the next generation NVIDIA Pascal (1080?) GPU would be awesome.
I guess I should probably start saving money for all that stuff, I just blew up a fortune on a Asus PG279Q monitor... :whistle:

Good luck dondan on your Kickstarter campain, I may be a part of it too!
 
dondan I know you mentioned that you would try and make the air filter things buy-able via kick starter in the past. Is that looking like it is going to happen?
 
HopkinsTea : I will concentrate on this topic after the successful crowdfunding campaign. Then I will contact DEMCiflex. If they are interested in, the filter set will be available on their website.
 
Once the campaign is successful, what is the timetable for these to get shipped to my doorstep?
 
mavere said:
Once the campaign is successful, what is the timetable for these to get shipped to my doorstep?
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dondan said:
What happens if the campaign will be successful?
- Acceptance of larger orders after the campaign of B2B partners.
- Start the order by LianLi and 3M.
- Registration by the EAR (Electrical Equipment Register) in Germany with Take-E-Away. A service provider for the registration and administration activities with the EAR and me.
- Establish a bill and shipping system
- Production and delivery/Import duration will be 2-3 months.
- Delivery of housing

Thank you for your patience.

With best regards

Daniel
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Kind of a weird question, but approximately how big is the area for the graphics card? Looking at the drawings, it seems to be about 170mm tall x 300mm deep x 52mm wide, am I close enough?

I'm thinking of turning the GPU bay into an area to mount 3.5" hard drives and turning this into a really sleek NAS case, but the dimensions are all a little tight so I wanted to see if anyone has more accurate measurements!
 
sqsz
Direct from Dan-Cases.com
Graphics Card
Note: All manufacturers measure their cards differently, because there is no standard defined!

  • Max. Height
    • From bottom of the PCIe-Slot to top: 144mm
  • Max. Width:
    • Without backplate: 40mm
    • Including backplate: 45mm
  • Max Length:
    • Complete card incl. bracket: 306mm
    • Without bracket: 295mm
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I think it has been brought up a few times in serveral forums as to whether the A4-SFX is even smaller than the Razer Core external GPU dock. Well now that the specs for the Razer Core are listed, we can confirm the A4-SFX is in fact smaller, even when factoring in the feet and rear protrusions
A4-SFX (including feet and rear protrusions): 205 x 112 x 327mm = approx. 7.51L
Razer Core (Razer Core External Graphics Dock): 104.9 x 339.9 x 218.4mm = approx. 7.79L

At 500USD for the Razer Core (which comes with a 500 watt psu) you could easily get a A4-SFX and a higher end SFX PSU (such as a Corsair SF600) for less. I am not sure whether it is worth mentioning in the Kickstarter campaign that this case, which houses an entire setup is even smaller than some external GPU docks that fit similar size GPUs, but it is definitely an interesting fact that can be brought up when discussing SFF and external GPU docks.
 
KarateOC said:
I think it has been brought up a few times in serveral forums as to whether the A4-SFX is even smaller than the Razer Core external GPU dock. Well now that the specs for the Razer Core are listed, we can confirm the A4-SFX is in fact smaller, even when factoring in the feet and rear protrusions
A4-SFX (including feet and rear protrusions): 205 x 112 x 327mm = approx. 7.51L
Razer Core (Razer Core External Graphics Dock): 104.9 x 339.9 x 218.4mm = approx. 7.79L

At 500USD for the Razer Core (which comes with a 500 watt psu) you could easily get a A4-SFX and a higher end SFX PSU (such as a Corsair SF600) for less. I am not sure whether it is worth mentioning in the Kickstarter campaign that this case, which houses an entire setup is even smaller than some external GPU docks that fit similar size GPUs, but it is definitely an interesting fact that can be brought up when discussing SFF and external GPU docks.
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That really seems worth mentioning, as a highlight to what Dan has achieved.

The Razer Core seems to have a different aim though - the Core is the stationary component in a setup; something like the Skulltrail NUC would be the portable component.

If we're comparing the two for flexible portability, then the Skulltrail NUC + Razer Core still wins IMO. But if we're comparing a stationary / permanent desktop setup, factoring in cost, upgrade capabilities, etc .... the A4 wins that one by far
 
Siba said:
That really seems worth mentioning, as a highlight to what Dan has achieved.

The Razer Core seems to have a different aim though - the Core is the stationary component in a setup; something like the Skulltrail NUC would be the portable component.

If we're comparing the two for flexible portability, then the Skulltrail NUC + Razer Core still wins IMO. But if we're comparing a stationary / permanent desktop setup, factoring in cost, upgrade capabilities, etc .... the A4 wins that one by far
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Would there be any copyright infringement at all? I mean, even if Dan did request to use Razer's images or even mention Razer in the kickstarter I don't think they would approve of him showing a competing product. I could be completely wrong, in that case, forget I said anything.
 
It won't be ok to say something like "even smaller than Razers eGPU case" without their permission, but it's certainly good to say something like "even smaller than most eGPU solutions".
 
It's completely legal to say it's smaller than the Razer Core. Using their images of the core would probably be infringement because they're likely copyrighted but if you use images that aren't copyrighted with permision from whoever took them it's also fine. Samsung specifically named and even included the iPad in their our tab is better than Apples commercials a few years back and Apple would've sued their pants off of it was illegal.
 
fminus said:
Do you know if the MSI 980 TI Gaming will fit? It's listed as a height of 140mm, but I wonder with the heat pipes and all if this will be an issue.
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Yes, it will fit. You can find the compatible components for DAN A4-SFX case here.

Compatible graphics card in DAN A4-SFX:
295mm (L) x 45mm (W) x 144mm (H)

MSI 980Ti Gaming:
269mm (L) x 40mm (W) x 140mm (H)

Hope the info above helps.
 
HopkinsTea said:
Hey dondan , do you know yet what you are going to set the $ goal for the kick starter of the first batch? Thanks :)
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He doesn't have a money goal, his goal is unit quantity. If he passes a certain quantity it will make future production runs easier and possibly cheaper (not sure on that one though). He mentioned that there are 1500 to be sold first.
 
Lazer1337 said:
He doesn't have a money goal, his goal is unit quantity. If he passes a certain quantity it will make future production runs easier and possibly cheaper (not sure on that one though). He mentioned that there are 1500 to be sold first.
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That makes a lot of sense, thanks! Wow, so that means $230 x 1500 = $345,000 for it to go forward.
 
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