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

If someone using a DDR3 Mini-ITX setup.. they should buy DDR3 16GB Kits fast.

I was thinking about 2 weeks ago to buy a Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer for 75€ @ a german reseller (alternate). The prices are now about 110-120€ .
In germany u can still buy the kit for 85€, but thats gonna change too
 
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Here are two pictures from the Electronica 2016:

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Furthermore I got some filters today. I will made more shots in the next days:

20161114_213022nbyg1.jpg
 
dominathan said:
Filters!? Are they going to be sticky with 3m tape or something? Or sticky magnets?
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Ohhh maybe sticky magnets on the inside of the case on the panels to let the filter stick on. Although I wonder if magnets too close to parts would be detrimental to the health of the parts.
 
AstroWan said:
Ohhh maybe sticky magnets on the inside of the case on the panels to let the filter stick on. Although I wonder if magnets too close to parts would be detrimental to the health of the parts.
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I'am asking myself the same question. I read answers on the net that say that we shouldn't mess with magnets close to components and other that states that they are usually not powerful enough to affect anything.

If someone knows the truth.
 
That looks like a demciflex filter. I love those filters! When I put these in my case in front of the radiator fans, the filter mesh got sucked up against the fan blades and it was noisy, so I had to put some fan grilles in between the filters and the fans. If you wanted to put them on the inside of the Dancase, you would have to rig up some kind of fan grille in front of your fans to keep the filter mesh off of the fan blades. You wouldn't want to stick the filters on with sticky tape because you have to take them off and wash them every month or so to keep the airflow unrestricted. Mine came with tape that is magnetic, but the magnetic force is just barely strong enough to keep them from falling off. The orientation of my fans and filters causes airflow in a direction that reinforces the magnetic adhesion, if that airflow was in opposition to the magnets, I think force from the airflow would win over the weak magnets.

Edit: I have not noticed any ill effects from the magnets
 
I ordered the Cryorig C7, gonna test it. Maybe a get a noctua nh-9li as test sample
 
Today I made a short test with the new DMCIfilter set and I can say the temperatures will be not as good as without filters.

Config:
5820K default clock and voltage
Dynatron T318 heatsink with Noctua A9x14 fan
GTX 1070 Founders Edition

Scenario:
Short test with Overwatch 1 round (20-30min):

With filters:
CPU Cores Temps: 70-63°C
GPU Temp: 83°C
GPU FAN Speed: 2260 RPM

Without filters:
CPU Cores Temps: 63-59°C
GPU Temp: 78°C
GPU FAN Speed: 2060 RPM

You see without filters the GPU need lower RPMs to hold the temp target. Also the CPU temp is much lower.
But why does the filter will not work as good as for other cases?
The reason is simple, in a normal case the filter will be directly in front of the fan, so the air has to move through the filter. But for the A4-SFX there is a small distance on both sides between the filter and the fan. The air will take the easiest way and this is not through the filter.
I made a second test. If I put my mouth directly on the mesh and blow through the filter I can feel the air behind the mesh. But if I increase the distance between mouth and mesh and blow again, the air flow behind the mesh is much lower.
So you see the air will take the easiest way. With filters you recycle more air from the inside and get less air from the outside.

So I recoment fan filters with lower TDP hardware like 65W CPU and a GTX 1060 GPU. Furthermore a CPU heatsink like the Cryorig C7 will be good, because the distance between mesh and fan will be very low.
 
I bought a SFX-L psu by mistake. the SX700-LPT. If anyone is interested, I will post it in the FOR SALE sub-forum.
 
CaptnBen said:
I bought a SFX-L psu by mistake. the SX700-LPT. If anyone is interested, I will post it in the FOR SALE sub-forum.
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Please refrain from posting marketplace content here. This is for the Dan A4-SFX. I understand what you are trying to do but let's keep this thread strictly on updates, reviews, and other topics related directly to the thread.
 
Lazer1337 said:
Please refrain from posting marketplace content here. This is for the Dan A4-SFX. I understand what you are trying to do but let's keep this thread strictly on updates, reviews, and other topics related directly to the thread.
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On the subject of SFX-L I hate to ask but I wanted to know whether it is possible to fit two 2.5 inch drives to fit in the case. From the looks of it, one drive should be able to fit no problem but two seems very... difficult to say the least.
 
AstroWan said:
I wanted to know whether it is possible to fit two 2.5 inch drives
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Remember that you have an extra spot for a 2.5 drive in the front of the case, meaning that you can have a sfx-l psu, one 2.5 drive underneath the psu (15mm max), and another 2.5 drive in the front of the case (9mm max)...
 
I'm interested in Silver if anyone has one they're willing to part with

Pantera_666 said:
Remember that you have an extra spot for a 2.5 drive in the front of the case, meaning that you can have a sfx-l psu, one 2.5 drive underneath the psu (15mm max), and another 2.5 drive in the front of the case (9mm max)...
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Thanks for the advice, but I plan to use 3 drives since I'm gonna swap out my m.2 SSD for a 2.5 inch one (long story short, mobo died and I had to buy a new one that didn't have an m.2 slot on it). Maybe I'll end up using double sided tape and putting both drives next to eachother on the bottom if I can squeeze it, or I'll have to find some method to make this work.

Edit: Darn, just found out the Corsair Dominator Platinums are 3mm too tall for this case :C
 
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Folks wanting to buy or sell might have better luck in a dedicated thread, there is a sub-forum on [H] for this here: https://hardforum.com/forums/for-sale-trade.17/

Not trying to be thread police. But for facilitating transactions might be more useful to have a dedicated thread (there). I think dondan also requested that people do it elsewhere, not sure.

And I have two on the way, so I might be stopping by that thread in two or three months if it exists...:)
 
Dondan, did you get in contact with 3M in order to create a custom length twin axial from them? I noticed the 300m the case comes with is not the standard size one can purchased from say Digikey. Can you share the minimum order amount to get a custom product from 3M? A 150mm twin axial riser is something I would like for for my M1.
 
illram said:
Folks wanting to buy or sell might have better luck in a dedicated thread, there is a sub-forum on [H] for this here: https://hardforum.com/forums/for-sale-trade.17/

Not trying to be thread police. But for facilitating transactions might be more useful to have a dedicated thread (there). I think dondan also requested that people do it elsewhere, not sure.

And I have two on the way, so I might be stopping by that thread in two or three months if it exists...:)
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Point taken, I think there's definitely a little bit of a conflict on where to ask as people buying or selling here would ensure that people are interested in this particular product, but also all the asking for cases for sale here only clutters the thread and makes it hard for questions and important news to be found.
 
hey Guys,

any of you considering to use a Be quiet 400watts sfx psu? or some of you already using it? hows the power and sound performance?

planning to use it for a i7-6700 and gtx 1070 build (no overclocking). I know nvidia requires atleast 500watts for a gtx 1070, but most of the power supply calculator in various websites recommends 350w.
 
Alright, so I went ahead and prepurchased my system. I got a 6700k and the cryorig C7. I'm not sure if I can live with the noise levels.

I'm going to undervolt the CPU later today and set a "quiet" fan profile and reevaluate the sound output, but.... I'm just not thrilled with the idea of hearing the fan ramp up and down and the pitch of it.

Perhaps I should have considered the 6600K. Despite the same rated TDP, in real world scenarios it draws 20w less than the 6700k, which could have a huge impact on the C7's sound.
 
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Tviceman, I feel the 6700k will perform. You can always delid as well as use really good thermal compound in addition to undervolting to bring temps down.
 
drklu said:
Tviceman, I feel the 6700k will perform. You can always delid as well as use really good thermal compound in addition to undervolting to bring temps down.
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Using IC diamond already, applied via the instructions on anandtech's review of the 6700k. Temps aren't that bad as is, mid 70's during Prime 95. The sound profile is still unpleasant to my ears. I'll update again after undervolting.
 
tviceman said:
Alright, so I went ahead and prepurchased my system. I got a 6700k and the cryorig C7. I'm not sure if I can live with the noise levels.

I'm going to undervolt the CPU later today and set a "quiet" fan profile and reevaluate the sound output, but.... I'm just not thrilled with the idea of hearing the fan ramp up and down and the pitch of it.

Perhaps I should have considered the 6600K. Despite the same rated TDP, in real world scenarios it draws 20w less than the 6700k, which could have a huge impact on the C7's sound.
Click to expand...

I used that combination for a while in a Silverstone Ml08-B Milo case and I found that it wasn't bad at all, the only one thing that really made noise in my system was my gpu, hopefully the noise shouldn't too bad for you either :D
 
azagar said:
Dondan, did you get in contact with 3M in order to create a custom length twin axial from them? I noticed the 300m the case comes with is not the standard size one can purchased from say Digikey. Can you share the minimum order amount to get a custom product from 3M? A 150mm twin axial riser is something I would like for for my M1.
Click to expand...

Yes it is a custom one. The MOQ is 500 cables.
 
Hey Dondan, I am absolutely in love with this case but I missed the original kickstarter order, I know you said before that the cases will be on sale from Overcloacker.co.uk, I was wondering,
1. Have you already ordered the cases that will be resold, or how you will do that?
2. Will it take as long as the kickstarter cases?
3. Have any other people except for Linus reviewed it?
4. Do you still recommend a blower GPU or is a big custom fans GPU better. I was thinking about one with 3 fans.
Thanks for spending so much time on such an amazing project. I hope that your next project will be just as cool
 
You guys shouldn't order CPUs now - at least wait for Kaby Lake for reduced prices as well as reduced TDP clock for clock (That 7700k @ 4.2Ghz stock @ 95W).
 
Sasha Kiselev
1.) The first order are the Kickstarter cases and the cases for the resellers (OverclockersUK and Casesking)
2.) answered with the first question
3.) On dan-cases.com you find also the reviews of computerbase.de and golem.de
4.) Both types work perfectly. With a blower card the case backside will be hottter and with a custom fan card the topside.
 
Yeah I would hold off as long as possible before ordering parts. You never know what can come out in the meantime.
 
dondan said:
Sasha Kiselev
1.) The first order are the Kickstarter cases and the cases for the resellers (OverclockersUK and Casesking)
Click to expand...
So they will be available for sale on those websites at around the same time the kickstarter cases start shipping? How many cases will be available out of the first batch for those sites to sell?
 
dondan said:

You see without filters the GPU need lower RPMs to hold the temp target. Also the CPU temp is much lower.
But why does the filter will not work as good as for other cases?
The reason is simple, in a normal case the filter will be directly in front of the fan, so the air has to move through the filter. But for the A4-SFX there is a small distance on both sides between the filter and the fan. The air will take the easiest way and this is not through the filter.
I made a second test. If I put my mouth directly on the mesh and blow through the filter I can feel the air behind the mesh. But if I increase the distance between mouth and mesh and blow again, the air flow behind the mesh is much lower.
So you see the air will take the easiest way. With filters you recycle more air from the inside and get less air from the outside.

So I recoment fan filters with lower TDP hardware like 65W CPU and a GTX 1060 GPU. Furthermore a CPU heatsink like the Cryorig C7 will be good, because the distance between mesh and fan will be very low.
Click to expand...
I think ducting the intakes would improve these results a lot, for the reason you explained.
 
Sasha Kiselev said:
So they will be available for sale on those websites at around the same time the kickstarter cases start shipping? How many cases will be available out of the first batch for those sites to sell?
Click to expand...

Preorder will start in December and shipment in January after I shiped my Kickstarter cases.
They don't have enough cases for everyone. Currently there are more than 11.000 subscribers on my subscription list. If the buyrate is the same as for the Kickstarter (22%), then there are 2400 possible buyers. I don't want to tell the number of cases they have, but if they will be so fast sold as for the Kickstarter campaign, they will be sold out in 20-30min.

This is the first time this reseller work with me and they have to pay month before they get the cases. This is very unusual for this industry. But they told me if the cases will be sold as fast as expected then they will order 1000+ cases the next time. The next batch will be available in May-June 2017.
 
AstroWan said:
I used that combination for a while in a Silverstone Ml08-B Milo case and I found that it wasn't bad at all, the only one thing that really made noise in my system was my gpu, hopefully the noise shouldn't too bad for you either :D
Click to expand...
drklu said:
IC diamond is what I use as well, always have great luck with it. GL!
Click to expand...

Changing the fan profile and lowering the voltage made a world of a difference. It's doable now. :D
 
Verdi said:
I think ducting the intakes would improve these results a lot, for the reason you explained.
Click to expand...
There's not really a lot of room to duct, the fans should all be right up against the side panel as is.
Maybe you could duct exhaust for the CPU, and use a blower GPU. The PSU is already ducted unless you have some super perforated model.
 
Anyone willing to sell their kickstarter order. I want to build a PC in this case around New Year as a present. I am willing to pay a bit extra than you paid. Delivery to UK. Please PM me to sort out the details
 
Curiositie said:
There's not really a lot of room to duct, the fans should all be right up against the side panel as is.
Maybe you could duct exhaust for the CPU, and use a blower GPU. The PSU is already ducted unless you have some super perforated model.
Click to expand...
Dan's post seem to imply there is a gap between the fans and the filter, and that this was the cause of the reduced efficiency due to recirculation/short circuiting, reasoning that i agree with. Ducting would assure getting cold air from the outside and not hot air from inside, although with reduced flow due to the pressure drop on the mesh.

He used a blower GPU, an open air one will probably perform even worse with filters.
 
Verdi said:
Dan's post seem to imply there is a gap between the fans and the filter, and that this was the cause of the reduced efficiency due to recirculation/short circuiting, reasoning that i agree with. Ducting would assure getting cold air from the outside and not hot air from inside, although with reduced flow due to the pressure drop on the mesh.

He used a blower GPU, an open air one will probably perform even worse with filters.
Click to expand...
Sorry if this has been posted, but is there any room between the graphics card and the case for a thin fan that can draw air into the case? or is it so tight that there's only a few millimetres between the graphics and the case panel?
 
Eggyegg said:
Sorry if this has been posted, but is there any room between the graphics card and the case for a thin fan that can draw air into the case? or is it so tight that there's only a few millimetres between the graphics and the case panel?
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There is next to no space between a dual-slot GPU and the panel. That is not a problem though, since the graphics card fans directly get fresh air from outside.
It may be possible to fit a slim fan with a single-slot GPU, but then again, for what purpose?
 
AstroWan said:
Ohhh maybe sticky magnets on the inside of the case on the panels to let the filter stick on. Although I wonder if magnets too close to parts would be detrimental to the health of the parts.
Click to expand...

The only part that you would be worried about being damaged by a magnet is an HDD. Guess what's inside that? Multiple electronic magnets for the seeker and spinner motors. That wimpy magnetic tape is far from being strong enough to affect your HDDs data in any meaningful way.
 
dondan said:
Preorder will start in December and shipment in January after I shiped my Kickstarter cases.
They don't have enough cases for everyone. Currently there are more than 11.000 subscribers on my subscription list. If the buyrate is the same as for the Kickstarter (22%), then there are 2400 possible buyers. I don't want to tell the number of cases they have, but if they will be so fast sold as for the Kickstarter campaign, they will be sold out in 20-30min.

This is the first time this reseller work with me and they have to pay month before they get the cases. This is very unusual for this industry. But they told me if the cases will be sold as fast as expected then they will order 1000+ cases the next time. The next batch will be available in May-June 2017.
Click to expand...

Hi Dan, just a quick question regarding the upcoming sale of cases by overclockersUK.

I'm very keen to get my hands on this neat little case for my next build and will definitely be in line for the sale but I'm now wondering if I'll even get the chance... As you mentioned if the interest in the case holds they will be gone in 20-30min and as I'm living in New Zealand there's a good chance I will be asleep when this happens. So I was wondering is there a possibility of pre-paying a deposit or something to secure a case?

Just a thought from an enthusiastic customer. Thanks, Dan, love your work.
 
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