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

Thermals and noise test with the Thermalright AXP-100H MUSCLE with its TY-100 fan on a 6700k @ 4.4Ghz:



Idle temps:

View attachment 17517

Prime 95 temps:

View attachment 17518

Idle speed: 810 RPM

Full speed: 2500 RPM

Temps are about as good at the C7 with the C7 fan, but not quite as good as the C7 with the TY-100 fan.

But in low usage its SILENT! and at max fan speed its pretty quiet, its got the lowest pitch of any of the other combinations i've tested (probably due to the fan being so far behind the side cover and underneath the heatsink), so it's much easier on the ears.

The axp-100H is ever so slightly too tall (as others have pointed out) with the normal standoffs, i have ordered a number of different length standoffs to see what the ideal standoff length I need is (as people have also suggested) . The side panel very nearly fits on with all 4 clips as it is.

I am sticking with this combo for now as it's quieter than the rest, i ordered a nexus last week but it may take a while to arrive, i will test it with the TY-100 and the other fans if people want me to, I am also waiting on the LP53 + NF a9x14 which should come soon.


You are the man! Thanks a lot for all those benchmark your doing for us!
 
i ordered a nexus last week but it may take a while to arrive, i will test it with the TY-100 and the other fans if people want me to, I am also waiting on the LP53 + NF a9x14 which should come soon
Waiting for that, thank you ,,, and....
Is it easy to mod the AXP-100 ?
 
Waiting for that, thank you ,,, and....
Is it easy to mod the AXP-100 ?

Sort of, i already had a dremel tool to cut off the thin metal support underneath the heatsink, then i just shoved the fan in underneath the heatsink and installed it onto the motherboard, i haven't even had to cable tie it in because its such a perfect fit, i did put two cable ties through the fan holes nearest to to far edge of the heatsink to stop the fan blades rubbing against the bottom side of the heatsink, i'm not sure if that was necessary but i did it just in case.

I'm guessing this is pretty much what Dondan's cooler is going to be like, but if the heatpipes are made of copper and have direct touch we should have better temps.

You are the man! Thanks a lot for all those benchmark your doing for us!

Thanks! And no problem.
 
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I'm guessing this is pretty much what Dondan's cooler is going to be like
I think dondan's cooler is a 48mm height (longer L x W) based on the none "h" version of the AXP-100 (44mm heat-sink height-brown/black fan), yours is the "h" version (51mm heat-sink height-black/white fan).
And there is the "R" version (44mm heat-sink height- thicker heat pipes-red fan 14mm) and a muscle non "h" version (44mm heat-sink height-black/white fan)
 
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dondan will the remaining 200 receive an email today to let us know of our good luck or will we have to anxiously waiting till everyone else gets theirs and find out our luck a day or two later?
 
I think dondan's fan is based on the none "h" version of the AXP-100 (44mm heatsink hight), yours is the "h" version (51mm heatsink hight).
And there is the "r" version (44mm hightsink- thicker heat pipes-red fan 14mm)

I wonder if the non "h" version has just as good or better thermal efficiency as the AXP-100H.

I'm not sure if that's possible with a smaller heatsink, the thicker heat pipes could help though.
 
I am sticking with this combo for now as it's quieter than the rest, i ordered a nexus last week but it may take a while to arrive, i will test it with the TY-100 and the other fans if people want me to, I am also waiting on the LP53 + NF a9x14 which should come soon.

I don't use the 92mm slim Noctua fan right now, but if I remember correctly, it isn't as high pitched as these fans you demonstrated. Could be wrong though.
 
I wonder if the non "h" version has just as good or better thermal efficiency as the AXP-100H.

I'm not sure if that's possible with a smaller heatsink, the thicker heat pipes could help though.

I looked at ther site, AXP-100RH has some new mounts. At the bottom ther site is a picture of an impact Viii from side view (to see how high it is)
 
It will dissuade all but the bravest/not lazy Strix owners from buying the cooler though. Despite the very informative explanation provided by another poster upthread on how the heatsink is probably useless, count me among the not-brave-and also sort of lazy owners unwilling to remove it until someone else does it and confirms they can still do a light OC without a problem...

I understand you can also replace it with lower profile stuff but then we get into the realm of diminishing returns for a lot of work. Much better to just buy a cooler that works with minimal fuss.

I am gonna do exactly that, remove the stupid heatsink and run it like that.

There is another aspect which I didn't even bother explaining in my previous post. the fact that the MOSFET has an epoxy case which doesn't conduct heat well at all. This means that it is much better to cool them via the PCB than to cool them via heatsink.
 
Waiting for the EVGA FTW2 1080 to arrive... this should work really well in this case I think. Will report back asap!
 
Anyone waiting for Ryzen that has decided what cooler to use with this case? I'm started to be a little worried since the options seems even more limited with this socket. Noctua won't have any mounting kits for the NH-L9 until the end of the year.

*edit*
Correction, I have no clue at all which cooler to use since both stock coolers will be too high :-/

*edit 2*
Could C7 combined with NF-A9x14 avoid air turbulence compared using the stock C7 fan? The NF-A9x14 was a few millimeters thinner, right?
 
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Anyone waiting for Ryzen that has decided what cooler to use with this case? I'm started to be a little worried since the options seems even more limited with this socket. Noctua won't have any mounting kits for the NH-L9 until the end of the year.

*edit*
Correction, I have no clue at all which cooler to use since both stock coolers will be too high :-/

I'm doing a Ryzen/Vega build. Cryorig will supply AM4 brackets for their coolers. I don't know about Thermalright yet.

My plan currently is either Cryorig C7 with TY-100 Fan or AXP-100RH modified to have fan in under heatsink.

Or machine my own heatsink design out of copper and slap a fan on top.
 
I'm doing a Ryzen/Vega build. Cryorig will supply AM4 brackets for their coolers. I don't know about Thermalright yet.

My plan currently is either Cryorig C7 with TY-100 Fan or AXP-100RH modified to have fan in under heatsink.

Or machine my own heatsink design out of copper and slap a fan on top.

Yeah, I know about the C7 mounting kit but I kinda removed the C7 from my list since we got all these reports about the cooler being to loud in this case. The C7 combined with the NF-A9x14 might still be and option though. Nice to see I'm not alone thinking about coolers for AM4 though! :)
 
Yeah, I know about the C7 mounting kit but I kinda removed the C7 from my list since we got all these reports about the cooler being to loud in this case. The C7 combined with the NF-A9x14 might still be and option though. Nice to see I'm not alone thinking about coolers for AM4 though! :)

C7 with the TY-100 fan is much quieter and provides the best cooling so far.
 
dondan will the remaining 200 receive an email today to let us know of our good luck or will we have to anxiously waiting till everyone else gets theirs and find out our luck a day or two later?


It depends where you from. My current position is Norway so everyone in the countries before should got an mail if I have a correct mail address. 200 cases are left and 130 of them are ready to ship. So I am on the last 70. If I get a new toner in the next two days all will be pick up from DHL on friday.
 
Thermals and noise test with the Thermalright AXP-100H MUSCLE with its TY-100 fan on a 6700k @ 4.4Ghz:



Idle temps:

View attachment 17517

Prime 95 temps:

View attachment 17518

Idle speed: 810 RPM

Full speed: 2500 RPM

Temps are about as good at the C7 with the C7 fan, but not quite as good as the C7 with the TY-100 fan.

But in low usage its SILENT! and at max fan speed its pretty quiet, its got the lowest pitch of any of the other combinations i've tested (probably due to the fan being so far behind the side cover and underneath the heatsink), so it's much easier on the ears.

The axp-100H is ever so slightly too tall (as others have pointed out) with the normal standoffs, i have ordered a number of different length standoffs to see what the ideal standoff length I need is (as people have also suggested) . The side panel very nearly fits on with all 4 clips as it is.

I am sticking with this combo for now as it's quieter than the rest, i ordered a nexus last week but it may take a while to arrive, i will test it with the TY-100 and the other fans if people want me to, I am also waiting on the LP53 + NF a9x14 which should come soon.


Very nice! Can you post a few pictures of this cooler setup? Thanks!
 
Just my luck, case ships when I am about to leave the country on a vacation. Lol. Good thing I have nice neighbors.

I want this thing so bad, the thought did cross my mind to just not go...
 
Meccabolix: I wonder that the AXP100H perform more worse as the C7. Are you screw it accurate? On the video it looks like it is not mounted straight. Maybe the fixing plate on the CPU plate is not in the right position. Furthermore how do you attach the fan to the heatsink it looks like the fan is not fixed to the heatsink. If there is a bigger gab you losing cooling performance. If you rotate the fan you can mount it more centered to the heatsink so more air will go through the heatsink.

Also I wonder that you have not better temps if the fan under the AXP push the air outside the case. On my setup I got better temps with that.

To your motherboard stanoff problem. I used the A4-SFX for now two years. And I unscrewed the motherboard often. I can only point to that sentence in the included user manual: To prevent damaging components and screw threads, use a minimum of force for mounting components and tightening screws. ;)
 
C7 with the TY-100 fan is much quieter and provides the best cooling so far.
I've got the C7 with the NF-A9x14 and find the turbulence noise very acceptable now. Temps went up slightly, but are you saying the TY-100 is even better than the NF-A9x14?
 
I've got the C7 with the NF-A9x14 and find the turbulence noise very acceptable now. Temps went up slightly, but are you saying the TY-100 is even better than the NF-A9x14?

I am only using what Meccabolix tested so far.

Unless I missed a test he did with C7 and NF-A9x14??
 
It depends where you from. My current position is Norway so everyone in the countries before should got an mail if I have a correct mail address. 200 cases are left and 130 of them are ready to ship. So I am on the last 70. If I get a new toner in the next two days all will be pick up from DHL on friday.


I'm in the US.
 
Meccabolix: I wonder that the AXP100H perform more worse as the C7. Are you screw it accurate? On the video it looks like it is not mounted straight. Maybe the fixing plate on the CPU plate is not in the right position. Furthermore how do you attach the fan to the heatsink it looks like the fan is not fixed to the heatsink. If there is a bigger gab you losing cooling performance. If you rotate the fan you can mount it more centered to the heatsink so more air will go through the heatsink.

Also I wonder that you have not better temps if the fan under the AXP push the air outside the case. On my setup I got better temps with that.

To your motherboard stanoff problem. I used the A4-SFX for now two years. And I unscrewed the motherboard often. I can only point to that sentence in the included user manual: To prevent damaging components and screw threads, use a minimum of force for mounting components and tightening screws. ;)

I think it was user error, thankyou for correcting me, it seems to perform the same as the C7 with the TY-100 now, but quieter:

axp-100h muscle fixed.JPG

i took the little heat sink off the VRMs on my motherboard, which gave me enough room to rotate the fan so it now covers all of the heat sink area.

I flipped the fan upside down and also cable tied it very tightly to the heat sink. i also lined the mount up straight, its very fiddly to align it perfect with Thermalright's universal mount.

lol damn my tremendous strength!
 
I think it was user error, thankyou for correcting me, it seems to perform the same as the C7 with the TY-100 now, but quieter:

View attachment 17553

i took the little heat sink off the VRMs on my motherboard, which gave me enough room to rotate the fan so it now covers all of the heat sink area.

I flipped the fan upside down and also cable tied it very tightly to the heat sink. i also lined the mount up straight, its very fiddly to align it perfect with Thermalright's universal mount.

lol damn my tremendous strength!

Snap a picture of it newly aligned!
 
Sad news for those who can't make their own custom cables.
3lqEcuT.png

CableMod has quality builds, but they do something that I think is a VERY weird thing with their cables.

When you lay the CableMod flat on a table, both connector ends have their latches/catches facing the same direction (ex: up/up).
In this orientation, when you connect the cables this results in twisting the cable, which defeats part of the purpose of buying a $120 cable set...clean runs.

I have only bought Silverstone PSUs recently, so I don't know what other PSU makers do for cables, but when you lay a Silverstone stock cable flat on a table, the connector ends have their latches/catches facing in opposite directions (ex: up/down).
In this orientation, when you connect the cables this results in no twist in the cable and gives a much cleaner run.

The CableMod wires look clean and straight when not installed, but when installed result in an ugly twist.
The Silverstone wires look crossed when not installed, but when installed no twist is needed.

Basically, CableMod builds their custom PSU cables as if they were "Extension" cables and they don't "cross" the wires.

On my NCASE M1, I de-pinned the PSU side of all of the cables from my set and re-pinned them so that the wires swapped sides and the latches faced in opposite directions.
The install was *MUCH* cleaner; I wouldn't have expected to have had to do this on a $120 set of cables to make them look nice.

I emailed them about it and they never replied back, so they must think I am crazy.
 
CableMod has quality builds, but they do something that I think is a VERY weird thing with their cables.

When you lay the CableMod flat on a table, both connector ends have their latches/catches facing the same direction (ex: up/up).
In this orientation, when you connect the cables this results in twisting the cable, which defeats part of the purpose of buying a $120 cable set...clean runs.

I have only bought Silverstone PSUs recently, so I don't know what other PSU makers do for cables, but when you lay a Silverstone stock cable flat on a table, the connector ends have their latches/catches facing in opposite directions (ex: up/down).
In this orientation, when you connect the cables this results in no twist in the cable and gives a much cleaner run.

The CableMod wires look clean and straight when not installed, but when installed result in an ugly twist.
The Silverstone wires look crossed when not installed, but when installed no twist is needed.

Basically, CableMod builds their custom PSU cables as if they were "Extension" cables and they don't "cross" the wires.

On my NCASE M1, I de-pinned the PSU side of all of the cables from my set and re-pinned them so that the wires swapped sides and the latches faced in opposite directions.
The install was *MUCH* cleaner; I wouldn't have expected to have had to do this on a $120 set of cables to make them look nice.

I emailed them about it and they never replied back, so they must think I am crazy.

Maybe we can specify the orientation in the order comments?
 
Sorry, if I have missed it somewhere in this thread. May I know which Corsair PSU are you using, the SF450 or SF600? How is the noise level of the PSU fan together with the cpu fan at full speed?

Its the SF600, i dont notice it to be honest

You said you used shorter standoffs to make it fit?

Motherboard standoffs?

I havent recieved them yet, but yes motherboard standoffs, ive bought a few different lengths to test, i cant go too short though because i have an m.2 on the back of the motherboard. We'll see what works
 
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