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

Because the Strix offers something people prefer over the other cards? You can't be serious on asking why someone has a preference on one thing over another.

I am genuinely curious what that something is. I don't know as I haven't compared the different AIBs. Perfectly valid question. Enlighten me.
 
I am genuinely curious what that something is. I don't know as I haven't compared the different AIBs. Perfectly valid question. Enlighten me.
Judging from past Strix (since AIB TI's aren't currently out) vs other cards, better thermals and noise levels, the combination of both, or at the very least just the lower noise level which seem to be very important to many people using this case. Sure it was a valid question (followed by "just get something else" sounds like you weren't "genuinely curious" about the answer to the question), but "just get something else" is not a good suggestion unless we know for sure that there is absolutely no way a 1080TI Strix cannot fit.
 
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The Cooltek LP53 is basically a bigger version of the ITX30, and many people had good results with it (with the Noctua fan) so you should go with that.
Itx30 is 1cm less heatsink than lp53, and has roughly equal performance with the a9x14 as l9i

I wanted to get the lp53 too, but it will take weeks to get it. I guess I'll just get the nh-l9i if it roughly the same performance.
 
I am genuinely curious what that something is. I don't know as I haven't compared the different AIBs. Perfectly valid question. Enlighten me.
More "VR-ready" because it comes with two HDMI ports out of the box. All other GTX 10xx have only 1 HDMI port.
RGB lighting.
Giant heatsink and better thermals.
Matches the Asus Z270i motherboard for MORE RGB.
 
Seriously contemplating hacking my case for a fan below the psu, wish a noctua a9x25 pwm would fit....i'll see when i finally get the case.
 
Finally, I have the time to comment my own question.

Pretty much agree with Rappy and cowsgomoo2 - because I expect lower noise level, better cooling and two HDMI. But of course, reviews are needed.
The whole thing is only wishful thinking, I don't think my SF450 is enough for it. So, a new PSU minus whatever someone will give for a used 1080 = might not be as "cheap" an upgrade as I had hoped
 
I made a quick chart of all of my cooler temp tests altogether in case anyone is interested, it saves people looking around the forum for them (all tests done with 6700k @4.4Ghz with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste):

coolers.JPG

High rez HERE

Loudness key:

1: Silent
2: Very quiet
3: Quiet
4: Moderate
5: Loud
 
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I'm urged to get an LP53 but does anyone know if they're offering AM4 brackets should the need arise.
 
Looking for some help here... Just put together my build (case is very cool/small/well built) but I'm getting crazy high temps no matter what I do.

I'm running a 7700K delided (w/ CLU), using Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut w/ a C7 w/ the Noktua fan swap. I've also disabled turbo and taken core voltage down to 1.10V - during Prime95 I'm seeing temps 100C+ after 5 min or so (when I quit the testing).

Those temps are just way too hot... I checked to make sure the C7 was properly seated, I have the backplate on (Strix mobo), tightened appropriately, correct amount of thermal paste (re-applied just in case), etc.

Any thoughts on something to try? (other than the obvious swap your CPU/cooler)
 
Just to clarify meccabolix are all of these tests with the IO shield off?

Nullbnx, how confident are you that the 7700k delid was done correctly? Maybe you are not making great contact with the IHS?
 
Just to clarify meccabolix are all of these tests with the IO shield off?

Nullbnx, how confident are you that the 7700k delid was done correctly? Maybe you are not making great contact with the IHS?

Quite confident... I'm just guessing the fan/C7 combo just is not powerful enough to dissipate the heat.

Room temps are normal - 70F-ish
 
And I just realized I setup the fan to pull.... not push.....


Now I've got things running 4.5GHz @ 83C under 10 minute stress tests... 1.15V. Much better. :)
 
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I made a quick chart of all of my cooler temp tests altogether in case anyone is interested, it saves people looking around the forum for them (all tests done with 6700k @4.4Ghz with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste):

Loudness key:

1: Silent 2: Very quiet 3: Quiet 4: Moderate 5: Loud

How could the same Noctua a9x14 fan make less noise on the Thermolab LP53 then it makes on the Nexus Low 7000 R2? I would think that the Nexus would make less noise at the same fan RPM, as the fan would be further from the side panel. I would also think that the Low 7000 would need a lower fan RPM due to the larger fin area and four heat pipes (rather then two on the LP53).

Is the heat sink vibrating?

What could be the reason?

I'm urged to get an LP53 but does anyone know if they're offering AM4 brackets should the need arise.

The LP53 sometimes comes with an AM3 mount. I think you would have to contact Thermolab to find out about AM4 brackets. The page for the LP53 was never updated to state that it comes with the AM3 mount.

http://thermolab.co.kr/product_eng/79957
 
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Hello, has anyone tried the cooltek itx30? I was thinking of combining it with the nf-a9 fan, to cool the i7-7700k
or should I just go with nh-l9i?

I ordered both an itx30 and lp53, but am impatiently waiting for the A4 to do any further testing as bench conditions don't seem overly representative. I wonder why we were so concerned with country shipping order when it clearly doesn't seem to have any impact on the delivery date..
 
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ok I finished my build with some IMO clever routing of the sf450 cables I managed to make a pretty clean install. tried the axp-100 full copper but the only way it went in is with the motherboard plate completely off the case and with no I/O shield. this required 4 "L" bracket to suspend the motherboard and using the two bottom ones to hold the pci-e extender. this way it was flush flush flush. my zotac 1070 amp has a back plate also. I had problems fabricating the brackets so I just got tired and lazy. I gave up mid way and just used the lp53 with a noctua a9x14-pwm fan. that way I don't have to mod the case or my z270i strix motherboard. also, this combo is SILENT and best temps yet according to meccabolix.

fitting the two 2tb hhd on the bracket way pretty hard with the default power cable that came with the corsair psu, but it worked in the end pretty cleanly two. i'm running 39C temps with just booting in the motherboard on 4.120ghz speed. delidded 6700K with coolabratory liquid metal ultra on the IHS and for the lp53. more test with prime 95 when I install windows 10.

btw if anybody wants my modded full copper axp-100.

also I wanted to fit two ty-100 fan on top of the case and one bellow the motherboard, but the gap is too narrow without spacers above the psu, above the mobo the pci-e riser stopped me and bellow the mobo the opening was not big enough on the motherboard plate.

dondan if you're reading

If for dan a4-sfx v2 you could lower the 4 motherboard spacers by 3 to 4 mm so we can fit a fan above it and open the gap in the motherboard plate bellow the motherboard by maybe 3 mm to fit a ty-100 fan and lower your psu plate by 4 mm, or at least pre drill some alternative mouting holes for the motherboard spacers to lower it and for the psu to be able to mount it lower. Give us some options and let us decide if we want to compromise or not. also if you drill some vent holes bellow the hhd bracket so we can mount a fan there too.

finally you should make a 10mm wide opaque acrylic spacer strip that would have the side panel sit farther outward so we can fit up to 60mm coolers( also we could run a led strip in it for extra rgb goodness lol).

mQ2O0ty.gif

THATS Razer edition of DAN A4 Case.
 
I made a quick chart of all of my cooler temp tests altogether in case anyone is interested, it saves people looking around the forum for them (all tests done with 6700k @4.4Ghz with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste):

View attachment 19452

High rez HERE

Loudness key:

1: Silent
2: Very quiet
3: Quiet
4: Moderate
5: Loud

by vertical mounting for the lp53 you mean, the exposed heatpipe is pointing down/bottom of the case right?

but, wew, lp53 is expensive. :/
 
Just to clarify meccabolix are all of these tests with the IO shield off?

i think, apart from the C7 as that was the first test i did and i didn't think of removing it until other people mentioned it.

How could the same Noctua a9x14 fan make less noise on the Thermolab LP53 then it makes on the Nexus Low 7000 R2? I would think that the Nexus would make less noise at the same fan RPM, as the fan would be further from the side panel. I would also think that the Low 7000 would need a lower fan RPM due to the larger fin area and four heat pipes (rather then two on the LP53).

Is the heat sink vibrating?

What could be the reason?

there seems top be a abit of turbulence when you stick the fan underneath the cooler, the same problem as when the fan is too close to the side of the case, but not as severe. the lp53 + a9x14 seems to be far enough away from the side panel that it doesn't make too much noise. I ran all of the sound tests in the videos at their idle fan speeds, and then the max fan speed, so both extremes, real world sound results will be somewhere in between. all of the sound tests can be found on my youtube channel HERE if you want to hear them for yourself.

but i ran the prime 95 tests on their automatic fan speeds, because i doubt anyone is going to run their rigs at 100% fan speed at all times so it seems like more of a realistic test as far as fan speeds go.

by vertical mounting for the lp53 you mean, the exposed heatpipe is pointing down/bottom of the case right?

but, wew, lp53 is expensive. :/

yup
 
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Survey: Second Production Run



Currently I plan the second production run for the A4-SFX v2 that includes some improvements .

The original plan was to make this happen with my distributors/resellers. The main problem is that my resellers have to do an advanced payment.
From ordering to delivery it will takes 6 month. If you take a look on my last Kickstarter campaign we are talking about a capital with a six-digit amount.
So this is a lot of money for my resellers and will end a less high order quantity of them (~1000) . As I know there are 25.000 customers on the subscription list. So I also consider a second Kickstarter campaign.

It would be also possible to combine it. Unlimited quantities for the Kickstarter customers and a small quantity of 200-300 cases for the resellers for those are afraid of Kickstarter. And a 100% guarantee that Kickstarter customers shipment will start before reseller shipment.

Please help me to find the way you prefere:



SURVEY: A4-SFX - Second Production Run


Thank you

Daniel Hansen

Also judging by the number of people showing interest in the A4 on auction sites, I'm sure you will find much success with your secund run!
http://ebay.com/itm/292049188804
http://ebay.com/itm/172576321622
http://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/q148988390
 
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Hello, has anyone tried the cooltek itx30? I was thinking of combining it with the nf-a9 fan, to cool the i7-7700k
or should I just go with nh-l9i?
I have both the ITX30 and the LP53 and I will test the ITX30 with a NF-A9 against the LP53 with a NF-A9x14.

My only issue is that my project includes moving my current 4yo rig into the DAN A4 first. I won't be able to work on the project before next week.
 
Also judging by the number of people showing interest in the A4 on auction sites, I'm sure you will find much success with your secund run!
http://ebay.com/itm/292049188804
http://ebay.com/itm/172576321622
http://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/q148988390

The links only work if you copy/paste them.
Damn, some people are ready to pay over 533$ for the case?!? That's insane.
I would be so salty if I was that 2nd guy though, wanting to resell my case and getting n°664 at the n° lottery :LOL:.
I'm quite ok with my n°692.
 
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Is there anyone with a Dan Case that would be interested in swapping a silver case top/sides for a black case top/sides? Probably easiest to do with someone in the US. We can swap pics to verify/etc.

To be clear I have silver and I'm looking for black.
 
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Anyone else have issues with the top panel slightly bulging out between the two screw points?

upload_2017-3-17_6-51-12.png
 
Anyone else have issues with the top panel slightly bulging out between the two screw points?

View attachment 19501


This is not an issue really, considering how thin the aluminum is and with only 2 screws on each side to hold it down.

If its really bothering you, just take off the top/front and slightly bend that area in by hand.
 
Ah I can't wait until we get a readily-available heatsink that is bigger than the L9 that will fit.
 
This is not an issue really, considering how thin the aluminum is and with only 2 screws on each side to hold it down.

If its really bothering you, just take off the top/front and slightly bend that area in by hand.
I was able to fix it, thanks.

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lYHjWZ2SBrJbO1F1Id-wP0cToydjlz2ZJuqgFUM8cNCH4MqzblUQQYUfL4ppHIaSXV6z8Vx2WqGH2JlHWQ8yhWtHtpox8nZj2Tep7FzOyl5C9Du6LuasoYsLXO5sSdse_SmQNUJVKirrGs_dPEh6tbOo7lCVLc1uK8VF5ETwj0LgIQJ_3qoa1nNDv1dhAsWcfgX045dzE2NG2zVzQW1sN77qPGIL2AtLB4QJQypx1hngmvm0AorKnALYfs_0ap6_VV1R0QFKcIIi6o_ipYaoweTQSB1NGH_PoMAbhE9w9D9Z0x2H8jMayzUvMo1Ihn_vRT9244lr76WjujQTIV423VJlKV3-X1_pboTfzOzY-t9CLf4ZT37XnDODWpF4KyNpBixYgp182EHY7HbThZ39JjIPtNWNkvVQe0RzmAuRhYeB2jGv2NxZo37E8fKnz8CSp6yxjdC657qYMFwF4ElWZyGtlOvIS4-cuAX4ug259wVkWyjwFGpM6OOoedfBer1_izIs0Q7QjkcQjUqkgTHJhgR2P1Jgv0veKGGZfupq7nAnzqrQe96S8rcyZ2KTRx8cg_oCu1LsCIURt4Nv-rasvObFt3NgnuB3k473FkjPFpdXyceQ=w1242-h932-no
 
I had a quick question about heatsink orientation. In this case, should the fins be oriented vertically (A) or horizontally (B)? Or does it even matter?
 

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I had a quick question about heatsink orientation. In this case, should the fins be oriented vertically (A) or horizontally (B)? Or does it even matter?
A is best since B kills airflow. If you remove the i/o shield and remove/replace any interfering mosfet heatsinks, B looks to be better based on Meccabolix's testing. He also has one of the few itx boards with a non-insane mosfet cooling implementation and the i/o cluster is pretty sparse so there's this huge opening for airflow. B still blasts the memory sticks with CPU heat at point blank unless you have the ASRock x99 board, where the dimm slots are at the bottom. What this means for increasing memory failure, I'm not sure.
 
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All is not lost, as the eVGA FTW3 and SC cards all seem to have a shroud that fits within the 2 bracket limits.
https://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/news/article.php?storyid=16278
Do you think the FTW3 will be the next best/quietest option? I had my mind set on the gaming x since my 1070 gaming x is silent!. Damn.

FTW3 won't be available until May according to an EVGA rep. Wow... that's a long time to wait. Options are going to be limited for quiet 1080 tis in this case
 
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Orientation of the heatpipes may have some influence too. Some manufacturers may recommend a particular orientation of their heatsink as it affects the ability for the fluid to work its way back towards the CPU end of the heatpipe, and thus cooling efficacy.

When I have my system back in running order, I will formally compare. Currently working on making fan mounts for a 120mm over a LP53. Nothing fancy, just something specific to my motherboard. I have found that my H97I Plus has holes in the motherboard near the VRM for the VRM heatsink. Possibly from the Z variant of my board. I could use these to help give me mounting points for my 120mm fan.
 
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