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

mathijs159 said:
Aren't most of those disabled when using discrete graphics?
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C states? I don't know. Disabling c3 and c6 let me push my undervolt a little bit more by eliminating crashes right after booting into windows. I have a GPU so it did something...

krcm0209 said:
I'm sorry if this has already been answered somewhere, but I didn't have much luck searching.

Has anyone verified what custom cable lengths need to be for pairing an SF600 power supply and a Strix Z270I board in this case?
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Yes. I did 150mm for the ATX cable and 300mm for the CPU and PCI-E. You could probably do 250mm for the CPU. (I did 300mm and had a little bit of slack.)

Someone earlier did their PCI-E too short, I forget if they tried 200mm or 250mm for that one.
 
illram said:
Someone earlier did their PCI-E too short, I forget if they tried 200mm or 250mm for that one.
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yep that was me. I confirm 150mm for ATX 24 pin, 250mm for EPS 8 pin and 300mm for PCIE will be perfect for asus strix z270i combined with corsair sf600. Full details on my build are available in the build thread

33302426931_edb6c837e8_b.jpg


200mm is pictured here for PCIE. IMO its too short unless you use the EVGA Powerlink

33047654890_9f18c48175_b.jpg
 
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Blackreplica said:
yep that was me. I confirm 150mm for ATX 24 pin, 250mm for EPS 8 pin and 300mm for PCIE will be perfect for asus strix z270i combined with corsair sf600. Full details on my build are available in the build thread



200mm is pictured here for PCIE. IMO its too short unless you use the EVGA Powerlink
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Thanks for the good info! Is Cablemod still the best option with regards to quality/price, or does anyone here recommend another vendor for quality/price?
 
Sadly I think they are the cheapest option for custom length cables. To be honest I don't even want my cables sleeved as I just don't care, I just want them the exact size to maximize space for some 100 mm fans in the top of the case. As far as I can tell unless you want to make your own, they are the cheapest.
 
Hotshot619 said:
Sadly I think they are the cheapest option for custom length cables. To be honest I don't even want my cables sleeved as I just don't care, I just want them the exact size to maximize space for some 100 mm fans in the top of the case. As far as I can tell unless you want to make your own, they are the cheapest.
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Agreed. I'd like custom LENGTH simple black cables for my Ncase M1, but I don't care for the sleeving options, colours, etc.
 
Hotshot619 said:
Sadly I think they are the cheapest option for custom length cables. To be honest I don't even want my cables sleeved as I just don't care, I just want them the exact size to maximize space for some 100 mm fans in the top of the case. As far as I can tell unless you want to make your own, they are the cheapest.
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In fact, I would prefer my cables not sleeved because the sleeves just take up more room in the case. I won't complain about it looking prettier though.

As an aside, does anyone have an idea what Cablemod's fulfillment times are like these days? The email said 3-4 weeks but I'm hoping that is a conservative estimate.

Edit: Someone on reddit tipped me off that you can just buy replacement Molex pins and make the cables shorter yourself. Gonna give this a shot.
 
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Trudy said:
Guys, I just tumbled over this CPU cooler, Scythe Kozuti. Said to be 40mm tall according to spec sheet.

http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/cpu-cooler/kozuti-cooler.html

Has anyone come across this and have any idea as to its performance?
Looks lika a valid choice although might be a bit low on mass(weight)?

Thoughts?
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It's limited by the small fan. Scythe recommends using it for 65w processors. It puts up respectable results on Frostytech's charts but the fan is loud.
 
Ive seen a build of a Node202 where someone cut a window to use a full size air cooler. So I asked my, if I wanted to use the DAN case as a LAN-Case/highly portable case, how fast and comfy one can attach and deattach lets say the thermalright le grande macho. So while playing the side panel would be open and for transport just get rid of the CPU cooler. Think it would be doable?
 
blaight said:
Ive seen a build of a Node202 where someone cut a window to use a full size air cooler. So I asked my, if I wanted to use the DAN case as a LAN-Case/highly portable case, how fast and comfy one can attach and deattach lets say the thermalright le grande macho. So while playing the side panel would be open and for transport just get rid of the CPU cooler. Think it would be doable?
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Disregarding the fact that you'll be cleaning/re-applying thermal paste every time you put the cooler back on. You have to remove the motherboard in order to get to the backplate and mounting hardware. Maybe if you modded it in such a way that the backplate stayed in place with all the hardware back there so you just needed to tighten the screws from the front, but some cpu coolers only allow you to tighten from the rear so even this might not work.

TBH I feel like a much more practical mod would be go with water cooling and route the conduits out through a gap in the IO backplate, but I'm new to this as well and others may have a more informed opinion.
 
I think the best solution for squeezing a few more cm of clearance is extending out the side panel from the frame. Just a few cm greatly increases your options for legit high performance coolers. Not Grande Macho level but good enough for a decent 7700K overclock. E.g. Rajintek Pallas, BeQuiet Shadow Rock LP (with a thinner fan), that tier. Then you could cover the gap with some modders mesh maybe or something (or just leave it). I wouldn't want to be constantly re-installing a CPU cooler. This solution also more or less maintains the overall good looks of the case, sort of.
 
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Blackreplica said:
yep that was me. I confirm 150mm for ATX 24 pin, 250mm for EPS 8 pin and 300mm for PCIE will be perfect for asus strix z270i combined with corsair sf600.
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Do you have any extra room in the 24pin and 8pin wires? My board's positions aren't quite the same as the Strix, but based on the pictures at least it looks like you probably have enough give for at least another 15-20mm, is that correct?
 
JoeH823 said:
Do you have any extra room in the 24pin and 8pin wires? My board's positions aren't quite the same as the Strix, but based on the pictures at least it looks like you probably have enough give for at least another 15-20mm, is that correct?
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You can estimate just using the dimensions of the case and your motherboard. Your ITX board is going to be 170mmx170mm, so wherever the socket is on the board + the distance to the PSU + some extra mm for bends. You can also take your components or something the same size, like cardboard cut outs, sit them on a table the same distance they will be in the case, take a tape measure and literally just bend it around as if it were the wire itself.

Measure twice, buy once....
 
eggyolk said:
Put my Dan A4 together today. Can confirm that the MSI Armor 1080 Ti fits with no problems, and also that the C7 is really damn noisy.
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It's actually super quiet with the side panel off, though. Have you tried the duct solution others mentioned in this thread?

Edit: for some reason I thought I read that the duct was supposed to help with noise, not just temps. I tried the duct and noise levels are not noticeably different.
 
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eggyolk said:
Put my Dan A4 together today. Can confirm that the MSI Armor 1080 Ti fits with no problems, and also that the C7 is really damn noisy.
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Awesome, that just put the MSI on the top of my list for my 1080ti purchase. I like the way the MSI fills up most of the available space and I think those white rings will reflect my case RGB lighting nicely. Could you let us know how the card fares noisewise under full gaming load? and maybe show us how the GPU looks with the side panel installed?

BTW you can also consider using 4mm standoffs for your motherboard to pull the C7 fan a little further from your side panel to reduce the noise or to swap the fan for the noctua a9x14 which is very quiet
 
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This is a beautiful duct mod that everyone needs to see!

okwchin said:
Ducting of the LP53 fan yielded a 3 degree improvement in temperatures! The duct was created to cover as much of the side panel as possible to increase the effective available side panel area, reducing the restriction on airflow, especially when I do eventually have demci filters installed.

The only downside here is that there is more noise due to the duct reflecting the noise from the fan back and fourth between the side panel and the duct until the sound escapes, rather than being absorbed within the case.

Testing was done at full RPM for a fair comparison. The increased efficiency should reduce the required RPMs, but my feeling is that it is likely not enough to make it quieter. Making the duct out of a felted material should reduce the effect of sound reflection, but more effective acoustically would be to not have the duct more parallel rather than flared out. So weighing up the benefits of increase side panel utilisation vs acoustic amplification of a flared duct.

Here are some photos of the duct that I put together with cardboard from the box for the SF450 and some masking tape.

Duct%20CPU%20Side%20LP53_zpsne6rehsa.jpg

Duct%20CPU%20Side%20LP53%20with%20Duct_zpstizppgrg.jpg

Duct%20Low%20Angle_zpsua7p4avc.jpg
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This might seem blasphemous but I'm tempted to just cut a 92mm hole so the fan has unrestricted intake, probably with a basic black fan guard bolted on the inside of the panel.

The ideal situation would be to order custom cut side panels with less restrictive perforations that match exactly with the interior components. Could slap some strips of EPDM foam around the outside edges to acts as ducts too. Maybe dondan wouldn't mind sharing his side panel Solidworks files with us... :)
 
eggyolk said:
This might seem blasphemous but I'm tempted to just cut a 92mm hole so the fan has unrestricted intake, probably with a basic black fan guard bolted on the inside of the panel.
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Don't be ashamed. The thought of cutting holes in this case has crossed my mind as well....
 
I received my case a good week or so ago. I am a little curious whether or not version 2 will use the LiHeat riser that CustomMOD uses. Was the LiHeat riser not flexible enough for v1? I think I remember Dondan stating this way back, but just wondering is all. Anywho, the case is quality and I cannot wait to build in it!
 
No also the version 2 will use 3M 300mm riser. I don't know where you got the LiHeat information?
 
richiegore said:
I'm thinking about making a full copper side panel with a block all the way down to the CPU... It would have to be mounted to the motherboard and super accurate but i think it would be pretty cool...
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Probably better to just make it in two pieces with another thermal interface between the block and the side of the case, with some sort of flexible mounting system. This would also allow for different motherboard layouts if you ever changed. Might also be easier to manufacture something like that instead of trying to nail the super tight tolerances of mounting directly to the motherboard.
 
phinnaeus said:
Probably better to just make it in two pieces with another thermal interface between the block and the side of the case, with some sort of flexible mounting system. This would also allow for different motherboard layouts if you ever changed. Might also be easier to manufacture something like that instead of trying to nail the super tight tolerances of mounting directly to the motherboard.
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Yea that was my plan exactly, it will be quite a challenge to make it flexible for future layouts.... Maybe the motherboard can mount to it via the cooler holes rather than the case with normal holes, that way I could be a bit less precise... A fun challenge....
 
Also my case arrived today, got it from eBay.de, very pleased it is lovely. Don't have a problem with the button or the feet!

Looking forward to building once Ryzen itx boards are released, I can't be bothered with all this de-lidding nonsense! Also I'll be rendering from time to to so it's much better for that!
 
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I recently have gotten my hands on a Dan Case super excited to put it together.
I have been reading on here for a while now because this is the place where people try all sorts of mods with the case.

Anyways, has any one tried to put washers / a 2mm stand off for the motherboard? This would allow the LP53 to have a full 25mm fan on it.
Also, I was thinking of putting electrical tap on the pertain that the motherboard may come in contact with as an extra layer of protection.

I would like to know what people think before attempting this on my own build. Also, regards to the fans at the top of the case. I have seen people do this with 14mm & smaller fans by lowering the PSU. Tests show this makes little to no different. Is this still the case after several people have tried it?
 
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dondan said:
No also the version 2 will use 3M 300mm riser. I don't know where you got the LiHeat information?
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I was just wondering if CustomMod's case design is different from the Dan A4 that allows for this cheaper $40 LiHeat riser to be compatible.
 
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Mark Casteel said:
I recently have gotten my hands on a Dan Case super excited to put it together.
I have been reading on here for a while now because this is the place where people try all sorts of mods with the case.

Anyways, has any one tried to put washers / a 2mm stand off for the motherboard? This would allow the LP53 to have a full 25mm fan on it.
Also, I was thinking of putting electrical tap on the pertain that the motherboard may come in contact with as an extra layer of protection.

I would like to know what people think before attempting this on my own build. Also, regards to the fans at the top of the case. I have seen people do this with 14mm & smaller fans by lowering the PSU. Tests show this makes little to no different. Is this still the case after several people have tried it?
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I was planning on using washers too. I was going to sit the board on them, leave it flat on the table, and keep adding washers until there was a good 1mm of clearance. I'm not planning on using an m2 drive. Electrical tape is a good idea. You have to account for the back plate on whatever cooler you decide to use as well though so probably an m2 drive will fit anyway...
 
Just posting the components I use and temps I get to add to the data. Also would love advice on ways to improve cooling if any. I see people talking about delidding, but not for my generation of CPU. Would it be helpful for me? Is there a way to "underclock" my cpu? Currently using it at stock levels.

CPU: i7 4790K
GPU: EVGA 980ti sc ACX2.0
Cooler: Noctua L9i
I use 2 SSDs both mounted on the bottom bracket, no M2s used currently.

  • The gpu stays around 78 to 80 degrees after a few hours of gaming. Don't think it ever got higher than 80-82 at any point. This is fine, right?
  • Cpu was similar, stayed in the upper 70s, reached as high as 81 or 82, but mostly stayed in the upper 70s after long periods of gaming.
  • Glad I got this cooler instead of the C7, as it's a pretty average noise level. It's not loud enough to where I ever notice it while gaming.
Overall, I'm really happy with it. My GPU is actually a higher than recommended TDP, and it seems to work alright in the case. Really impressive. I've moved this system from the Ncase M1 to this. In the Ncase, I was able to use the Noctua L9x65 cooler, two case fans on the side panel, and 2 case fans on the bottom underneath the GPU. This kept the gpu and the cpu about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than the Dan Case. Seems reasonable.

Main questions if anyone has input:

  • Would it help much to delid my i7 4790k?
  • Is there a way to underclock (or w/e the term is) my cpu and would it benefit me?
  • Are the temps I'm getting dangerous at all? They're below the throttling points as far as I know.
 
richiegore said:
I was planning on using washers too. I was going to sit the board on them, leave it flat on the table, and keep adding washers until there was a good 1mm of clearance. I'm not planning on using an m2 drive. Electrical tape is a good idea. You have to account for the back plate on whatever cooler you decide to use as well though so probably an m2 drive will fit anyway...
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I think it would work I mean 2mm is a pretty tight fit but I just wanted a second opinion before I try. Also, if anyone else would weigh in that would be fantastic.
 
mapesy said:
Just posting the components I use and temps I get to add to the data. Also would love advice on ways to improve cooling if any. I see people talking about delidding, but not for my generation of CPU. Would it be helpful for me? Is there a way to "underclock" my cpu? Currently using it at stock levels.

CPU: i7 4790K
GPU: EVGA 980ti sc ACX2.0
Cooler: Noctua L9i
I use 2 SSDs both mounted on the bottom bracket, no M2s used currently.

  • The gpu stays around 78 to 80 degrees after a few hours of gaming. Don't think it ever got higher than 80-82 at any point. This is fine, right?
  • Cpu was similar, stayed in the upper 70s, reached as high as 81 or 82, but mostly stayed in the upper 70s after long periods of gaming.
  • Glad I got this cooler instead of the C7, as it's a pretty average noise level. It's not loud enough to where I ever notice it while gaming.
Overall, I'm really happy with it. My GPU is actually a higher than recommended TDP, and it seems to work alright in the case. Really impressive. I've moved this system from the Ncase M1 to this. In the Ncase, I was able to use the Noctua L9x65 cooler, two case fans on the side panel, and 2 case fans on the bottom underneath the GPU. This kept the gpu and the cpu about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than the Dan Case. Seems reasonable.

Main questions if anyone has input:

  • Would it help much to delid my i7 4790k?
  • Is there a way to underclock (or w/e the term is) my cpu and would it benefit me?
  • Are the temps I'm getting dangerous at all? They're below the throttling points as far as I know.
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I'm not familiar with the possible gains of delidding 4790K but it should give at least a little improvement.
As it is a K i'm fairly certian you can undervolt. Doing so on my 6700K improved temperatures greatly.
I don't think your temperatures are anywhere near dangerous, but if you want I'm sure you can improve.

I gather a new cooler is out of the question? (Cooltek LP53 and Noctua a9x14)
 
Anyone in here has any recommendations with motherboards for 7700K? Been looking at Gigabyte GA-Z270N-Gaming 5, Asrock Fatality Z270 and Asus Strix 270i. I can't find any reviews of the Gigabyte motherboard at all for some reason.
 
Mark Casteel said:
I recently have gotten my hands on a Dan Case super excited to put it together.
I have been reading on here for a while now because this is the place where people try all sorts of mods with the case.

Anyways, has any one tried to put washers / a 2mm stand off for the motherboard? This would allow the LP53 to have a full 25mm fan on it.
Also, I was thinking of putting electrical tap on the pertain that the motherboard may come in contact with as an extra layer of protection.

I would like to know what people think before attempting this on my own build. Also, regards to the fans at the top of the case. I have seen people do this with 14mm & smaller fans by lowering the PSU. Tests show this makes little to no different. Is this still the case after several people have tried it?
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you don't need 2mm standoff. I tried the lp53 with the default 120mm nexus 7 25m fan and it fit no problems. I mounted it directly to the inside of the side panel. it was 5C cooler than the noctua 92x14mm fan on the lp53
 
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