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

Time to whip out the RGB gaming master race accesories :)
RGB mechanical keyboard plus mouse

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Now i need some games
 
I was an early backer on the Kickstarter campaign and I have to say this is a great case. Aside from a few hiccups with the delivery processes it was perfect.

The Cryorig C7 fit on my GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 with the backplate after some modification with my jigsaw. I look forward to swapping fans in order to quiet things down.

The V2 looks like it has some great improvements and will certainly be a good buy.
 

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http://sxdcool.com/free-shipping-de...-pwm-intelligent-fan-speed-control_p5314.html
Anyone going to buy this 20mm thick fan for a test? It's $50 delivery for me to Ireland, also I don't have a lp53 to test it on so I'm not buying one now...

Obviously I'm wondering how it will perform with standard stand-offs considering it's 20mm thick. Interested in how it works with 4 mm stand-offs too...

Being able to spin up to 3000 could be handy when rendering or stress testing or just on a really hot day! You can always limit it down to ~2000 if its too noisy but regardless it should have much better static pressure than a 14mm fan, it's 42% thicker!
 
it would be really helpful if there is a list of the cpu cooling options along with a brief conclusion.
The cooling discussion is so long and took so much time that I cannot remember all of it. And worst it's spread across so many pages (thanks to delivery comments).
if someone has an elephant memory, I'd be grateful he could write up a summary. Else I guess I'll have to go through the pages again.
 
it would be really helpful if there is a list of the cpu cooling options along with a brief conclusion.
The cooling discussion is so long and took so much time that I cannot remember all of it. And worst it's spread across so many pages (thanks to delivery comments).
if someone has an elephant memory, I'd be grateful he could write up a summary. Else I guess I'll have to go through the pages again.
There is a link to Dan's cooling results in the first post, it's still pretty informative but perhaps it could do with an update at this stage...
 
I can sum up the cooling options thusly:

1. Delid. Then choose whatever you want! Or;
2. LP53 + slim Noctua 92mm fan. Best performance with least hassle. Kind of expensive.
3. Nexus Cooler is a good performer but very hard to find and you have to modify the heatsink and IIRC also buy a slim fan, so it is very expensive.


Then all the rest. Pick your poison. C7 = OK performance but wonky backplate mounting leads to mixed results, and it's super loud as its right next to the side panel. L9i is quieter but not really a good option for the 7600K or 7700K and with those chips you will throttle if you don't delid.
 
I can sum up the cooling options thusly:

1. Delid. Then choose whatever you want! Or;
2. LP53 + slim Noctua 92mm fan. Best performance with least hassle. Kind of expensive..

Hey, iilram. Can you please post your system specs and idle/max temps? IIRC from reading the thread, you're on a 7700k with LP53+A4, but what temps? I assume you delidded, what thermal paste did you use on both?
 
Delidded 7700k, Liquid ultra on ihs, kryonaut between heatsink, and L9i

Before Delid - max 88c
After Delid - max 80c

Not exactly the 12-15c i heard quoted by many people but i think its down to the cooler, its just too small to hold the heat.
The plus side is just gaming on arma3 and dota 2 the cpu sits around 60c. Nice and cool.
 
Also delidded my [email protected] GHz (liquid pro) and with the L9i (kryonaut) I get temps up to 77°C (I/O shield removed).

Delidding and good quality thermal paste improve temps A LOT!
I'm looking forward to DANs new cooler, I believe temps may further decrease with it in my setup.
 
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Delidded here at 4.6GHz. [email protected] was stable only outside of the dan a4 on the test bench (max temp 78deg) Once mounted in the case, with no GPU, it was stable at [email protected] (about 82deg max temp). Using a temporary gtx 970 mini, battlefield 1 would crash in between rounds (when the next level was loading and CPU load was highest). So I backed it down to [email protected] and now its stable again. Worked fine overnight with a Heaven loop and Intel CPU stress test running concurrently. Saw max temps of 90degrees. The heat dump from a maxed out GPU has an alarming effect on overall temperatures. Note: I live in a very hot country, ambient temps were 30deg C during testing with no air circulating in or around the computer done on purpose for a 'worst case scenario'. i use the C7 heatsink with the Noctua fan. This case traps a LOT of heat. It is hot enough to nearly cause great discomfort when i rest my hand on the top rear portion of the case. I consider delidding almost a must if you want to use the 7700K unless you live in a very cool country. I am curious how it will fare when my 1080Ti FTW3 arrrives..which is a pretty hot gpu.
 
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So my current parts for my upcoming build include 1xStrix z270i 1xnoctua l9i 1xsilverstone SFX-LG 500W 1x dual ram G.Skill RGB 3200mhz cl 16. and of course the Dan a4 SFX case...now my question is... how much of a CPU overclock I could potentially be looking at if I buy an i7 7700k 4.2 Ghz processor and which 1080ti would you guys recommend...since I don`t have as much as cooling...I assume I have to get to a Founders Card...however I am concerned about noise & throttling...I'd be glad for suggestions! As for the hard drive, i`m gonna stick with a Samsung 960 Evo 500gb drive (m.2) until i can afford the second stick i believe it will do the job.
 
Guys...

I think I have found a very concerning flaw in this case. I was checking out all of my temps on my HWINFO and came upon my Motherboard Temps... 114 Celcius... Now I don't know where this sensor is (I have a Asus Z170i Pro Gaming) so just want to hear from ya'll if you could help identify where the heat could be building up?

Is this even acceptable temps?

Can ya'll check your temps for me please?
 

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Guys...

I think I have found a very concerning flaw in this case. I was checking out all of my temps on my HWINFO and came upon my Motherboard Temps... 114 Celcius... Now I don't know where this sensor is (I have a Asus Z170i Pro Gaming) so just want to hear from ya'll if you could help identify where the heat could be building up?

Is this even acceptable temps?

Can ya'll check your temps for me please?

That might not be the case's fault. I have the same motherboard and it shows the same ridicolous temps. (also when not in the Dan case) However, Asus could not really be bothered, and all I got was a vague confirmation that it was an error but they would not replace it.
 
Guys...

I think I have found a very concerning flaw in this case. I was checking out all of my temps on my HWINFO and came upon my Motherboard Temps... 114 Celcius... Now I don't know where this sensor is (I have a Asus Z170i Pro Gaming) so just want to hear from ya'll if you could help identify where the heat could be building up?

Is this even acceptable temps?

Can ya'll check your temps for me please?

I believe you gotta somehow get the temps to about 85-90 under load...unless you want your gear to get fried... i gotta say. i haven´t been able to put my setup together yet but I'm gonna watch out for additional fans (miniature) if possible. Thanks for the benchmarks.
 
Guys...

I think I have found a very concerning flaw in this case. I was checking out all of my temps on my HWINFO and came upon my Motherboard Temps... 114 Celcius... Now I don't know where this sensor is (I have a Asus Z170i Pro Gaming) so just want to hear from ya'll if you could help identify where the heat could be building up?

Is this even acceptable temps?

Can ya'll check your temps for me please?

Try opening up the case and aiming a fan at different parts of the motherboard. If the temperature doesn't change, it's more than likely a stuck or false sensor that you can safely ignore.
 
Hey, iilram. Can you please post your system specs and idle/max temps? IIRC from reading the thread, you're on a 7700k with LP53+A4, but what temps? I assume you delidded, what thermal paste did you use on both?

i7-7700K, LP53 w/ Noctua A9x14 slim 92mm fan, Team Vulcan 16GB 3000MHz RAM, GTX 1080Ti. I didn't delid, actually, but I recognize from the data that is probably one of the the best ways to drastically reduce your temps. I used NH-1 and then tried Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, but I can't say with certainty the Thermal Grizzly did anything more than the NH-1.

I did a lot of different tests that are posted in various places, here are the most relevant ones. All temps are from HWINFO, which registers a few degrees higher than AI Suite's temp for some reason:

Prime95 26.6 (running settings in the spreadsheet floating around):
@1.14v 89c
@1.24v 95c

I hit 86c according to AI Suite also, and at 1.20v, but I am disregarding that now as it seems AI suite consistently measures lower than HWINFO. All of these are between 23-25c ambient. (This is all in the spreadsheet).

Idle varies. If I run the fan at around 1300-1600 RPM ("Turbo" in AI Suite), I can keep my idle in the low to mid 30's. If I run in "silent" mode (300 RPM) I get up to the low to mid 40's. Just browsing the internet or writing in Word, I see it fluctuate from 40's to 60's. "Turbo" mode is still very quiet with the Noctua. The a9x14 is really an excellent fan.

In AIDA64 I get high 80's, low 90's depending on ambient. In gaming I see low 80's high 70's.

There are a few things I recommend whether or not you delid and whether or not you get the LP53.

1. I saw a very big difference in temps when I removed the IO panel and removed the oversized VRM heatsinks on the Asus Strix motherboard that were impeding airflow. You want to make sure the LP53, or any low profile fan, has at least one direction in which air can flow more or less unimpeded out of the case.
2. Undervolting your CPU just a tad results in lower max and idle temps. I was able to do a negative offset of -.080v and saw a 6c or more reduction in load temps, while maintaining all my stock clocks. This was almost as significant a jump as I saw when removing the VRM heatsink. "Out of the box" you have some free voltage to play with, basically. No reason to keep it there.

All of the above goes out the window if you just buy a lower wattage chip. (But where's the fun in that?!!??)

Guys...

I think I have found a very concerning flaw in this case. I was checking out all of my temps on my HWINFO and came upon my Motherboard Temps... 114 Celcius... Now I don't know where this sensor is (I have a Asus Z170i Pro Gaming) so just want to hear from ya'll if you could help identify where the heat could be building up?

Is this even acceptable temps?

Can ya'll check your temps for me please?

That, to me, clearly looks like a faulty sensor. I see 40-50 degrees on my motherboard even during lots of stress tests. The most I saw, and this was actually using a laser thermometer pointed at my PCB, was mid 60c, and that was in the area that hot CPU air was getting blown out the rear of the case. And my case is packed with high wattage stuff and is probably on the high end of the heat spectrum.

If it isn't a faulty sensor than something is wrong with your motherboard; nothing in the case design could account for that radical a temperature.
 
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I've just installed this 22 cores beast inside A4-SFX.

Cpu: Xeon E5-2696 V4 (It's the same as Broadwell-E E5-2699 V4 but OEM, to be part of a branded server, and 1/4 of the price on ebay).

Cinebench: 2838cb

Cores: 22
Threads: 44
Base: 2,2 ghz
Turbo all cores: 2,65ghz
Turbo 3.0 one core: 3,6ghz

Max Temp While rendering (23ºC ambient) = 82ºC

It combines multi core performance for rendering (my main purpose) and one core 3,6ghz turbo boost for gaming.


I've used an ASROCK X99E-ITX AC motherboard and it's working flawlesly.
Heatisnk: Dynatron T-318 + TY-100 Fan
Thermal Grease: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

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Guys...

I think I have found a very concerning flaw in this case. I was checking out all of my temps on my HWINFO and came upon my Motherboard Temps... 114 Celcius... Now I don't know where this sensor is (I have a Asus Z170i Pro Gaming) so just want to hear from ya'll if you could help identify where the heat could be building up?

Is this even acceptable temps?

Can ya'll check your temps for me please?
I have the same board, and the same silly temperature readings. I wouldn't worry about it - it'll be a false reading, probably a BIOS issue or even a design fault given that others have reported exactly the same issue with this particular board.
 
Actually, a bit of rudimentary googling suggests that it's just a case of there being no sensor in the position that the monitoring software is reading - some birds have several different sensors in various locations around the board, others may only have a single sensor. Looks like the Z170i might be in the latter category, so HWMonitor (or whichever software) isn't getting a reading and is showing a crazy number instead. My Z170i reports board temperature in BIOS as being normal, so that's good enough for me.

Definitely not an issue with this case, at any rate - I don't have an A4!
 
yeah prob a goofy sensor. the pos backup I'm using right now has something at "102c" riiight.... you can smell it when something is that hot.
 
Would love to know how thermals and sound is when under load.

That's a beast for productivity!

Hmmm.. 1 core at 3.6. Wonder how that translates to others 7700ks.

Interesting build you have there to say the least :)

I've just installed this 22 cores beast inside A4-SFX.

Cpu: Xeon E5-2696 V4 (It's the same as Broadwell-E E5-2699 V4 but OEM, to be part of a branded server, and 1/4 of the price on ebay).

Cinebench: 2838cb

Cores: 22
Threads: 44
Base: 2,2 ghz
Turbo all cores: 2,65ghz
Turbo 3.0 one core: 3,6ghz

It combines multi core performance for rendering (my main purpose) and one core 3,6ghz turbo boost for gaming.


I've used an ASROCK X99E-ITX AC motherboard and it's working flawlesly.
Heatisnk: Dynatron T-318 + TY-100 Fan

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So my current parts for my upcoming build include 1xStrix z270i 1xnoctua l9i 1xsilverstone SFX-LG 500W 1x dual ram G.Skill RGB 3200mhz cl 16. and of course the Dan a4 SFX case...now my question is... how much of a CPU overclock I could potentially be looking at if I buy an i7 7700k 4.2 Ghz processor and which 1080ti would you guys recommend...since I don`t have as much as cooling...I assume I have to get to a Founders Card...however I am concerned about noise & throttling...I'd be glad for suggestions! As for the hard drive, i`m gonna stick with a Samsung 960 Evo 500gb drive (m.2) until i can afford the second stick i believe it will do the job.

Stay away from founder editions and Titans, they are both poor value
 
I've just installed this 22 cores beast inside A4-SFX.

Cpu: Xeon E5-2696 V4 (It's the same as Broadwell-E E5-2699 V4 but OEM, to be part of a branded server, and 1/4 of the price on ebay).

Cinebench: 2838cb

Cores: 22
Threads: 44
Base: 2,2 ghz
Turbo all cores: 2,65ghz
Turbo 3.0 one core: 3,6ghz

It combines multi core performance for rendering (my main purpose) and one core 3,6ghz turbo boost for gaming.


I've used an ASROCK X99E-ITX AC motherboard and it's working flawlesly.
Heatisnk: Dynatron T-318 + TY-100 Fan
Holy cow.
 
I can sum up the cooling options thusly:

1. Delid. Then choose whatever you want! Or;
2. LP53 + slim Noctua 92mm fan. Best performance with least hassle. Kind of expensive.
3. Nexus Cooler is a good performer but very hard to find and you have to modify the heatsink and IIRC also buy a slim fan, so it is very expensive.


Then all the rest. Pick your poison. C7 = OK performance but wonky backplate mounting leads to mixed results, and it's super loud as its right next to the side panel. L9i is quieter but not really a good option for the 7600K or 7700K and with those chips you will throttle if you don't delid.

I think it will be good to have some kind of cooling post linked in the first post. It may avoid people asking the same question over and over again.
And thanks illram
 
For those that are going with AMD Ryzen for their Dan A4 builds, are you going ryzen 1600 or 1800? Also, what overclocks you think will be achievable with a cooler like the lp53 with slim fan? I was hoping perhaps 3.7 GHz and maybe 3.8GHz.
 
I've just installed this 22 cores beast inside A4-SFX.

Cpu: Xeon E5-2696 V4 (It's the same as Broadwell-E E5-2699 V4 but OEM, to be part of a branded server, and 1/4 of the price on ebay).

Cinebench: 2838cb

Cores: 22
Threads: 44
Base: 2,2 ghz
Turbo all cores: 2,65ghz
Turbo 3.0 one core: 3,6ghz

It combines multi core performance for rendering (my main purpose) and one core 3,6ghz turbo boost for gaming.


I've used an ASROCK X99E-ITX AC motherboard and it's working flawlesly.
Heatisnk: Dynatron T-318 + TY-100 Fan

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1.jpg
Upload pics of the completed build my dude
 
Stay away from founder editions and Titans, they are both poor value
Thanks for this piece of advice. How does a standard radiator GPU perform? After doing hours of research everyone seems to have their own opinion. Most of those are that blower style GPUs could potentially be a better fit. On the other hand, you are right about the prices and custom GPUs do perform a better value. I`m gonna watch out for a Gtx 1080ti custom with a blower style fan... this may be the conclusion.
 
Is there a German based deliding service? I`m not too fond of my own deliding skillset... (no skillset at all)..
 
Is there a German based deliding service?

I know there are a hand of people offering delidding cpus in the german computerbase.de-forums - of course without any warranty etc.

Remembering my first delid it was quiet exiting, never modded a computer part myself before. So I read articles, watched videoguides and chose an old cpu for practicing. Fortunately everything went fine and I really improved temps on my old 3570K, very satisfying after all^^

I'd encourage you to try it after a bit of "pre-work", imho it's worth the effort.
 
I did some tests because of my problem that the Asus z270i won't boot the first time after plugging in power:
After I needed to reset bios because XMP does not work, I set my old cpu settings (multiplier 39, -0,08 V offset) one stepp after the other and unplugged power between for a few minutes. But I could not reproduce the problem and I can don't have a boot problem any more. Maybe that solves the problem for those who have the same.

I have not seen any high temperatures in HWInfo on my Asus z270i. Have only one reading at about 70°C highest (I think to remember it does not change over time). But the >100°C sound like a false reading.

Is there a German based deliding service? I`m not too fond of my own deliding skillset... (no skillset at all)..
I also did my first delid and it was quite easy. I bought a razor blade (blades on both sides) and liquid metal, prepared cleaning alcohol and a piece of cloth to clean the thermal paste.
- I cut the razor blade in two and put electrical tape on the one side to have a save grip, leave about 5 to 10 mm of the blade visible.
- I used a tissue to hold the cpu with one hand and used the razor blade to cut between the heat spreader and board, starting at one edge. Don't cut too far in the direction of the die.
- Do this for all 4 sides until the heat spreader can be rotated slightly (only stickes to the board by the thermal paste)
- Remove the heat spreader and clean the die (+ board) and heat spreader from thermal paste and heat spreader glue. I used the razor blade to carefully remove the glue.
- Apply liquid metal as described on the package
- Mound the cpu board on the motherboard and but the removed heatspreader on (loose, I didn't use glue, the mounting mechanism holds it in place)

I was very nervous (hands shaking the whole delid :D ) but it was very easy. Other than cutting too deep with the razor balde (which is near impossible because of the electrical tape) I don't see any mistake you can make. It was very easy.
I would recommand to watch a few videos (intel razor blade delid), but don't watch the fails :D (or at least I didn't want to be more nervouse than I was).
If you have any farther question or want a step by step in German just google or pm me and I am happy to help :) (but I am no expert :D )
 
I did some tests because of my problem that the Asus z270i won't boot the first time after plugging in power:
After I needed to reset bios because XMP does not work, I set my old cpu settings (multiplier 39, -0,08 V offset) one stepp after the other and unplugged power between for a few minutes. But I could not reproduce the problem and I can don't have a boot problem any more. Maybe that solves the problem for those who have the same.

I have not seen any high temperatures in HWInfo on my Asus z270i. Have only one reading at about 70°C highest (I think to remember it does not change over time). But the >100°C sound like a false reading.


I also did my first delid and it was quite easy. I bought a razor blade (blades on both sides) and liquid metal, prepared cleaning alcohol and a piece of cloth to clean the thermal paste.
- I cut the razor blade in two and put electrical tape on the one side to have a save grip, leave about 5 to 10 mm of the blade visible.
- I used a tissue to hold the cpu with one hand and used the razor blade to cut between the heat spreader and board, starting at one edge. Don't cut too far in the direction of the die.
- Do this for all 4 sides until the heat spreader can be rotated slightly (only stickes to the board by the thermal paste)
- Remove the heat spreader and clean the die (+ board) and heat spreader from thermal paste and heat spreader glue. I used the razor blade to carefully remove the glue.
- Apply liquid metal as described on the package
- Mound the cpu board on the motherboard and but the removed heatspreader on (loose, I didn't use glue, the mounting mechanism holds it in place)

I was very nervous (hands shaking the whole delid :D ) but it was very easy. Other than cutting too deep with the razor balde (which is near impossible because of the electrical tape) I don't see any mistake you can make. It was very easy.
I would recommand to watch a few videos (intel razor blade delid), but don't watch the fails :D (or at least I didn't want to be more nervouse than I was).
If you have any farther question or want a step by step in German just google or pm me and I am happy to help :) (but I am no expert :D )
Thanks man. I'm probably gonna do it myself. Although i am quite anxious about ripping 340€ apart :D. Right now its gonna take time anyways since i gotta save the money. ( 230/590) done. For my m.2. 960evo 500gb & ofc the 7700k
 
I did some tests because of my problem that the Asus z270i won't boot the first time after plugging in power:
After I needed to reset bios because XMP does not work, I set my old cpu settings (multiplier 39, -0,08 V offset) one stepp after the other and unplugged power between for a few minutes. But I could not reproduce the problem and I can don't have a boot problem any more. Maybe that solves the problem for those who have the same.
Tried about 5 hours to make XMP work on z270i strix and I just couldn't make it work. How fast are your ram?

Also I wouldn't recommend using a razor blade for removing the Intel silicone as the risk is just too high.. Doesn't take much time using your nails or a old credit card to remove it safely.
 
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