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

maven1975 any updates on Asetec 92mm AIO? Do you made a cutout for it on the A4-SFX v1?

Today I got my Asetec 2011-3 narrow ilm bracket. I think I will get the AIO next week.
 
For the life of me, I can't find the thread with all the pictures of people's builds for A4, can someone link me?
 
So the NH L9X65 uses the a9x14 fan, they could have made a shorter heatsink and used a 25mm fan. To me that means that the a9x14 plus an extra 11mm of heatsink is a better tradeoff than the increased airflow provided by a 25mm fan and a shorter heatsink. I trust noctua on this.

This leads me to think that the cryorig c7 with the a9x14 should be a great performer. I can't find much showing that in the excel document though. Does anyone have the two to compare?
 
JackGLemmon said:
Please let us know how A4-SFX fits in the Lowepro Event Messenger 250 after the tablet pouch is removed. It may give the needed few millimeters so that I do not have to push or shake to get the computer to fit each time.

I do not want to cut out my tablet pouch as I had hoped to use it for a 11" 1080p 60Hz GeChic portable monitor if there was space. I still want to use the Event Messenger 250 for accessories and cables, even if I decide on something like the Tenba byob 13 for the case.
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Hi Jack,

I have an similar setup to you, in the sense that I'm currently using the 1503 and 1303 GeChic portable monitors to work with my A4-SFX. They are both too big for any bag which fits the A4 snugly. :arghh::cry:

I would have suggested yet another bag but...it's pricey and would allow you both the Tenba AND the Messenger 250.

I need to figure out how to share images to better describe my set up. [ I travel across the world for work, and this allows me to bring a crazy 980/1080GTX setup with me to my hotel room ]
 
ceski said:
Printed a fan bracket and stuck a foam gasket on top.

Prime95:
No Fan Duct: 93 °C
Fan Duct: 89 °C

PCH, M.2, and memory temps dropped by 3-4 °C. Ambient: 22 °C.
i7-7700K Delidded, 5.0 GHz, 1.312 V, LP53 + NF-A9x14 + no I/O shield.

More testing to do, thought I'd share.
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IMG_20170422_165554.jpg IMG_20170422_165546.jpg
Credit to ceski for the initial idea! I don't have a 3D printer so I used some acrylic from a hardware store, my drill and jigsaw, double-sided sticky tape, and a Phobya 140mm foam gasket from Newegg to make myself a shroud. Dropped idle temps by 3-5C and load temps from 5-10C. That's on a de-lidded, undervolted 3770k at 4.0GHz under an LP53+Noctua a9x14.
 
For those who are using the shrouds, are you noticing an increase in sound reflection and thus louder fan noise for a given RPM? I noticed with my shroud the noise levels that temps are lower but despite the lower fan RPM, noise reflection meant that it was still louder. Maybe the use of foam in the recent shrouds mean this is less of an issue.
 
okwchin said:
For those who are using the shrouds, are you noticing an increase in sound reflection and thus louder fan noise for a given RPM? I noticed with my shroud the noise levels that temps are lower but despite the lower fan RPM, noise reflection meant that it was still louder. Maybe the use of foam in the recent shrouds mean this is less of an issue.
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I don't notice additional noise due to reflections, maybe because it's not flared out like yours or maybe because the foam absorbs some of the high frequency components of the sound. However, the seal the duct creates forces the air to be pulled in through the ventilation holes rather than the partial recirculation from within the case that occurs without the duct. This means that at high fan speed (>2000 RPM), there is definitely a slight suction sound that is not present without the duct. At reasonable fan speed, there is no difference in sound.
 
Because this shroud is flat you could easily add some thin sound dampening foam that you can get for applying to computer case panels, I doubt it is worth it though, nice mod!
 
SpartanM07 said:
View attachment 22830 View attachment 22831

Credit to ceski for the initial idea! I don't have a 3D printer so I used some acrylic from a hardware store, my drill and jigsaw, double-sided sticky tape, and a Phobya 140mm foam gasket from Newegg to make myself a shroud. Dropped idle temps by 3-5C and load temps from 5-10C. That's on a de-lidded, undervolted 3770k at 4.0GHz under an LP53+Noctua a9x14.
Click to expand...


I think if you flip the LP53 to 180° you can lower the temps of another 5°C because the heatpipes will have a more efficent orientation. In you orientation the fluid inside have to work against gravity.


By the way if you don't have a 3D printer you can easily buy this low profile fan duct 92mm to 120mm to get the same effect:

Bitspower Ultimate 92mmm to 120mm (BP-FA1208090-BK)

909950-2.jpg
 
SpartanM07 said:
View attachment 22830 View attachment 22831
Credit to ceski for the initial idea! I don't have a 3D printer so I used some acrylic from a hardware store, my drill and jigsaw, double-sided sticky tape, and a Phobya 140mm foam gasket from Newegg to make myself a shroud. Dropped idle temps by 3-5C and load temps from 5-10C. That's on a de-lidded, undervolted 3770k at 4.0GHz under an LP53+Noctua a9x14.
Click to expand...

That's another sweet mod. I'd be interested in seeing if changing the fan from push to pull changes the performance.
 
A quick video of the E5-2696 V4 cinebench.

After disabling turbo boost 3.0 driver it is performing better (turbo boost works anyway).

It made 3176 cb, so it is now:


· 20% faster than an E5-2699 V4.

· 50% faster than a 4,2ghz overclocked i7 6950x.

· 78% faster than a stock i7 6950x.

· 100% faster than a 12 cores top end mac pro.




Temps are 80 - 82 ºC on full load, with the Dynatron T-318, so it is perfectly suitable for the A4-SFX.
 
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okwchin said:
For those who are using the shrouds, are you noticing an increase in sound reflection and thus louder fan noise for a given RPM? I noticed with my shroud the noise levels that temps are lower but despite the lower fan RPM, noise reflection meant that it was still louder. Maybe the use of foam in the recent shrouds mean this is less of an issue.
Click to expand...
I did not notice a increase in noise.

dondan said:
I think if you flip the LP53 to 180° you can lower the temps of another 5°C because the heatpipes will have a more efficent orientation. In you orientation the fluid inside have to work against gravity.


By the way if you don't have a 3D printer you can easily buy this low profile fan duct 92mm to 120mm to get the same effect:

Bitspower Ultimate 92mmm to 120mm (BP-FA1208090-BK)

909950-2.jpg
Click to expand...
Thanks dondan; I'll have to rotate the heatsink this afternoon. I thought about getting one of these fan ducts but I had acrylic lying around and I like to fiddle with things. I plan to update my CPU in the coming months so I'll try one of these then.

bAMtan2 said:
That's another sweet mod. I'd be interested in seeing if changing the fan from push to pull changes the performance.
Click to expand...
That would be interesting to try out although I would think switching to pull would result in the fan sucking warm air through the heatsink resulting in cooler temps for the motherboard components but a warmer cpu.
 
dondan said:
I think if you flip the LP53 to 180° you can lower the temps of another 5°C because the heatpipes will have a more efficent orientation. In you orientation the fluid inside have to work against gravity.


By the way if you don't have a 3D printer you can easily buy this low profile fan duct 92mm to 120mm to get the same effect:

Bitspower Ultimate 92mmm to 120mm (BP-FA1208090-BK)

909950-2.jpg
Click to expand...
I would love to buy one but they are sold out everywhere in the states.

It is also not compatible with x99 users that have 27mm on the t318 and 14 on the noctua fan to add a 15mm tall adapter. Compared to the $18 for a 3d printed vent I really like the acrylic fent idea and I might do just that with the phobyia gasket.
 
cowsgomoo2 said:
Noctua told dondan that 4 pipes are better than 6 pipes for the surface area because 6 pipes has less fin surface for cooling. You can't argue with Noctua regarding cooling.
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you can definitely argue with them. 6 or 8 pipes just for baller status . 4 pipes is weakkkkk.
here's 8 :

View attachment 22860 View attachment 22861 View attachment 22863

Source is Soulreaver1988 on Hardwareluxx.


THAT is AWESOME. look at the 8 pipes.

even my axp-100 full copper has 6 pipes
 
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Ca11idus said:
Are we talking about BP-FA1208090-BK? That's a bit much for something that won't fit my case. Running x99 syst with a 14mm fan and a 27mm heatsink. That bracket is 15 mm.
Click to expand...

Whoops, no. I thought you were talking about wanting to buy the LP53, which also is out of stock all over the place.
 
I just got a 1080 TI FE but the noise is much louder than I expected. Has anyone tried fitting a GPU with an Arctic Accelero cooler on it? Will it fit in this case?
 
While I don't disagree on the 4 pipes will out perform 8 pipes in the same sized cooler due to a greater fin surface area, it must be the case therefore that if you have also have a larger cooler with a greater fin area and additional pipes, that it will be a better cooler?
 
cowsgomoo2 said:
Noctua told dondan that 4 pipes are better than 6 pipes for the surface area because 6 pipes has less fin surface for cooling. You can't argue with Noctua regarding cooling.
Click to expand...
Noctua is like the jonnyguru of cpu cooling, whatever they say is right, even if it is wrong.
 
All my point was that in the end, fin size matters. As long as you have sufficient pipes to flow the heat into the fins. This is why the Thermalright Shaman is a better cooler with the greater pipes as it also has the greater fin area to disperse that transmitted heat and why 8 pipe would be inefficient in a smaller cooler.
 
Yes you are right if you have more surface you need more pipes. The pipes are necessary to transport the heat fast to the surface if the surface is too small the transfer from fins to air is too low and the high count of pipes is useless. Maybe industrial example will help: A high count of employees on a conveyor is only good if it is fast enough.
 
Noctua has probably made multiple prototypes and many testings before releasing their NH-L12, which is the same build as dondan's future cooler. For the fin area of dondan's cooler, they recommend 4 pipes instead of 6.
You can either claim they are:
1) incompetent and wrong, but that's unlikely because all their coolers have always top the charts of cooling tests, and their coolers are often a few degrees cooler than other brands' coolers of the same size
2) trying to trick dondan into making a worse cooler because he's a competitor

The Thermalright Shaman is probably a better cooler because it has bigger fin surface area than other coolers, not because it has more pipes. To do a control test regarding whether the Thermalright Shaman has more pipes than necessary, you'll have to find another cooler with similar fin area but less pipes and test both of them. You can't just compare it to smaller coolers with less fin area.
If you want me to choose between trusting Noctua or armchair critics like you all, I'd choose trusting Noctua any day.
 
But the Thermalright Shaman is NOT a better cooler!
Someone in here post it's results and they were not as good as the LP53 or even the AXP (All models) (can't find the thread). Not in temps or noise.
 
This is probably not applicable but here's the best top-flow (hamburger) cpu cooler, NH C14, from Noctua. It has six pipes. I would suggest trying the four pipes first and compare that with the LP53 w/ slim fan temps. Then based on those results, I would then give the six pipes a try.
 
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Itchy_Lettuces said:
I got one of these drives to put in the case: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/xC...tb-25-5400rpm-internal-hard-drive-st5000lm000
Just a heads up that it's too tall to fit in the bottom part of the HDD bracket. I ended up not using the bracket and just mounting the drive directly to the bottom of the case. I was kinda hoping to put two in (using the bracket), but I guess I'll just have to settle for one.
Click to expand...

wow! didn't know 2.5 inch drives were already available in more than 2TB! I would have gotten two of those for some sweet 10TB storage.
 
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