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

I reckon there should be range of shrouds made from silicone which will flex for a tight fit on a 120 or 140 fan. The silicone it can compress slightly when sides/tops are put on and form a reasonably effective seal to the outside through whatever holes or filters are in place. Take a look at the collapsible silicone colanders and bowls for the kitchen to see what I mean. If you're using a fan as intake then anything which prevents recirculation of warm air has surely got to be beneficial?
 
Finally finished my build. Cable management was a pain though.


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I fitted the lp53 fan adapter and duct thehack 3d printed for me. Looks great and does the job of cooling the cpu.
 

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Hi guys,

a friend of mine offered his GTX 960 Strix to me and i consider buying it as a interim solution in order to upgrade to a 1160 by the end of the year...

Does anyone know if the GTX 960 Strix does fit into the A4-SFX case?
According to the gpu's dimensions on the asus website and the compatibility specs on dan-cases.com it should be fine, but i am a bit worried about the 6-pin connector, which seems to be positioned pretty high? (Scroll down a bit to see the placement of the power connector...)

If someone can tell me about this gpu's compatibility that would be very appreciated!!

SkorpioNElite: Very clean build! Would you mind telling us about your config (especially cpu / gpu) and CPU temps you get with your watercooling? Is cooling performance sufficient, although the fan pulls the warm air from the case/power supply...?
Which fan do you use by the way? Similar to the noise levels of the noctua?

b0bby199: I like your duct, but i love the duck ... LOL :D
 
@Chris4SFX

CPU - Intel Core i5 4690K
Board - Asus Z97I-Plus
RAM: G.Skill (Removed the heatspreader)
GPU - Asus GTX 1060 Turbo

Board, CPU and RAM will be changed in the next weeks. Got the fever again after receiving the A4 ^^.

The fan is actually a PSU fan from Corsair or a good imitation I bought from elecok.com. I will rather spend some more money and accept a possible imitation than accept noctuas color sheme.
https://www.elecok.com/corsair-nr092l-12v-0-22a-2-wires-cooling-fan.html

CPU runs at 4.0Ghz All-Core Turbo

Idle: 34°-39°
Game Load: 60°-66° in demanding games (Crysis 3, BF4), around 70° while converting videos (DVDFab)
Prime95: Aborted after 10 minutes (Lowest core stays barely under 80°, while the hottest core still heats up and reaches more than 90°)

As you can guess the CPU is awful so I won`t take my temps as representable. In my Ncase the temps weren`t much better under maximum load. The temps will just keep rising while using Prime95.
The CPU is a typical candidate for delidding, as the temps and temp differences between the cores are only getting worse each year. I already got the liquid metal, silicon glue and delidding tool, but decided to just upgrade.
As for the noise level, the fan is voltage controlled and limited to 9V max via fan adapter. So it's silent. The Asus Board refuses to go below 60% Voltage otherwise.
The GPU with the blower fan is of course the loudest component, but surprisingly it`s still rather silent and not annoying. I only get the noise from the moving air.
Still, a silent enthusiast will prefer cards that dont have the blower style cooling concept.`

I've also tried reversing the fan to push the air out of the bottom, but got really bad temps (Idle temps around 45°).
Board temps are acceptable, just my M2 SSD ist getting quite hot with around 60°. But theres nothing to do about that as it is positioned behind the board.
 
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Hi SkorpioNElite,

thanks for your detailed report!

Yeah. Don't get it why noctua decided to go with these colors :confused:
Fortunately the sidepanels hide it quite well.

While the temps under heavy gaming seem to be pretty good, i would have expected lower temps under full load with the AseTek...
Have you tried a bit more rpm on the watercooling fan?

I will probably going for a 65w CPU like the ryzen 2600 anyway, but it would be nice to have the option to go for a 95w CPU later on, if the Asetek could deliver reasonable temps. I guess even with higher rpm on the fan, it should still be quite a bit less noisier than air cooling?
 
Just startet Prime95 again. After 10 minutes i get these temps. 4Ghz on all cores with the fan at 9V. As you can see the core difference is up to 12°. I guess the temps will drop 3°-5° with the fan at 12V but I won`t test that, as I would have to open the case and remove the adapter.
As far as I know AMD doesn`t use TIM between the DIE and heatspreader so any 95W CPU should just work fine with adequate noise levels. But overclocking has its limits with the Asetek cooler.

Graph.JPG Temps.JPG
 
Guys,

Which temperature can I expect with these components in your opinion? (v3)

CPU: i7-7700K (delided) | [email protected]
Cooler: "xy AIO" 120mm with Noctua NF-A12x25
GPU: GTX 1070 Founders Edition (no OC)
SSD: Plextor 256GB NVMe with EK heatsink (positioned behind the motherboard)
PSU: HDPLEX 400W

Thanks, and sorry for my bad english!
 
Guys,

Which temperature can I expect with these components in your opinion? (v3)

CPU: i7-7700K (delided) | [email protected]
Cooler: "xy AIO" 120mm with Noctua NF-A12x25
GPU: GTX 1070 Founders Edition (no OC)
SSD: Plextor 256GB NVMe with EK heatsink (positioned behind the motherboard)
PSU: HDPLEX 400W

Thanks, and sorry for my bad english!

Asking for temps is pretty fruitless, since it all depends on a lot of variables. In reality, your build will work just fine, and the temps will be very acceptable. But really, I can't stress how worthless temps are. Here is a list of what affects temp:

- How lucky you are. Intel is notorious for marrying crappy TIM with their otherwise excellent processors
- Your ambient temps
- How much noise you're willing to tolerate
- The quality of your "xy AIO"
- The quality and how well your applied your thermal paste correctly
- The mounting job
- If you fart on your computer causing it to heat up more

So, pretty much, the temps will be very acceptable, in line with a good quality 120mm tower air cooler. Probably 60-70C at load. It is not any different than any other builds.
 
Asking for temps is pretty fruitless, since it all depends on a lot of variables. In reality, your build will work just fine, and the temps will be very acceptable. But really, I can't stress how worthless temps are. Here is a list of what affects temp:

- How lucky you are. Intel is notorious for marrying crappy TIM with their otherwise excellent processors
- Your ambient temps
- How much noise you're willing to tolerate
- The quality of your "xy AIO"
- The quality and how well your applied your thermal paste correctly
- The mounting job
- If you fart on your computer causing it to heat up more

So, pretty much, the temps will be very acceptable, in line with a good quality 120mm tower air cooler. Probably 60-70C at load. It is not any different than any other builds.

Thank you for your detailed answer!
 
I'm disappointed by the results of the C7 Cu compared with the normal C7. I stressed them in a brief 15min Prime-run and got following results:

C7 aluminium: 86/84/84/87 with 26°C ambient
C7 copper: 85/82/84/85 with 24°C ambient

So no improvement by the cooler itself as it seems.
 
I'm disappointed by the results of the C7 Cu compared with the normal C7. I stressed them in a brief 15min Prime-run and got following results:

C7 aluminium: 86/84/84/87 with 26°C ambient
C7 copper: 85/82/84/85 with 24°C ambient

So no improvement by the cooler itself as it seems.

You didn't mention what CPU you used?
 
I'm disappointed by the results of the C7 Cu compared with the normal C7. I stressed them in a brief 15min Prime-run and got following results:

C7 aluminium: 86/84/84/87 with 26°C ambient
C7 copper: 85/82/84/85 with 24°C ambient

So no improvement by the cooler itself as it seems.
I suspect you will see more improvement in day to day usage. If you are lucky there will be more times when the fan stays below audible levels because the copper can hold more heat as the CPU usage spikes up and down.

With prime 95 once the heatsink has hit a temperature equilibrium it's should be almost the same as the aluminium version as it has the same surface area to dissipate heat...
 
Asking for temps is pretty fruitless, since it all depends on a lot of variables. In reality, your build will work just fine, and the temps will be very acceptable. But really, I can't stress how worthless temps are. Here is a list of what affects temp:

- How lucky you are. Intel is notorious for marrying crappy TIM with their otherwise excellent processors
- Your ambient temps
- How much noise you're willing to tolerate
- The quality of your "xy AIO"
- The quality and how well your applied your thermal paste correctly
- The mounting job
- If you fart on your computer causing it to heat up more

So, pretty much, the temps will be very acceptable, in line with a good quality 120mm tower air cooler. Probably 60-70C at load. It is not any different than any other builds.

thehack
Is there anyway I can contact you in regards to making a fan shroud/duct for a noctua fan besides PM? I haven't posted enough messages on the forum to PM anyone and your website doesn't have any contact info either. Thanks
 
The fan shroud I used can be downloaded here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3003566

All my 3d designs are available FREE for personal use/download as noncommercial. I just ask that you support my shop if you don't have access to a local printer. shop.j-hackcompany.com

Hi, is this shroud (9mm) meant for the Cooltek LP53 (without fan 26mm) + Noctua NF-A9x14 (14mm)?

Perhaps my calculations are off but it seems a bit too tall: 26mm + 14mm + 9mm = 49mm. This is 1mm over the 48mm height limit for Dan Case: https://www.dan-cases.com/dana4_spec.html

With this https://j-hack-shop.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/92mm-fan-adapter-for-cooltek-lp53 it would add another 2mm and now we are at 51mm.
 
Hi, is this shroud (9mm) meant for the Cooltek LP53 (without fan 26mm) + Noctua NF-A9x14 (14mm)?

Perhaps my calculations are off but it seems a bit too tall: 26mm + 14mm + 9mm = 49mm. This is 1mm over the 48mm height limit for Dan Case: https://www.dan-cases.com/dana4_spec.html

With this https://j-hack-shop.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/92mm-fan-adapter-for-cooltek-lp53 it would add another 2mm and now we are at 51mm.

It is for NH-L9.

LP53 with NF-A9x14 and fan adapter is about 44mm (measured). It is only 4mm away from side panel, so a shroud may not be worth the effect. I can easily add a 4mm version, it does not take much time. Would you like one?
 
It is for NH-L9.

LP53 with NF-A9x14 and fan adapter is about 44mm (measured). It is only 4mm away from side panel, so a shroud may not be worth the effect. I can easily add a 4mm version, it does not take much time. Would you like one?

Thank you for the offer. Yes please.
 
Thank you for the offer. Yes please.

Actually, would you mind providing two more versions? I would like to test it without the adapter with just clips. It would give me additional 2mm. 6mm and 7mm version would be great.

Having it a little further from the side should help with the turbulence.
 
Hello, I’m doing some traveling later this year, and have ordered a v3 to move my current pc into , so I can fit it in my luggage.

I’ve found a nexus 7000 on eBay, any advice on mounting it on an LGA1151 motherboard? Is it possible to do some surgery on the stock push pins to attach it to my current cooler’s backplate with screws and nuts?

Also anyone know if Thermalright are still amenable to selling the ty 100 fans on their own if you email them?
 
Hello, I’m doing some traveling later this year, and have ordered a v3 to move my current pc into , so I can fit it in my luggage.

I’ve found a nexus 7000 on eBay, any advice on mounting it on an LGA1151 motherboard? Is it possible to do some surgery on the stock push pins to attach it to my current cooler’s backplate with screws and nuts?

Also anyone know if Thermalright are still amenable to selling the ty 100 fans on their own if you email them?
I haven’t tried a Nexus 7000, but in trying the Evercool 815, I find that a 1156 compatible heatsink could fit on a 1151 motherboard if I remove all the heatsink from my z370i (two vrm/mosfet ornamental heatsinks, and the m.2 heatsink) ymmv
 
I have recently got a 17" 4K portable display from Taobao. It's got mini-HDMI and mini-DP ports, and even does FreeSync. That's probably the top of the line one they do for about 400USD; There's smaller and/or lower-resolution ones that are significantly cheaper. I can post a few lines about my experience with the display if there's interest.


Please link this to me on Superbuy? This sounds perfect for my portable on the road setup.
 
Please link this to me on Superbuy? This sounds perfect for my portable on the road setup.
It's this one:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sc...907&pvid=7612b237-1f81-4ebb-9b6d-7079f388b89b

Superbuy seems to find it as well, but I got it directly from Taobao so can't say much about that.
https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy?url=https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?scm=1007.10010.52063.100200300000002&id=563242926907&pvid=7612b237-1f81-4ebb-9b6d-7079f388b89b

It looks like they even just updated it with Thunderbolt / USB-C. And yeah, it's great for travelling.

edit: I should add that I haven't managed to get Freesync working on mine, and I've had the screen go black intermittently for a second. Those minor annoyances aside it's been great.
 
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quick question.. is the interior of the case made of aluminum or steel?
 
You can easily unscrew the block under the heatsink, than you have 22mm left space. Furthermore the default mounting kit will not work, because of the high push-pins so as I told, you have to use the mounting kit of the thermalright axp100, that perfectly work with that heatsink.

low7000-1514mqdg.jpg
Yeah, I’m not so worried about it interfering with motherboard components as actually attaching it to the motherboard, and being able to fit a fan under the cooler.
 
It's this one:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sc...907&pvid=7612b237-1f81-4ebb-9b6d-7079f388b89b

Superbuy seems to find it as well, but I got it directly from Taobao so can't say much about that.
https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy?url=https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?scm=1007.10010.52063.100200300000002&id=563242926907&pvid=7612b237-1f81-4ebb-9b6d-7079f388b89b

It looks like they even just updated it with Thunderbolt / USB-C. And yeah, it's great for travelling.

edit: I should add that I haven't managed to get Freesync working on mine, and I've had the screen go black intermittently for a second. Those minor annoyances aside it's been great.


It's this one:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sc...907&pvid=7612b237-1f81-4ebb-9b6d-7079f388b89b

Superbuy seems to find it as well, but I got it directly from Taobao so can't say much about that.
https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy?url=https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?scm=1007.10010.52063.100200300000002&id=563242926907&pvid=7612b237-1f81-4ebb-9b6d-7079f388b89b

It looks like they even just updated it with Thunderbolt / USB-C. And yeah, it's great for travelling.

edit: I should add that I haven't managed to get Freesync working on mine, and I've had the screen go black intermittently for a second. Those minor annoyances aside it's been great.


Awesome! Does it also
It's this one:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sc...907&pvid=7612b237-1f81-4ebb-9b6d-7079f388b89b

Superbuy seems to find it as well, but I got it directly from Taobao so can't say much about that.
https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy?url=https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?scm=1007.10010.52063.100200300000002&id=563242926907&pvid=7612b237-1f81-4ebb-9b6d-7079f388b89b

It looks like they even just updated it with Thunderbolt / USB-C. And yeah, it's great for travelling.

edit: I should add that I haven't managed to get Freesync working on mine, and I've had the screen go black intermittently for a second. Those minor annoyances aside it's been great.



Is the HDR HDR 10 ? and is that working fine?

You power it with 12v and then just HDMI to your GPU?
 
Awesome! Does it also




Is the HDR HDR 10 ? and is that working fine?

You power it with 12v and then just HDMI to your GPU?


Yep, 12V. Some of the smaller ones support 5V as well, even via USB I believe. This one needs 12V up to 3A. Since I don't want to carry around an extra power brick, I soldered a DC jack onto what used to be a SATA power cable, and routed that out of the case. The screen has 2x mini-HDMI and 1x mini-DP. I use mini-DP mostly, but HDMI works just as well. Mine came with a mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter, and a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable. Slight difference I've noticed between HDMI and DP is in the screen-going-black issue I mentioned. DP goes black for a second every once in a while, HDMI flickers every once in a while. Both work fine if I lower refresh rate to 50Hz. Not sure if that's just my unit, or a general issue with these.

The HDR is HDR 10, I believe. Windows 10 will allow me to enable HDR for the display. I haven't had much chance to play around with it yet; A quick try of a HDR video through VLC didn't look very good to be honest. Do you have any pointers for how I could give it a quick try? In terms of specs, my colorimeter says the display does just over 400 nits, about 800:1 contrast, and covers 100% SRGB, 99.9% AdobeRGB and 92% DCI-P3.
 
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