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

Do we anticipate that DAN will update the A4 so as to accomodate three-slot cards?

If i'm honest, I'm also hoping for a new A4 case with stronger heat management credentials... so I'm quietly hoping that the case will grow in size for these three-slot cards, and then given that change has been made, room for two intake and two exhaust fans will be created / found - that an update of the case size in one dimension, will remove a barrier to update it in other dimensions.
The A4 performs admirably well in terms of GPU thermals, as good as the GPU cooler allows. I doubt there will be a 3 slot version given Dan is working on the C4 which will sopport that, but it would be cool if he did, would be an easy modification I assume.
 
Soda insurance has assured me additional payment of 950 Euro lightning damage only need the bill. I want to buy everything except nvidia 3700 and AMD I'm also waiting for GEN4 4700X ( 65 Watt CPU )

https://geizhals.eu/?cat=WL-1681706
1 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 1TB, M.2 (MZ-V7E1T0BW)
1 Crucial Ballistix black DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR4-3200, CL16-18-18-36 (BL2K16G32C16U4B)
1 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge WIFI (7C92-002R)
1 Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM, 92mm
1 Noctua NF-A9x25 PWM, 92mm
1 Noctua NH-L9a-AM4
2 DAN Cases A4-SFX V4 black, Mini-ITX (A4SFXV4-B)
1 Corsair SF Series SF600 80 PLUS Platinum 600W SFX12V (CP-9020182-EU)

Can I buy this and it will fit without any problems ? :) I'm afraid that something won't fit. It would be nice if a connoisseur looks over it quickly.
 
Soda insurance has assured me additional payment of 950 Euro lightning damage only need the bill. I want to buy everything except nvidia 3700 and AMD I'm also waiting for GEN4 4700X ( 65 Watt CPU )

https://geizhals.eu/?cat=WL-1681706
1 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 1TB, M.2 (MZ-V7E1T0BW)
1 Crucial Ballistix black DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR4-3200, CL16-18-18-36 (BL2K16G32C16U4B)
1 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge WIFI (7C92-002R)
1 Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM, 92mm
1 Noctua NF-A9x25 PWM, 92mm
1 Noctua NH-L9a-AM4
2 DAN Cases A4-SFX V4 black, Mini-ITX (A4SFXV4-B)
1 Corsair SF Series SF600 80 PLUS Platinum 600W SFX12V (CP-9020182-EU)

Can I buy this and it will fit without any problems ? :) I'm afraid that something won't fit. It would be nice if a connoisseur looks over it quickly.
You need either a different mother board or cooler. The MSI has a non standard back plate with 2 additonal cutouts for chips on the back of the board. The backplate used with the L9a would crush those components. So you either need a cooler that uses the included AM4 back plate or a different motherboard.
 
The idea of a fan duct with the L9a/L9i is that it creates a tunnel between the fan and the side panel to reduce the effective gap between the fan and the side panel. The AXP90 is tall enough that you can't actually fit a fan duct, and also you don't need a fan duct.
Is that true with the window kit as well? As it makes the gap bigger.
3D printers can easily print objects that are just a couple of mm thick. So, having a smaller gap doesn't mean a fan duct won't fit. I would guess there would still be a gain from it with a thicker cooler, as then it's forced to only get air from outside rather than circulating some of the air already in the case. If it is only 1-2C difference it's still worth it to me since I already have a 3D printer and I need to get PETG at some point anyway so it doesn't cost me anything but a bit of time, and a 2C difference will allow it to comfortably boost or overclock just a little bit higher.
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4001...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

Here the Thermalright AXP90/R ( R is the AMD version, i is the Intel version ) is available for 41,97 + 3,74 shipped. Would you rather bet on this cooler + noctua Fan than on the NH-L9a-AM4. Will do my best to get the box quietly, especially if it's only for a few euros
Thanks for the link. I was looking at buying it on SuperBuy, as I saw the eBay prices were $100+ and that seemed too much. Didn't even think to check AliExpress.
You want the full copper one. The other one does not perform well.

Price is cheaper on SuperBuy but that is before calculating shipping (shipping is calculated once they receive the item at their warehouse) so it will probably end up around the same.
Does not seem like they sell the brackets to rotate the cooler 90 degrees for the fins to be parallel with the RAM sticks though. Still have to use SuperBuy for that. Referring to this: https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy?nTag=Home-search&from=search-input&url=https://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=622663529490

I have the Noctua and as others have said it performs poorly without a fan duct. If you don't have a 3D printer then getting a fan duct is not so easy either. You'll be paying more for a 3D printing service to print and ship you a fan duct, not worth it when the AXP90R performs better anyway.

I will probably buy both the cooler and bracket on SuperBuy since I need to get the bracket there anyway. And they will probably just combine them into one package at their warehouse.
Here is the link for the cooler if you haven't ordered yet and want to do the same as me: https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy?url=https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=607169944769&nTag=Agent-product-taobao

By the way, when you post AliExpress links, remove the "de." part, as it changes the language setting site wide for anyone who clicks on it.
 
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Soda the composition now with Thermalright AXP-90R

CPU AMD something like 4700
GPU nvidia 3700

https://geizhals.at/?cat=WL-1681706
1 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 1TB, M.2 (MZ-V7E1T0BW)
1 Crucial Ballistix black DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR4-3200, CL16-18-18-36 (BL2K16G32C16U4B)
1 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge WIFI (7C92-002R)
2 Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM, 92mm
1 Noctua NF-A9 PWM, 92mm
1 https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4001...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
1 DAN Cases A4-SFX V4 black, Mini-ITX (A4SFXV4-B)
1 Corsair SF Series SF600 80 PLUS Platinum 600W SFX12V (CP-9020182-EU)

Thermalright AXP-90R 45 Euro incl. shipping + 1 Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM, 92mm ( ~15 euro ) = 60 Euro
compared to 35 Euro from the NH-L9. For 10 degrees ? less I would do that immediately. Fan Duct is on top of that.

My question is if it fits on the mainboard or not. I don't want to have it delivered within 4 weeks and realize it doesn't fit on the board.

lg
 
I do not dare to order at the moment ...

https://geizhals.at/?cat=WL-1681706
1 AMD 4700x 65 Watt CPU
1 NVIDIA 3700 e.g. ( EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Gaming )
1 Thermalright AXP90/R Cooler
1 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 1TB, M.2 (MZ-V7E1T0BW)
1 Crucial Ballistix black DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR4-3200, CL16-18-18-36 (BL2K16G32C16U4B)
1 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge WIFI (7C92-002R)
2 Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM, 92mm
1 Noctua NF-A9 PWM, 92mm
1 https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4001...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
1 DAN Cases A4-SFX V4 black, Mini-ITX (A4SFXV4-B)
1 Corsair SF Series SF600 80 PLUS Platinum 600W SFX12V (CP-9020182-EU)

in the english speaking forum I was recommended to turn the AXP90 90 degrees so that the fins seem to run parallel to the ram.
https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/bu...taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=622663529490

But I have no idea if this will work and if the cooler will fit on the board at all. I would really like to order including Dan Case but I don't dare. Cooler in Asia order 35 days wait and notice that it does not fit together I do not want to experience this. :(

Can Dan or would confirm that the purchased cooler works from the top, will it work with good speeds that will be superior to the Noctua cooler?
 
Any guesses on whether a Nvidia 3070 might fit?
It looks like no. They are all too thick :(
Not all have had their dimensions announced yet, but of the ones that have, all of them are 5cm+ and the A4-SFX is max 45mm with backplate. The others don't look any thinner. Keep a lookout for when the dimensions of MSI GeForce RTX 3070 VENTUS 2X are announced.
I do not dare to order at the moment ...

https://geizhals.at/?cat=WL-1681706
1 AMD 4700x 65 Watt CPU
1 NVIDIA 3700 e.g. ( EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Gaming )
1 Thermalright AXP90/R Cooler
1 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 1TB, M.2 (MZ-V7E1T0BW)
1 Crucial Ballistix black DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR4-3200, CL16-18-18-36 (BL2K16G32C16U4B)
1 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge WIFI (7C92-002R)
2 Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM, 92mm
1 Noctua NF-A9 PWM, 92mm
1 https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4001...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
1 DAN Cases A4-SFX V4 black, Mini-ITX (A4SFXV4-B)
1 Corsair SF Series SF600 80 PLUS Platinum 600W SFX12V (CP-9020182-EU)

in the english speaking forum I was recommended to turn the AXP90 90 degrees so that the fins seem to run parallel to the ram.
https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy?nTag=Home-search&from=search-input&url=https://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=622663529490

But I have no idea if this will work and if the cooler will fit on the board at all. I would really like to order including Dan Case but I don't dare. Cooler in Asia order 35 days wait and notice that it does not fit together I do not want to experience this. :(

Can Dan or would confirm that the purchased cooler works from the top, will it work with good speeds that will be superior to the Noctua cooler?
That motherboard looks like a very similar design to my ASUS ROG Strix X570-I Gaming which the AXP90 is supposed to work with. It should fit, no guarantees though.
 
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Thanks man. Total chance of the draw. I struck out at microcenter, newegg, and almost gave up on EVGA.com. It randomly loaded for me :/ It looks like it has shipped and will be here Tuesday. Hopefully I'll have some good news for DAN users.
 
Thanks man. Total chance of the draw. I struck out at microcenter, newegg, and almost gave up on EVGA.com. It randomly loaded for me :/ It looks like it has shipped and will be here Tuesday. Hopefully I'll have some good news for DAN users.
case - Graphic cards support: Dual-Slot up to 295mm length
gpu - Length: 11.23 in - 285.37mm

gonna be tight but should fit
 
That would be great, what do U guys think about temp? Should it perform better than EVGA CX3? Never had blower card before.
yeah temps will probably be higher. you have to accept that in such small cases.
 
That card is going to be a rendering beast for me I can not wait. Or rather I am going to be waiting a long time for everyone to get theres first
 
I was going to mention the EVGA XC3, but someone beat me to it.
It looks like even the EVGA RTX 3090 XC3 will fit. Their 3070, 3080 and 3090 XC3 all have the same dimensions.

Any guesses on whether a Nvidia 3070 might fit?
See above :)
 
I was going to mention the EVGA XC3, but someone beat me to it.
It looks like even the EVGA RTX 3090 XC3 will fit. Their 3070, 3080 and 3090 XC3 all have the same dimensions.


See above :)


What about your earlier comment worrying about card thickness? Isn't the EVGA too thick?

"It looks like no. They are all too thick :(
Not all have had their dimensions announced yet, but of the ones that have, all of them are 5cm+ and the A4-SFX is max 45mm with backplate. The others don't look any thinner. Keep a lookout for when the dimensions of MSI GeForce RTX 3070 VENTUS 2X are announced. "
 
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Sorry I was very unactive on this thread the last years because the community has moved to "smallformfactor.net". Here are some answers:

It's time for a three slots Dan A4-SFX :D

View attachment 275583

I work on a new product C4-SFX https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/dan-c4-sfx-update-28-06-2020.12329/

Do we anticipate that DAN will update the A4 so as to accomodate three-slot cards?

If i'm honest, I'm also hoping for a new A4 case with stronger heat management credentials... so I'm quietly hoping that the case will grow in size for these three-slot cards, and then given that change has been made, room for two intake and two exhaust fans will be created / found - that an update of the case size in one dimension, will remove a barrier to update it in other dimensions.

There are no plans to change the A4-SFX. While 3 Slot support would be nice it will destroy the astetic of the case. The current one looks very slim while a 3 Slot it would look "fat" and bulky.
After the C4 will hit the market I will evaluate if I start to redesign the A4.
 
Thinking about building a system with one of these, to replace the old Titan X eGPU which has lasted far longer than I would've ever imagined - this would also allow me to upgrade my laptop to the upcoming ARM MacBooks for better power efficiency.

I'd be using the system for a combination of games and AI research, which tempts me to get a 3090 for the extra RAM, even though I probably don't really need it since I can run big stuff remotely. Looks like one of the EVGA 3090s is the same dimensions as the 3080 - I wonder if it'll fit too? Can the case handle the higher TDP of a 3090? How about noise - I can't stand loud fans - should I consider a weaker GPU to keep it quieter or will the noise level be about the same?
 
Thinking about building a system with one of these, to replace the old Titan X eGPU which has lasted far longer than I would've ever imagined - this would also allow me to upgrade my laptop to the upcoming ARM MacBooks for better power efficiency.

I'd be using the system for a combination of games and AI research, which tempts me to get a 3090 for the extra RAM, even though I probably don't really need it since I can run big stuff remotely. Looks like one of the EVGA 3090s is the same dimensions as the 3080 - I wonder if it'll fit too? Can the case handle the higher TDP of a 3090? How about noise - I can't stand loud fans - should I consider a weaker GPU to keep it quieter or will the noise level be about the same?
Honestly, the DAN is at its limit with the 3080. (IMO)
 
Honestly, the DAN is at its limit with the 3080. (IMO)

Why? Lower case volume alone does not cause higher temps - if anything, it helps reduce temps, because there is less space for hot air to accumulate in. Bad airflow - either because of not enough fans, or because of air flowing in the wrong directions, will cause bad temps. Ditto for heatsinks that are too small - but in this case that should primarily be a CPU limitation not GPU.

I might be talked into something a little bit bigger, if extra size is worth it from performance standpoint.
 
Has anyone made a glass side panel for their A4-SFX v4.1? I'd love to see what it looks like before I make one.
 
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Hi Team - in need of some help. Just upgraded to a 3600x from a 1700x using Noctua -NH-L9a AM4 x2 doing push. Check out these temps at idle - 70c!

  • ASRock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming-ITX/ac mobo
  • Ryzen 3600x cpu
  • EVGA 2070 Super Black

Any advice on how to reduce temps using this setup appreciated.


View attachment 240023View attachment 240027View attachment 240022
I would take a look at this guide. It helped me drop the temps for my 2080 Super.



You may see a significant drop in temps as well as reduced fan noise.

Good luck!
 
I would take a look at this guide. It helped me drop the temps for my 2080 Super.



You may see a significant drop in temps as well as reduced fan noise.

Good luck!


Very interesting!

So what I could do if a 3090 is too hot for this case as-is is to underclock and undervolt it, getting the extra RAM but lower power consumption and noise. Paying a small runtime cost seems pretty worthwhile for this, particularly since at least some of the workflows I have will be limited by SSD and PCIe bandwidth rather than the GPU. Only downside is why the hell would I be buying a flagship card only to throttle it?

Yet another option if cooling is the limiting factor is to 3D print a fan duct for the GPU, so that hot air is not recirculating in the case. This has been shown to significantly improve CPU temps so probably would do the same for GPU. All in all putting a 3090 in there doesn't seem too scary - hopefully this is not utterly naive.

Note that I'm interested purely in air-cooled systems, since I might have to take the box with me on a flight (my eGPU is just small enough to fit in a carry-on), and don't trust liquid cooling systems in settings where air pressure may change.
 
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The YT guys are sayin you can not really under volt because the cores need the power to run correct this time and if you do under volt you will have a massive performance loss
 
The YT guys are sayin you can not really under volt because the cores need the power to run correct this time and if you do under volt you will have a massive performance loss
You'd be surprised! My 3dmark scores actually improved slightly because my thermals were not exceeding 85*C.
 
I fixed it!

This is wild. I love it.

Have you also removed the backplate? Did you need to remove it, in order for it to fit?

Also, is that the 3080 XC3 Black Gaming, or the 3080 XC3 Gaming, or the 3080 XC3 Ultra Gaming?

Edit / additionally... I wonder whether the XC3 Black Gaming version would fit without modifications?
 
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This is wild. I love it.

Have you also removed the backplate? Did you need to remove it, in order for it to fit?

Also, is that the 3080 XC3 Black Gaming, or the 3080 XC3 Gaming, or the 3080 XC3 Ultra Gaming?

Edit / additionally... I wonder whether the XC3 Black Gaming version would fit without modifications?

Thank you! haha Backplate made ZERO difference. It's the shroud that's actually the problem. Backplate fits fine. It's the XC3 Ultra. I assume the black will fit the same as all the others. The shroud barely fits and so the fans are right up against the side panel.
 
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