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

Here is a small preview of the product pictures. All 13 pictures of the case will be released on my brand new webpage.

Greets Daniel


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They look good! What a masterpiece.

Wish we could see the silver one, i will wait,

Good luck with the web page, so this summer you can finish it.
 
Today I will build the Asrock x99e-itx, i7 5820k, Crucial MX200 M.2 and Dynatron T318 inside the A4-SFX. I will do some pics for you and my how-to section of my side.
 
I don't think the case looks good, Silverstone RVZ02 looks much better from the front imo.

Small size is the only great thing about this case, but it's probably gonna be the most expensive case($ per volume) cos the price is gonna be higher than Lian Li PC-TU100.
 
The Silverstone RVZ02 looks cheap and its 9,8L..

This case looks much better with high quality materials and its smaller..
 
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The Silverstone RVZ02 looks cheap and its 9,8L..

This case looks much better with high quality materials and its smaller..
never said RVZ02 is smaller than this case.. :confused: RVZ02 is 12.4lt fyi.

This case just looks very plain, some people prefer that look but I don't see anything special about the "look" of this case, most Lian Li cases look very plain anyway.
Personally I reckon RVZ02 looks good and modern cos its got angles on the front panel like Lamborghini Huracan/Aventador. :) RVZ01 was fugly tho..
 
I can't say adding a bunch of plastic angles to the outside of a chassis generally improves how it looks.
 
never said RVZ02 is smaller than this case.. :confused: RVZ02 is 12.4lt fyi.

This case just looks very plain, some people prefer that look but I don't see anything special about the "look" of this case, most Lian Li cases look very plain anyway.
Personally I reckon RVZ02 looks good and modern cos its got angles on the front panel like Lamborghini Huracan/Aventador. :) RVZ01 was fugly tho..


And i never said that u said RVZ02 is smaller than this case.. lol

I was just comparing the Dan A4 with the RVZ02..

As far as i know firstly it was 9.8L but they changed it..

First: 9.8L (http://www.tomshardware.com/news/silverstone-raven-rvz02,28312.html)

Then: (http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1847768)

''New 12.4L (NOT sub 10L anymore) :(''


No way this:

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Looks better than:

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that's stupid, probably the worst pic of RVZ02 thanks to the troll hand.
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if you took the actual photo of A4 case with that same fugly troll hand and only showed middle parts of the case then it'll look uglier than the RVZ02 photo u posted.
 
Dan, now that i see the pictures, how are the ''feets'' of the case?

They look little circles, they grip good?
 
Keeping the thread back on point...This is about the A4, not the RVZ02.

New pics look decent, amazing how small that case really is when you look at other case breakdowns. Simplicity in many ways is its own artistic style.
 
Dan when you will find time to upload the photos of your AsRock X99 ITX build? Please share it on HLW, too :D
 
Yes the build is done. This evening or tomorrow morning i try to upload all pictures of the 2011-3 build in all forums.
 
I'm probably not in the market for a new case like this, but damn am I excited for you guys, can't wait to see some finished build pics. Coming along great!
 
Thank goodness, it's not just me thinking that!

I won't quibble too loudly - it's not visible unless you're looking at the rear IO.

I think Dan said that there will be piece to cover this and that Lian Li forgot about it during the prototype stage?

Correct me if I'm mistaken.
 
Dondan, do you feel that the angled piece underneath the side panels (where you use screws) is helping the stability of the panel? I am not sure I see any clear advantage with it, and I worry that people might even forget they have fastened the panel there, when they try to remove it. Or that it causes scratches. Or if slightest misaligned, it could cause the panel to misalign as well.
 
Dondan, do you feel that the angled piece underneath the side panels (where you use screws) is helping the stability of the panel? I am not sure I see any clear advantage with it, and I worry that people might even forget they have fastened the panel there, when they try to remove it. Or that it causes scratches. Or if slightest misaligned, it could cause the panel to misalign as well.

IIRC, he said even with the best push-pin configuration the side panels still sagged a bit, so he added screw points on the bottom. If you don't care about the 1mm or so of sagging the bottom doesn't have to be screwed in.
 
IIRC, he said even with the best push-pin configuration the side panels still sagged a bit, so he added screw points on the bottom. If you don't care about the 1mm or so of sagging the bottom doesn't have to be screwed in.

I see, thanks. Not sure I experience any visible sagging on my M1, although when they misalign somewhat it's typically caused by the whole frame twisting slightly every time you pick the case apart. I believe v.3 of the M1 helped to stabilise the frame more. Push-pin is very convenient, but there are a few drawbacks, like slight bending which is also visible in the top shot of the A4.

In any case, I felt I had to point that out about the angled pieces.
 
Keeping the thread back on point...This is about the A4, not the RVZ02.

New pics look decent, amazing how small that case really is when you look at other case breakdowns. Simplicity in many ways is its own artistic style.
Yeah I think there's something to be said about the understated style of the A4. That other case is fine too but it looks a little... I don't know, cheaper. But honestly I'd just buy whichever is smaller, namely the A4. :D

Today I will build the Asrock x99e-itx, i7 5820k, Crucial MX200 M.2 and Dynatron T318 inside the A4-SFX. I will do some pics for you and my how-to section of my side.
Whee!! Can't wait.
 
The minimalist design of the A4 is one of its biggest selling points to me...other than the obvious form factor. I'm not a fan of the Xtreme F4t4l1ty L33t Gamer ridiculousness you see on some cases these days... the RVZ02 has a little bit of that going on with the front of the case. To each their own I suppose.
 
I see, thanks. Not sure I experience any visible sagging on my M1, although when they misalign somewhat it's typically caused by the whole frame twisting slightly every time you pick the case apart. I believe v.3 of the M1 helped to stabilise the frame more. Push-pin is very convenient, but there are a few drawbacks, like slight bending which is also visible in the top shot of the A4.

In any case, I felt I had to point that out about the angled pieces.

There were multiple pages of discussions about this issue and the current design.

The reason the M1 doesn't have the same problem with sagging panels is because there are pushpins supporting all four corners/sides of the panel. Due to space constraints, the same is not true for the A4. Accordingly, the unsupported side of the panel will sag.

The design couldn't accommodate pushpins on all sides without increasing in size. Since Dondan didn't want to redesign the case or increase it's size, he needed another solution to address the sagging panel issue. That solution is the bent panel you see here.
 
I'm probably not in the market for a new case like this, but damn am I excited for you guys, can't wait to see some finished build pics. Coming along great!
I might order one depends on the price, release date, delivery time etc. I have feeling that RVZ02, ML06-E etc will be available locally before this case gets released, then I'll probably just go for ML06-E(don't really game much now days).

But I would buy one if it was available now(if its not super expensive oc). I think it would have been better for end users if Dan just sold his idea to manufacturers, then the case would get released sooner, bit cheaper, probably better overall quality, and should be available from local shops.
 
Who knows maybe he had to study for the exams or had kids to look after, or mow the lawn etc after he finished building socket 2011 in the case. But it shouldn't take 12+hours just to take some photos and upload them..

Honestly I like this case(cos its small) and I'm willing to pay premium for the case(even tho long GPU support isn't necessary for me) but I just hate waiting forever for case to get released simply cos its getting done by one inexperienced man, not a proper case manufacturer.
 
You are being very short sighted. Even if he offers his design, I doubt any of these "proper case manufacturers" would even want it. This is not saying anything about the quality of the case, but more about the risk with this kind of radical design that a manufacturer would not want to take.

Maybe you need to read these threads a bit more, before putting forward such a bold opinion. Lian Li is manufacturing this case. Yes, Lian Li, the company that you have said you had purchased several cases from. The design has been talked through with their engineers. I do not see how you could achieve much better quality than that.

You've probably seen the success that is NCASE. But that project is also done by two people. With the care and attention that dondan puts into his project, I'm sure he can do a great job too.
 
I don't think the case looks good, Silverstone RVZ02 looks much better from the front imo.

Honestly I like this case(cos its small) and I'm willing to pay premium for the case(even tho long GPU support isn't necessary for me) but I just hate waiting forever for case to get released simply cos its getting done by one inexperienced man, not a proper case manufacturer.

Sorry I don't get it but I thought you don't like the case?
If you hate the look, the waitingtime on it and the fact that only one man do all this stuff, than I think it is not right case for you and you should leave this thread and buy yourself the silverstone case.

Who knows maybe he had to study for the exams or had kids to look after, or mow the lawn etc after he finished building socket 2011 in the case. But it shouldn't take 12+hours just to take some photos and upload them..

I will release the pictures together with temp values. So i have to test three different fans.
 
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Never said I hated the look, I only said it looks very plain.
But you are right about me hating the long waiting time cos I'm planning to buy RVZ02/ML06-E if they becomes available locally before this case gets released.

I'm allow to criticize things I don't like about certain brand/model etc, but how you take it is totally up to you. e.g.
shame... cos that original dimension was soo much better imho. :mad:
350 x 80 x 350 mm (9.8lt) vs 380 x 88 x 370 mm (12.4lt)
I really hate the fact that Silverstone ITX cases #1 priority = long GPU support.. ffs why make the case bigger just to support super long GPU? how many people use 11+" GPU in ITX cases??? :confused:

I just want small ITX case, if the case can also support short GPU like R9 Nano or GTX970 Mini then that's just a bonus.
Our current goal is still to popularize the slim form factor as much as we can so component compatibility is a big priority for us. If RVZ02 was a crowd funded project, we can certainly be bolder in shaving off dimensions. But we also want to sell this product to more people thinking about moving from a tower or big cube case that will have components they want to reuse so we have to take smaller steps in downsizing. There are already some expressing disappointment in RVZ02's CPU cooler limitation as it has shrunken down to 58mm (from 83mm in the RVZ01) despite the fact we offer CPU coolers ourselves to help ease the transition and these are not that expensive relatively speaking (~$50). On the other hand, we are unable to offer GPU alternatives ourselves and they are much bigger investments ($100+) so most users are less likely to re-purchase a card just to fit our cases.

Hopefully when we are able to present GPU makers with bigger pool of slim case customers on the market, they will respond by offering more smaller cards and we can then offer more smaller case designs in return to go into a positive cycle.
 
First:

''I don't think the case looks good''

In my country that's: ''I don't like the case''

Second: About the quality, the manufacturer it's Lian Li, nothing more to say.

Third: It's one man project, Dan is doing all the job ALONE, and the results are very good, even better if a case manufacturer would do it, know why?

Because Dan listens to the consumers, he take photos, do review of the temperatures, let us decide about the project..

"+12 hrs to build and take photos?"

Dan tested the CPU too.

Fourth: If u don't want to wait, and to pay for this case, get another one as you say and bye.

Furthermore, u don't need an ITX case that's support big GPU's.

Looks that u don't know nothing about this, lol. It's even funny when u talk about your ideas (SG14 about 7.4L) and other people who really know about SFF shatter ur ideas.
 
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A4-SFX with Haswell-E​

This test should demonstrate, what is possible with the A4 SFX. Therefore I did a build with an Haswell-E . It should be said, that some things have to be considered, to use Intel's Haswell-E inside the case.

This is required:
  • Motherboard: Asrock X99E-ITX
  • Heatsink: Dynatron T318
  • FANs: one of the following...
  • Noctua A9x14
  • Thermalrigth AXP100 FAN
  • Deepcool GS 120
  • Yate Loon D12SL-12C 120mm
  • SilverStone FN123

  • other: thin cable ties


Cooler Compatibility:
The Asrock X99e-ITX is the only motherboard in ITX format for the socket 2011-3. Unfortunately, it use not the square base ILM like for any other desktop boards. The X99E-ITX use the narrow ILM socket for server boards. Therefore normal 2011-3 cooler do not fit. The board includes a tower heatsink, but this one is too high for the A4-SFX.
Therefore we use the Dynatron T318 for this test. This is a 1U coolers, with an height of 27mm, made out of copper, with an Vapor Chamber on the ground and a cooling performance up to an TPD of 140W. Due to the low height of the heatsink, all fans up to 20mm could be mounted. The fan is fastened with cable ties on the heatsink, because it does not have a clamp or screw mount.


Pictures of the build:

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Cooling test:
Depending on the quality of the CPU you will reach different temperatures. The processor I bought was well priced, because it one with a bad overclocking ability. I test the CPU in Prime95 8k test and Intel XTU cpu stability test.
The Prime95 8K test generates temperatures that are 10-20 ° C higher as in normal usecase like games and rendering software. The XTU test shows how heavy Prime95 is, because the temperature values are around 10 ° C lower.

A first test in Prime95 with standard voltage, inside the case and the Thermalright cooler result in 78 ° C, so I test also with an undervolted CPU. (-0.09 V - good CPUs can reach -0,14V and more). According to Intel, the 5820K has been approved to 105 ° C, therefore the 78 ° C would not be critical, but I'm trying to find the optimum.

It should be also noted, that the room temperature was 25 °C . This is 3-4 ° C higher than in the old test.


Results:

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Someone would think that the 120mm fan of DeepCool would be the best, but much air passes by the heat sink and the air pressure is weaker than the other test candidates. Even if I covered the side of the fan, which is above the heat sink (see pictures), brought no real improvements.

Final words:
The test was able to demonstrate that it is possible to use a Haswell-E processor in the A4 SFX. In addition to the high cost of the motherboard and the CPU you have to do some points by yourself to make it possible. Somebody that will not run Prime95 or has no problems with temperatures around 78°C, can operate the processor with default voltage in A4 SFX. The optimum of this build would be an usecade with an external water cooling, e.g. with an 240 radiator. So you will be able to do overclocking around 6x4Ghz.

Thank you for reading

 
Thank you dondan! Keep up the fantastic work, can't wait to get my hands on this sucker.
 
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