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

Will be interesting to see how it faires against the Samsungs SM961 (which is imho the smarter pick than the 950 Pro). Prices seem to be almost identical: SM961 = 198€ vs 600P = 197€.

The SM961 is way cheaper, I just pre ordered an SM961 for 140€ shipping included at flexmemory.

Also, do you guys think a delided 6700k with a high-end liquid metal paste would be cooler with a cryorig C7 ?
 
Oh googe where art though in PataPata direst time? Lol, found this

Photos and Tests of Skylake (Intel Core i7-6700K) Delidded | PC Perspective
At 4.0 GHz, PK-3 dropped the temperature by about 4 degrees Celsius, while Liquid Metal knocked it down 16 degrees. At 4.6 GHz, PK-3 continued to give a delta of about 4 degrees, while Liquid Metal widened its gap to 20 degrees. It reduced an 88 C temperature to 68 C!
 
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If I go with an m.2 SSD instead of a traditional 2.5" drive, will 92mm fans be able to fit laying on the bottom of the case?
 
I heard liquid metal only lasts for so long (maybe a year), while it is not the easiest to apply. How good is the CryOrig C7 thermal paste?
 
The CryOrig C7 Thermal Paste is comparable to the highly touted top ten performing Noctua NT-H1. I remember reading a forum and on a site that the C7 Thermal Paste comes from pretty much the same factory for Noctua, but just with different packaging. I do not understand why people to this day recommend Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste.
 
The CryOrig C7 Thermal Paste is comparable to the highly touted top ten performing Noctua NT-H1. I remember reading a forum and on a site that the C7 Thermal Paste comes from pretty much the same factory for Noctua, but just with different packaging. I do not understand why people to this day recommend Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste.

Nostalgia & rose tinted glasses. I still use AS5, purely because I'm yet to finish the tube that I bought 10 years ago.

I've been doing a little digging around for better thermal pastes though, as I figured there would be better options after 10 years. So far I've found a fairly in depth review from 2013 at Toms Hardware but still searching for something newer.
 
Hello everyone,

Question in regards to the Dan Case A4-SFX as far as compatibility goes.

MOBO: Asrock X99-ITX
GPU: Pascal Titan X

With the above components in mind is it possible to fit an Intel 750 SSD beneath the GPU / PSU and connect to the motherboard via M.2 to U.2 add-on card? Or would adding such a card interfere with the selection limited selection of coolers for the CPU even further?

Thank you very much!

yeah it will work with an asus hyper kit but the ssd it taller then a standard ssd, why not get a Samsung 950 to fit the m.2? or an asus Maximus impact 8 mobo it has a u.2 connector , Im thinking of getting the 750 myself, but for mostly gaming its not going to but worth the price

Or, you could simply use the version of the Intel 750 Series 2.5" SSD that has the cable with a M.2 connector on it, rather than the original that has the U.2 connector…

Intel 750 Series 2.5" U.2 (M.2 adaptor) 400GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDPE2MW400G4M2 - Newegg.com

20-167-395-05.jpg
 
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Just curious, what price tier gpus are people putting intro their Dan A4s? I have not gone Nvidia 80/80 TI series yet so far, only as high as 70 series. I figure the TI level cards would run fairly hot and loud in this case.

Is a $500 gpu worth the cost for performance?
 
I'm intentionally going crazy with this build so I will probably try and stick a 1080Ti in it (if it's out when the case ships). Or fuck it, maybe a Titan if that's the best I can do in 4 months. Caution, meet wind.

I don't think we should assume these cards will run hotter or louder in this case. That's why this case is so exciting, a high power GPU might actually be well ventilated, as opposed to a more traditional small enclosure.
 
Just curious, what price tier gpus are people putting intro their Dan A4s? I have not gone Nvidia 80/80 TI series yet so far, only as high as 70 series. I figure the TI level cards would run fairly hot and loud in this case.

Is a $500 gpu worth the cost for performance?

It just depends on what resolution you are playing. If you are running a 3440x1440 ultrawide or a 4k monitor then a gtx 1080 is great. The gtx 1070 gets similar performance to a heavily overclocked 980TI and they can be power hungry when overclocked.

Again, it all depends on the resolution that you will be playing and if you are playing gpu intensive games vs minecraft.
 
It just depends on what resolution you are playing. If you are running a 3440x1440 ultrawide or a 4k monitor then a gtx 1080 is great. The gtx 1070 gets similar performance to a heavily overclocked 980TI and they can be power hungry when overclocked.

Again, it all depends on the resolution that you will be playing and if you are playing gpu intensive games vs minecraft.

I feel like 1440p is going to become more mainstream within a year or two especially when the 2nd gen 14/16nm gpus come out from Nvidia and AMD. I am waiting until next Christmas to build my Dan A4 rig. I will probably not get the TI series cards due to noise, temperature, and longevity concerns. I might just decide to go for an 80 series card just to be more future-proof. I play competitive, multiplayer games at low/medium settings with only high models/shaders and none of the annoying motion blur, HDR, and DOF effects enabled. For single-player games, I do go for the graphical fidelity of course.

Hopefully there will be more sfx psu choices next year as well. 500w sfx would probably be the sweet spot, though it would be interesting what the noise profile would be for a 550w sfx.
 
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1440p is going to be largely skipped over in favor of 2160p. Content providers aren't going to make 1440p material so manufacturers will continue to chase 4k more than 1440p.
 
CknSalad I plan on going with a single 1920x1200 monitor, so 1060 gpu - either EVGA SC or SSC 6GB ($260-$280) - for the time being. I'm waiting for reviews of the SSC and Black Friday sales before I splurge.
 
Here is the third version of the side panel. It is a acrylic version with venting holes. My personal favorite is the tempered glas version.

window_acryl_holes_12nbkcm.jpg


I also made a rendering of the tempered glas version with real lighting. It is a winered version for testing. And no currently I don't plan to offer a winered version.


(click for 4K view)
 
As the only purpose of a side window is to show the internal components, then the tempered glass version makes the most sense. If performance is desired, then any 'window' version ill be a compromise over the normal side panel, regardless of perforation style. If you're going to compromise cooling for aesthetics, then there's not much point compromising the aesthetics too!
 
I know Dan case is more flexible and future proof, but I like how industry is moving towards mini-pc form factors. I like for example the new Zotac Magnus EN1060 and EN1070 PLUS. As probably many of you, I'm thinking on the small EVGA GTX1060 for my Dan case (that goes in the living room next to my 1080 Sony 55 inch TV), but these two Zotac barebones seems a nice alternative. I'm wondering if there's really as much difference between those integrated GTX10X0 and the regular ones. Thoughs? MAGNUS EN1070 PLUS | ZOTAC

BTW, dondan I also prefer the acrylic with venting holes version.
 
I can't tell.. does the tempered glass version have any airflow on the side of that panel perhaps?
Beautiful nonetheless :)
 
Yes i think the airflow will be ok because there is is distance of 5mm between glas and panel. I will test it.
 
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Any of he first 2 versions will be fine for me but i kinda hate the last one :p (IMO)
 
That tempered glass version with 5mm standoff looks perfect! I'd love to see benchmarks with heat comparisons.
 
Tempered glass keeps the sort of industrial minimalist look. I like it!
 
Both look like great options. Dan, do you plan to sell either option if possible?
 
will there be a updated pcie extender in the future? would like to see a black cable/black pcb extender.
 
I overwhelmingly prefer the tempered glass version. With the air gap between the glass and the side panel I'm sure that ventilation will be fine

Just a thought, dondan, have you considered using a slightly taller standoff so that one could use a 2.5 slot GPU with the tempered glass side case fitted?

Lately I've also been looking at factory liquid cooled GPUs like the Gigabyte waterforce 1080. I can't say for sure if there would be enough demand for one of these, but it sure would be nice if there was a side panel with special cutouts for tubing to reach the gpu and mounting holes to fit the 120/140mm radiator externally. I suppose the same could be made possible for a 120/140mm AIO CPU cooler on the other side. Although for a gaming rig I would be more than happy with an aircooled cpu and liquid cooled gpu
 
All those window panels look pretty great. Will they be available also for the CPU side?

I think it's worth exploring more possibilities for this case. Perhaps you can figure out ways to support water cooling equipment in some way. Perhaps a docking station? Or perhaps next year make the case slightly bigger with support for radiator on top, and pump and res in front? It would allow for a rather unique tubing over the midplate between CPU and GPU, and then forward to pump and res. Perhaps support for a fan at the bottom to further push cold air upwards towards radiator fans. And one single knob in front to adjust voltage to the water pump to fine tune it, together with a small display of water temperature.
 
I really like the glass one.
I don t like the holes one.
I will buy the glass one if available.
You could also do à kick starter for it:)
 
All those window panels look pretty great. Will they be available also for the CPU side?

I think it's worth exploring more possibilities for this case. Perhaps you can figure out ways to support water cooling equipment in some way. Perhaps a docking station? Or perhaps next year make the case slightly bigger with support for radiator on top, and pump and res in front? It would allow for a rather unique tubing over the midplate between CPU and GPU, and then forward to pump and res. Perhaps support for a fan at the bottom to further push cold air upwards towards radiator fans. And one single knob in front to adjust voltage to the water pump to fine tune it, together with a small display of water temperature.

(Mackan, nothing personal)

It's really too bad that there's no such thing as owners getting their hands dirty and custom modding their PC cases. That way, all the people with a niche wish list could actually get their case to be totally customized to their specifications, and could show us how it's done instead of asking for one-offs that only they want. If only this thread was on [H]ardforum, or something....
 
(Mackan, nothing personal)

It's really too bad that there's no such thing as owners getting their hands dirty and custom modding their PC cases. That way, all the people with a niche wish list could actually get their case to be totally customized to their specifications, and could show us how it's done instead of asking for one-offs that only they want. If only this thread was on [H]ardforum, or something....

Sigh. Mainly wanted to spark some ideas regarding next case. I'm sorry I annoyed you.
 
Here is the third version of the side panel. It is a acrylic version with venting holes. My personal favorite is the tempered glas version.

window_acryl_holes_12nbkcm.jpg


I also made a rendering of the tempered glas version with real lighting. It is a winered version for testing. And no currently I don't plan to offer a winered version.


(click for 4K view)

The tempered glass version looks great, very clean. I much prefer it to the perforated version.
 
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