Dan A4 Case itself runs hot - Case Fan advice

[FreelanceP]

Hi all,

Just completed my first build in the A4 and super happy. Temps on the CPU are great, the GPU seems OK as well although I suspect it's chucking a bit of hot air into the case. After playing a game for a bit - 20 mins or so, the case gets pretty hot especially around the PSU on top of the case and either side in the corner. I don't think it's the PSU (it's a SW750) and believe it's the GPU chucking some hot air in the case.

My question is, should I add an exhaust case fan underneath the PSU? Is there a better spot for it? Am I missing something else?

Part list:

CPU		Intel Core i5-8600K 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	£200.00	Buy
CPU Cooler		Noctua NH-L9i chromax.black 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler	£45.99	Buy
Motherboard		ASRock Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard	£168.99	Buy
Video Card		MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB Video Card	£524.42	Buy
Case		DAN Cases A4-SFXv4.1 Mini ITX Desktop Case	No PricesAvailable	Buy
Power Supply		Corsair SF 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply	£183.85

 

[Tashi]

Congratulations on your build. It would make it easier for people to help you if you specify what exactly the temperatures of your CPU and GPU are.

 

[FreelanceP]

Thank you and oops, of course!

I've been using Witcher 3 as an indicator of actual real use full load at 1080 Ultra (capped at 60).
GPU - hits the temp limit on afterburner of 82 with the fans on full. I reduced the temp cap to 78 which reduces the power % to 89. Witcher 3 continued to run fine and dropping the fan to 75% seemed to be fine (the card stayed at the set limit).

CPU - I had good temps here, around 55/56 at load. Witcher is much more GPU bound so understandable.

GPU at idle is around 48 (fan off) and CPU tends to be around 34.

 

[dondan]

All temps are in a save range.
If you use a axial fan based GPU a hot top surface is very normal. The hot air exhaust slowly over the top. The aluminum of the case absorb the heat very well and the top gets hot. The only solution for this is a blower gpu card.

 

[FreelanceP]

Thanks dondan, that makes sense. Will an exhaust fan help at all? If it's fairly normal for the top of the case to get hot then that's OK!

 

[Tashi]

I have checked some reviews of the MSI 1070 Areo ITX. It seems that it gets temps of less than 70c at full load across all reviews I checked. Although the temps you are getting are not harmful to the GPU die, it does not fall inline with other cards. For how long did you have that card? Has it always been this hot? What is your ambient temp? Is your case located inside an air restricted area? It is possible that the thermal paste might need to be changed. The DAN A4 has excellent GPU cooling but you could try testing the card outside the case before taking it apart to check thermal paste.

 

[FreelanceP]

I've had it a few years. It's definitely been this hot for a while. It's not all games but uncapped and big open world games definitely push it up to high 70s/low 80s. I guess it's plausible that the thermal paste has declined and needs redoing. Could the small enclosed space not also increase the expected temps from 70 up 10 degs?

 

[Tashi]

The DAN A4 is very good with GPU thermals, almost as good as an open test bench. But not sure for your very specific card, since it's very small and has a single fan. You can test the card outside the case, see how it goes.
If its the same high temps check the thermal paste.
If it operates much colder outside the case then the case cooler combination is the problem, the result of adding a fan can not be concluded without actually adding a fan. Another thing you could do is undervolt the card so it consumes less power, thus, produce less heat.

 

[DrLeroy]

All temps are in a save range.
If you use a axial fan based GPU a hot top surface is very normal. The hot air exhaust slowly over the top. The aluminum of the case absorb the heat very well and the top gets hot. The only solution for this is a blower gpu card.

even with blower gpu the top of your Dan gets hot, as you say, the alu conducts the head well, and it sinks heat from the blower cards IO shield to the entire chassis, my blower 1080ti would still head my Dan after 20-25mins of game play, almost a good design feature, except it makes cats want to sleep on your case.