DAN A4-SFX v4.1
- Thread starter dondan
- Start date
There, thats done, now I just need a better blower fan and some smaler screws (because the PCB is bending) to get this thing going.
This is printed in PETG so thermal resistance of ±80°c. This should be enough as it doesn't make direct contact with the NVME...
This is printed in PETG so thermal resistance of ±80°c. This should be enough as it doesn't make direct contact with the NVME...
After finishing my v4 build, I'm thinking of building my v2 on air for my wife. All I've got so far is the case and the Blackridge.
What are the ideal motherboards to pair with the Blackridge. Also what qualifies as VLP ram so that one can install the NF12x15 fan onto the BR? Also does this also limit motherboard choices?
What are the ideal motherboards to pair with the Blackridge. Also what qualifies as VLP ram so that one can install the NF12x15 fan onto the BR? Also does this also limit motherboard choices?
VLP RAM modules are 18mm in height and I'd suggest finding those first as they're likely to be the most difficult to source. A lot of VLP RAM is ECC, and the non-ECC ones are unlikely to have very high speeds or tight timings. I think if you search this thread, you'll find some posts from a few months back when the Blackridge was first available and a few people were looking for compatible RAM.
When I was looking for vlps, because I wanted to use the Black Ridge in same fashion, the fastest I could find were 2666. With ryzen processor, they work better with 3000 and up, so gave up on vlps.
These ones are able to clock with 3000mhz if you adjust voltage and timings:
Kingston ValueRAM VLP DIMM 8GB, DDR4-2666, CL19-19-19, bulk (KVR26N19S8L/8BK)
Kingston ValueRAM VLP DIMM 8GB, DDR4-2666, CL19-19-19, bulk (KVR26N19S8L/8BK)
Itll be an intel 9700k build so I won't be facing the timing/speed bottlenecks like most Ryzen builds.
Looks like Amazon projects a 1-3 months delivery window for the VLP RAM Dan suggested above. Are there any that someone has tried/used that is easily sourced on amazon? I'm hoping for 2 x 16gb but I'm not sure if that's feasible in the VLP configuration.
For anyone interested in overclocking (yeah you read that right) an i7/i9 in a Dan A4 (v4) you might want to check out my kit:
I am currently running an i7-9700k 5.0GHz all core @ 1.360v stable ~80C (stock STIM) in Realbench Stress Test loads and ~85C in Prime95 (non-AVX). STL files are available for those with a 3D printer.
I am currently running an i7-9700k 5.0GHz all core @ 1.360v stable ~80C (stock STIM) in Realbench Stress Test loads and ~85C in Prime95 (non-AVX). STL files are available for those with a 3D printer.
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Hello!
I am new here, I just built my first SFF PC yesterday and I wanted to say thanks for the great help I have found on the forum.
My build:
Second error I did was to order a Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM to put below the PSU. My cable management skills are not great and I could not manage enough room for it, at least for now.
At the end, it took me about 5 hours to get the build right. I of course did not plan well enough and had to dismount several pieces several times to change some layout or make something fit in.
The GPU is very large, but fits. I had to put its unique PCIE power cable against the front panel of the case, behind the GPU, the cable was too thick to close the side panel. The cable barely fits because of the length of the GPU.
The big surprise comes from the CPU. The 3700x is tamed by the L9a. At idle its temp is ~56 degrees with a room at 25 degrees. But under Primew95, it stays in the ~83 degrees range.
I can score 2100 at Cinebench R15 and it performs as I expected in games. I gained noticeable stability in my FPS in Battlefield V 64 player parties.
It can build our large .Net Framework codebase ~30% quicker than my I7 6700k. But to be honest, .Net builds do not really benefit from more than 4 cores.
The most challenging part of the build was to tame my GTX 1080. Before, it was sitting in my dead quiet Define R5 and I never spent time optimizing it.
I quickly heard that I would have to underclock and customize the fan curve in order to have acceptable noise levels in the Dan.
If the side panel is off, the GPU is OK-loud. The sound has a low pitch and is not annoying. But when it's on, the fans are so close to the side panel that the sound pitch becomes high and disturbing.
After 3-4 hours of benchmarking, I could calm down my GPU while keeping same level of performances by undervolting it to 0.875 volts for a core clock of 1900MHZ.
At that level, the GPU can stay at ~74 degrees with 50% of the fan speed.
I must admit that it was a lot of fun to build, and it was also quite fun to tweak the GPU.
I bought the A4 in Switzerland in a well-known shop. This shop started importing the A4 only a few weeks ago and the vendor had never seen it.
When he picked up my command, he asked me: are you sure it's a PC enclosure? It is so light!
So I spent a bit of time explaining the concept of SFF to him and he was quite into it.
I wanted to thank DonDan for the advices he has posted here. I copied your BIOS CPU fan curve and it works like a charm!
I am new here, I just built my first SFF PC yesterday and I wanted to say thanks for the great help I have found on the forum.
My build:
- Dan Cases A4-SFX v4 in black
- AMD Ryzen 3700x
- Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI
- Noctual NH-L9a
- Noctua NF-A9 as system fan below the MB
- Asus Strix GTX 1080 8G-Gaming coming from my previous ATX build
- Corsair SF750
- Intel 660P 1TB
- Samsung 860 EVO 1TB SATA coming from my previous ATX build
- CableMod C-Series Essentials Kit RMi,RMx
Second error I did was to order a Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM to put below the PSU. My cable management skills are not great and I could not manage enough room for it, at least for now.
At the end, it took me about 5 hours to get the build right. I of course did not plan well enough and had to dismount several pieces several times to change some layout or make something fit in.
The GPU is very large, but fits. I had to put its unique PCIE power cable against the front panel of the case, behind the GPU, the cable was too thick to close the side panel. The cable barely fits because of the length of the GPU.
The big surprise comes from the CPU. The 3700x is tamed by the L9a. At idle its temp is ~56 degrees with a room at 25 degrees. But under Primew95, it stays in the ~83 degrees range.
I can score 2100 at Cinebench R15 and it performs as I expected in games. I gained noticeable stability in my FPS in Battlefield V 64 player parties.
It can build our large .Net Framework codebase ~30% quicker than my I7 6700k. But to be honest, .Net builds do not really benefit from more than 4 cores.
The most challenging part of the build was to tame my GTX 1080. Before, it was sitting in my dead quiet Define R5 and I never spent time optimizing it.
I quickly heard that I would have to underclock and customize the fan curve in order to have acceptable noise levels in the Dan.
If the side panel is off, the GPU is OK-loud. The sound has a low pitch and is not annoying. But when it's on, the fans are so close to the side panel that the sound pitch becomes high and disturbing.
After 3-4 hours of benchmarking, I could calm down my GPU while keeping same level of performances by undervolting it to 0.875 volts for a core clock of 1900MHZ.
At that level, the GPU can stay at ~74 degrees with 50% of the fan speed.
I must admit that it was a lot of fun to build, and it was also quite fun to tweak the GPU.
I bought the A4 in Switzerland in a well-known shop. This shop started importing the A4 only a few weeks ago and the vendor had never seen it.
When he picked up my command, he asked me: are you sure it's a PC enclosure? It is so light!
So I spent a bit of time explaining the concept of SFF to him and he was quite into it.
I wanted to thank DonDan for the advices he has posted here. I copied your BIOS CPU fan curve and it works like a charm!
Large gpu strugles lol
Mine runs 100% silent idle (all fans off) and only 1 fan slow when idle on hot days. Once I game all fans kick in and it's ok loud. Had way worse gpu coolers...
All depends on how you want to route the cables. I always used stock sf600 24-pin and eps running the cables under the mobo (No fan under mobo).
During a CPU benchmark, the fan noise went from annoying to noticeable
i came back home, turned the PC on and Windows does not detect my wifi adapter. I tried every trick in the book, no way to get the adapter back.
No problem for me with a GTX 1080. You can anyway force the PCI version in the BIOS. It is by default on auto and works great.
Knowing the V4 case comes with a ADT riser cable it will not be PCI-E 4.0 compatible but as far as I know the rtx cards are PCI-E 3.0 (unless they changed it in the super series) so it won't be an issue.
Even for PCI-E 4.0 cards there isn't really any performance loss at the moment.
Though, you might change the PCI-E version to 3.0 in the bios if you might plug in a PCI-E 4.0 capabele card.
It would probably reduce the risk of confusion for future buyers that own a PCI 4.0 motherboard.
Are there any improvements in content creation with 5700 series and 4.0 ports vs 3.0?
