DAN A4-SFX v4.1

UnknownBehemoth

Trash Compacter
Mar 27, 2019
49
19
I got and installed the M.2 heatsink, and it works! The temps in idle is averaging 51C. Didn't expect a 3mm aluminium heatsink reduce the temps by 10C .
Although I'm just using a i5-6600K, just in case, I also removed the back IO cover, under-volt the CPU, and set the max power to 95W.

Update: After running for a while, the M.2 SSD is averaging 56C... Only a reduction of 5C after all. :/
I think I need better thermal tape/pads. (While waiting for Ryzen 3000 series.)

However, I got a heatsink that has thermal pads and not thermal tape, so although the heatsink is 3mm, it's mounted on with rubber (or maybe silicone) bands.
The added thickness caused the motherboard and the M.2 SDD near the connector to be slightly bent. I think it'll be fine though.
I guess the better option would still be a front mounted M.2.

Or you can buy an extender cable as I'm going to do as I have the same rear mounted SSD on my MSI Z270i.

Check the ADT-Link M.2 extender for example...
Neat. I'll keep this in mind for a future upgrade where I need both front and back M.2 slots.

@dondan What is the best way to route cables in the V4 with Asetek 645LT?
I had to unscrew all the screws for the upper frame part of the A4, and then mount the PSU with all of its cables already attached.
Had to be careful here since without the upper part, the frame is not structurally sound. After that I routed and carefully pulled all the PSU cables to the sides so that they fit, while carefully pushing down the upper frame, once it fits I screwed back in all the screws of the case frame.
 
Last edited:

glow

Trash Compacter
Feb 5, 2019
48
19
I got and installed the M.2 heatsink, and it works! The temps in idle is averaging 51C. Didn't expect a 3mm aluminium heatsink reduce the temps by 10C .
Although I'm just using a i5-6600K, just in case, I also removed the back IO cover, under-volt the CPU, and set the max power to 95W.
[...]
Why is a 95W limit utilized?
Not to be silly, but my i7 7700k doesn't even breach 90W in any workload I've thrown at it (media encoding using CPU, gaming, benchmarking; all stock settings with All CPU Turbo enabled, so I'm running at 4.5GHz all cores under load). Is the i5 6600k overclocked?

That being said, I do reach around 85C after a long while (~27C ambient), and I do have the DAN-designed, 3D printed HSF shroud with my L9i. Part of that is due to it being in a corner, so even with the shroud, I'd expect a bit of recirculation.
 

UnknownBehemoth

Trash Compacter
Mar 27, 2019
49
19
Update: After running for a while, the M.2 SSD is averaging 56C... Only a reduction of 5C after all. :/
I think I need better thermal tape/pads. (While waiting for Ryzen 3000 series.)

Why is a 95W limit utilized?
Not to be silly, but my i7 7700k doesn't even breach 90W in any workload I've thrown at it (media encoding using CPU, gaming, benchmarking; all stock settings with All CPU Turbo enabled, so I'm running at 4.5GHz all cores under load). Is the i5 6600k overclocked?

That being said, I do reach around 85C after a long while (~27C ambient), and I do have the DAN-designed, 3D printed HSF shroud with my L9i. Part of that is due to it being in a corner, so even with the shroud, I'd expect a bit of recirculation.
Yeah, I don't think it will reach the 95W limit, in my situation, but I set it anyway in the BIOS. :D
 
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glow

Trash Compacter
Feb 5, 2019
48
19
Update: After running for a while, the M.2 SSD is averaging 56C... Only a reduction of 5C after all. :/
I think I need better thermal tape/pads. (While waiting for Ryzen 3000 series.)


Yeah, I don't think it will reach the 95W limit, in my situation, but I set it anyway in the BIOS. :D
I think any of the Ryzen ITX mobos will still have the M.2 slot on the bottom. Come X570, almost guarenteed (15W TDP for the chipset means active cooling is mandatory for the chipset, leaving little room for any top-mounted devices). That being said, I'm also waiting to see what Ryzen 3000 brings and have an ASRock B350 mITX board standing by.

As for NAND, it's fine with 70C (apparently, most reliable at 70C anyways). The NVMe controller might throttle, but it's almost a non-issue in practice. My EVO 960 has shown no ill effects from being constantly around 50C idle, 70C load. Same with my MX500 on the Ryzen build. Same would be true for almost any laptop with a M.2 drive.
 

UnknownBehemoth

Trash Compacter
Mar 27, 2019
49
19
Oh so we're going to see mobo chipset fans again, huh? After all these years... ?

The Asus and Gigabyte B450 boards have front M.2. I guess since Ryzen 3000s are backwards compatible, I could get those boards instead.
 

Hanakuso

Caliper Novice
Mar 7, 2019
27
7
Has anyone went from an air cooler to AIO cooler and notice any temp changes other then the CPU? I have 2 case fans and 1 CPU fans with my air cooler.

I feel like going with the 645LT would obviously bring my CPU temps down but with only 1 case fan bringing in fresh air things might get hot
 

PeGys

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jan 13, 2019
111
72
I think any of the Ryzen ITX mobos will still have the M.2 slot on the bottom. Come X570, almost guarenteed (15W TDP for the chipset means active cooling is mandatory for the chipset, leaving little room for any top-mounted devices). That being said, I'm also waiting to see what Ryzen 3000 brings and have an ASRock B350 mITX board standing by.

As for NAND, it's fine with 70C (apparently, most reliable at 70C anyways). The NVMe controller might throttle, but it's almost a non-issue in practice. My EVO 960 has shown no ill effects from being constantly around 50C idle, 70C load. Same with my MX500 on the Ryzen build. Same would be true for almost any laptop with a M.2 drive.

The active cooling is only when alot of PCI-E lanes are in use.
The mini-itx boards only have 1 PCI-E 16x and max 2 M.2 slots so they don't require any active cooling.

I saw some leaked boards and the mini-itx model only had a passive heatsink.
 

glow

Trash Compacter
Feb 5, 2019
48
19
The active cooling is only when alot of PCI-E lanes are in use.
The mini-itx boards only have 1 PCI-E 16x and max 2 M.2 slots so they don't require any active cooling.

I saw some leaked boards and the mini-itx model only had a passive heatsink.
I'm wrong anyways, since ASUS already has a mITX AM4 B450 with the M.2 2280 up top (on a daughterboard).
 

Vrekgar

Caliper Novice
Apr 30, 2019
29
6
Whelp got my sf600 platinum unit and took this opportunity to begin some assembly. Mounted the 645lt first as I read that was the way to go about it, and boy howdy am I glad I heeded that advice. Its Tight AF in there, I had to use a bit of force to get the PSU in place and it actually popped in to the spot I needed it in. Glad I got a 92mm fan grill from OC.uk as the cables would definately be interfearing if it wasn't protected.

Oh yeah I also made sure to figure out the 12pin, CPU, and Video Card cable reqs and had them all mounted to the psu prior to shoving it in. It will be interesting when the mobo and gpu are selected and ordered.
 

Dazr87

Average Stuffer
May 11, 2019
66
14
Does anyone know if the internal Demciflex Filters for the Dan case are compatible when using the Alpenföhn Black Ridge cooler? And are they worth buying?

There's the 2 side panel filters (named left & right, tho they look identical, does it matter?) and a small square filter, I'm guessing that's for the bottom case fan intake?
 

Hellow

Cable-Tie Ninja
Mar 7, 2019
159
27
About DEMCIFLEX dust filter, internal, external, right, left they all look the same to me...

The small one is 149,7 mm x 144,6 mm too big for the bottom fan. It could be for the PSU?
 
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Dazr87

Average Stuffer
May 11, 2019
66
14
About DEMCIFLEX dust filter, internal, external, right, left they all look the same to me...

The small one is 149,7 mm x 144,6 mm too big for the bottom fan. It could be for the PSU?
Yeah I just saw that. I think I'm just gonna do without the filters and just use air can every now and then to keep things clean
 

Hanakuso

Caliper Novice
Mar 7, 2019
27
7
Does anyone else have this issue? It looks like the top and side panels don't sit flush. It's mostly noticeable on the top here. Any solutions?

 

PeGys

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jan 13, 2019
111
72
Well, I tested the fan above the motherboard 3D printed bracket on my DAN A4 v3...



Conclusion:

In pull formation (air pulled into case): Works fine. It's a close call with a 80x10 fan but it spins. It works perfectly. Question is, do you want it to pull air into the case.

In push formation (air pushed out of case): Doesn't work. The riser cable pushes against the fan causing it to stop.

Bare in mind, I tested this without GPU as my EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3 it too large to use with this bracket because of the top mounted LED bar.
Installing a GPU will push the riser cable against the motherboard tray, causing it to slide slightly upwared.

On the DAN A4 v4, I seem to remember the motherboard was mounted slightly higher compared to the v3, which may be an issue in terms of available space.

Guess the bracket I printed it no longer of any use to me...

Also, I've been making some mounting bracket for my G-Unique XT90 power connector to get it mounted more outward so the Noctua fan I have under the motherboard doesn't bend the connector in the inside.

After some prototyping (orange), I made the final product (black).









If anyone wants the STL file, just send me a message...


I also made the dark spot where my 120mm AIO is installed a little brighter :)



Now I only need to get a M.2 extension cable to get some cooler NVME temps but thats on its way.
 
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Thanakun

Cable Smoosher
May 15, 2019
8
7
www.reddit.com
Well, I tested the fan above the motherboard 3D printed bracket on my DAN A4 v3...



Conclusion:

In pull formation (air pulled into case): Works fine. It's a close call with a 80x10 fan but it spins. It works perfectly. Question is, do you want it to pull air into the case.

In push formation (air pushed out of case): Doesn't work. The riser cable pushes against the fan causing it to stop.

Bare in mind, I tested this without GPU as my EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3 it too large to use with this bracket because of the top mounted LED bar.
Installing a GPU will push the riser cable against the motherboard tray, causing it to slide slightly upwared.

On the DAN A4 v4, I seem to remember the motherboard was mounted slightly higher compared to the v3, which may be an issue in terms of available space.

Guess the bracket I printed it no longer of any use to me...

Also, I've been making some mounting bracket for my G-Unique XT90 power connector to get it mounted more outward so the Noctua fan I have under the motherboard doesn't bend the connector in the inside.

After some prototyping (orange), I made the final product (black).









If anyone wants the STL file, just send me a message...


I also made the dark spot where my 120mm AIO is installed a little brighter :)



Now I only need to get a M.2 extension cable to get some cooler NVME temps but thats on its way.
The man did it. I got the v4 and I'm going to try fit one in when I get my motherboard in. Im 90% sure it wont fit in, but im always willing to mod the case if need be.

I definitely will be stealing that idea for the power cable as mine is also gettinf pushed upwards by my bottom fan and it isnt looking too pretty.
 

PeGys

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jan 13, 2019
111
72
The man did it. I got the v4 and I'm going to try fit one in when I get my motherboard in. Im 90% sure it wont fit in, but im always willing to mod the case if need be.

I definitely will be stealing that idea for the power cable as mine is also gettinf pushed upwards by my bottom fan and it isnt looking too pretty.

Well, as far as I can see on the picture on thingiverse, the maker of the frame uses pull formation too (fan frame downware), so pulling air into the case will work on the v3, which is the only way as the riser cable pushes against the fan frame. On pull formation it pushes against the blades causing the fan to stop.

I hope you don't mess up your case to much while trying to fit it in the v4...
I wish you luck ?
 

PeGys

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jan 13, 2019
111
72
Today I decided to lift the case a little higher from the ground to allow my bottom mounted Noctua to draw some more air.

So I made these 3mm risers for the feet and looked for some 8mm M3 screws in my screw box.

This is the result:




Does it help ? No idea. Will I test and compare results? No.

It doesn't really impact the case design and can only improve airflow imho.

STL file available HERE