DAN A4-SFX v4.1

yjuyjuy

Case Bender
New User
Feb 7, 2021
2
0
Might as well go with an open case or another case altogether. What is the point of going outside of the limits of the case? I don't think this is very helpful for anyone looking to make the RTX 30xx Founders Editition work in the DAN A4.
Oh If you are talking about the first pic, the card requires 8+8 pin, I had to use the oem cable which doesn’t fit inside. I have 8+6 custom cable but the card won’t run with it. But Yes it was a ugly look with all panels off
 

nhatminh2h

Cable Smoosher
Dec 23, 2020
12
2
The latest update for @nhatminh2h:

10mm spacers for GPU came in and I am at 71c max GPU temp now(apex legends on pretty high graphic settings 1440p). Getting the full size 92mm Noctua under the PSU(exhaust) and the spacers have had the biggest impact. My undervolt is a little better too 1950 @ 925 still from when I started this mini-saga

I can live with this. Very satisfied. I appreciate everyone on this thread for helping out
Glad to be of help.

Good to know the full size 92mm fan makes a difference, that was the only upgrade I was considering in the foreseeable future.

Your undervolting seems good, make sure you are still getting the same performance though. I checked mine with Time Spy. Here are a few of my numbers for your reference:

Chip Frequency(MHz)VRAM Frequency Offset(MHz)Voltage(mV)TimeSpy GPU Score
1950095013312
2050+80095013626
1965+85089314127
 
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aporias

Cable Smoosher
Jan 1, 2021
9
9
The latest update for @nhatminh2h:

10mm spacers for GPU came in and I am at 71c max GPU temp now(apex legends on pretty high graphic settings 1440p). Getting the full size 92mm Noctua under the PSU(exhaust) and the spacers have had the biggest impact. My undervolt is a little better too 1950 @ 925 still from when I started this mini-saga

I can live with this. Very satisfied. I appreciate everyone on this thread for helping out
Thanks for your findings. So the fan under the PSU is better as exhaust than intake? Did you use the original feet? I think a small tweak would be adding slightly higher feet 2-3mm than the original ones. But seeing your temps i'd probably be happy with it also, depending on the gpu fan speed at 71 degrees. I usually adjust the fan curve so that the card reaches about 75 to reduce noise levels a bit.
 
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peacecraft_M

Trash Compacter
May 30, 2019
37
15
Glad to be of help.

Good to know the full size 92mm fan makes a difference, that was the only upgrade I was considering in the foreseeable future.

Your undervolting seems good, make sure you are still getting the same performance though. I checked mine with Time Spy. Here are a few of my numbers for your reference:

Chip Frequency(MHz)VRAM Frequency Offset(MHz)Voltage(mV)TimeSpy GPU Score
1950095013312
2050+80095013626
1965+85089314127


My GPU score results for Time Spy running 1440p(basic free 3D Mark package):
  • Default: 11 746
  • 1965 @ 925 mem +850: 11767
  • 1980 @ 950 mem +850: 11758
  • 1995 @ 975 mem +1000: 12238
  • 1995 @ 968 mem +1000 power limit 110%: 12432 (staying on this one for a bit, maybe lowering power limit to 105%)
Max GPU temp was 74c on the last one. I might mess with it a bit more later on after some Warzone and Apex real usage testing on the last profile(all in 1440p). Hopefully, I don't get any artifacts or crashes.

Thanks for your findings. So the fan under the PSU is better as exhaust than intake? Did you use the original feet? I think a small tweak would be adding slightly higher feet 2-3mm than the original ones. But seeing your temps i'd probably be happy with it also, depending on the gpu fan speed at 71 degrees. I usually adjust the fan curve so that the card reaches about 75 to reduce noise levels a bit.
@Bonusround
  • Exhaust for all fans proved to be best for temps for me.
  • Original feet
  • I'm okay with the default fan curve. I usually listen to my GPU after a gaming session to see how ramped up it is. It's not very noticeable. Might tweak it a bit but honestly, the 10mm spacers have made a world of difference and keep things pretty cool.
Update: I haven't tried intake under the PSU since I got the 10mm spacers but it definitely was not as good as the exhaust for me with the default GPU spacers. Maybe I'll do that if I have time later today. Wonder if the m.2 drive/Fan Duct does better with the PSU exhaust and overall does something. Additionally, the 92mm slim under the mobo is exhaust(which has been overwhelming the recommended orientation) so perhaps them being on the same page is doing something. I will try to flip it soon as I can.
 
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nhatminh2h

Cable Smoosher
Dec 23, 2020
12
2
Thanks for your findings. So the fan under the PSU is better as exhaust than intake? Did you use the original feet? I think a small tweak would be adding slightly higher feet 2-3mm than the original ones. But seeing your temps i'd probably be happy with it also, depending on the gpu fan speed at 71 degrees. I usually adjust the fan curve so that the card reaches about 75 to reduce noise levels a bit.
Yes, same questions here. @dondan’s illustrated guide suggests intake for the bottom-mounted fan.
@Bonusround
  • Exhaust for all fans proved to be best for temps for me.
  • Original feet
  • I'm okay with the default fan curve. I usually listen to my GPU after a gaming session to see how ramped up it is. It's not very noticeable. Might tweak it a bit but honestly, the 10mm spacers have made a world of difference and keep things pretty cool.
Update: I haven't tried intake under the PSU since I got the 10mm spacers but it definitely was not as good as the exhaust for me with the default GPU spacers. Maybe I'll do that if I have time later today. Wonder if the m.2 drive/Fan Duct does better with the PSU exhaust and overall does something. Additionally, the 92mm slim under the mobo is exhaust(which has been overwhelming the recommended orientation) so perhaps them being on the same page is doing something. I will try to flip it soon as I can.
Here's my temperature and Fan RPM for intake vs exhaust for my 3070FE

Haven't redone the experiment since I added new +5mm feet to the case.
 
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Arboreal

King of Cable Management
Silver Supporter
Oct 11, 2015
805
803
Well that came out of the blue. Feels weird for there to not even be an announcement post on here, though I guess @dondan is kind of busy with this, the C4, and so on.

Yep, I was thinking the same. I only found about it and the Q58 on the ITX Anonymous Club thread on Bit-Tech this afternoon, totally off my radar...
 

dondan

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
DAN Cases
Feb 23, 2015
1,977
8,378
This video is an prototype preview that was made for the Lian Li Expo 2021. The dimensions aren't final and we (Lian Li & DAN Cases) are currently tweaking these values for a nice compatibility with many cards.

This case will be sold and supported by Lian Li so the correct name will be something like LIAN LI A4-H20 (designed by DAN Cases).

Founder Edition cards:
The case will come with included stand offs that allowes to lift up the riser position. This will increase the distance between RTX 30x0 FE and PSU/MB-Tray for better airflow and temps on these cards.

Btw more pictures (not very polished):

I will create its own thread in the next days. At the moment i am very suprised because i didn't had any release dates for the LianLi Expo and the Optimum Preview.
 

DevilOnion

What's an ITX?
New User
Dec 28, 2020
1
0
Now dan a4 have a special version for water cooling. Please also provide a special version for air cooling if a4 continues to update.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏Plz!
 

Revenant

Christopher Moine - Senior Editor SFF.N
Revenant Tech
SFFn Staff
Apr 21, 2017
1,670
2,698
This video is an prototype preview that was made for the Lian Li Expo 2021. The dimensions aren't final and we (Lian Li & DAN Cases) are currently tweaking these values for a nice compatibility with many cards.

This case will be sold and supported by Lian Li so the correct name will be something like LIAN LI A4-H20 (designed by DAN Cases).

Founder Edition cards:
The case will come with included stand offs that allowes to lift up the riser position. This will increase the distance between RTX 30x0 FE and PSU/MB-Tray for better airflow and temps on these cards.

Btw more pictures (not very polished):

I will create its own thread in the next days. At the moment i am very suprised because i didn't had any release dates for the LianLi Expo and the Optimum Preview.

This is great. I’ll probably end up with one.

If the specs aren’t final, then please make sure a NZXT 240mm AIO can fit. Also, some top mounted USB ports (in black) would be awesome.
 

SiKiaTriK

Cable-Tie Ninja
Mar 28, 2019
166
146
OMG... this is THE A4 I was daydreaming of 😭 just the sleek design of the original one and that extra mm to acomodate 120mm fans (wich means more room for GPU and taller CPU coolers also). The closer approach of what I wanted is the Mjölnir, but the price and availability put her off my possibilities.

The removable bottom panel is a very good feature but I just think, seing the gains on the original A4, that it would be recommended to perforate it before final production. I noticed by the central screw that bottom panel has an structural function too, so one could expect less perforation density or a central zone without it to ensure the toughness of the spine's case, but it's understandable. That paired with slightly taller feet: nothing crazy, just 5-8mm to ensure a smooth intake provided by the top fans pushing air out of the case and that would be it IMHO.

On the other hand we could also go one step further with the original A4 approach and enhance the bottom exhaust/intake. Acording to the video it seems nearly impossible to put any fan below the motherboard but maybe the PSU area would be fittable. I'm thinking about our good friend NF-A9x14 since the central pilar don't seems to let enough space up to the front to accomodate a 120mm fan. Maybe the gain would be so marginal that is not worth all the trouble... I'm just thinking aloud. What do you think?
 
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nightshift

Airflow Optimizer
Jul 23, 2020
268
168
Frankly, I like the A4 as it is. Especially how thin it is with it's 115mm (although ideal for me would be an additional +3mm on the gpu side). Being able to use full sized gpu's, sfx psu's and 2 case fans within 7.25L is great. The 47mm clearance probably set by the sfx psu is just the right the sweet spot too for the L9a+fan duct or the BlackRidge and while we are only able to use 2 slot gpu's, that's only a limitation for people planing to use 3080 cards or above - which are not really for the majority anyway.
This H2O is mostly for thicker gpu's, so 3080 and up with 240mm aio's to cool 8 core cpu's. That is why I don't think that it is worth to use the H2O for a build featuring a cpu with 65w tdp and anything with a 3070 and below when you can comfortably run that in the much smaller A4 SFX (price aside).
However this might not be considered by most, as the H2O's price and especially it's wider availability could cripple the sales of A4's and even the upcoming C4's.
 
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Nichronos

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jun 22, 2018
129
65
This video is an prototype preview that was made for the Lian Li Expo 2021. The dimensions aren't final and we (Lian Li & DAN Cases) are currently tweaking these values for a nice compatibility with many cards.

This case will be sold and supported by Lian Li so the correct name will be something like LIAN LI A4-H20 (designed by DAN Cases).

Founder Edition cards:
The case will come with included stand offs that allowes to lift up the riser position. This will increase the distance between RTX 30x0 FE and PSU/MB-Tray for better airflow and temps on these cards.

Btw more pictures (not very polished):

I will create its own thread in the next days. At the moment i am very suprised because i didn't had any release dates for the LianLi Expo and the Optimum Preview.

Looks great!