Dan A4 V3 CPU Cooling Mod

Martin363

Minimal Tinkerer
Original poster
Feb 9, 2019
3
1
I recently brought a Dan A4 v3.

I have always been cautious of this case because everything I read says cooling options are v limited, CPU cooler being max 48mm, and really therefore only v low profile 92mm fan air options, and the 545 AIO, if you can get hold of it - I can't.

I already have my components-

Asrock Phantom Gaming
9700k @4.9 all cores
Big Shuriken 2 and a 25mm Noctua Fan
32gb LPX ram
970 500gb NVME
EVGA XC 2080.

These have been squeezed into a ''cut up'' Sugo 5.

What I wanted to do was transfer the same components into the Dan, and maintain the same all core OC, using the 73mm tall Big Shuriken, therefore I have modded up a new side panel to accommodate this (using only spares I have available without shopping). Need to source some custom cables too.

I may play with a 15mm Noctua fan, and then could reduce the plate gap from 15mm to 5mm, but will sacrifice significant cooling to do this.

It is a work in progress and I will refine / improve when I have time, and have thoughts about machining a single Monoblock of acrylic, but happy with the first results, and the Dan runs silent and cool, even when gaming;







 

BikingViking11

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Feb 10, 2019
93
167
I think it looks great!

Throwing some thoughts out there: Could you make the outside panel offset to overlay the Noctua fan then port it? I like working with acrylic and there's a lot of room for creativity and style if you cut it into interesting shapes and edge light it. Even better if you can laser or CNC cut it. It can be etched too.

A small LCD mod would go nicely over the PSU fan. Not sure if you could get enough light in there for it to work well, but these are just thoughts.

Could you replace those fans with RGB? All the kids are doing it these days. ;)

Congratulations on the most important part: It runs quiet and cools well.
 

princess_daphie

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jan 26, 2019
209
193
funny, i quickly forgot the title of the post when i looked at the pictures i thought that was the Ophion case! looking good!

my OCD wouldn't forgive me for the visible hand-filing of the PSU acrylic cutout though lol
 

Martin363

Minimal Tinkerer
Original poster
Feb 9, 2019
3
1
funny, i quickly forgot the title of the post when i looked at the pictures i thought that was the Ophion case! looking good!

my OCD wouldn't forgive me for the visible hand-filing of the PSU acrylic cutout though lol

I Agree, though it started of as a mock up experiment to be honest, and was good enough to use. I have limited access to equipment, but may use as templates for CNC work in the future.

Trouble is once you have a 9700k at 5Ghz all cores in a Dan, and it is virtually silent with headroom, difficult to go back.....
 
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princess_daphie

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jan 26, 2019
209
193
I Agree, though it started of as a mock up experiment to be honest, and was good enough to use. I have limited access to equipment, but may use as templates for CNC work in the future.

Trouble is once you have a 9700k at 5Ghz all cores in a Dan, and it is virtually silent with headroom, difficult to go back.....

i understand :) somehow finding a best case scenario is cathartic!!! i was kind of amazed that my Geeek A30 has better airflow than my previous big microatx tower Antec P6. it kinda acted like a hot box or something where things would heat up in the large air pocket even though i had lots of vents up top and positive airflow from front to rear. and my pc never was even close to yours in power/heat output!