DAN C4-SFX - old

[FAQBytes]

At this point in the development of the C4, I feel you need to be as direct as you were here @dondan . Not everyone is going to be happy with every decision you make, but I know I much prefer knowing the direction rather than reading through 4-5 pages of people arguing over the unknown... and I'm sure there are others that share that sentiment.

Hell, even if I only get 80% of the case I originally wanted, with 11L, top io, no cutout glass, and a slightly odd aspect ratio, but it gets released to Kickstarter in 3 months, I'd take it over this development hell. It's been well over a year now I've been waiting on this case being 90% done.

 

[Tephnos]

The initial argument was having one 2.5 and side ports or two 2.5 and no side ports. I would assume, in a wold where m.2 exist, the majority would rather side ports instead of the second 2.5 mounting slot. Two m.2 drives in the motherboard and one 2.5 slot should be more than enough for anyone building on this case, but some people can't let go of old tech.

EDIT: And as for review sites pointing the lack of a second 2.5 slot all dan would need to do is add a strip of double sided tape labeled "SSD mounting tape"

Yeah, I feel that adding a second 2.5" mounting point over side I/O is not the way to go, when tape literally solves all problems and its almost unanimous that side I/O > any other.

Too bad. Was hoping I'd at least get something out of the increased size.

Hell, even if I only get 80% of the case I originally wanted, with 11L, top io, no cutout glass, and a slightly odd aspect ratio, but it gets released to Kickstarter in 3 months, I'd take it over this development hell. It's been well over a year now I've been waiting on this case being 90% done.

To be perfectly honest the more this goes on the less I find that this case has anything worth bothering upgrading from an NCASE anymore. Maybe fine for first-time buyers, but meh for what is essentially a sidegrade now. About all I can think of is the bead blasted paneling and I'm half expecting that to get changed back to a brushed finish at some point.

 

[Metroversal]

Yeah, I feel that adding a second 2.5" mounting point over side I/O is not the way to go, when tape literally solves all problems and its almost unanimous that side I/O > any other.

Too bad. Was hoping I'd at least get something out of the increased size.

As I've said, the simplest solution is to include something like a drive cage in the radiator area.
Should be ok if you want to use a single 120mm radiator BUT if plan to use a 240mm rad you'll have to remove the drive cage.

Tradeoffs are the norm when building SFF stuff.

 

[HTerra10]

if the case is similar size to the ncase m1 im happy

 

[FunkEngine]

I'd like to clarify that I was never suggesting that Dan should ax 2.5" support completely, just that it seemed silly that people were considering an extra 2.5" mount over the side IO when even doing nothing you'd still have up to two m.2 and one 2.5". Plus, you know, tape is a thing if you're really hurting for more storage.

 

[Nasp]

Would have to agree with everyone stating that 1 - 2.5" SSD is enough. Especially considering top-end ITX motherboards can accept 2 - NVME m.2 drives.

 

[Bonusround]

Would have to agree with everyone stating that 1 - 2.5" SSD is enough. Especially considering top-end ITX motherboards can accept 2 - NVME m.2 drives.

And every motherboard offers at least four SATA connectors; just sayin'.

Aside: I really wish U.2 would catch on in consumer boards. Higher capacity drives are cheaper when you have room to mount more flash chips. Lower density chips usually cost far less.

As I've said, the simplest solution is to include something like a drive cage in the radiator area.
Should be ok if you want to use a single 120mm radiator BUT if plan to use a 240mm rad you'll have to remove the drive cage.

Exactly, but offer multiple locations on which to mount that drive cage. Using a less-than-full-length GPU can also be a tradeoff for drive space.

 

[theexplainer]

For a SFF? Are you trying to run a plex server or something off of it?

Just needing a lot of storage in my system while having to move the computer every now and then using a motorcycle - which is why I require it to be SFF to fit in a backpack

At the moment I have 1To in my main computer and a server for storage - I'm really happy with this configuration. I don't think SFF are made for storage.
But it's my point of view.

Given that I run my current build in an even smaller case than the C4 will be (namely, Dans SFX-A4), I disagree with you.

M.2 are the norms now are they not?

At least when I built my current PC, when the Ryzen 2700X got freshly released, most Mainboards only had 1 M.2 slot - Mine got two, but given the selection of MITX Boards I went through to finally see a suited one released tells me - relying solely on M.2 might be a stupid idea. I want the case to be small too, but if you wanna go the "m.2 only" way, why not get an even smaller case also rocking MXM graphics - those exist and are even smaller, too. I Hope you get my point - I feel like 2.5inch drives should still fit in - not a fan of the 3.5inch idea that came up a few pages back, because, after all, it's SFF - but going full m.2 only is a bit too strict imo.

The Way I see this case, is as the logical expansion of the A4, giving space to fit better cooling solutions in.

 

[schn1tt3r]

@theexplainer no one is saying
"go full m.2" we are saying one 2.5" is enough considering good mitx boards support two m.2 drives. I don't see the need for more than 3 drives in a SFF case. Me and most here it seems would much rather have the side ports than a SECOND 2.5 (especially considering double sided tape makes screw mounting points unneeded)

In any case, it's Dan's case and he decides what he feels best for his creation. Just hoping we get a final render soon on what the case will be, so we can decide if keep waiting for the case or move on.

 

[ToutNoir]

Just hoping we get a final render soon on what the case will be, so we can decide if keep waiting for the case or move on.

this.

 

[dondan]

I hope so too. Currently I have a lot of work with A4-SFXv4. Updating website s.o

 

[dapperlilsailor]

@dondan Have you given any thought to HDPLEX mounting?

 

[omega24]

I see a lot of people mentioning the tape solution for multiple 2.5" drives, but is the area that drive is mounted in even big enough to fit two stacked 2.5" drives? If I remember the design correctly, there was a slot in the front of the case with the IO, and then the only other mounting point had a cage of some sort that was mounted over the fans of the radiator. If the drive in the front of the case is now the only mounting point for 2.5" drives I don't think you would be able to fit another one stacked on top of it with tape. I'm sure you could tape one to the back side of the power supply though, between the GPU and the side of the power supply.

 

[elsac]

4.5 TB? That's insane, no offense. I have a 1TB in my desktop and over half is unused, granted, I have access to servers and such, which if I didn't, I would need more.

Half of that is work data. I also carry media collections in case I feel like watching something when I'm travelling. Sadly I mostly never get time for that

 

[elsac]

I see a lot of people mentioning the tape solution for multiple 2.5" drives, but is the area that drive is mounted in even big enough to fit two stacked 2.5" drives? If I remember the design correctly, there was a slot in the front of the case with the IO, and then the only other mounting point had a cage of some sort that was mounted over the fans of the radiator. If the drive in the front of the case is now the only mounting point for 2.5" drives I don't think you would be able to fit another one stacked on top of it with tape. I'm sure you could tape one to the back side of the power supply though, between the GPU and the side of the power supply.

The actual use of tape (I mainly use stuff like 3M dual lock) is to mount the hardware where ever you want. I can mount an SSD to the side of my PSU or a USB hub to the back of my monitor or a 4G dongle to the lid of my laptop and take them apart and reattach it again when I feel like it. I have a small DAC fixed to my amp using one, I use them for cable routing in my PC cases (if there are no eyelets for zip-ties), and also to mount fans.

One reason I could think of to avoid too many SATA devices is to avoid cable clutter.

 

[To4stY]

Do you aim for a specific release period like Q3 2019? @dondan

 

[FAQBytes]

@dondan

I think the biggest advantage of a 3 GPU design is to be able to support some of the newer designs like the ROG Matrix RTX 2080 Ti.

One small problem, the thing's a centimeter and a half longer than the max card length.

 

[schn1tt3r]

@dondan

I think the biggest advantage of a 3 GPU design is to be able to support some of the newer designs like the ROG Matrix RTX 2080 Ti.

If you want that card then you shouldn't be looking into sff cases. It's the equivalent of wanting a Ferrari and asking for it to be able to tow a caravan.

 

[FoskcoRS5]

If you want that card then you shouldn't be looking into sff cases. It's the equivalent of wanting a Ferrari and asking for it to be able to tow a caravan.

Or like having a Ferrari and trying to park it inside a studio in Japan with all of your other stuff.

 

[BillT]

If you want that card then you shouldn't be looking into sff cases. It's the equivalent of wanting a Ferrari and asking for it to be able to tow a caravan.

Meh. It fits the Strix 2080 Ti and the FTW3. It's a Ferrari that tows 99% of a caravan.