DAN C4-SFX - old

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omega24

Caliper Novice
Dec 11, 2017
28
22
About a year late to the party here. One suggestion that I think is necessary is having bottom intakes. I think the default orientation of this case is the upside down one and not the ideal. Having a 240mm rad up top exhausting and two 120mm on bottom as intakes is the way to go. Without the bottom intakes not much if anything is going to be improved for cooling on the gpu. The cpu will greatly benefit in this case vs the a4.

I like the idea behind the design, but I have concerns that it's not actually solving the core problems of the a4. The a4 works well for mid end systems. For high end systems (unlocked Intel i7 k series CPU and high powered GPU like a 1080 to) it just falls apart with awful thermals, throttling, and noise. Cooling of the CPU has been addressed, but the GPU still needs more love. The GPU needs more air. It needs more space. Up to triple slot width. This is essential especially now that we know Nvidia has abandoned the blower style cooler for their reference design. Some blower style cards will still exist, but they're just not good in any way for high end cards. Let the a4 be the case for ultra compact and make this one the true case for ultra high end compact systems.

As an example. We already know that the Asus strix rtx 2080 will be 2.7 slots. Other than EVGA all the high end 1080 Tis are 2.5 slots. These high end cards are getting huge. However, those coolers are excellent. No reason why we shouldn't be able to build a compact system with such a GPU. This is why I haven't built a mini itx system for myself in so long. All cases create awful thermals, throttling, and noise for actual high end cards with most not even fitting these big cards.

You could always use the hybrid card design with two 120mm radiators. One radiator for the CPU and one for the GPU plus the GPU would have a blower fan on it at the same time. I think this case has enough cooling capacity to keep both the CPU and GPU at reasonable temperatures, even when overclocked.
 

dondan

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
DAN Cases
Feb 23, 2015
1,977
8,378
This is why I haven't built a mini itx system for myself in so long. All cases create awful thermals, throttling, and noise for actual high end cards with most not even fitting these big cards.

This is the most important sentence in your text and tell me that you are didn't know about what you are speak.

The A4 has never a problem with GPU cooling and a build with an GTX 1080 + 8 core Ryzen is easy to cool inside it. GPU boosts are higer as in bigger tower systems.

There is a point in SFF where you have to set the limits. For me this is 2.5 Slot GPUs. If Asus decide for 4 Slot cards in 2020 should i change thdme design again? No because it is impossible to support every card.

In my opinion more than 2 slot cards does not match the idea behind SFF and with 2.5 Slot in the C4 we have more then enough space . As you see the very nice Nvidia RTX Founder Edition cards comes in 2 Slot design why not use them?

Furthermore the sandwich layout will be inefficent if you come close to 140-150mm in width.
 

Metroversal

Cable-Tie Ninja
Dec 5, 2017
224
492
I like that he is trying to anticipate this beautiful project, Dannn do soon, otherwise I get the monkey for the competition!

RAIJINTEK OPHION EVO ~19 Liters
VS
Dan C4-SFX ~10 Liters

Dan's masterpiece is on a completely different league ;)
 

Rankless

Trash Compacter
Sep 6, 2018
48
49
Oh THAT'S what was wrong with it. I just couldn't quite put my finger on it. Silly me. How could I not notice it's almost 2X AS LARGE.
Yeah, it's very easy to overestimate the size when comparing it to other ITX cases. I made a quick cardboard mock-up to conceptualize the size. Its about 1cm wider and 4 cm taller than the A4. There is no smaller case with a 240mm rad.
 

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Aug 18, 2016
1,949
2,619
local forums are kinda interested in the ophion o_o I'm getting the feeling they'd consider the ophion over the A4 (possibly because equal parts tempered glass and store price), but there isn't much space for a 240mm AIO (unless they go slim rad slim fans and open-loop). Hopefully the C4 gets there before everyone else iterates ,_,
 

SashaLag

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jun 10, 2018
127
111
being somebody who objected the advantages of "same facing MoBo + GPU" against "sandwidtch design"... I now regret it and, considering GPU TDP, I am now a fan of it as it allows to support GPUs bigger than 2 slot with ease... Really waiting for news here :)
 
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Kwestionable

Efficiency Noob
Sep 18, 2018
5
1
It's been my lifelong dream to build an SFF computer and this case marks all of my checkboxes, especially the strict requirement of the 240mm AIO. My only question is if it is possible to mount the GPU with fans facing the motherboard and if that would benefit airflow by having a main tunnel of air in between everything (like a Mac Pro traschan?). I'd like to use the tempered glass side panel but wouldn't it be a little too restrictive for a 1080ti or a new RTX card during long-term gaming sessions?
 

RaDus

Chassis Packer
Jul 15, 2018
14
13
All cases create awful thermals, throttling, and noise for actual high end cards with most not even fitting these big cards.

How do you know this when...

I haven't built a mini itx system for myself in so long.

Systems falling within the SFF domain are inherently small (that's kinda the point) and every SFF builder knows that compromises have to be made - it's about finding the perfect balance and getting as much out of it, despite the constraints. No one here expects the same thermals in a SFF case as a +50L case, but if you're smart about it, you can get pretty damn close. Bashing a product (which I assume) you haven't even tried out and then demanding unreasonable changes to an unreleased product, only puts you at odds with the product owner and the rest of the community; what you want is not necessarily what we want. I believe what you're looking for is something borderline SFF, which the A4 and C4 is not. Take a look at the Cerberus cases, I think they might be what you're looking for.
 

FAQBytes

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Feb 22, 2017
91
102
Hey, @dondan . I know this may be a bit of a long shot, but do you have a tentative roadmap of things that you know of that need to happen before going live? (Doesn't have to have dates, as nice as estimated would be, I don't want to put you in a situation that you feel you would have to put out a product that isn't ready.)
 
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Arrandale

Trash Compacter
Jan 14, 2018
41
32
Can the case be flipped so the Radiator is on top? I have yet to find an AiO that doesn't rattle when the Air bubbles trapped in the Radiator rise up and accumulate in the pump...
Otherwise that case is really neat!
 

Drue

Average Stuffer
Mar 20, 2018
67
50
Can the case be flipped so the Radiator is on top? I have yet to find an AiO that doesn't rattle when the Air bubbles trapped in the Radiator rise up and accumulate in the pump...
Otherwise that case is really neat!
Yes please look through the forum before asking questions. It's on the first page....
 
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t_sale

Chassis Packer
Sep 11, 2018
13
9
@dondan

Hey, @dondan . I know this may be a bit of a long shot, but do you have a tentative roadmap of things that you know of that need to happen before going live? (Doesn't have to have dates, as nice as estimated would be, I don't want to put you in a situation that you feel you would have to put out a product that isn't ready.)

On this, the anniversary of the thread, I think many of those watching this thread would love to have a tentative roadmap. I don't think any of us are expecting an exact date or anything, but a quick summary of the remaining steps or an estimate (like 1-2 months, 3-6 months, or a year) would be a massive uplift to our spirits!

Here's hoping the logistics and manufacturing isn't keeping you up at night!
 
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