Chipping in my 2c.
Original design was the most aesthetically pleasing by far. I understand there may be build issues, so making changes to fix that is fine. Even making changes to accomodate for slightly bigger parts is cool, but not at the cost of excessive increases in size.
The Dan-A4 case was groundbreaking because of what it fits in such a small form factor (I have one myself running an i9-9900k and 1080 Ti FTW3). The C4 was on track to do this again in a slightly larger form factor. Fast forward and we see a case that is compromising on all counts in what seems an attempt to accomodate 90% of the consumer hardware market.
My personal opinion on this, Dan's cases are most certainly enthusiast cases. People who buy them are enthusiasts (well, you'd assume so considering the price). At least for me, when I built in the A4 I knew I was going to buy premium parts to build into a premium case (NVMe drive, 92mm AIO, etc.).
Accomodating for high-end CPU coolers? Yeah cool, although I would push for AIO compatibility. Accomodating for top-tier GPUs? Also cool, but why 3-slot? I understand that the newest iteration fits 3-slot by virtue of design (no size increase), which is awesome, and in the same way that the A4 fit the monster FTW3, this is damn impressive. However, talk of having compatibility for traditional GPU mounting (onto the board) as well as riser vertical mounting seems overkill for me. The point of SFF is to be dense. To use every. last. inch.
Dan, you are brilliant at case design. I am sure you will build a standout case yet again. If you truly want to be all-accomodating, go for it. It's your case. My concern as a customer is I see your cases as my go-to "this is literally the smallest possible size for this high-end configuration". I hope the C4 lives up to this and becomes the ~10L powerhouse it deserves to be.
As for the talk of having compatibility in every which way, there are cases already out there for you. NCASE have a solid case with decent compatibility. You want the works? Cerberus-X supports e-ATX with 8x expansion slots in a 23.4L enclosure. Heck, even NZXT make a SFF-ish case in the H200i. Sure, it's ~20L but can damn well fit your assortment of HDDs and plenty of RGB.
I'll reserve my judgement until I see some detailed renders of the new case concept. This post was more about what I was expecting from this case and this end of SFF in general. I'm sure everyone has different opinions.
Dan, create the case you want to create. If you are confident in a design then I'm sure it will work. You can't please everyone, so be sure to do right by what you want while also accomodating as much as possible along the way. In my bias-not-bias opinion, if you do meet the best design thus far (original), while fixing any technical difficulties, I'll be the first to pre-order.
Original design was the most aesthetically pleasing by far. I understand there may be build issues, so making changes to fix that is fine. Even making changes to accomodate for slightly bigger parts is cool, but not at the cost of excessive increases in size.
The Dan-A4 case was groundbreaking because of what it fits in such a small form factor (I have one myself running an i9-9900k and 1080 Ti FTW3). The C4 was on track to do this again in a slightly larger form factor. Fast forward and we see a case that is compromising on all counts in what seems an attempt to accomodate 90% of the consumer hardware market.
My personal opinion on this, Dan's cases are most certainly enthusiast cases. People who buy them are enthusiasts (well, you'd assume so considering the price). At least for me, when I built in the A4 I knew I was going to buy premium parts to build into a premium case (NVMe drive, 92mm AIO, etc.).
Accomodating for high-end CPU coolers? Yeah cool, although I would push for AIO compatibility. Accomodating for top-tier GPUs? Also cool, but why 3-slot? I understand that the newest iteration fits 3-slot by virtue of design (no size increase), which is awesome, and in the same way that the A4 fit the monster FTW3, this is damn impressive. However, talk of having compatibility for traditional GPU mounting (onto the board) as well as riser vertical mounting seems overkill for me. The point of SFF is to be dense. To use every. last. inch.
Dan, you are brilliant at case design. I am sure you will build a standout case yet again. If you truly want to be all-accomodating, go for it. It's your case. My concern as a customer is I see your cases as my go-to "this is literally the smallest possible size for this high-end configuration". I hope the C4 lives up to this and becomes the ~10L powerhouse it deserves to be.
As for the talk of having compatibility in every which way, there are cases already out there for you. NCASE have a solid case with decent compatibility. You want the works? Cerberus-X supports e-ATX with 8x expansion slots in a 23.4L enclosure. Heck, even NZXT make a SFF-ish case in the H200i. Sure, it's ~20L but can damn well fit your assortment of HDDs and plenty of RGB.
I'll reserve my judgement until I see some detailed renders of the new case concept. This post was more about what I was expecting from this case and this end of SFF in general. I'm sure everyone has different opinions.
Dan, create the case you want to create. If you are confident in a design then I'm sure it will work. You can't please everyone, so be sure to do right by what you want while also accomodating as much as possible along the way. In my bias-not-bias opinion, if you do meet the best design thus far (original), while fixing any technical difficulties, I'll be the first to pre-order.
